Description
Book SynopsisThis book makes a compelling case that lethal drone deployment as a counterterrorism tool and instrument of statecraft in targeted states engenders far-reaching consequences for US grand strategy. By examining how successive US administrations since 9/11 have deployed drones in pursuant of different typologies of US grand strategic objectives, the book probes the putative political and strategic goals drones supposedly advance, and the impact of its continued proliferation for US for international security. The book provides a powerful base of evidence for policy makers and researchers by pointing to the perils of deployment of drone technology beyond their immediate or short-term objectives. It also explores how non-state actors and authoritarian regimes such as armed groups are harnessing armed drone technologies for their own political and military ends, as well as the underlying implications for US grand strategy and international security at large.
Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE.. ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.. iii
ENDORSEMENTS.. iv
LIST OF TABLES.. vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.. viii
INDEX.. x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.. 1
1.0 Introduction.. 1
1.1 Drones in Contemporary World Politics. 2
1.2 Key Considerations: Drones and US Grand Strategy?. 6
1.3 Chapter Outline. 11
CHAPTER TWO: Unmasking the Nexus: Exploring US Grand Strategy and the Dynamic Role of Drones. 13
2.0 Introduction.. 13
2.1 Grand Strategy in perspective. 14
2.2 Does the US have a Grand Strategy?. 18
2.3 Typologies of US Grand Strategy and Drones. 20
2.4 Drones and US Grand Strategy: The nexus. 30
2.4.1 US Grand Strategy: Balancing Offensive and Defensive Interpretations. 34
2.5 US Grand Strategy - A Dynamic Pendulum... 40
2.6 The drawbacks of drones for US grand strategy. 42
Chapter Three: Historicising the role of drones in US Grand Strategy. 52
3.0 Introduction.. 52
3.1 The Evolutionary Phases of Drone Development (1909-1917). 53
3.2 UAVs in the Interwar Period (1918-1938). 54
3.3 UAVs, WWII, and US Grand Strategy (1939-1945) 56
3.4 UAVs and US Grand Strategy in the Early Cold War (1947-1950). 59
3.5 Drones during the Early Cold War. 61
3.6 Drones, Détente, and the Second Cold War. 66
3.7 Drones, George H.W. Bush Administration, and the Persian Gulf War. 68
3.8 Drones, Clinton’s Grand Strategy, and the Bosnian War. 70
Chapter Four: Drone Warfare and US Grand Strategy during the Bush Administration.. 74
4.0 Introduction.. 74
4.1 George W. Bush’s Foreign Policy Before and After 9/11. 75
4.2 Bush and the evolution of Lethal Drone Warfare 2001-2008. 77
4.3 Conjuring Drone use During the Bush Administration.. 80
Chapter Five: Obama’s Drone Wars and US Grand Strategy. 88
5.0 Introduction.. 88
5.1 The Making of the Obama Doctrine. 89
5.1.1 Obama’s Second Term and the Rise of ‘Neo-Realism’ 95
5.2 Obama’s Hybrid Defensive grand strategy. 97
5.3 The Elements, Character, and Phases of Obama’s Drone Warfare. 98
5.4 Phases of Obama’s drone war. 103
5.5 The Utility of Drones in Obama’s Grand Strategy. 106
5.6 Dilemma of Obama’s Drone Warfare for US grand strategy. 111
Chapter Summary. 121
Chapter Six: The Trump Administration, Drones and US Grand Strategy. 123
6.0 Introduction.. 123
6.1 Deciphering Trump’s Doctrine. 124
6.2 The Grand Strategy of the Trump Administration.. 128
6.3 Trump’s Drone Warfare. 131
6.4 Phases of Trump’s Drone Wars. 136
6.6 Dilemma of Drone Warfare for Trump’s Grand Strategy. 140
Chapter Seven: The Dialectics and Dilemma of US Drone Warfare in Afghanistan and Pakistan 146
7.0 Introduction.. 146
7.1 US Drone Targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan.. 147
7.3 Arguments for Drone use in Targeted States. 152
7.4 Assessing the Impact of Drone Strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan.. 157
7.5 Illusion of US Strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.. 173
Chapter Eight: The Implications of Drone Proliferation for US Grand Strategy. 176
8.0 Introduction.. 176
8.1 Race to Drones. 177
8.2 US Drone Policy on Proliferation.. 181
8.3 Debate on Drone Proliferation and Impact on US Objectives. 183
8.4 The Implications of Drone Proliferation for US Grand Strategy. 187
8.5 The Lessons from US Drone Policy and Implications for Emerging and Superpowers 197
Chapter Nine: Conclusion.. 201
9.1 Drones and the Future of US Grand Strategy. 207
REFERENCES.. 209
