This paper analyzes the political economy of the creeping militarization of U.S. foreign policy. The core argument is that in integrating the 3D approach -- defense, development, and diplomacy -- policymakers have assigned responsibilities to military personnel which go beyond their comparative...

While many costs of war are obvious and recognized, the full domestic consequences are often understated or overlooked. War making — both preparations for war and the act of war itself — provides an avenue through which constraints on governments are either weakened or ignored, allowing for...

What role do whistleblowers play in democratic politics? This paper answers this question by analyzing the political economy of whistleblowing within democratic political institutions. Democratic politics is characterized by numerous principal-agent problems creating significant space for...

Economists model state-provided defense as a value-added, public good. The actual government provision of defense, however, is a “black box” that is rarely analyzed. This chapter contributes to opening this black box by analyzing the U.S. defense budget. We provide an institutional...