Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War

Robert A. Pape

Published by Cornell University Press 2014

Bombing to Win

Air Power and Coercion in War

Robert A. Pape

In the series Cornell Studies in Security Affairs

https://doi.org/10.7591/9780801471513

Overview
Contents

About this book

From Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe.Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.

Author / Editor information

Robert A. Pape is Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, specializing in international security affairs.

Reviews

"Bombing to Win is a critically important book."—Navel War College Review

"Robert Pape argues comprehensively and convincingly that in 75 years, strategic bombing of civilians has had no effect on the war aims of their governments. . . . His contribution is well-grounded in massive scholarship, but its value lies more in the demolishing persistent misconceptions than in the provision of new insights for the future of air-power."—Survival

"This excellent work is highly recommended as an antidote to the air power hyperbole so often encountered after the Gulf War."—Non-Offensive Defence and Conversion Newsletter

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
1. Why Study Military Coercion? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Explaining Military Coercion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
3. Coercive Air Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
4. Japan, 1944-1945 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
5. Korea, 1950-1953 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
6. Vietnam, 1965-1972 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
7. Iraq, 1991 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
8. Germany, 1942-1945 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
9. Beyond Strategic Bombing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	314
Appendix: Coding Cases of Coercive Air Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	332
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	359

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