Education
He received his Bachelor of Arts, Department of Administration and Management, and Doctor of Philosophy in government from Harvard University.
(Throughout most of American history, US military forces p...)
Throughout most of American history, US military forces proved unready for the wars that were thrust upon them and suffered costly reverses in early battles. During the Cold War, for the first time, US defence policy tried to maintain high readiness in peacetime. But now, with the Cold War over and defence budgets falling, what will happwn to US military forces? Will they revert to a state of unpreparedness or find their balance? Politicians and military planners alike have found this crucial issue especially difficult to deal with because they have often misunderstood what unreadiness really means. In this book, security expert, Ricahrd Betts analyzes why attempts to maximize combat readiness often have counterproductive effects, and how confusions in technical concepts cause political controversy. The book explores conflicts between two objectives that are both vital but work against each other because they compete for resources: operational readiness to fight immediately, and structural readiness - the number of organized units that increase military power, but require time during a crisis to gear up for combat. Betts also discusses the problem brought on by the Cold War and plunging defence budgets: mobilization readiness - the plans and arrangements needed to shorten the time for recreating a large military if it once again becomes necessary. Betts offers new ideas for understanding the dilemmas and tradeoffs that underlie debates on how readiness should be maintained in peacetime, and he explores the strategic consequences of different choices.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815709056/?tag=2022091-20
( Combining study with experience, Richard K. Betts draws...)
Combining study with experience, Richard K. Betts draws on three decades of work within the U.S. intelligence community to illuminate the paradoxes and problems that frustrate the intelligence process. Unlike America's efforts to improve its defenses against natural disasters, strengthening its strategic assessment capabilities means outwitting crafty enemies who operate beyond U.S. borders. It also requires looking within to the organizational and political dynamics of collecting information and determining its implications for policy. Betts outlines key strategies for better intelligence gathering and assessment. He describes how fixing one malfunction can create another; in what ways expertise can be both a vital tool and a source of error and misjudgment; the pitfalls of always striving for accuracy in intelligence, which in some cases can render it worthless; the danger, though unavoidable, of "politicizing" intelligence; and the issue of secrecy& mdash;when it is excessive, when it is insufficient, and how limiting privacy can in fact protect civil liberties. Grounding his arguments in extensive theory and policy analysis, Betts takes a comprehensive and realistic look at the convergence of knowledge and power in facing the intelligence challenges of the twenty-first century.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/023113889X/?tag=2022091-20
(Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the field,...)
Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the field, Richard Betts’ Conflict After the Cold War assembles classic and contemporary readings that argue about the shape of international conflict in this post-Cold War and post-9/11 era. Contextualized within a broader philosophical and historical context, the carefully chosen and excerpted selections in this popular reader introduce students to the core debates about the causes and the future of war and peace. Through the precision of its approach and attention to new issues, this reader challenges conventional wisdom and encourages more critical examination of the political, economic, social, and military factors that underlie political violence.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0205583520/?tag=2022091-20
(Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War a...)
Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War and Peace Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War and Peace by Richard K Betts ( Author ) Paperback Feb- 2012 Paperback Feb- 24- 2012
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092J4132/?tag=2022091-20
( "If a historian were allowed but one book on the Americ...)
"If a historian were allowed but one book on the American involvement in Vietnam, this would be it." — Foreign Affairs When first published in 1979, four years after the end of one of the most divisive conflicts in the United States, The Irony of Vietnam raised eyebrows. Most students of the war argued that the United States had "stumbled into a quagmire in Vietnam through hubris and miscalculation," as the New York Times's Fox Butterfield put it. But the perspective of time and the opening of documentary sources, including the Pentagon Papers, had allowed Gelb and Betts to probe deep into the decisionmaking leading to escalation of military action in Vietnam. The failure of Vietnam could be laid at the door of American foreign policy, they said, but the decisions that led to the failure were made by presidents aware of the risks, clear about their aims, knowledgeable about the weaknesses of their allies, and under no illusion about the outcome. The book offers a picture of a steely resolve in government circles that, while useful in creating consensus, did not allow for alternative perspectives. In the years since its publication, The Irony of Vietnam has come to be considered the seminal work on the Vietnam War.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815726783/?tag=2022091-20
( MySearchLab provides students with a complete understan...)
MySearchLab provides students with a complete understanding of the research process so they can complete research projects confidently and efficiently. Students and instructors with an internet connection can visit www.MySearchLab.com and receive immediate access to thousands of full articles from the EBSCO ContentSelect database. In addition, MySearchLab offers extensive content on the research process itself—including tips on how to navigate and maximize time in the campus library, a step-by-step guide on writing a research paper, and instructions on how to finish an academic assignment with endnotes and bibliography. Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the field, Richard Betts’ Conflict After the Cold War assembles classic and contemporary readings that argue about the shape of international conflict in this post-Cold War and post-9/11 era. Contextualized within a broader philosophical and historical context, the carefully chosen and excerpted selections in this popular reader introduce students to the core debates about the causes and the future of war and peace. Through the precision of its approach and attention to new issues, this reader challenges conventional wisdom and encourages more critical examination of the political, economic, social, and military factors that underlie political violence.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0205700519/?tag=2022091-20
(Edited by one of the most renowned experts in the field, ...)
Edited by one of the most renowned experts in the field, this collection helps readers understand the causes of wars and examines the question: can we make war obsolete? With new readings on terrorism and unconventional warfare, this volume introduces readers to the types of political violence that have come back with such horrifying force in the beginning of the 21st Century. DOES WAR HAVE A FUTURE?; ANARCHY AND POWER; INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND COOPERATION; PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE; ECONOMIC INTERESTS AND INTERDEPENDENCE; POLITICAL IDEOLOGY AND IDENTITY; MILITARY TECHNOLOGY; TERRORISM AND UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE. Anyone interested in understanding why political violence—terrorism, warfare, unconventional warfare—happens and if it can be stopped.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/032120946X/?tag=2022091-20
(In numerous crises after World War II--Berlin, Korea, the...)
In numerous crises after World War II--Berlin, Korea, the Taiwan Straits, and the Middle East--the United States resorted to vague threats to use nuclear weapons in order to deter Soviet or Chinese military action. On a few occasions the Soviet Union also engaged in nuclear saber-ratling. Using declassified documents and other sources, this volume examines those crises and compares the decisionmaking processes of leaders who considered nuclear threats with the commonly accepted logic of nuclear deterrence and coercion. Rejecting standard explanations of our leader's logic in these cases, Betts suggests that U.S. presidents were neither consciously blufffing when they made nuclear threats, nor prepared to face the consequences if their threats failed. The author also challenges the myth that the 1950s was a golden age of low vulberability for the nted Stateas and details how nuclear parity has, and has not, altered conditions that gave rise to nuclear blackmail in the past.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815709366/?tag=2022091-20
( Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the fiel...)
Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the field, Richard Betts' Conflict After the Cold War assembles classic and contemporary readings on enduring problems of international security. Offering broad historical and philosophical breadth, the carefully chosen and excerpted selections in this popular reader help students engage key debates over the future of war and the new forms that violent conflict will take. Conflict After the Cold War encourages closer scrutiny of the political, economic, social, and military factors that drive war and peace.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0205851754/?tag=2022091-20
( Soldiers, Statesmen, and Cold War Crisis explores, in f...)
Soldiers, Statesmen, and Cold War Crisis explores, in fascinating depth, the nature, direction, and impact of military and civilian influence on violence. Richard K. Betts discusses the post-war involvement of U.S. military and nonmilitary leaders in decisions on the use of force in foreign affairs, and the variety of advice from the different military services. Twenty intervention decisions and ten escalation desicions in crises are examined, including Korea, Berlin, Cuba, and Vietnam. To update this edition Betts has written a preface analyzing the significance of the issues in light of the evolution of events and information declassified since the book's original publication. He has also written an epilogue discussing several recent cases.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0231074697/?tag=2022091-20
He received his Bachelor of Arts, Department of Administration and Management, and Doctor of Philosophy in government from Harvard University.
He is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has also served on the Harvard faculty as lecturer in government and as visiting professor of government. He was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution until 1990.
Betts has been an occasional consultant to the National Intelligence Council and Central Intelligence Agency.
His writings have earned five prizes, including the Woodrow Wilson Award of the American Political Science Association for the best book in political science.
(Edited by one of the most renowned experts in the field, ...)
(Betts, Richard, Conflict After the Cold War, 2nd Edition*...)
(Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the field,...)
(In numerous crises after World War II--Berlin, Korea, the...)
( In numerous crises after World War II—Berlin, Korea, th...)
(Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War a...)
( Edited by one of the most renowned scholars in the fiel...)
(Throughout most of American history, US military forces p...)
(Throughout most of American history, US military forces p...)
( Soldiers, Statesmen, and Cold War Crisis explores, in f...)
( MySearchLab provides students with a complete understan...)
( "If a historian were allowed but one book on the Americ...)
( Combining study with experience, Richard K. Betts draws...)
(Book by Betts, Richard)
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A former staff member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the National Security Council, and the Walter Mondale presidential campaign in 1984.