Timothy W. Crawford is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Boston College. He is coeditor of Gambling on Humanitarian Intervention: Moral Hazard, Rebellion, and Civil War.
"Timothy Crawford has written a well-supported, theoretically intriguing book that has significant relevance to American foreign policy. The primary question that Crawford asks is, How can a state prevent a dispute between two states from erupting into armed conflict? ... A major contribution to the literature on deterrence."-Spencer D. Bakich, Virginia Quarterly Review, April 2004 "Timothy Crawford's book is an important and, in several ways, original statement on a topic unduly ignored in past studies... Crawford provides an interesting angle and novel use of an old problem concerning the interplay between the balance of power and interests... The case selections are guided by a concise and excellent treatment of relevant methodological points, and the empirical analysis is expertly done. Crawford shows a mastery of the methods of causal analysis in historical case studies, making this a primer in qualitative research design... Pivotal Deterrence is a fascinating read, profuse with engaging arguments, sure-handed historical research and elegant narratives, and ingenuities in drawing policy implications for current U.S. foreign policy. Crawford makes an important contribution to diverse areas of conflict research, including deterrence, alignments, defensive realism, mediation as coercive diplomacy, and overall war prevention. His book should undoubtedly have strong appeal for both international relations scholars and policy practitioners."-Vesna Danilovic, Perspectives on Politics 2004 "Pivotal deterrence is, according to Crawford, a long-standing strategic dilemma, in which the challenge to deter two rivals from escalating their existing dispute to war and encourage them to accept a peaceful compromise, while avoiding commitment to either rival. Crawford's book is a superb study of this question, which, despite its prevalence and importance, has not been systematically addressed in the literature... Crawford's contribution to the international relations theory bookshelf is invaluable. It is an exemplary study in social science... Moreover, its concluding chapter, applying the theoretical framework to U.S. foreign policy, is extremely relevant to current policy debates."-Carmela Lutmar, Journal of Peace Research, May 2005 "Pivotal Deterrence is a welcome extension of deterrence analysis in a direction that is relatively unexplored but highly relevant to contemporary international politics. Impressive in its scholarship and analysis, the book is tightly and effectively written in a clear and lively fashion... Pivotal Deterrence is definitely worth reading. Analytically it heightens our understanding of the use of coercion in security management. Specialists in all facets of coercive diplomacy will profit from this book, as will those interested, for academic or policy reasons, in broader regional and global security management. The analysis has much bearing on the conduct of U.S. foreign policy today."-Patrick M. Morgan, International Studies Review, 15 February 2005 "In this pathbreaking book, Timothy W. Crawford substantially advances our understanding of the role that third parties can play in averting war between rivals. Pivotal Deterrence is elegant in theoretical construction, rich in empirical narrative, and wise in guidance to the policy community."-Charles A. Kupchan, Georgetown University and Council on Foreign Relations, author of The End of the American Era "Even the well-informed professional reader will be surprised at the originality of Pivotal Deterrence. It is one of those rare books about which one wonders why it hasn't been written before. This is, in short, a major theoretical step forward, with case studies well chosen to test the theory and analyzed with a nice blend of methodological rigor and narrative storytelling."-Glenn Snyder, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "In Pivotal Deterrence, Timothy W. Crawford argues that a major power can influence to a significant degree the likelihood that two other states will go to war. Crawford sheds light on a remarkably wide range of international crises from the 1870s to the present, including an especially fascinating discussion of the failure of Britain to prevent the outbreak of war in 1914. Pivotal Deterrence offers the reader a superb combination of rigorous analytical reasoning and careful historical research and will be of interest to anyone who is concerned about the problem of the prevention of war in the twenty-first century."-Joseph M. Grieco, Duke University "In Pivotal Deterrence, Timothy Crawford summons strong evidence and compelling logic to develop a new theory that explains what is necessary for a major power without choosing sides to deter two rivals from fighting. With the United States as the principal pivot in today's unipolar world, the book is a timely contribution to the debate about how the world's sole superpower should conduct important aspects of its foreign policy."-Robert A. Pape, University of Chicago
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