Case Study: International Burden Sharing in Alliances & Coalitions

Abstract

There are several normative theories for how the costs of running a coalition military operation or sustaining an alliance should be distributed among the members. The reality is that this becomes a matter of diplomacy and negotiation. This case study has students allocate the burden of a five-member military coalition using three approaches: ability to pay, capacity to contribute, and a complex qualitative approach based on a risk-sharing theory and incorporating descriptions of the member nations and their leaders. The case could be used in courses in national security policy, public budgeting, international affairs, or political science. It illustrates theories of alliances, conceptions of fairness, monetary and non-monetary costs of participation in such endeavors, and the effects of political ideologies on such decisions.