Fighting with Friends: The Dynamics of Coalition Warfare.

This paper analyzes the dynamics of wartime alliances and coalition warfare through the prism of the U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. I argue that even during wartime, alliances and coalitions serve purposes beyond capability aggregation, and introduce important complexities into the operations that are absent in unilateral ones. I explore my empirical finding that multilateralism is the preferred strategy of democracies and the assumptions that underpin the use of coalitions for the purposes of garnering legitimacy. I discuss the costs and benefits of the increasing reliance of the United States on multinational operations. I conclude with a forward thinking assessment of the conditions under which states should seek to fight with their friends, when they should either opt not to fight or fight alone. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]