Revolution in Military Affairs Alliances and Proxies with Professor Paul Poast
Feb 1, 2024
Paul Poast, University of Chicago political scientist known for work on alliances and security, discusses how treaties function as joint war plans. He contrasts signaling with real negotiation content. He explains differences among alliances, coalitions, and partnerships. He uses cases like Italy, the Kurds, and Ukraine to show how informal ties and institutional arrangements shape commitments.
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Using Twitter As A Teaching Tool
- Paul Poast started using Twitter in 2018 to generate live content for his large undergraduate IR course.
- He required students to check his posts and found external audiences — grad students, media, think tanks — also engaged the threads.
Alliances Are Treaty War Plans
- Alliances are best understood as treaty-written joint war plans that negotiate who and what territory will be defended.
- Paul Poast shows treaty talks focus on strategic aims, coverage (e.g., what counts as North Atlantic), and thorny membership issues like the "Italian problem."
Treaties Prioritize Practical War Rules Over Signaling
- Many alliance discussions never mention signaling; negotiators concentrate on practical wartime objectives and arrangements.
- Poast contrasts signaling accounts with archival evidence showing negotiators debated strategy, territory, and membership details instead.