Last April, Trump used airstrikes against Shayrat Airbase in the aftermath of another chemical attack by the Assad regime. In a recently published paper in the Journal of Global Security Studies, we examine why countries use air power. Reliance on air power has greatly increased in recent decades as technology and targeting have improved. We used a range of primary and secondary sources to collect new data on whether or not air power was used in each crisis, and how air power was deployed. Democracies aren’t more prone to use airstrikes — but rich states areWe looked at some popular expectations about why states would choose air power.

Source: Washington Post April 14, 2018 08:42 UTC