Mandel, Robert 1949-

PERSONAL:

Born October 30, 1949, in Washington, DC; son of Philip and Alice Grace Mandel; married Annette Colleen Kelley, August 1, 1981; children: Travis Scott, Laura Diane. Education: Brown University, A.B., 1972; Yale University, M.A., 1974, M.Phil., 1975, Ph.D., 1976. Hobbies and other interests: Computer games.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of International Affairs, Lewis & Clark College, 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Rd., Portland, OR 97219. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Social scientist, educator, and writer. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, intern, 1974-75; Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR, assistant professor of international affairs, 1976-82, associate professor of international affairs, 1982-88, professor of international affairs, 1988—, dean of social sciences division, 1990-92, chair of international affairs, 1994—. Career-related activities include academic associate of the Atlantic Council, Washington, DC, 1985; visiting scholar at the Defense Intelligence College, Washington, DC, 1989; advisor board member, Microsoft, Redmond, WA, 1993.

MEMBER:

American Political Science Association, International Studies Association, Phi Beta Kappa.

WRITINGS:

Irrationality in International Confrontation, Greenwood Press (New York, NY), 1987.

Conflict over the World's Resources: Background, Trends, Case Studies, and Considerations for the Future, Greenwood Press (New York, NY), 1988.

The Changing Face of National Security: A Conceptual Analysis, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1994.

Deadly Transfers and the Global Playground: Transnational Security Threats in a Disorderly World, Praeger (Westport, CT), 1999.

Armies without States: The Privatization of Security, L. Rienner (Boulder, CO), 2002.

Security, Strategy, and the Quest for Bloodless War, Lynne Rienner Publishers (Boulder, CO), 2004.

The Meaning of Military Victory, Lynne Rienner Publishers (Boulder, CO), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Robert Mandel is a social scientist and expert in international affairs. He has written extensively about various aspects of international affairs with an emphasis on national security, international conflict, the military, and war. For example, Deadly Transfers and the Global Playground: Transnational Security Threats in a Disorderly World examines the causes and consequences of deadly transfers involving such things as weapons, drugs, hazardous materials, infectious diseases, illegal immigrants, and information disruptions (for example, computer viruses). In his analysis of the new global security environment, the author starts by looking at the overall nature of the security and the transfers that occur within that environment. He goes on to analyze the causes and consequences of these transfers, failure to control them, and the international hypocrisy associated with them. He also presents his ideas for improving responses to deadly transfers.

In the process of his discussion, the author shows that there are three primary players in deadly transfers: "unruly perpetrators, ineffective monitors, and not-always-innocent victims," as noted by Chris McHorney in the American Political Science Review. The author delves into the behaviors of these players and why monitors of such transfers are often unsuccessful in preventing them. He also examines why such international transfers have increased over the years. To illustrate his points, the author incorporates six case studies that highlight the scope and security ramifications of such transfers. One case study focuses on hazardous materials that include both toxic waste and military-grade uranium and plutonium. "Those interested in a thought-provoking analysis of covert transnational transfers should read this book," wrote McHorney in the American Political Science Review. "Mandel addresses a very complex and challenging problem in a manner that is certain to encourage discussion among scholars and policymakers."

In his 2006 book, The Meaning of Military Victory, the author reexamines the concept of military victory in the modern age. The author's primary focus is on how the concept of victory has evolved as the nature of international conflicts has changed across time, circumstance, and culture, especially with the rise of nontraditional wars in recent decades. In the author's view, it is essential to understand exactly what victory means in order to insure that there is no policy paralysis, loss of public support, foreign policy failures, and escalating postwar violence.

"Mandel … concedes that victory is inherently subjective, but he postulates two different forms of victory: military victory and strategic victory," noted Jeffrey Record in a review of The Meaning of Military Victory in Parameters. In the process of delineating the difference between military and strategic victory, the author discusses issues such as war crimes, self-determination, reconstruction, social transformation, and national security. He ultimately concludes that, in the modern age of conflict, victory should be viewed more in political terms than in ideas of military dominance. To illustrate his arguments, the author includes numerous case studies of military actions, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and the subsequent ongoing conflict there. Noting the increasing difficulty in attaining unquestionable military and political victories, the author argues that the United States would be better off abandoning a policy of interventionism except in the most extreme cases where other alternatives are either unavailable or impractical.

"The Meaning of Military Victory not only systematically and insightfully tackles a topic that deserves far more attention than it has received; it also explains the roots of the American foreign policy debacle in Iraq," wrote Record in Parameters. Lawrence D. Freedman, writing in Foreign Affairs, noted that the author "has sensible things to say about the morality of winning and … how the conduct of war influences outcomes."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Political Science Review, December, 1988, John W. Burton, review of Irrationality in International Confrontation, p. 1421; December, 2000, Chris McHorney, review of Deadly Transfers and the Global Playground: Transnational Security Threats in a Disorderly World, p. 994.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May, 1989, Joe P. Dunn, review of Irrationality in International Confrontation, p. 152.

Choice, December, 1987, review of Irrationality in International Confrontation, p. 686; April, 1995, A.C. Tuttle, review of The Changing Face of National Security: A Conceptual Analysis, p. 1374; October, 1999, R.E. O'Connor, review of Deadly Transfers and the Global Playground, p. 406; February, 2007, W.W. Newmann, review of The Meaning of Military Victory, p. 1054.

Foreign Affairs, annual, 1989, review of Conflict over the World's Resources: Background, Trends, Case Studies, and Considerations for the Future, p. 191; January-February, 2007, Lawrence D. Freedman, review of The Meaning of Military Victory, p. 161.

International Affairs, May, 2003, Bryan Mabee, review of Armies without States: The Privatization of Security, pp. 657-658.

International History Review, September, 2000, Frederic S. Pearson, review of Deadly Transfers and the Global Playground, p. 783.

International Studies Quarterly, October, 1995, Raimo Vayrynen, review of The Changing Face of National Security, p. 259.

Parameters, summer, 2007, Jeffrey Record, review of The Meaning of Military Victory, p. 123.

Perspective, spring, 1989, review of Conflict over the World's Resources, p. 83.

Reference & Research Book News, June, 1995, review of The Changing Face of National Security, p. 58; August, 1999, review of Deadly Transfers and the Global Playground, p. 177; August, 2002, review of Armies without States, p. 216; November, 2004, review of Security, Strategy, and the Quest for Bloodless War, p. 251; November, 2006, review of The Meaning of Military Victory.