International Military Education and Global Security Dynamics

This book examines how international military education shapes global security dynamics and foreign policy decisions. Unlike existing scholarship that typically studies military education programs from different sponsors in isolation of each other, this book employs a comprehensive network approach to capture the competitive nature of international military education.

It reveals how multiple sponsoring states simultaneously compete for influence, affecting everything from the establishment of education relationships to graduates' career trajectories and eventual foreign policy decisions. Drawing on original datasets, social network analysis, and case studies from Ghana, Tanzania, and Kenya, the book demonstrates that leaders’ personal international military education experiences significantly shape their state's foreign policy decisions. By situating military education within hegemonic socialization theory, the book provides a nuanced understanding of how this understudied practice functions as a critical tool of statecraft in an increasingly competitive global environment.

The findings offer actionable insights for navigating today's complex geopolitical landscape, including U.S.-China-Russia competition and France's declining influence in West Africa. This book will appeal to scholars and students of international relations and security studies, professionals in military education institutions, and policymakers engaged in defense diplomacy and African foreign policy.