It places the effort to understand the phenomenon of asymmetrical conflict on a sounder foundation and should be accessible to the larger community of experts interested in the issue. -- R. Craig Nation, U.S. Army War College There are good traditional histories and there are major quantitatively-oriented data bases that feed theory construction, but no study has effectively combined the two. In this respect, the author has written a pioneering work. -- Bruce W. Menning, Command and General Staff College

In a sophisticated combination of quantitative research and two in-depth case studies, Larisa Deriglazova surveys armed conflicts post World War II in which one power is much stronger than the other. She then focuses on the experiences of British decolonization after World War II and the United States in the 2003 Iraq war. Great Powers, Small Wars employs several large databases to identify basic characteristics and variables of wars between enemies of disproportionate power. Case studies examine the economics, domestic politics, and international factors that ultimately shaped military events more than military capacity and strategy.