Most cited papers in Military and Defense Studies

Military and Defense Studies

What are the most cited papers in Military and Defense Studies?

The most cited paper in Military and Defense Studies is "The Pretty Prudent Public: Post Post-Vietnam American Opinion on the Use of Military Force" (Bruce W. Jentleson, 1992), with 577 citations. Next come "NATO, the UN and the use of force: legal aspects" (527) and "The Civil-Military Problematique: Huntington, Janowitz, and the Question of Civilian Control" (458).

Published TypeAccessCitations

Showing 50 of 99 papers. Every paper with more than 93 citations is listed.

Most cited papers, sortable by citations and release date
#	Paper
1	The Pretty Prudent Public: Post Post-Vietnam American Opinion on the Use of Military Force Bruce W. Jentleson · International Studies Quarterly	Mar 1992	577
2	NATO, the UN and the use of force: legal aspects Bruno Simma · European Journal of International Law Open access	1999	527
3	The Civil-Military Problematique: Huntington, Janowitz, and the Question of Civilian Control Peter Douglas Feaver · Armed Forces & Society	1996	458
4	Unmanned aircraft systems: Surveillance, ethics and privacy in civil applications Rachel L. Finn, David G. Wright · Computer law & security review	24 Mar 2012	416
5	The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States James J. Wirtz · Political Science Quarterly	2004	413
6	The market for force : the consequences of privatizing security Deborah Avant, Cambridge University Press	2005	344
7	Soldiers in Politics: Military Coups and Governments, by Eric A. Nordlinger John Samuel Fitch · Political Science Quarterly	1978	322
8	From Preponderance to Offshore Balancing: America's Future Grand Strategy Christopher M. Layne · International Security	Jul 1997	289
9	Conceptualizing Security Governance Elke Krahmann · Cooperation and Conflict	Mar 2003	252
10	BURDEN SHARING, STRATEGY, AND THE DESIGN OF NATO Todd M. Sandler, John Forbes · Economic Inquiry	Jul 1980	248
11	Emergency relief logistics: an evaluation of military, non-military and composite response models S. J. Pettit, Anthony Kenneth Charles Beresford · International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications Open access	Dec 2005	243
12	What Is a Military Occupation? Alasdair S. Roberts · British Yearbook of International Law	1985	238
13	Private Security and Public Policing David S. Wall · Crime Prevention and Community Safety	Oct 1999	235
14	Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War Andrew J. Bacevich	3 Aug 2010	230
15	Organizing for Homeland Security after Katrina: Is Adaptive Management What’s Missing? Charles R. Wise · Public Administration Review	May 2006	227
16	Recourse to Force: State Action against Threats and Armed Attacks Thomas M. Franck	2002	222
17	Public-private partnerships in national cyber-security strategies Madeline Carr · International Affairs	2016	221
18	The Power to Construct International Security: On the Significance of Private Military Companies Anna Leander · Millennium Journal of International Studies Open access	Jun 2005	218
19	Counterinsurgency: Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War Douglas Porch Open access	11 Jul 2013	212
20	Journalistic Work: A Profession Under Pressure? Tamara Witschge, Gunnar Nygren · Journal of Media Business Studies Open access	Mar 2009	208
21	Distributed Preparedness: The Spatial Logic of Domestic Security in the United States Stephen J. Collier, Andrew Lakoff · Environment and Planning D Society and Space	2008	207
22	Retreat from Doomsday: The Obsolescence of Major War. D’Ann Campbell, John E. Mueller, Paul Seabury et al. · Journal of American History	Jun 1990	205
23	The Right to Be Right: Civil-Military Relations and the Iraq Surge Decision Peter Douglas Feaver · International Security	18 Mar 2011	204
24	Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and Its Ramifications for International Security Peter Warren Singer · International Security	2002	199
25	Legislation and Maintenance of Public Order and Civil Life by Occupying Powers Marco Sassòli · European Journal of International Law Open access	Sep 2005	198
26	‘Hearts and Minds’? British Counter-Insurgency from Malaya to Iraq Paul Dixon · Journal of Strategic Studies Open access	Jun 2009	194
27	Bargaining, communication, and limited war Thomas C. Schelling · Conflict Resolution	Mar 1957	192
28	The vulnerability of UAVs to cyber attacks - An approach to the risk assessment Kim Hartmann, Christoph Steup · International Conference on Cyber Conflict Conference paper	4 Jun 2013	192
29	Russia’s use of semi-state security forces: the case of the Wagner Group Kimberly Zisk Marten · Post-Soviet Affairs Open access	26 Mar 2019	190
30	Modern Warfare: A French View of Counterinsurgency. By Roger Trinquier. New York & London: Frederick Praeger. 1961 (French ed.); 1964 (English ed.). 115 pp. $3.95. Ronald C. Nairn · Pacific Affairs	Dec 1964	190
31	Defendens Imperium Romanum: A Classical Problem in Military Strategy Charles ReVelle, Kenneth E. Rosing · American Mathematical Monthly	Aug 2000	190
32	A U.S.-China Grand Bargain? The Hard Choice between Military Competition and Accommodation Charles L. Glaser · International Security	Apr 2015	186
33	Small footprint, small payoff: The military effectiveness of security force assistance Stephen D. Biddle, Julia M. Macdonald, Ryan T. Baker · Journal of Strategic Studies	12 Apr 2017	176
34	War and Self-Defense David Rodin · Ethics & International Affairs Open access	17 Oct 2002	176
35	The Market for Force and Public Security: The Destabilizing Consequences of Private Military Companies Anna Leander · Journal of Peace Research Open access	18 Aug 2005	167
36	The Legal Validity of Military Intervention by Invitation of the Government Louise Doswald-Beck · British Yearbook of International Law	1986	165
37	Corporate Soldiers and International Security: The Rise of Private Military Companies Christopher Kinsey	2006	165
38	A tainted trade? Moral ambivalence and legitimation work in the private security industry1 Angélica Thumala, Benjamin J. Goold, Ian Loader · British Journal of Sociology	Jun 2011	164
39	Friends Like These: Counterinsurgency and the War on Terrorism Daniel L. Byman · International Security	Oct 2006	162
40	Defense Expenditures, Economic Growth, and the “Peace Dividend” Alex Mintz, Chí Huang · American Political Science Review	Dec 1990	161
41	Security: Collective Good or Commodity? Elke Krahmann · European Journal of International Relations Open access	22 Aug 2008	161
42	Requiem for a lightweight: The Northrop f‐20 strategic initiative Anthony F. Jurkus · Strategic Management Journal	1990	158
43	Occupational Hazards: Why Military Occupations Succeed or Fail David Marc Edelstein · International Security	Jul 2004	156
44	Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014 Hertz-Picciotto, Irva, Berliner, Nancy, Bernstein, Wendy B. et al. · Military Medicine Open access	Jul 2017	154
45	Proxy Warfare and the Future of Conflict Andrew Mumford · The RUSI Journal Open access	Apr 2013	154
46	Transforming company culture Michael J. Barclay Conference paper	1996	152
47	Paradoxes of Professionalism: Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in the United States Risa A. Brooks · International Security	Apr 2020	151
48	Territory and Territoriality in the Global Economy Saskia Sassen · International Sociology	Jun 2000	151
49	Threatening and Otherwise Inappropriate Letters to Members of the United States Congress Park Elliott Dietz, Derrick Matthews, Daniel A. Martell et al. · Journal of Forensic Sciences	Sep 1991	148
50	NATO Burden-Sharing: Past and Future Keith Hartley, Todd M. Sandler · Journal of Peace Research	Nov 1999	146

Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.