Secret Statecraft

Abstract

Secret statecraft can confer a strategic advantage in terms of mitigating counter measures by powerful states capable of defeating a states policy. Secret negotiations, fait accompli policies, strategic ambiguity, and secret treaties are examples of secret statecraft. Despite an overall successful track record, secret statecraft is only a small percentage of the statecraft that is conducted. An assessment of the consequences of secret statecraft reveals that secrecy breeds illegitimacy in a democracy by undermining popular support for democratic governments. The violation of trust between the government and the governed that secrecy precipitates is more profound in a democracy than a totalitarian government.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 24, 2017
Accession Number
AD1176564

Entities

People

  • Erik Olerud

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alliances
  • Arms Control
  • Department Of State
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • Military Operations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Public Policy
  • Security
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Ussr
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Cybersecurity.
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.