Conventional Coercion Across the Spectrum of Operations The Utility of US Military Forces in the Emerging Security Environment
Abstract
The United States, despite its unrivaled political and military power in the post-Cold War era, faces an international security environment inherently more ambiguous and potentially less stable than at any time since the end of World War II. Furthermore, because of the inherent complexity of the situation-coupled with the absence of the principal organizing intellectual construct for the uses of national power that guided the containment of the Soviet Union during the Cold War-the United States has found itself largely in a reactive posture, forced to deal with each challenge on a case-by-case basis and often with only brief warning. One of the central questions facing policymakers engaged in formulating national security policy is that of crafting strategies-and shaping the military forces to execute the strategies-to deter future conflict. This report is intended to provide an introduction to the coercive use of conventional military power for military and civilian professionals involved in the practical application of such power. It focuses on conventional coercion, employing two approaches in the assessment of which force capabilities and conditions are most likely to coerce a potential enemy or lead to his early defeat. First, we reviewed the literature on coercion to identify relevant theory, developed working definitions, and located conflict databases and assessed their utility. Although we provide definitions for coercion that include all the elements of national power (diplomatic, economic, informational, and military), we concentrate on the utility of military power as a coercive instrument in deterrence and compellence-and if coercion falls, conflict termination. Second, we selected and analyzed cases (both U.S. and foreign, successes and failures) that would provide insights into conventional coercion across the spectrum of military operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA412052
Entities
People
- David E. Johnson
- Karl P. Mueller
- William H. Taft V
Organizations
- RAND Corporation