Air Power: A Decisive Coercive Strategy?

Abstract

Over the last 15 years US military and political leaders have turned to air power as the primary or sole military instrument of power during many conflicts. Air power is viewed as a rapid and low risk option to be used in a coercive strategy. This paper examines air power's role during Operation ALLIED FORCE in Kosovo and the recent Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in southern Lebanon. This paper defines the concept of coercive strategy and considers two case studies to see how effective air power was to actually compel an adversary leader to change his/her behavior. The paper analyzes air power's contributions to bringing the conflicts to an end, but also looks at other external factors that may have contributed to the successful application of a coercive strategy. The conclusion from this paper indicate that air power, by itself, is seldom the sole instrument to be used in a coercive strategy to compel an adversary.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 23, 2006
Accession Number
ADA463629

Entities

People

  • David G. Van Der Veer Jr.

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Air Strikes
  • Aircrafts
  • Case Studies
  • Combat Operations
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • New York
  • Sectarian Violence
  • Terrorists
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • International Relations and Conflict Resolution
  • Strategic Security Studies