IR 360 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Abet
1 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Using Coercive Force in Crisis Management
POSC/IR 360 Crisis Management
Unit Six
Using Coercive Force (when coercive diplomacy fails)
What is Coercive Force? (either the parties are forced to use military power or desire to
use military power for their own reasons)
• Strategy- incorporate it into how you approach problem solving
• Sometimes employed by policymakers- in the realm of instruments to employ
• Hope to secure a peaceful resolution- interested and willing to use military power, but
don’t want to obliterate their opponent (this is not the cold use of warfare)
• More along the lines of using just enough military force to achieve what I want
and then I will negotiate some conclusion
• Serious dispute, not employed lightly
• Involves some sort of provocation
• Threat of force
• No question that this is on the table if the problem is not resolved
• Defensive rather than offensive (but you don’t lead with the punch and then offer
explanations later)
• A bad thing has already been done, and so I am compelled to use force to stop it
• Understand defensive use intellectually but does not happen in reality very often
• Cease action rather than prevent it – not deterrence
Aspects:
1. Demands of an opponent- you need to know your opponent
• What to demand of an opponent that will be successfully implemented
• Whether or how to create a sense of urgency so that they take you seriously and
respond in a timely fashion
• Punishment for non-compliance to your demand assuming that they do not want to
comply
• Whether to rely solely on threat of punishment or some positive inducement (is there
a carrot that will make them more amenable to what you want?)
2. Ultimatum
• Demand on an opponent
• Time limit
• Threat of punishment for non-compliance
3. Tacit ultimatum- always missing one of the three elements, and may not be overtly stated
or lacking in clarity of signaling
4. Try-and-see approach- usually invoked by countries that usually just do not know what
to do
a. Don’t know what to do right now and this situation
b. There might be no other way to know in this situation
5. Turning of the screw- I just gradually turn up the pressure, and make the atmosphere
increasingly hot and eventually my opponent will begin to bend
How Is It Used?
• The importance of words and actions- what you say and the actions you undertake
dramatically influence the effectiveness of coercive force
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
If both fail, it is clear you have to move to level two: coercion- striker has to put up or shut up; have to engage in coercive action, accommodation is reached. If there is a huge gulf between the parties it is hard to see where they will meet in the middle. If you think they are weak, you can bluff and get advantages from it. Key issues: (things that are true all the time, they are always present: clarity of the objective- do i know what i want to achieve. Its there or its not there: adequate domestic and international support. Its there or its not there: either a lot of people are paying attention or they aren"t, opponent"s fear of unacceptable escalation, what is your opponent worried about. If you cannot escalate with your opponent it is time to back down, cut your losses. Does this approach work: maybe, the case is strong if certain criteria are met.
