Coercion: The Power to Hurt in International Politics (Paperback)

From the rising significance of non-state actors to the increasing influence of regional powers, the nature and conduct of international politics has arguably changed dramatically since the height of the Cold War. Yet much of the literature on deterrence and compellence continues to draw (whether implicitly or explicitly) upon assumptions and precepts formulated in-and predicated upon-politics in a state-centric, bipolar world.

Coercion moves beyond these somewhat hidebound premises and examines the critical issue of coercion in the 21st century, with a particular focus on new actors, strategies and objectives in this very old bargaining game. The chapters in this volume examine intra-state, inter-state, and transnational coercion and deterrence as well as both military and non-military instruments of persuasion, thus expanding our understanding of coercion for conflict in the 21st century.

Scholars have analyzed the causes, dynamics, and effects of coercion for decades, but previous works have principally focused on a single state employing conventional military means to pressure another state to alter its behavior. In contrast, this volume captures fresh developments, both theoretical and policy relevant. This chapters in this volume focus on tools (terrorism, sanctions, drones, cyber warfare, intelligence, and forced migration), actors (insurgents, social movements, and NGOs) and mechanisms (trilateral coercion, diplomatic and economic isolation, foreign-imposed regime change, coercion of nuclear proliferators, and two-level games) that have become more prominent in recent years, but which have yet to be extensively or systematically addressed in either academic or policy literatures.


"A state's power to compel or deter other states to either act or refrain from acting has been a foundational source of world politics since the time of Thucydides. Yet the specific features of deterrence and compellence constantly change in accordance with historical development. In our own lifetimes, for instance, the rising significance of non-state actors and the increasing influence of regional powers have dramatically transformed international politics since the height of the Cold War. Yet much of the existing literature on deterrence and compellence continues to draw, whether implicitly or explicitly, upon assumptions and precepts formulated in a state-centric, bipolar world. Although contemporary coercion frequently features multiple coercers targeting state and non-state adversaries with non-military instruments of persuasion, most literature on coercion still focuses primarily on cases where a single state is trying to coerce another single state via traditional military means. In The Power to Hurt, the leading international relations scholars Kelly M. Greenhill and Peter Krause have gathered together an eminent cast of contributors (e.g., Bob Art, Dan Drezner, Alex Downes, Erik Gartzke, and others) to produce what promises to be a field-shaping work on one of IR's most essential subjects: coercion, whether in the form of compellence, deterrence, or a mix of the two. The volume moves beyond these traditional premises and examines the critical issue of coercion in the 21st century, capturing fresh theoretical and policy relevant developments and drawing upon data and cases from across time and around the globe" --