Coercion ― The Power to Hurt in International Politics

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.

Kelly M. Greenhill is Associate Professor and Director of International Relations at Tufts University and Research Fellow at Harvard University. She is author of Weapons of Mass Migration: Forced Displacement, Coercion and Foreign Policy, winner of the 2011 International Studies Association Best Book of the Year Award, and numerous other books, articles and opinion pieces on international security and foreign policy. As a 2017 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, Greenhill is completing a new book on the influence of rumors, conspiracy theories, propaganda and other sources of "extra-factual information" in international politics.

Peter Krause is an assistant professor of political science at Boston College and a Research Affiliate with the MIT Security Studies Program. He is the author of Rebel Power: Why National Movements Compete, Fight and Win (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2017) and has published articles on the threat of terrorism, modern territorial conquest, the effectiveness of political violence, U.S. intervention in the Syrian civil war, and the war of ideas in the Middle East. Krause has conducted extensive fieldwork throughout the Middle East over the past decade. He regularly offers his analysis of Middle East politics and political violence with national and local media. You can read more about Peter Krause and his research at peterjpkrause.com.