Cheap Threats

Why the United States Struggles to Coerce Weak States

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International, International Security, International Relations, History, Military, United States
Cover of the book Cheap Threats by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain, Georgetown University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain ISBN: 9781626162839
Publisher: Georgetown University Press Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: Georgetown University Press Language: English
Author: Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
ISBN: 9781626162839
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: Georgetown University Press
Language: English

Why do weak states resist threats of force from the United States, especially when history shows that this superpower carries out its ultimatums? Cheap Threats upends conventional notions of power politics and challenges assumptions about the use of compellent military threats in international politics.

Drawing on an original dataset of US compellence from 1945 to 2007 and four in-depth case studies—the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 2011 confrontation with Libya, and the 1991 and 2003 showdowns with Iraq—Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain finds that US compellent threats often fail because threatening and using force became comparatively “cheap” for the United States after the Cold War. Becoming the world’s only superpower and adopting a new light-footprint model of war, which relied heavily on airpower and now drones, have reduced the political, economic, and human costs that US policymakers face when they go to war. Paradoxically, this lower-cost model of war has cheapened US threats and fails to signal to opponents that the United States is resolved to bear the high costs of a protracted conflict. The result: small states gamble, often unwisely, that the United States will move on to a new target before achieving its goals.

Cheap Threats resets the bar for scholars and planners grappling with questions of state resolve, hegemonic stability, effective coercion, and other issues pertinent in this new era of US warfighting and diplomacy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Why do weak states resist threats of force from the United States, especially when history shows that this superpower carries out its ultimatums? Cheap Threats upends conventional notions of power politics and challenges assumptions about the use of compellent military threats in international politics.

Drawing on an original dataset of US compellence from 1945 to 2007 and four in-depth case studies—the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 2011 confrontation with Libya, and the 1991 and 2003 showdowns with Iraq—Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain finds that US compellent threats often fail because threatening and using force became comparatively “cheap” for the United States after the Cold War. Becoming the world’s only superpower and adopting a new light-footprint model of war, which relied heavily on airpower and now drones, have reduced the political, economic, and human costs that US policymakers face when they go to war. Paradoxically, this lower-cost model of war has cheapened US threats and fails to signal to opponents that the United States is resolved to bear the high costs of a protracted conflict. The result: small states gamble, often unwisely, that the United States will move on to a new target before achieving its goals.

Cheap Threats resets the bar for scholars and planners grappling with questions of state resolve, hegemonic stability, effective coercion, and other issues pertinent in this new era of US warfighting and diplomacy.

More books from Georgetown University Press

Cover of the book NATO in Search of a Vision by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Salafism in Lebanon by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Oil and Wilderness in Alaska by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Love and Christian Ethics by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Exporting Security by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Climate Change and National Security by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book The Congressional Budget Office by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Tradition and Modernity by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Cyber Blockades by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book The Changing Landscape of Spanish Language Curricula by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Attacking Terrorism by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Bridging Troubled Waters by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Collaborative Public Management by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book Vaults, Mirrors, and Masks by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
Cover of the book A Balm for Gilead by Dianne Pfundstein Chamberlain
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy