Melanie W. Sisson is Senior Fellow with the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, USA. James A. Siebens is a Research Associate with the Stimson Center’s Defense Strategy and Planning Program, Washington, DC, USA. Barry M. Blechman co-founded the Stimson Center in 1989, and chaired its board until 2004.
So often, revisions fall short of distinguished predecessors. In this case, we see brilliance built on brilliance as the seminal work, Force Without War, is brought up to the present by a trenchant team of scholars and practitioners. This new volume will clearly become a well-thumbed textbook in our nation's war colleges and military academies. As a combatant commander in both Latin America at US Southern Command and later in four years as NATO Supreme Allied Commander, I often turned to the original study -- this new book will illuminate the path ahead for my successors in senior command. ---Admiral Jim Stavridis (USN ret.) The post-Cold War era will soon be as long as the Cold War was. Military Coercion and US Foreign Policy could not be more timely. It is not only a masterful updating of a classic study, but a thorough and wide-ranging assessment of the relevance - real and perceived - of American military power in a world where interests, adversaries, and conflicts interact in more complicated ways than ever. --- Richard K. Betts, Columbia University, USA This impressive edited volume updates one of the classic books on coercion as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, bringing Force Without War up to the present day and providing key lessons for the future. It combines statistical analysis with detailed case studies, written by noted experts, to show where and how military coercion can help achieve U.S. national objectives without resorting to large-scale military operations. Its findings will be especially helpful for the policymakers charged with navigating through today's turbulent strategic environment, and finding ways to successfully compete with Russia, China, and others without escalating into major war. --- Dr. Nora Bensahel, Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, USA, and Contributing Editor War on the Rocks