The exercise of force by great powers should be classified according to the category of foreign actor being dealt with. For instance, when dealing with non-state actors, the deployment of force is an exercise of ‘pacification’. The counterpart is of course guerrilla warfare or insurgency. It is the only available option to security actors who are too weak to raise conventional armies. The line between conventional armies and rebel militias is murky. The rebel militia will, as soon as the state relinquishes power, become a ‘state actor’. The important point is that pacification is the natural state of an empire at the periphery: only in exceptional circumstances does the territorial control exercised by an imperial Metropole at the periphery fail to elicit armed resistance. The Romans, the British, the Mughals, and so on, were constantly engaged in pacification operations in remote margins of their empire. When the imperial Metropole decays and its ability to impose its will weakens, unrest spreads in the periphery, and rebels gain ground. If the empire collapses due to internal decay, therefore, it looks as if it had been brought down by ‘barbarians’. For instance, Max Boot glowingly
The Role of Coercive Diplomacy
The Role of Coercive Diplomacy
The Role of Coercive Diplomacy
The exercise of force by great powers should be classified according to the category of foreign actor being dealt with. For instance, when dealing with non-state actors, the deployment of force is an exercise of ‘pacification’. The counterpart is of course guerrilla warfare or insurgency. It is the only available option to security actors who are too weak to raise conventional armies. The line between conventional armies and rebel militias is murky. The rebel militia will, as soon as the state relinquishes power, become a ‘state actor’. The important point is that pacification is the natural state of an empire at the periphery: only in exceptional circumstances does the territorial control exercised by an imperial Metropole at the periphery fail to elicit armed resistance. The Romans, the British, the Mughals, and so on, were constantly engaged in pacification operations in remote margins of their empire. When the imperial Metropole decays and its ability to impose its will weakens, unrest spreads in the periphery, and rebels gain ground. If the empire collapses due to internal decay, therefore, it looks as if it had been brought down by ‘barbarians’. For instance, Max Boot glowingly