Coercion and foreign policy

This chapter explores how scholars define coercion as a foreign policy action. By doing so, it addresses the difference between deterrence and compellence. The major distinctions and differences between these definitions depend on whether a threat is actually carried out or not as well as on whether the aim is to prevent the target from taking a given action or to force them to cease on-going behaviour. The chapter addresses the question of which actors actually are able to coerce: individuals, the state, a coalition of states, or a combination of these actors. In addition, the chapter examines when coercion is used, the range of coercive strategies that can be employed (ranging from military force to economic sanctions), and the conditions under which coercion succeeds.