Arms and Influence

The focus of the book is put straightforwardly: "To be coercive, violence has to be anticipated. And it has to be avoidable by accommodation. The power to hurt is bargaining power. To exploit it is diplomacy--vicious diplomacy, but diplomacy." This book was first published in 1966 and it is a realpolitik examination of the use of coercive power in diplomacy. Important issues addressed include the centrality of making clear one's commitments, manipulating risk, the use of military action in bargaining. . . . A classic from the 1960s that can make for uncomfortable reading but which illustrates the hardball conceptualization of what we might term coercive diplomacy.

... because you can see some of the flaws in retrospect.Arms & Influence is a little repetitive, but still a fascinating look at the way countries can use war, violence, threats and generally nasty behavior to get what they want. Schelling analyzes war in terms of "bargaining" - i.e. we'll hit you this hard now to show we mean it, and ten times harder if you don't give us what you want next week. The theory explains a lot - but if you take it too far it can be too clever by half. One of his examples of a precise, well-considered and effective strike intended to deliver a clear message that an adversary would have to recognize is the Johnson Administration's retaliation for the Tonkin Gulf incident. The book was written in early 1965.

I read this book for a political science class in advanced international relations theory. Even considering the topic of the class, I couldn't put this book down. Schelling writes for the average reader on subjects everybody can use in their daily lives, and applies them to international relations. Regardless of your area of study, this book offers something for everybody.