Branislav L. Slantchev - Military Threats; The Costs of Coercion and the Price of Peace (2011).pdf - Historia(2) - sashakiev500

Military Threats

Is military power central in determining which states get their voice heard? Must

states run a high risk of war to communicate credible intent? Slantchev shows

that states can often obtain concessions without incurring higher risks when

they use military threats. Unlike diplomatic forms of communication, physical

military moves improve a state’s expected performance in war. If the opponent

believes the threat, it will be more likely to back down. Military moves are also

inherently costly, so only resolved states are willing to pay these costs. Slantchev

argues that powerful states can secure better peaceful outcomes and lower the

risk of war, but the likelihood of war depends on the extent to which a state is

prepared to use military threats to deter challenges to peace and compel conces-

sions without ﬁ ghting. The price of peace may therefore be large: states invest in

military forces that are both costly and unused.

BRANISLAV L . SLANTCHEV is Associate Professor in the Department of

Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. He specializes in the

use of game theory to study international conﬂ ict, negotiations, and the political

economy of war ﬁ nance.

Military Threats

The Costs of Coercion and

the Price of Peace

Branislav L. Slantchev

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

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São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo, Mexico City

Cambridge University Press

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Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521763189

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permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 201

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ISBN 978-0-521-76318-9 Hardback

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Branislav L. Slantchev - Military Threats; The Costs of Coercion and the Price of Peace (2011).pdf