Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

Credibility is Not Enough: The Failure of U.S. Compellent Threats, 1945–2011

Open to the Public

Why when the United States issues compellent threats against weak states like Iraq and Serbia do they frequently resist? This seminar demonstrates that U.S. compellent threats fail because they are not costly for the United States, and thus they are not effective signals that the United States is highly motivated to prevail over the targets of its threats.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
In this May 12, 1999, U.S. Navy handout photo, air traffic controllers monitor the radar screens of the Air Operations Center aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in support of airstrikes against Yugoslavia.

About

Why when the United States issues compellent threats against weak states like Iraq and Serbia do they frequently resist? This seminar demonstrates that U.S. compellent threats fail because they are not costly for the United States, and thus they are not effective signals that the United States is highly motivated to prevail over the targets of its threats. Because Americans are unwilling to pay the human, financial, and political costs of employing force against small states, it is time for policymakers to develop a more restrained grand strategy for the United States.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.