Coercion, Survival, and War

In asymmetric interstate conflicts, great powers have the capability to coerce weak states by threatening their survival-but not vice versa. It is therefore the great power that decides whether to escalate a conflict into a crisis by adopting a coercive strategy. In practice, however, the coercive strategies of the US have frequently failed. In this volume, Phil Haun chronicles 30 asymmetric interstate crises involving the US from 1918 to 2003.