compellence

English

Etymology

compel +‎ -ence

Noun

compellence (uncountable)

1. The act of compelling.

   Coordinate terms: coercion, deterrence

   • 1999, 民主進步黨, 廿一世紀的中國國際硏討會:

     Accordingly, if Beijing desires continued prospects for peaceful reunification with Taipei, then it must cease its strategy of compellence and give Taiwan more international breathing space. Instead of inviting Taiwan's ire with its […]

   • 2003, Forrest E. Morgan, Compellence and the Strategic Culture of Imperial Japan: Implications for Coercive Diplomacy in the Twenty-first Century, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 3:

     Although deterrence and compellence both involve coercion by manipulating the adversary's calculation of costs and benefits, they differ in several crucial respects. Deterrence is a threat intended to keep an adversary from starting something. Compellence is a threat intended to make him do something new or cease doing something he has already begun.

   • 2009, Robert J. Art, Kenneth Neal Waltz, The Use of Force: Military Power and International Politics, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 431:

     Humanitarian operations will more often partake of compellence than deterrence. However, advocates of these operations often seem to imagine they are engaged in deterrence, and thus under-estimate the difficulties.

Alternative forms

• compellance