The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force.

• Author: Wharton, Miriam

THE BIG STICK: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force

Author: Eliot A. Cohen

Published by: Basic Books, New York, 2016, 286pp, US$27.95.

Despite the misadventures of hard power in places like Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, Eliot Cohen demonstrates in his new book that he remains convinced military force must be an essential part of a states (specifically, the United States') response to issues arising in the contemporary world. He assesses the United States' strength relative to four principal challenges, and advocates for military force as an important part of the answer to those challenges. He concludes by offering a set of six rules for the use of military force (with the caveat that experience may require adaptation).

Cohen sets the scene for his argument by outlining and swiftly dismissing five objections to hard power: that the world is becoming more peaceful and thus there is less need for force; that the balance of power diminishes the need to exercise military force directly; that soft power is an adequate replacement for hard power; that the United States is not very good at hard power and so should not place a particular emphasis on it; and that the so-called isolationist position prioritises domestic needs over international intervention. Like any position in international relations, each of these has its weak points and Cohen seeks those out, but not in much detail. These alternatives to the direct use of military force deserve more nuanced examination than Cohen gives them, but in fairness to the author there are many other books that could be read to get that more balanced perspective.

Cohen is a learned and eloquent writer and his powers are on full display when he lays out the four primary international relations challenges the United States currently faces: the rise of China as a major power; the on-going and serious aggravations and depredations of jihadist movements; regionally bound but still significant exercises in aggressive power by states such as Russia and Iran that display degrees of instability and unpredictability, and the complexity of ungoverned and common spaces (physical and virtual). He demonstrates a keen sense of history's part in shaping those challenges as they exist today. His reflections on the way that imperialism has created power vacuums and anarchic peripheral zones are particularly pertinent when considering current security problems, such as the implosion of Syria...