From the rising significance of non-state actors to the increasing influence of regional powers, the nature and conduct of international politics has arguably changed dramatically since the height from the Cold War. However much of the literature on deterrence and compellence is constantly on the pull (whether implicitly or explicitly) upon assumptions and precepts formulated in-and predicated upon-politics within a state-centric, bipolar world.

Coercion moves beyond these somewhat hidebound premises and examines the critical problem of coercion in the twenty-first century, with a particular focus on new actors, strategies and objectives within this very outdated bargaining game. The chapters within this quantity examine intra-state, inter-state, and transnational coercion and deterrence as well as both armed service and nonmilitary devices of persuasion, hence expanding our understanding of coercion for issue in the twenty-first century.