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LOST IN TRANSLATION: Theories of Military Victory and Strategic Coercion
in the Korean War and Taiwan Strait
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| | Unformatted Document Text:
L
OST IN
T
RANSLATION
:
Theories of Military Victory and Strategic Coercion
in the Korean War and Taiwan Strait
Christopher P. Twomey
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Political Science, Boston College
International Security Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and Int’l Affairs, Harvard
Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political Science, M.I.T.
http://www2.bc.edu/~twomeych/
## email not listed ##
Paper Prepared for
American Political Science Association
Annual Meeting, 2003, Philadelphia, Penn.
August 27, 2003
Abstract: Nations, because of their different strategic situations and histories, can havedramatically different beliefs about the nature of effective military doctrine, strategy, andcapabilities. When such perceptions—or ‘theories of military victory’—differ across states,they can impede international diplomacy and statecraft by making communication moredifficult. This paper assesses hypotheses based on this argument through case study analysisof attempts at strategic coercion in early Cold War Sino-American conflicts in Korea andthe Taiwan Strait. The signaling between the two great powers and the nature of theirintervention in these conflicts depended heavily on their own theories of military victory.These served as lenses impeding the conduct of diplomacy between the two, shaping thesignaling and blurring the interpretation of those signals as well as the overall assessment ofthe balance of power. By providing a unique analytic perspective on military capability, thispaper suggests policymakers need to carefully consider the perceptual framework regardingmilitary effectiveness of those they are trying to influence.
Keywords: military doctrine, deterrence theory, statecraft, signaling, false optimism
Paper in Progress
Comments welcome
Please do not cite without permission
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| | Authors: Twomey, Christopher. |
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| |
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|
L
OST IN
T
RANSLATION
:
Theories of Military Victory and Strategic Coercion
in the Korean War and Taiwan Strait
Christopher P. Twomey
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Political Science, Boston College
International Security Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and Int’l Affairs, Harvard
Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political Science, M.I.T.
http://www2.bc.edu/~twomeych/
## email not listed ##
Paper Prepared for
American Political Science Association
Annual Meeting, 2003, Philadelphia, Penn.
August 27, 2003
Abstract: Nations, because of their different strategic situations and histories, can have
dramatically different beliefs about the nature of effective military doctrine, strategy, and
capabilities. When such perceptions—or ‘theories of military victory’—differ across states,
they can impede international diplomacy and statecraft by making communication more
difficult. This paper assesses hypotheses based on this argument through case study analysis
of attempts at strategic coercion in early Cold War Sino-American conflicts in Korea and
the Taiwan Strait. The signaling between the two great powers and the nature of their
intervention in these conflicts depended heavily on their own theories of military victory.
These served as lenses impeding the conduct of diplomacy between the two, shaping the
signaling and blurring the interpretation of those signals as well as the overall assessment of
the balance of power. By providing a unique analytic perspective on military capability, this
paper suggests policymakers need to carefully consider the perceptual framework regarding
military effectiveness of those they are trying to influence.
Keywords: military doctrine, deterrence theory, statecraft, signaling, false optimism
Paper in Progress
Comments welcome
Please do not cite without permission
|
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