Synthesized answer
The central thesis of Thomas C. Schelling's "Arms and Influence" is that military power, particularly in the context of nuclear weapons, is not primarily an instrument of war but a form of bargaining power [1]. The book focuses on how military capabilities, whether real or imagined, are employed as bargaining tools [1, 2].
Schelling argues that the skillful or clumsy exploitation of this bargaining power constitutes diplomacy, which he refers to as "the diplomacy of violence" [1]. He views actions taken during international crises not just as preparations for conflict but as signals intended to communicate with an adversary, with intelligence reports from the enemy's own military being crucial diplomatic communications [1].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
Title: Arms and influence by Thomas C. Schelling Description: Traditionally, Americans have viewed war as an alternative to diplomacy, and military strategy as the science of victory. Today, however, in our world of nuclear weapons, military power is not so much exercised as threatened. It is, Mr. Schelling says, bargaining power, and the exploitation of this power, for good or evil, to preserve peace or to threaten war, is diplomacy - the diplomacy of violence. The author concentrates in this book on the way in which military capabilites - real or imagined - are used, skillfully or…
hose who have taken refuge in stereotypes and moral attitudinizing."--Gordon A. Craig, New York Times Book Review Originally published more than fifty years ago, this landmark book explores the ways in which military capabilities--real or imagined--are used, skillfully or clumsily, as bargaining power. Anne-Marie Slaughter's new introduction to the work shows how Schelling's framework--conceived of in a time of superpowers and mutually assured destruction--still applies to our multipolar world, where wars are fought as much online as on the ground. Categories: Political Science Pages:…