Strategic Studies
Strategic studies analyses the role of force and strategy in international politics — military power, deterrence, and the conduct of war.
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Scope
It covers strategic theory, deterrence and coercion, nuclear strategy, and the relationship between military means and political ends.
Core questions
- How does military force serve political ends?
- How does deterrence work?
- How should strategy be conceived?
- What is the role of nuclear weapons in strategy?
Key concepts
- Deterrence
- Coercion
- War as politics
- Nuclear strategy
- Compellence
- Escalation
Key theories
- The theory of war
- Clausewitz analysed war as the continuation of politics by other means.
- Strategy as bargaining
- Schelling applied game theory to deterrence, coercion, and the strategy of conflict.
History
Strategic studies draws on Clausewitz's theory of war and, in the nuclear age, Schelling's game-theoretic analysis of deterrence and coercion.
Debates
- Are nuclear weapons stabilizing?
- Whether nuclear deterrence makes major war less likely or raises catastrophic risks.
Key figures
- Carl von Clausewitz
- Thomas Schelling
Related topics
Seminal works
- clausewitz-1832
- schelling-1960
Frequently asked questions
- What is deterrence?
- Preventing an adversary's action by threatening costs that outweigh the benefits — central to strategic studies, especially nuclear strategy.