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The Dismal Battlefield: Mobilizing for Economic Conflict

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This book proposes that there are five sources of national power -- social, psychological, political, military and economic. Three of these instruments, the political, military and economic are most often translated into force. (E.g. Coercive diplomacy, military warfare, economic sanctions.) Nations have devoted great resources to the preparation for and study of political and military force. Nations (to include the United States) have devoted almost no energy or resources to the preparation for and study of the use of economic force. Such neglect has rendered our decision makers, defense and economic intellectuals dangerous in the employment of this instrument or for combatting a coercive economic threat. There is an urgent requirement that the U.S. decision making mechanisms, bureaucracy, and educational and training institutions be reorganized to focus on a more productive use of this coercive instrument. This book does not advocate a wider use of sanctions or other economic instruments, but does advocate a more selective, more proficient use of this power, and prescribes approaches to that end. (John C. Scharfen, author of Dismal Battlefield)