Uses of Force and Wilsonian Foreign Policy

Uses of Force and Wilsonian Foreign Policy Synopsis

Frederick S. Calhoun examines the policies Woodrow Wilson pursued during the seven military interventions he undertook between 1914 and 1919 to develop a specialised vocabulary describing how force is employed as a function of international policy. Calhoun categorises uses of force in five ways: firstly, as protection: a government's resort to armed power in response to specific threats, real or perceived; secondly, as retribution: a government's resort to armed power to chastise another government or organised group operating within another country; thirdly, as solution: a government's resort to armed power to resolve a problem with another government or organised group operating in a foreign country; fourth, as introduction: a government's resort to armed power to compel or inaugurate negotiations with another government or organised group operating in a foreign company; and finally, as association: a government's resort to armed power to ally itself with specific governments or groups or in response to demands from its allies. This vocabulary allows for a concise description of most military interventions and presents comparative terms for analysing interventions within a larger context.