| Coercive diplomacy is a strategy utilized by states of a threat or limited use of force designed to persuade an opponent or adversary to stop or reverse an action. The limited number of studies of groups of states attempting coercive diplomacy has shown that group interactions make success much less likely. This dissertation attempts to answer the question of whether coalitions can successfully conduct coercive diplomacy. No agreement has been reached on what makes for a successful coercive diplomacy strategy. This study distills to five those elements thought to contribute to success. A series of questions is put forward to determine how group interactions affect the presence, absence, or value of these five elements, and how collective action difficulties are overcome.; The focused comparative case study method was used to examine two historical crises---the UN involvement in the Congo and the Katanga secession in 1960--63 and the international community's involvement in the Bosnian civil war from 1992--95. Between the two crises, ten instances of attempted coercive diplomacy by groups are examined. The results are that coalitions succeeded in five out of ten cases in formulating and carrying out successful coercive diplomacy strategies. The groups were able to assemble strategies containing all five elements in four of ten cases, but this did not correlate perfectly with success or failure. All five elements being present almost always led to success but some elements being missing did not necessarily lead to failure. Several methods were successfully used to overcome these collective action problems that led to missing or weak elements. One was the formation of a subgroup within the larger group that was willing to pay the costs required to carry out the strategy. A second was the use of an international organization to take steps, such as setting a deadline, which member states could not agree upon. A final method that helped to overcome group differences was the adoption of an escalatory strategy, often responding to catalytic events on the ground to move up rungs. In sum, coalitions can conduct coercive diplomacy although it remains a difficult proposition. |
