Deterrence theory is the theory of the skillful nonuse of force

Evidence

Deterrence is concerned with the exploitation of potential force. It is concerned with persuading a potential enemy that he should in his own interest avoid certain courses of activity. There is an important difference between the intellectual skills required for carrying out a military mission and for using potential military capability to pursue a nation’s objectives. A theory of deterrence would be, in effect, a theory of the skillful nonuse of military forces, and for this purpose deterrence requires something broader than military skills. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 29

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines deterrence against the use of force — the pivotal definition distinguishing threat from application.
• APHORISMS: The ‘skillful nonuse’ framing is a genuinely reusable lens for thinking about power exercised through restraint.
• XREF: connects to: the MOC “The Violence That Builds: How Modern Order Is Forged, Not Broken, by Force”

Related

• Threat of force differs from application of force (similarity 0.82)
• Game theory clarifies deterrence problems but remains too abstract to apply directly (similarity 0.79)
• Deterrence theory lacks evidence for effective prediction (similarity 0.79)