Reid Pauly's Avatar

Reid Pauly

@reidpauly.bsky.social

Assistant Professor of Nuclear Security and Policy at Brown University

70 Followers  |  10 Following  |  11 Posts  |  Joined: 17.11.2023  |  1.965

Latest posts by reidpauly.bsky.social on Bluesky

I joined @nktpnd.bsky.social on his @warontherocks.bsky.social podcast “Thinking the Unthinkable” to talk about my new book: The Art of Coercion.

And here’s the book (the ebook is free!):
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

17.09.2025 19:22 — 👍 10    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
The Art of Coercion by Reid B. C. Pauly | Paperback | Cornell University Press The Art of Coercion presents a fresh explanation for the success—and failure—of coercive demands in international politics.Strong states are surprisingly bad at coercion. History shows they prevail...

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

02.09.2025 15:11 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Diplomacy, security, and the “Art of Coercion” Quickly and easily listen to Trending Globally: Politics and Policy for free!

I spoke with Brown’s Trending Globally podcast about my new book, “The Art of Coercion”

player.captivate.fm/episode/f84b...

02.09.2025 15:11 — 👍 0    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
Preview
The Art of Coercion by Reid B. C. Pauly | Paperback | Cornell University Press The Art of Coercion presents a fresh explanation for the success—and failure—of coercive demands in international politics.Strong states are surprisingly bad at coercion. History shows they prevail...

My @brownupolisci.bsky.social colleagues in IR are having an amazing run of book publishing this summer. Quick thread to celebrate them (1/6) First up, @reidpauly.bsky.social book on the surprisingly tricky task of international coercion

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

26.08.2025 19:03 — 👍 8    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
Post image

I just received my first copy of the book!

27.08.2025 02:03 — 👍 473    🔁 69    💬 39    📌 14
Preview
The Art of Coercion Reid Pauly’s new book "The Art of Coercion" explains why strong states often fail to force compliance in international politics.

Why do strong states so often fail to bend rivals to their will?

@reidpauly.bsky.social’s new book, The Art of Coercion, reveals the missing piece: threats only work if paired with credible assurances.

Learn more:

25.08.2025 14:10 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
The Art of Coercion by Reid B. C. Pauly | Paperback | Cornell University Press The Art of Coercion presents a fresh explanation for the success—and failure—of coercive demands in international politics.Strong states are surprisingly bad at coercion. History shows they prevail...

The book:
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

18.08.2025 12:53 — 👍 0    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Reid B. C. Pauly, "The Art of Coercion: Credible Threats and the Assurance Dilemma" (Cornell UP, 2025) - New Books Network

I spoke with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
about my new book: THE ART OF COERCION

Thanks for having me on the podcast!

newbooksnetwork.com/the-art-of-c...

18.08.2025 12:53 — 👍 1    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0

@watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social @brownupolisci.bsky.social ‪
@ssp-mit.bsky.social @dartmouthdickey.bsky.social @stanfordcisac.bsky.social @bridgingthegap.bsky.social

15.08.2025 15:34 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't: The Assurance Dilemma in International Coercion Abstract. Why do some coercive demands succeed but others fail? A dominant paradigm explains coercive outcomes by pointing to the credibility and severity of threats. The concept of coercive assurance...

And thank you @intsecurity.bsky.social and @mitpress.bsky.social for making the article version free for the next few months.

direct.mit.edu/isec/article...

15.08.2025 15:34 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

Thank you to all of the mentors and friends who helped me to write this book. Thank you to @cornellupress.bsky.social for believing in these ideas. Thank you to the Stanton Foundation for making the ebook free!

15.08.2025 15:34 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

This simple idea has profound implications. The actions we take to bolster our threats can undermine our assurances, making unnecessary violence more likely.

And it matters whenever and wherever governments practice coercion—compellence or deterrence.

15.08.2025 15:34 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Preview
The Art of Coercion by Reid B. C. Pauly | Paperback | Cornell University Press The Art of Coercion presents a fresh explanation for the success—and failure—of coercive demands in international politics.Strong states are surprisingly bad at coercion. History shows they prevail...

🚨 It’s publication day!

THE ART OF COERCION is finally out.

When do threats work? When they are perceived as credibly *conditional*. Credible and painful punishments are not enough.

Threats fail if targets feel “damned if they do and damned if they don’t.”

shorturl.at/qa4T5

15.08.2025 15:34 — 👍 38    🔁 16    💬 3    📌 2

Assurances are integral to the logic of deterrence (and coercion more broadly). They clarify the choice: war or peace. Preventing a war over Taiwan requires that we get this right and pair threats with assurance. Thanks @bglaser.bsky.social Jessica Chen Weiss and Tom Christensen for the shout-out 🙏.

01.12.2023 18:21 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

@reidpauly is following 9 prominent accounts