Behavioral Strategies Quiz: Class Make up Essay
This essay will compare between four security strategies, including containment, deterrence, preventive war, and appeasement, to decide which strategy is the most effective for our time. This paper argues that containment is superior to other security strategies and is more effective for our time.
The least effective strategy is preventive war - the policy of striking first. Preventive war is not effective because it is difficult to justify the need to strike first. That is because it is difficult to determine hostile action of a foreign foe. According to Gray (2003), preventive war cannot possibly serve generally as the strategy of choice.
Appeasement is a policy of giving in to the demands of a hostile power in the effort to forestall war. Appeasement is not effective because the country would decrease its might and influence.
Containment is a policy designed to curtail the political and military expansion of a hostile power. Containment is mostly effective in a bipolar world, where there are two superpowers, seeking to radically expand their geopolitical world. However, containment can be beneficial nowadays if used with deterrence. According to Gray (2003), deterrence works by persuading potential adversaries that the costs of their aggression will exceed any
probable gains. Gray also argues that the US has no practical choice other than to make of deterrence all that it can be (2003). It should be mentioned that the US has been successfully employing a deterrence strategy
for decades, which made the US the strongest military power in the world.
To sum up, deterrence is the most effective security strategy for our time. What is more important, every strategy mentioned above cannot be used effectively without deterrence.
References
Gray, C. (2003). Marinating effective deterrence. Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies …
