Arms and Influence
by Thomas C. Schelling
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“This is a brilliant and hardheaded book. It will frighten those who prefer not to dwell on the unthinkable and infuriate those who have taken refuge in stereotypes and moral attitudinizing.”—Gordon A. Craig, New York Times Book Review Originally published more than fifty years ago, this landmark book explores the ways in which military capabilities—real or imagined—are used, skillfully or clumsily, as bargaining power. Anne-Marie Slaughter’s new introduction to the work shows show more how Schelling’s framework—conceived of in a time of superpowers and mutually assured destruction—still applies to our multipolar world, where wars are fought as much online as on the ground. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A weak 4 but this is a classic. His Nobel speech afterword really ties a lot together and hammers home the importance of nuclear weapons as a tool of influence, rather than an actual weapon to be used. Some weird moments of pro-peaceful nuclear energy advocacy?
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170 works; 1 member
Author Information

14+ Works 1,694 Members
Thomas Crombie Schelling was born in Oakland, California on April 14, 1921. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1944. After working as an analyst for the federal Bureau of the Budget, he attended Harvard University. He spent two years in Denmark and France as an economist for the Economic show more Cooperation Administration. In 1950, he joined the White House staff of the foreign policy adviser to President Harry S. Truman. In 1951, he received his doctorate from Harvard and published his first book, National Income Behavior: An Introduction to Algebraic Analysis. He taught economics at Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Maryland's Department of Economics and School of Public Policy before retiring in 2003. He wrote several books during his lifetime including International Economics, The Strategy of Conflict, Strategy and Arms Control written with Morton H. Halperin, Arms and Influence, Micromotives and Macrobehavior, Choice and Consequence, and Strategies of Commitment. In 2005, he and Robert J. Aumann received the Nobel Prize in economic science for "having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis." He died on December 13, 2016 at the age of 95. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Arms and Influence
- Original title
- Arms and Influence
Classifications
- Genres
- Politics and Government, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 355.0335 — Society, Government, and Culture Public administration & military science The Military - Land, Air & Sea / Warfare National Security National Security Military Policy and Grand Strategy
- LCC
- U104 .S33 — Military Science Military science (General)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 364
- Popularity
- 85,217
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.02)
- Languages
- Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 5




























































