Crisis: A Political Instrument in Today's Environment

摘要

The pursuit of national interest in the sphere of the relations between nations, temporized as political objectives, can find instances of cooperation as well as conflict. When the importance of these political objectives is vital and no solution can be implemented, the political instrument of war becomes a reality. In certain circumstances the political objective can be of more limited characteristics, opening the way to wars of the limited type. There are other situations, in which the political objective is further limited, but can not be obtained through negotiation. It is in these circumstances that the crisis, understood in this case as a different political instrument to war and not merely a phase of the conflict, becomes a viable tool. The employment of the military instrument of national power involves unique characteristics that often affect its operational and even tactical employment Following an introduction to the topic a theoretical description and analysis of the crisis as an independent political instrument is developed. To give support to this concept, two historical and one contemporary events are analyzed. Closing the work, comments on the application of force and considerations for the operational commander are included.