Military Statecraft and the Rise of Shaping in World Politics

In today’s complex international environment, how do the United States, China, and Russia manage the return of great power competition as well as the persistent threat of violent non-state actors? This book explores shaping, a type of military power that relies not on violence and coercion, but on the ability to change the characteristics of or relationships between militaries. Major powers use shaping to attract allies or disrupt adversarial alliances, socialize values in other militaries, or delegate security to partners. This book reveals how shaping becomes a more attractive tool of military statecraft when threats and allies are ambiguous, which is often a result of systemic forces such as the international distribution of power and the consequences of globalization. The logic and increased frequency of shaping is explored through three case studies of major military exercise programs as well as sentiment analysis and statistics of over 1,000 multinational exercises led by all the major powers from 1980-2016. This book helps scholars, policymakers, military practitioners, and interested readers understand the changing character of military power in the current and future international environment.