United States foreign policy and persuasive diplomacy: The lessons of selected cases of diplomatic persuasion, compellence and deterrence

There is an increasingly important relationship between the US foreign policy making process and the methods and concepts of conflict resolution studies. Policy makers have a number of strategy options to convince other actors to comply with US goals which fall under the categories of compellence, deterrence or persuasive diplomacy. A conceptual framework was created in this thesis to make the choice between these different options explicit. Case studies explored the use of these strategies and their use in various relationships. Significant flaws are found in the use of compellence and deterrence against friends and allies, respectively. Persuasive diplomacy--the use of conflict resolution methods governmentally--is found in the nuclear crisis of 1994 between the US and North Korea to have been key to creating a positive process for future consultations. This case also pointed to the failures of methods of compellence and deterrence in US foreign policy making.