Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2014
Soft War
Soft war describes the use of non-kinetic weapons to achieve the legitimate aims of war. Non-kinetic weapons are any that do not explode or hurl projectiles. Non-kinetic weapons are cybernetic and driven by malicious viruses, economic and driven by sanctions and blockades, or nonviolent and driven by moral shame. Each of these weapons is characterized by force. Soft war also embraces public diplomacy and “soft power.” Soft power does not work by force at all but, instead, invites support through persuasion, high ideals and public works. In this way, soft war is much broader concept than soft power and includes all non-kinetic means whether persuasive or coercive. In practice, soft war is generally less destructive but no less effective than bombs and bullets.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.