ISLAMABAD - Former Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Ehsanul Haq on Wednesday said that art of state craft; diplomacy and war were deeply connected leading to politico-diplomatic strategies that could avoid conflicts and war.
Speaking at in an international conference titled ‘Instruments of Strategic Coercion: Theories and Implications’ organised by think-tank Pakistan House here, he said: “The harsh reality of power is as old as humanity, and the application of force, as a manifestation of power, is a common element in international relations.”
He quoted San Tzu, an ancient Chinese strategist who said that “To fight and conquer in all our battles is not the supreme excellence; supreme excellence is breaking the enemy resistance without fighting.”
Describing the elements of strategic coercion, Ehsanul Haq said that the first and foremost element of strategic coercion is offensive diplomacy which is done to isolate a nation strategically.
“This is characterised by specific demands, a time frame for making demands, and threats of consequences in case of non-cooperation.
Apart from this an information onslaught is directed to influence the global audiences, and influential segments in the targeted society, in order to propagate the demands being made,” he said.
He added that it was unfortunate that Pakistan who had been a victim of the situation in Afghanistan is being propagated as perpetrator. “The second element of strategic coercion he highlighted was the use of economic sanctions against a targeted nation,” he added.
In addition to previous elements, coercion is also seen through intelligence and subversive operations, and in “our situation it relates to physically targeting China-Pakistan Economic Corridor who we describe as the game changer.” He mentioned some key areas, which are of highly importance to policy makers: Understanding the emerging scenario; effective consultation and decision-making at the national level; economic self-sustenance, and proactive foreign policy.
In his view nations are not coerced, but leadership and government functionaries are coerced, therefore, it is necessary for them to draw strength from popular support.
In his address, Adrian Levy, Journalist specializing in Foreign Affairs and South East Asia, said that disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy, is obviously the first thing that comes to mind when we think of strategic coercion.
The second instrument linked to the first, is a delivery mechanism- Twitter and Whatsapp- where polarised societies, vested interest group, nation states and opinionated play, he said.
Pakistan, he said, had been subject of strategic coercion that is politically and geopolitically charged but the blame for not hearing about Pakistan vital national interest- its achievements- must also lie with Pakistan.
Telling its story better, finding advocates for it in the East and West, opening up to enable researchers, academics and journalists to understand the Pakistan narrative is essential.
Speaking at the conference, Tariq Rauf, former Head of the Verification and Security Policy Coordination Office at the International Atomic Energy Agency said that one definition of strategic coercion or coercive diplomacy is that of “getting the adversary to act a certain way via anything short of brute force; the adversary must still have the capacity of organized violence but choose not to exercise it”.
He underlined a method to assess the success and failure of strategic coercion; if the target state accepts the demands, without the use of force, then the threats made have been credible and successful.
Former foreign secretary Salman Bashir opined that an academic discussion on strategic coercion is important to assess the situation that Pakistan is facing. He was of view that although Pakistan had an important role to play in stabilizing Afghanistan, yet it cannot pressurize Taliban.
He added that the approach of US State Department on focusing entirely on national reconciliation without considering the economic factors must be changed.
