In reference to the discussion we had last week (and will be continuing this week) it was interesting to see the difference ideas behind coercion vs. reason. I think a lot of good ideas were put out there last week and it made me start to think about how the two were connected. I looked up the definitions of both and have provided them below:
co·er·cion
ʃən
2. force or the power to use force in gaining compliance, as by a government or police force.
rea·son
1. a basis or cause, as for some belief, action, fact, event, etc.: the reason for declaring war.
2. a statement presented in justification or explanation of a belief or action.
3. the mental powers concerned with forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences.
4. sound judgment; good sense.
I have highlighted a section in coercion and two sections under reason that I believe help to explain how these two are connected. First off it can be the case that coercion is reasonable, meaning that it is reasonable to believe that it is sound judgment to use force or power to gain compliance from a country or actor that isn't rational. A good example of this would be when dealing with countries that have fundamentalist ideas and instead of trying to resolve their differences through diplomacy or corporation they go straight to violence and intimidation. In this regards coercion might be the only reasonable course of action. With that being said I don't feel that all forms of coercion are reasonable and the context of the situation must be taken into account before determining if it is reasonable to use coercion.
One area that isn't exclusively covered in the definition of coercion is what is meant by "force". Does this mean direct intervention (through the means of armed combat) or can "force" be seen through more subtle methods (diplomatic pressure, trade embargos, "soft power" options)? I believe that acts of coercion can be reasonable but can easily be misguided and justified in order to better the individual goals of the country that is coercing.
Ryan, I like that you laid out the definitions of each term and clearly stated what you meant when you were referring to for both coercion and reason. I think both in class and in the lecture it is evident that it can sometimes be difficult to see if someone is really "forced" into doing an action or if an action is done because it is reasonable, but not forced. I think the two can sometimes be blurred together and it is important to distinguish the two terms from each other.
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