Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook, Revised Edition - Softcover

Edward N. Luttwak

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674737261 ISBN 13: 9780674737266

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2016

Synopsis

Coup d Etat astonished readers when it first appeared in 1968 because it showed, step by step, how governments could be overthrown. Translated into sixteen languages, it has inspired anti-coup precautions by regimes around the world. In addition to these detailed instructions, Edward Luttwak's revised handbook offers an altogether new way of looking at political power one that considers, for example, the vulnerability to coups of even the most stable democracies in the event of prolonged economic distress.The world has changed dramatically in the past half century, but not the essence of the coup d etat. It still requires the secret recruitment of military officers who command the loyalty of units well placed to seize important headquarters and key hubs in the capital city. The support of the armed forces as a whole is needed only in the aftermath, to avoid countercoups. And mass support is largely irrelevant, although passive acceptance is essential. To ensure it, violence must be kept to a minimum. The ideal coup is swift and bloodless. Very violent coups rarely succeed, and if they trigger a bloody civil war they fail utterly.Luttwak identifies conditions that make countries vulnerable to a coup, and he outlines the necessary stages of planning, from recruitment of coconspirators to postcoup promises of progress and stability. But much more broadly, his investigation of coups updated for the twenty-first century uncovers important truths about the nature of political power."

About this title

About the Author

Edward N. Luttwak serves or has served as a contractor for the Office of Net Assessment of the U.S. Department of Defense and for the U.S. armed forces, and as a consultant to the U.S. National Security Council, the White House Chief of Staff, and several allied governments.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674737261
• ISBN 13: 9780674737266
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 270