Economic coercion as American as apple pie

When it comes to "coercion" in international relations, the concept has been invented, and acted on, by the United States.

In 1971, Alexander George, a professor at Stanford University, first proposed the concept of "coercive diplomacy", which was used to summarize US policies towards Laos, Cuba and Vietnam. The core of this concept is that the US uses threats of force, political isolation, economic sanctions and a technological blockade to force other countries to make the changes it desires. Thus it can be seen that the "economic coercion" of the US is an integral part of its "coercive diplomacy".

China is now a major target of the US' "coercive diplomacy", particularly "economic coercion".