James Cable treats economic pressure as a supplement to coercion whose effectiveness depends on unusually favourable circumstances. Alternative suppliers and rivalry between states can frustrate a boycott. Guerrillas require favourable local politics and secure bases, and a sponsoring government may find them easier to recruit than to disband. Sending an army across a frontier requires geographical access and is difficult to keep within the bounds of limited force. An airborne intervention also risks immediate violence or a humiliating repulse if friendly forces have not secured the airfields. These constraints help explain the appeal of forces that can approach from the sea and remain easier to withdraw.
Notable Point · 4:08:33-4:10:26
Cable on the limits of sanctions and irregular warfare
Alternative suppliers, unreliable proxies, and difficult access constrain several forms of limited coercion before naval options enter the comparison.