Strategic bombing, public morale, and limited coercion

Cable questions whether bombing can compel compliance without provoking resentment, using Vietnam and Egyptian operations in Yemen as examples. The comparison then turns to Britain, Germany, Japan, and Kosovo. Japan is treated as a qualified exception: bombing contributed to a government decision to seek peace while the country was already losing, without making the public rise up and demand surrender. The Blitz likewise failed to produce such a revolt against Churchill. Claims about the limited damage done to Serbian forces in Kosovo are used to challenge confidence in bombing results. Chinese flights near Taiwan provide a peacetime example of pressure that can strengthen resistance. A ship arriving to host a diplomatic reception sends a less overtly threatening signal.