Threat Power - Metta Center

Threat Power is one of three forces identified by Kenneth Boulding, Quaker peace theorist and economist that play roles in human interaction. Underlying Threat Power is a simple equation: Unless you perform or yield X, I will do Y. Y almost always involves violence, whether physical, emotional, psychological or structural. Threat Power has attained a tragic prominence in our culture. The diplomatic actions of most industrialized countries, for example, operate on the assumption of Threat Power.