ABSTRACT
Among the extraordinary changes that have occurred in the international arena since the late 1980s, three sets of events have provided particular support for several now widely accepted propositions pertaining to economic and military policies, national interests, and national power. The one area of US weakness is economics and the challenge in that arena comes from Japan. In a world where economic power and economic issues are increasingly important, that challenge is a real one. Economic power, to be effective, sometimes complements military power or may be complemented by military power, and at other times and in other circumstances, can substitute for it. The converse proposition is also valid: sometimes military power can substitute for economic power, and at other times and in other circumstances, military power may complement economic power. Economic instruments of national power provide a means of influencing behavior by conferring rewards or imposing penalties.
