Well in some levels I agree, but then I guess in the 60s the Russians should have launched their nukes on us from Cuba and diplomacy simply always be thrown out the door.
China has their Nukes pointed at us right now, should they just go ahead and push that button?
Those nukes are pointed at us because we have threatened them economically. They can escalate if they choose - or they can choose to allow us some leeway by not escalating - but they have to CHOOSE to let our sanctions stand by not pushing that button. If they choose to escalate, one side is going to turn out to be physically dominant and will win. Ultimately, if they do, they are going to be in a world of hurt - both sides will. That mutual destruction hopefully is enough of a deterrent to prevent them from escalating and being in a place where they don't want to further escalate but decide that it is better to give up some things (and thus give us more control) than to escalate. I'm not saying that other methods of cohersion aren't appropriate or useful, just that ultimately - there is only ONE true way to control someone who isn't willing to comply.
Just like trying to limit someone's supply of a resource....in order for my limit to work 100% I have to have physical control of that resource somehow. Either an ally gives me control, or I take it by force. Of course, it fails if the person being deprived of the resource can go in and physically take it.
As a matter of fact, the force China could bring to us is a real reason why we are using economics over the military - it's trying to give them a chance to give over some of what we want, more willingly.
The same held true of Russia. But the threat was great enough to both sides that diplomacy was agreed upon as a better option. But both sides had to agree - either one of them could have gone the route of force and then someone loses; and both sides likely get hurt badly.
Tell that to Gandhi! LOL
Anyways off topic from that statement, there is nothing more powerful than the color green.
It would have been easy to just go in and shoot Gandhi in the head. It would have been a super easy assassination. The choice was made NOT to eliminate him. The threat of force from others is what gave Gandhi his power. If they shot him, there would have been an uprising like you've rarely seen; and maybe force brought from other countries. He would have been a mouse who killed the lion. They chose to give him that control because the use of force would have brought stronger force down on them.
Also, money is worthless in reality. It is just a measure of resources, not an actual resource. If someone can come in and physically take your resources then your money doesn't mean anything. The only reason it has any value is because the majority of people, many of whom can bear substantial force, agree that it is valuable and that it represents a right to resources. But when the Zombie apocalypse is here and Dixon shows up at your house in the middle of the night because you have a freezer full of food...he isn't going to say, "I'll just eat my cash instead." You are either going to have to physically dominate, or lose your food. Unless, you can give him a good reason for HIM to decide not to take your food if he does dominate you.
But we, as a society, have become so disconnected from reality that we think money or diplomacy is true force. It is not. It is ineffective without the force to back it up. And you know this, because you bought a gun; you aren't going to try to negotiate with an intruder without having force to bear.