My point is that you can’t simply rely on other countries having reached a “sufficiently advanced economic or mental stage” to stop defection. You do actually need to rely on force.
Sorry it was not sufficiently clear, but this is precisely the point I was trying to make in that paragraph. The real question was not whether the deterring force would be needed (obviously it would), but how to organize it effectively. In particular, how to solve the free rider problem which is intrinsic to all military coalitions?
My point is that you can’t simply rely on other countries having reached a “sufficiently advanced economic or mental stage” to stop defection. You do actually need to rely on force.
Sorry it was not sufficiently clear, but this is precisely the point I was trying to make in that paragraph. The real question was not whether the deterring force would be needed (obviously it would), but how to organize it effectively. In particular, how to solve the free rider problem which is intrinsic to all military coalitions?