In a world where rights are often championed as universal and inalienable, Andrew Wilson’s “force doctrine” offers a stark, unapologetic lens through which to reassess where those rights actually come from. At its core, this doctrine posits a simple, controversial truth: in the end, rights are granted — not discovered — and they are granted by those who possess the monopoly on force. Historically, that has meant men.
Wilson’s view isn’t a moral judgment. It’s not about whether this should be the case — it’s a sober look at how power has functioned across time and cultures. His argument echoes the realpolitik of thinkers like Hobbes and Machiavelli: remove the comforting illusions of democracy, law, or equality, and you’re left with the bedrock of all authority — the ability to enforce.
Take any revolution, suffrage movement, or civil rights campaign — they didn’t achieve results simply because they were morally right. They achieved results when those in power, often men with institutional or military control, either agreed to yield or were forcibly compelled to yield. And once those men enforced the new social contract, the rights existed. Before that? They were ideals — not enforceable realities.
This isn’t to say women and minorities haven’t fought valiantly and effectively for their rights — they have. But Wilson argues that the transition from protest to policy, from demand to decree, always hinges on who can control the state’s monopoly on force. In other words, you can only have the rights that the power structure is willing to enforce.
Critics of Wilson’s “force doctrine” say it’s reductive, even nihilistic. They argue that rights come from natural law, divine order, or universal humanity. Wilson counters: if that’s true, then why do rights differ so wildly by country, century, and culture? And why are they so easily revoked during war, revolution, or dictatorship?
The force doctrine doesn’t dismiss ideals — it simply reminds us that ideals without enforcement are wishes. Whether we like it or not, every social contract rests on a silent agreement backed by force. And in most of history, that force was wielded by men.
In Wilson’s eyes, modern society is living on borrowed time — a civilization built atop centuries of male-enforced order, now slowly eroding that very foundation without building a new one to replace it. Whether you agree or not, the “force doctrine” challenges us to look beyond slogans and sentiment and reckon with the uncomfortable question: who really gives you your rights?
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