170 Charles Tilly coercive exploitation forced would-be power holders to concede protection and constraints on their own action.It will therefore help us to eliminate faulty implicit comparisons between today's Third World and yesterday's Europe.That clarification will make it easier to understand exactly how War Making and State Making as Organized Crime today's world is different and what we therefore have to explain.It may even Charles Tilly help us to explain the current looming presence of military organization and action throughout the world.Although that result would delight me,I do not in Bringing the State Back In edited by Peter Evans,Dietrich promise anything so grand. Rueschemeyer,and Theda Skocpol(Cambridge:Cambridge This essay,then,concerns the place of organised means of University Press,1985). violence in the growth and change of those peculiar forms of government we call national states:relatively centralized,differentiated organizations the officials of which more or less successfully claim control over the chief concentrated means of violence within a population inhabiting a large, contiguous territory.The argument grows from historical work on the formation of national states in Western Europe,especially on the growth of It protection rackets represent organised crime at its smoothest, the French state from 1600 onward.But it takes several deliberate steps then war risking and state making-quintessential protection rackets with away from that work,wheels,and stares hard at it from theoretical ground. the advantage of legitimacy-qualify as our largest examples of organised The argument brings with it few illustrations and no evidence worthy of the crime.Without branding all generals and statesmen as murderers or name. thieves,I want to urge the value of that analogy.At least for the European Just as one repacks a hastily filled rucksack after a few days on the experience of the past few centuries,a portrait of war makers and state trail-throwing out the waste,putting things in order of importance,and bal- makers .r.coercive and self-seeking entrepreneurs bears a far greater ancing the load-I have repacked my theoretical baggage for the climb to resemblance to the facts than do its chief altematives:the idea of a social come;the real test of the new packing arrives only with the next stretch of contract,the idea of an open market in which operators of armies and states the trail.The trimmed-down argument stresses the interdependence of war offer services to willing consumers.the idea of a society whose shared making and state making and the analogy between both of those processes norms and expectations call forth a certain kind of government. and what,when less successful and smaller in scale,we call organised The reflections that follow merely illustrate the analogy of war crime.War makes states,I shall claim.Banditry,piracy,gangland rivalry, making and state making with organized crime from a few hundred years of policing,and war making all belong on the same continuum-that I shall European experience and offer tentative arguments concerning principles of claim as well.For the historically limited period in which national states were change and variation underlying the experience.My reflections grow from becoming the dominant organisations in Western countries,I shall also contemporary concerns:worries about the increasing destructiveness of claim that mercantile capitalism and state making reinforced each other. war,the expanding role of great powers as suppliers of arms and military o'ganization to poor countries,and the growing importance of military r tile in Double-Edged Protection those same countries.They spring from the hope that the European In contemporary American parlance,the word "protection"sounds two experience,properly understood,will help us to grasp what is happening contrasting tones.One is comforting,the other ominous.With one tone, today.perhaps even to do something about it. "protection"calls up images of the shelter against danger provided by a powerful friend,a large insurance policy,or a sturdy roof.With the other,it evokes the The Third World of the twentieth century does not greatly resemble racket in which a local strong man forces merchants to pay tribute in order to Europe of the sixteenth or seventeenth century.In no simple sense can we avoid damage -damage the strong man himself threatens to deliver.The read the future of Third World countries from the pasts of European coun- difference,to be sure,is a matter of degree:A hell-and-damnation priest is likely tries.Yet a thoughtful exploration of European experience will serve us well. to collect contributions from his parishioners only to the extent that they believe It will show us that coercive exploitation played a large part in the creation of his predictions of brimstone for infidels;our neighborhood mobster may actually the European states.It will show us that popular resistance to be,as he claims to be,a brothel's best guarantee of operation free of police interference. Which image the word "protection"brings to mind depends mainly on our assessment of the reality and eternality of the threat.Someone whoWar Making and State Making as Organized Crime Charles Tilly in Bringing the State Back In edited by Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985). It protection rackets represent organised crime at its smoothest, then war risking and state making – quintessential protection rackets with the advantage of legitimacy – qualify as our largest examples of organised crime. Without branding all generals and statesmen as murderers or thieves, I want to urge the value of that analogy. At least for the European experience of the past few centuries, a portrait of war makers and state makers .r. coercive and self-seeking entrepreneurs bears a far greater resemblance to the facts than do its chief alternatives: the idea of a social contract, the idea of an open market in which operators of armies and states offer services to willing consumers, the idea of a society whose shared norms and expectations call forth a certain kind of government. The reflections that follow merely illustrate the analogy of war making and state making with organized crime from a few hundred years of European experience and offer tentative arguments concerning principles of change and variation underlying the experience. My reflections grow from contemporary concerns: worries about the increasing destructiveness of war, the expanding role of great powers as suppliers of arms and military organization to poor countries, and the growing importance of military r tile in those same countries. They spring from the hope that the European experience, properly understood, will help us to grasp what is happening today, perhaps even to do something about it. The Third World of the twentieth century does not greatly resemble Europe of the sixteenth or seventeenth century. In no simple sense can we read the future of Third World countries from the pasts of European coun￾tries. Yet a thoughtful exploration of European experience will serve us well. It will show us that coercive exploitation played a large part in the creation of the European states. It will show us that popular resistance to 170 Charles Tilly coercive exploitation forced would-be power holders to concede protection and constraints on their own action. It will therefore help us to eliminate faulty implicit comparisons between today's Third World and yesterday's Europe. That clarification will make it easier to understand exactly how today's world is different and what we therefore have to explain. It may even help us to explain the current looming presence of military organization and action throughout the world. Although that result would delight me, I do not promise anything so grand. This essay, then, concerns the place of organised means of violence in the growth and change of those peculiar forms of government we call national states: relatively centralized, differentiated organizations the officials of which more or less successfully claim control over the chief concentrated means of violence within a population inhabiting a large, contiguous territory. The argument grows from historical work on the formation of national states in Western Europe, especially on the growth of the French state from 1600 onward. But it takes several deliberate steps away from that work, wheels, and stares hard at it from theoretical ground. The argument brings with it few illustrations and no evidence worthy of the name. Just as one repacks a hastily filled rucksack after a few days on the trail – throwing out the waste, putting things in order of importance, and bal￾ancing the load – I have repacked my theoretical baggage for the climb to come; the real test of the new packing arrives only with the next stretch of the trail. The trimmed-down argument stresses the interdependence of war making and state making and the analogy between both of those processes and what, when less successful and smaller in scale, we call organised crime. War makes states, I shall claim. Banditry, piracy, gangland rivalry, policing, and war making all belong on the same continuum – that I shall claim as well. For the historically limited period in which national states were becoming the dominant organisations in Western countries, I shall also claim that mercantile capitalism and state making reinforced each other. Double-Edged Protection In contemporary American parlance, the word "protection" sounds two contrasting tones. One is comforting, the other ominous. With one tone, "protection" calls up images of the shelter against danger provided by a powerful friend, a large insurance policy, or a sturdy roof. With the other, it evokes the racket in which a local strong man forces merchants to pay tribute in order to avoid damage – damage the strong man himself threatens to deliver. The difference, to be sure, is a matter of degree: A hell-and-damnation priest is likely to collect contributions from his parishioners only to the extent that they believe his predictions of brimstone for infidels; our neighborhood mobster may actually be, as he claims to be, a brothel's best guarantee of operation free of police interference. Which image the word "protection" brings to mind depends mainly on our assessment of the reality and eternality of the threat. Someone who