big stick

plural big sticks

1. attributiveoftenSignificant power to punish or coerce.

   Wilson publicly rejected both the "big stick diplomacy" of Teddy Roosevelt and the "dollar diplomacy" of William Howard Taft; […]

   1997, Randall Hansis, The Latin Americans: Understanding Their Legacy, page 188

   2 more examples

   Too much debate theory is based on power rather than reason. Kritiks are used as big sticks to avoid one of the duties closely associated with debating — research.

   2002, Kenneth T. Broda-Bahm, Perspectives in Controversy, page 300

   It is difficult to deny that the American political culture of the Big Stick ideology (speak softly, and carry a big stick) is just another form of neo-imperialism; colonial power was reestablished in the new millennium.

   2015, Falk Huettmann, Central American Biodiversity, page 34