The purpose of this work is to provide insight for the operational air planner who must determine the circumstances under which airpower can be an effective tool of foreign policy. With insight into this issue, both the air strategist and diplomat may be better equipped to evaluate the appropriateness of using airpower in international relations. To accomplish this purpose, this paper provides an analysis of two specific cases in which United States political leadership called upon airpower to further foreign policy goals without resorting to war. The first case study centers around the decision to place B-17s on the Philippine Islands in October of 1941. The second case study focuses on the use of airpower during the Berlin Blockade of 1948-1949. Both case studies use a framework for analysis that examines the interrelationships between political, material, and military influences on the ultimate operational air plan. Future students who may wish to pursue expanded studies of these or other cases may capitalize on this framework to pursue those studies. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.