Since 2016, the Cameroonian government has employed a dual strategy of hard and soft power in responding to the Anglophone Crisis—a secessionist conflict that has claimed over 6,000 lives and displaced more than 700,000 people [8]. This article examines how the Biya administration has calibrated coercive military force with performative dialogue mechanisms, constitutional reforms, and bilingualism initiatives to manage the crisis while resisting international mediation. Drawing on theories of strategic communication, authoritarian governance, and sovereignty politics, the study posits that the government's use of hard power—including military crackdowns, arbitrary arrests, and obstruction of humanitarian aid—has paradoxically radicalized the conflict and entrenched separatist demands, while its soft power tools—including the Major National Dialogue, the National Commission for Bilingualism and Multiculturalism (NCBM), and symbolic institutional reforms—have functioned more as legitimizing performances for domestic and international audiences than as genuine pathways to peace [4]. The research question asks how the government's combined use of hard and soft power has shaped the trajectory of the Anglophone Crisis and with what consequences for conflict resolution. Empirical analysis reveals that the government's rejection of external mediation, rooted in a long-standing doctrine of sovereignty and non-interference, has created conditions for a self-sustaining war economy that makes peace economically disadvantageous for armed actors. The findings suggest that durable peace requires a fundamental reorientation from coercive containment and performative dialogue toward genuine power-sharing, federalist restructuring, and inclusive negotiations that address structural marginalization.