Under what conditions should we expect states to do things radically
differently all of a sudden? In this book, David Welch seeks to answer
this question, constructing a theory of foreign policy change inspired
by organization theory, cognitive and motivational psychology, and
prospect theory. He then "test drives" the theory in a series of
comparative case studies in the security and trade domains:
Argentina's decision to go to war over the Falklands/Malvinas vs.
Japan's endless patience with diplomacy in its conflict with Russia
over the Northern Territories; America's decision to commit
large-scale military force to Vietnam vs. its ultimate decision to
withdraw; and Canada's two abortive flirtations with free trade with
the United States in 1911 and 1948 vs. its embrace of free trade in
the late 1980s. Painful Choices has three main objectives: to
determine whether the general theory project in the field of
international relations can be redeemed, given disappointment with
previous attempts; to reflect on what this reveals about the
possibilities and limits of general theory; and to inform policy.
Welch argues that earlier efforts at general theory erred by aiming to
explain state behavior, which is an intractable problem. Instead,
since inertia is the default expectation in international politics,
all we need do is to explain changes in behavior. Painful Choices
shows that this is a tractable problem with clear implications for
intelligence analysts and negotiators.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400840748
Publisert
2013
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter