The Origin and Evolution of Revisionism
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As its title suggests, this chapter discusses the sources of revisionism and the various conditions that influence its development. It introduces historical cases such as Wilhelmine and Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union during the Cold War and contemporary Russia, imperial Japan between the 1880s and 1940s, the United States during its years of ascendance and today, and China during the Maoist years and since its reform under Deng Xiaoping. Whether a state becomes revisionist is not in its genes but is in part dependent on how it perceives its treatment in the hands of other established countries. States’ domestic and foreign circumstances interact to shape their foreign policy orientation.