Conceptual Index

1972 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 248-266
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Free Riders ◽  
Conceptual Schemes ◽  
Supplementary Issue

Approaches to the study of international relations employ a wide variety of concepts and indicators. The interrelationships among these concepts often are specified in conceptual schemes, models, or theories. This supplementary issue of World Politics presents several approaches to international relations theory which utilize familiar concepts, such as decision-making, crisis, and interdependence, and also concepts (frequently borrowed from other disciplines) that are less familiar, e.g., entrepreneurial and consumer roles, free riders, and externalities. The diversity of approaches and the variety of models specified by the contributors led the co-editors to commission an index focusing on concepts and the variables used to tap the concepts (indicators) rather than a more traditional listing of names, places, and events.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Edelstein
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Time Horizons

The introduction establishes the puzzle motivating the book: what explains variation in the strategies that existing powers pursue toward rising great powers? The puzzle is central to international relations theory and also has important implications for contemporary policy questions. The introductory chapter presents a brief abstract of the book’s argument, which focuses on how time horizons and uncertainty affect leaders’ decision-making. The introduction concludes with a roadmap for the rest of the book.

scholarly journals Sustainable International Relations. Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’ and the Planetary Implications of “Integral Ecology”

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferrara
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Development Economic ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Integral Ecology

This paper analyzes the theoretical and pragmatic implications for international relations and world politics of the new holistic approach to climate change articulated by Pope Francis in the Encyclical Laudato Si’, particularly through the notion of “integral ecology”. It is not my intention to offer an exegesis of the Papal document. I will rather try to illustrate and discuss its planetary hermeneutics. I emphasize that the Encyclical’s perspective is not exclusively normative, and that, within the dynamic interplay between social structure and human agency, it can also be considered as a call to action. In this context, I suggest that both International Relations Theory and global politics have much to learn from the fundamental claims of contemporary religions in relation to climate disruption. In particular, Pope Francis’ document, far from being just a new chapter in the unfolding process of the “greening” of religions, raises the issue of the sustainability of the present world system. Therefore, I contend that the perspective of the Encyclical calls for a radical transformation of international relations, since it emphasizes the deep implications of environmental issues on the entire spectrum of security, development, economic and ethical challenges of contemporary world politics. Against this backdrop, my objective is to connect the main tenets of the Encyclical to the environmental turn in International Relations Theory and to the new epistemological challenges related to the paradigm shift induced by the new planetary condition of the Anthropocene and the relevant questions arising for a justice encompassing the humanity-earth system. The Encyclical seems to suggest that practicing sustainable international relations means exiting the logic of power or hegemony, while simultaneously operationalizing the concept of care.

Statistical Analysis of International Interdependencies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Systematic Data ◽  
Causes Of War ◽  
The University ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study ◽  
Violent Conflicts

The origin of the statistical analysis of international relations can be traced back to 1920s with the work of Quincy Wright, who founded the University of Chicago’s Committee on International Relations. He led an interdisciplinary study of war that provided a first compendium of what was then known about the causes of war. Wright's studies and those that came after them were based on the assumption that systematic data were required to advance our knowledge about the causes of violent conflicts, and that an analysis of the dynamics of strategic decision making were essential; in short, systematic data coupled with a theoretical framework that focused on the decision-making calculus. However, debates soon raged over whether this scientific approach was better than the classical approach, which was based on philosophy, history, and law, and did not conform to strict standards of verification and proof. Since then, the literature has evolved into studies with a strong theoretical motivation, often expressed via game theoretical analytics, examined empirically with statistical frameworks that are specifically sculpted to probe those strategic dependencies. As such, existing models have resolved the levels of analysis problem that appeared daunting to earlier generations by actually focusing on the modeling of aspects of world politics that enjoin many different levels simultaneously.

scholarly journals Politics, policy-making and the presence of images of suffering children

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-608
Author(s):  
Helen Berents
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Visual Politics ◽  
Policy Decision Making ◽  
Political Dimensions

Abstract In 2017 Trump expressed pity for the ‘beautiful babies’ killed in a gas attack on Khan Shaykhun in Syria before launching airstrikes against President Assad's regime. Images of suffering children in world politics are often used as a synecdoche for a broader conflict or disaster. Injured, suffering, or dead; the ways in which images of children circulate in global public discourse must be critically examined to uncover the assumptions that operate in these environments. This article explores reactions to images of children by representatives and leaders of states to trace the interconnected affective and political dimensions of these images. In contrast to attending to the expected empathetic responses prompted by images of children, this article particularly focuses on when such images prompt bellicose foreign policy decision-making. In doing this, the article forwards a way of thinking about images as contentious affective objects in international relations. The ways in which images of children's bodies and suffering are strategically deployed by politicians deserves closer scrutiny to uncover the visual politics of childhood inherent in these moments of international politics and policy-making.

Causes of a divided discipline: rethinking the concept of cause in International Relations theory

2006 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
MILJA KURKI
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Causal Explanation ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Causal Analysis ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Constitutive Theory ◽  
Ir Theory

During the last decades ‘causation’ has been a deeply divisive concept in International Relations (IR) theory. While the positivist mainstream has extolled the virtues of causal analysis, many post-positivist theorists have rejected the aims and methods of causal explanation in favour of ‘constitutive’ theorising. It is argued here that the debates on causation in IR have been misleading in that they have been premised on, and have helped to reify, a rather narrow empiricist understanding of causal analysis. It is suggested that in order to move IR theorising forward we need to deepen and broaden our understandings of the concept of cause. Thereby, we can radically reinterpret the causal-constitutive theory divide in IR, as well as redirect the study of world politics towards more constructive multi-causal and complexity-sensitive analyses.

The emotive causes of recurrent international conflicts

2003 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Long ◽  
Peter Brecke
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Constructivist Approaches

Many international conflicts are recurrent, and many of these are characterized by periods of violence, including wars, that are hard to describe as planned products of rational decision-making. Analysis of these conflicts according to rational-choice international-relations theory or constructivist approaches has been less revealing than might have been hoped. We consider the possibility that emotive causes could better explain, or at least improve the explanation of, observed patterns. We offer three emotive models of recurrent conflict and we outline a method by which the reliability of emotive explanations derived from these models could be tested prospectively.

It takes all types: social psychology, trust, and the international relations paradigm in our minds

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Rathbun
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Structural Realism ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Neoliberal Institutionalism

The insights of social psychology are not thoroughly integrated into international relations theory, yet social psychology has much to offer. Social psychology provides a conceptualization of a number of varieties of trust – moralistic, strategic, and generalized – and their opposites that implicitly drive the logic of major works of international relations. It also reveals the empirical presence of a number of different types of trusters who make different assumptions about the trustworthiness of others and consequently show markedly different propensities towards cooperation. The rough correspondence between these different ‘social orientations’ and the logics of the three approaches of structural realism, neoliberal institutionalism, and constructivism suggest that individuals carry a crude paradigm in their minds. Metatheoretically, the implication for international relations theory is that scholars capture a part but not the totality of world politics, the behavior of those who trust (or do not trust) in a particular way that matches the logic of their paradigms. Theoretically it suggests a research agenda at multiple levels of analysis, utilizing all of the types of trust and trusters. I review the work of others that offers some preliminary evidence for its plausibility, suggest some hypotheses of my own, and address potential theoretical objections.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Renshon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Relationship

This book has examined the importance of status in world politics. It has introduced the status dissatisfaction theory and applied it directly to the realm of international relations. It has tested the theory using a variety of approaches, including network analysis, by investigating the relationship between status dissatisfaction and war, if and how status concerns motivated German decision making during the Weltpolitik era, and the link between heightened status concerns and the escalation of commitment. The book concludes by discussing four broad lessons that can be drawn from the findings as well as the open questions that remain: status is local; there are many paths to status; status concerns are what count and not status itself; and status dissatisfaction leads to escalation and conflict. It also considers the policy implications of the theories of international politics.

Implications for American Leadership

2020 ◽  
pp. 213-224
Author(s):  
Matthew Kroenig
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
International System ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
World Politics ◽  
New Era ◽  
Innovative Economy

This chapter reviews the central arguments of the book and its findings about a democratic advantage in international politics. It then discusses the implications for international relations theory and for U.S. foreign policy. This book advances international relations theory by providing a novel theoretical explanation that traces the origins of power in world politics to domestic political institutions. It makes a “hard power” case for democracy. The chapter then lays out a competitive strategy for the United States in this new era of great power rivalry. It urges the United States to strengthen its democratic form of governance domestically. Washington should also ensure it maintains an innovative economy, a robust financial sector, strong alliances, and a favorable military balance of power in Europe and Asia. Internationally, the chapter urges the United States to revitalize, adapt, and defend the rules-based international system. The chapter concludes with a challenge to Russia and China. If these countries wish to be true leading global powers, then they must adopt democratic forms of government.

scholarly journals Understanding Enmity and Friendship in World Politics: The Case for a Diplomatic Approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corneliu Bjola
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Foreign Policy Analysis ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Specialized Form

Summary This article invites diplomatic scholars to a debate about the identity of diplomacy as a field of study and the contributions that it can make to our understanding of world politics relative to international relations theory (IR) or foreign policy analysis (FPA). To this end, the article argues that the study of diplomacy as a method of building and managing relationships of enmity and friendship in world politics can most successfully firm up the identity of the discipline. More specifically, diplomacy offers a specialized form of knowledge for understanding how to draw distinctions between potential allies versus rivals, and how to make and unmake relationships of enmity and friendship in world politics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document