Book•
Theory of International Politics
01 Jan 1979-
About: The article was published on 1979-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 7932 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Global politics & International relations.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been a peculiar mix of non-multilateralism and multilateralism, with the United States dominating most decision-making power and responsibility.
Abstract: At the end of the 1940s, the United States and several West European states allied to defend themselves against invasion by the Soviet Union. Balance-ofpower theory predicts the recurrent formation of such balances among states. But it says little about the precise nature of the balance, the principles on which it will be constructed, or its institutional manifestations. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been a peculiar mix. As a formal institution, NATO has through most of its history been distinctly nonmultilateral, with the United States commanding most decision-making power and responsibility. At the same time, NATO provided security to its member states in a way that strongly reflected multilateral principles. Within NATO, security was indivisible. It was based on a general organizing principle, the principle that the external boundaries of alliance territory were completely inviolable and that an attack on any border was an attack on all. Diffuse reciprocity was the norm. In the terms set out by John Ruggie, NATO has generally scored low as a multilateral organization but high as an institution of multilateralism.
86 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that non-coercive, liberal international intervention can end civil wars by transforming the identities and institutions of the combatants of the civil war in Central America.
Abstract: The international community, in its efforts to overcome the security dilemmas that inhibit conflict resolution, need not always offer forceful security guarantees to combatants in civil wars. We argue that noncoercive, liberal international intervention can end civil wars. As suggested by a constructivist perspective and the insights of the democratic peace, the promotion of liberal democracy can successfully resolve civil wars by transforming the identities and institutions of the combatants. We develop this argument by examining the resolution of civil wars in Central America during the 1990s. Of the Central American cases, Nicaragua, the country subject to the strongest security guarantees, has been the least stable of the three. El Salvador and Guatemala, in contrast, have experienced more successful conflict resolution despite the lack of any forceful security guarantees by the international community. The termination of these civil wars can be best explained by the adherence of local actors to liberal democratic norms and institutions in response to a variety of international pressures and opportunities.
86 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that a structural analysis of international relations does not lend support to these earnest hopes and present a theory of nuclear weapons proliferation, arguing that in a bipolar system the superpowers do have a specific role: their preponderance allows them to attenuate systemic characteristics.
Abstract: This chapter argues that a structural analysis of international relations does not lend support to these earnest hopes. It presents a theory of nuclear weapons proliferation. The chapter argues that in a bipolar system the superpowers do have a specific role: their preponderance allows them to attenuate systemic characteristics. It provides examples of nuclear weapons proliferation and the creation of nato to show that a concerted effort by a superpower in a bipolar system reduces the influence of systemic characteristics such as the security dilemma and reliance on self-help. The chapter outlines a structural analysis of international politics, highlighting those elements of the theory that bear more directly on the question of proliferation. It discusses the structure of post-Second World War international politics to show the causal relationship between bipolarity and the slow pace of nuclear proliferation.
86 citations
TL;DR: The recent debate has been over whether, and under what conditions, states will limit mutually beneficial exchange with rivals who are obtaining disproportionate gains as discussed by the authors... Consequently they will worry about the imbalances in gains as well as the loss of autonomy that results from cooperation.
Abstract: I w h e n do security concerns lead states to restrict economic cooperation? Attention to this subject has turned recently from the security effects of resource dependence to those of relative gain. Since wealth is the main source of military capability and other means of influence, cooperation that creates and distributes wealth affects security as well as welfare. Rational states will thus weigh the security implications of cooperation alongside its benefits in making foreign economic policy. The recent debate has been over whether, and under what conditions, states will limit mutually beneficial exchange with rivals who are obtaining disproportionate gains.’ Understanding the connection between security and economic cooperation is essential for anticipating the future of both. Pessimists on this issue, assuming that states are highly sensitive to unequal gains, predict a spiral of insecurity, sundered trade ties, and possibly war in the post-Cold War era. John Mearsheimer, for example, has argued that as Soviet and US. power recedes from Europe, ”Western European states will begin viewing each other with greater fear and suspicion. . . . Consequently they will worry about the imbalances in gains as well as the loss of autonomy that results from cooperation. . . .
86 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors test hypotheses on sanctions onset using a data set of episodes from 1947 through 2000, and find that increases in bilateral trade do decrease sanctioning behavior; in favor of the plenty argument, an increase in the potential sanctioner's GDP or centrality in the network of all PTAs make sanctioning much more likely.
Abstract: Does the dramatic rise of the number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) worldwide make economic sanctions more likely through increasing the leverage of the powerful and pitting states against each other in competition (power) or less likely through increasing the benefits of trade, resolving disputes, and promoting likeminded communities (plenty)? The authors offer the first systematic test of these propositions, testing hypotheses on sanctions onset using a data set of episodes from 1947 through 2000. In favor of the plenty argument, increases in bilateral trade do decrease sanctioning behavior; in favor of the power argument, an increase in the potential sanctioner’s GDP or centrality in the network of all PTAs make sanctioning much more likely. However, mutual membership in PTAs has no direct effect on the propensity of states to sanction each other.
86 citations
Cites background from "Theory of International Politics"
...…hostilities between states because welfare gains are rarely felt inequally and large inequalities in the relative distribution of benefits shift the balance of interstate market power (Hirschman 1945), a known source of conflict between states (Gilpin 1981; Mearsheimer 1990; Waltz 1970, 1979)....
[...]
...This mechanism is similar to the structural realist notion that the likelihood of competition grows when moving from a bipolar system to a multipolar system (Waltz 1979; Mearsheimer 2001)....
[...]
References
More filters
5,295 citations
01 Jan 1976
TL;DR: For centuries knowledge meant proven knowledge, proven either by the power of the intellect or by the evidence of the senses as discussed by the authors. But the notion of proven knowledge was questioned by the sceptics more than two thousand years ago; but they were browbeaten into confusion by the glory of Newtonian physics.
Abstract: For centuries knowledge meant proven knowledge — proven either by the power of the intellect or by the evidence of the senses. Wisdom and intellectual integrity demanded that one must desist from unproven utterances and minimize, even in thought, the gap between speculation and established knowledge. The proving power of the intellect or the senses was questioned by the sceptics more than two thousand years ago; but they were browbeaten into confusion by the glory of Newtonian physics. Einstein’s results again turned the tables and now very few philosophers or scientists still think that scientific knowledge is, or can be, proven knowledge. But few realize that with this the whole classical structure of intellectual values falls in ruins and has to be replaced: one cannot simply water down the ideal of proven truth - as some logical empiricists do — to the ideal of’probable truth’1 or — as some sociologists of knowledge do — to ‘truth by [changing] consensus’.2
4,969 citations
4,163 citations
17 Feb 1966
TL;DR: This book contains the collected and unified material necessary for the presentation of such branches of modern cybernetics as the theory of electronic digital computers, Theory of discrete automata, theory of discrete self-organizing systems, automation of thought processes, theoryof image recognition, etc.
Abstract: : This book contains the collected and unified material necessary for the presentation of such branches of modern cybernetics as the theory of electronic digital computers, theory of discrete automata, theory of discrete self-organizing systems, automation of thought processes, theory of image recognition, etc. Discussions are given of the fundamentals of the theory of boolean functions, algorithm theory, principles of the design of electronic digital computers and universal algorithmical languages, fundamentals of perceptron theory, some theoretical questions of the theory of self-organizing systems. Many fundamental results in mathematical logic and algorithm theory are presented in summary form, without detailed proofs, and in some cases without any proof. The book is intended for a broad audience of mathematicians and scientists of many specialties who wish to acquaint themselves with the problems of modern cybernetics.
2,922 citations