In the Shadow of Power

States and Strategies in International Politics
Erscheinungsjahr 1999
ISBN: 978-0-691-00457-0
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 310 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 522 g

Robert Powell argues persuasively and elegantly for the usefulness of formal models in studying international conflict and for the necessity of greater dialogue between modeling and empirical analysis. Powell makes it clear that many widely made arguments about the way states act under threat do not hold when subjected to the rigors of modeling. In doing so, he provides a more secure foundation for the future of international relations theory.Powell argues that, in the Hobbesian environment in which states exist, a state can respond to a threat in at least three ways: (1) it can reallocate resources already under its control; (2) it can try to defuse the threat through bargaining and compromise; (3) it can try to draw on the resources of other states by allying with them. Powell carefully outlines these three responses and uses a series of game theoretic models to examine each of them, showing that the models make the analysis of these responses more precise than would otherwise be possible. The advantages of the modeling-oriented approach, Powell contends, have been evident in the number of new insights they have made possible in international relations theory. Some argue that these advances could have originated in ordinary-language models, but as Powell notes, they did not in practice do so. The book focuses on the insights and intuitions that emerge during modeling, rather than on technical analysis, making it accessible to readers with only a general background in international relations theory.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Powell, Robert

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface vii Chapter 1 States and Strategies 3 Chapter 2 Guns, Butter, and Internal Balancing in the Shadow of Power 40 Chapter 3 Bargaining in the Shadow of Power 82 Chapter 4 Bargaining in the Shadow of Shifting Power 115 Chapter 5 Alignment Decisions in the Shadow of Power 149 Chapter 6 Conclusion 197 Appendix 1 Game Trees, Strategies, and Equilibria 225 Appendix 2 The Formalities of the Guns-versus-Butter Model 233 Appendix 3 The Formalities of Bargaining in the Shadow of Power 243 Appendix 4 The Formalities of Bargaining in the Shadow of Shifting Power 272 Appendix 5 The Formalities of the Alignment Model 283 References 291 Index 305