Beliefs do matter in foreign policy as decision-making rarely conforms to demanding rational choice models. The power of ideas in international relations highlights particular human weaknesses, which might help understand a number of seemingly inexplicable decisions. Beliefs, however, are only one part of a wider framework.
Nuclear strategy developed as a means to create a rational framework of deterrence for the seemingly irrational nature of nuclear war. Rational individuals may only be so when they exist in a rational context. Once placed in an irrational situation, it is questionable as to whether a person, or on organisation could continue to act in a rational manner.
Russia has made a concerted attempt to become an ‘independent regional power’ since the demise of Yeltsin, with limited results in Eastern Europe, but with greater success in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Russia’s behaviour has been entirely predictable. Nonetheless, as China looks set to challenge Russian power in Central Asia in the future, Russia’s response remains unclear.
In his book ‘Paradise and Power’, Robert Kagan states that since the falling of Soviet Russia, the apparent cracks between American and European psyches have become more apparent. As such, questions have been raised as to whether US-EU ideals were ever on the same axis.
Great powers rarely make great multilateralists. The United Nations owes a lot of what it is today to the United States. It was the US that breathed life into the UN with its power and resources. Despite being one of the biggest advocates for the UN, why has the US been ambivalent towards it?
This paper aims at understanding Polish foreign policy over the last decade with a view to predicting future policy. It analyses Polish foreign policy with reference to three rationalist paradigms: defensive realism, offensive realism, and neo-liberal institutionalism.
The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 constituted a classic foreign policy dilemma between the United States and the Soviet Union and was one of the most dangerous confrontations of the Cold War. This essay gives an overview of the complexity of the thirteen-day crisis. It shows that the balance of power, the credibility of the two superpowers and the future of Berlin were at stake, and makes clear how close it actually came to a nuclear showdown.
This essay will posit that the EU does have a strategic culture, but one still in infancy, beset by weaknesses and potentially insurmountable obstacles. To demonstrate this, we shall explore key diplomatic efforts to enhance European strategic integration, responses to world events and operational deployments, how these have progressively shaped a common strategic culture, and how numerous issues undermine it.
President Woodrow Wilson, the only person to be elected to the presidency with a PhD in Political Science, left an undeniable mark on US history and world affairs. War can shape the values of a nation. I believe the American Civil War war influenced President Wilson as a young boy to such an extent, that it changed world history.
All states are currently facing the challenges and opportunities of globalization. As countries become more integrated, it behoves them to coordinate laws and policies. Consequently, the boundary between domestic and foreign policy is weakening.This paper employs an institutional focus to explain why globalization has different impacts on federations.
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