A01=David A. Welch
Analogy
Appeasement
Author_David A. Welch
Bilateral trade
Brown University
Calculation
Capitalism
Category=JPS
Coercive diplomacy
Competition
Consideration
Decision-making
Decolonization
Deliberation
Democracy
Deterrence theory
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Explanation
Failed state
Foreign policy
Foreign policy of the United States
Free trade
Great power
Groupthink
Harvard University
High politics
Ho Chi Minh
Ideology
Imperialism
Import Duty
Inference
Inherent risk
International relations
International relations theory
Isolationism
John Foster Dulles
Kuril Islands dispute
Loss aversion
Missile gap
National interest
National security
Negotiation
Neoliberalism
Nuclear warfare
Obstacle
Opportunism
Politician
Politics
Prediction
Princeton University
Prospect theory
Psychology
Rational choice theory
Regime
Result
Saddam Hussein
Skepticism
South Vietnam
Sovereignty
Soviet Union
State of affairs (sociology)
Status quo bias
Territorial dispute
The Other Hand
Theory
Theory of International Politics
Treaty
Uncertainty
Unilateralism
United States
United States Department of State
War
World War II
Product details
- ISBN 9780691123400
- Weight: 539g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 04 Sep 2005
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Under what conditions should we expect states to do things radically differently all of a sudden? In this book, David Welch seeks to answer this question, constructing a theory of foreign policy change inspired by organization theory, cognitive and motivational psychology, and prospect theory. He then "test drives" the theory in a series of comparative case studies in the security and trade domains: Argentina's decision to go to war over the Falklands/Malvinas vs. Japan's endless patience with diplomacy in its conflict with Russia over the Northern Territories; America's decision to commit large-scale military force to Vietnam vs. its ultimate decision to withdraw; and Canada's two abortive flirtations with free trade with the United States in 1911 and 1948 vs. its embrace of free trade in the late 1980s. Painful Choices has three main objectives: to determine whether the general theory project in the field of international relations can be redeemed, given disappointment with previous attempts; to reflect on what this reveals about the possibilities and limits of general theory; and to inform policy.
Welch argues that earlier efforts at general theory erred by aiming to explain state behavior, which is an intractable problem. Instead, since inertia is the default expectation in international politics, all we need do is to explain changes in behavior. Painful Choices shows that this is a tractable problem with clear implications for intelligence analysts and negotiators.
David A. Welch holds the George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the author of "Justice and the Genesis of War", winner of the 1994 Edgar S. Furniss Award for an Outstanding Contribution to National Security Studies.
