Conclusion The Attenuation and Prevention of National Humiliation

Author(s):  
Joslyn Barnhart

This chapter provides a conclusion by placing the findings into the broader context of international politics and international relations theory. It demonstrates the utility of the theory for understanding the contemporary foreign policies of China and Russia and sheds light on why the effects of humiliation may linger in some states longer than others. The chapter draws key distinctions between the theory and predictions of humiliation and more material and security-based explanations of international behavior. It addresses questions on what can be done to ameliorate or even prevent national humiliation and why are the ameliorative strategies often not employed by other states, much to the detriment of international stability and cooperation. It emphasizes how national humiliation affects world affairs in crucial ways and how it led important periods of international competition within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and will continue to do so in the future.

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER SUTCH

This article explores the normative international relations theory of Mervyn Frost. Frost's unorthodox approach to questions of human rights offers a way through the political and philosophical morass that has often threatened to obscure the most pressing issues of our time. Significantly, Frost claims to able to ‘construct’ a background justification for international ethics that can unite the demands for sovereign autonomy with declarations of human rights. In doing so Frost attempts to offer an new understanding of universal ethics and thus of the role of human rights in international politics. Acknowledging the importance of this approach, this article examines two issues that arise from Frost's ‘constitutive theory’ and seeks to offer a signpost for the future development of human rights theory.


1977 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Kubálková ◽  
A. A. Cruickshank

The title of the article is intended to focus the attention of Western writers on international relations theory upon two aspects of this rapidly growing research area. Rather than meeting with an incomprehensible neglect it is our argument that the aspects referred to might well be accorded one of the key places. Failure to do so, it our contention, when transferred from considerations of theoretical efficiency into the no less precarious realm of practical policy, might well have proportionately hazardous implications. We would beg forbearance, however, if within the necessarily limited scope of this article only a very perfunctory and sketchy outline of the meaning and implications of the omissions can be given. The sole purpose of this article is to provoke interest in these particular areas rather than to supply the deficiencies – a task which clearly could only be undertaken in the expanded context of a major work.


1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Milner

‘Anarchy is one of the most vague and ambiguous words in language.’ George Coreewall Lewis, 1832.In much current theorizing, anarchy has once again been declared to be the fundamental assumption about international politics. Over the last decade, numerous scholars, especially those in the neo-realist tradition, have posited anarchy as the single most important characteristic underlying international relations. This article explores implications of such an assumption. In doing so, it reopens older debates about the nature of international politics. First, I examine various concepts of ‘anarchy’ employed in the international relations literature. Second, I probe the sharp dichotomy between domestic and international politics that is associated with this assumption. As others have, I question the validity and utility of such a dichotomy. Finally, this article suggests that a more fruitful way to understand the international system is one that combines anarchy and interdependence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-169
Author(s):  
Gustavo Fornari Dall'Agnol

O presente artigo visa a explorar teoricamente o nível doméstico no programa de pesquisa do Realismo Neoclássico. Para tal, revisa-se o programa desde suas origens na década de 1990 até seu desenvolvimento mais atual, aqui analisado na obra de Ripsman, Lobell e Taliaferro (2016). Faz-se uma revisão crítica do emprego das variáveis domésticas, de maneira, aqui argumentada, indiscriminada e prejudicial ao futuro do programa de pesquisa. Ademais irá propor-se que o Realismo Neoclássico, como possível solução, reorganize as variáveis de nível doméstico empregadas em suas análises e construções teóricas, de maneira a dar primazia a variáveis mais ligadas à ontologia e epistemologia realista. Conclui-se que essa é uma maneira para superar as críticas feitas ao programa de pesquisa, que do ponto de vista do presente estudo, vem contribuindo decisivamente para o estudo da política internacional e pode continuar a fazê-lo.     Abstract: The present paper aims at theoretically exploring the domestic level in the Neoclassical Realist research program. In order to do so, it analyzes the program since its origins in the 1990 towards its most recent development, expressed by the work of Ripsman, Lobell and Taliaferro (2016). A critical review of the employment of domestic variables is realized, arguing that they are introduced in a non-systematic manner and are an obstacle for the future of the research program. Beyond that, it will be proposed, that Neoclassical Realism, as a possible solution, reorganizes its domestic level variables employed in their analysis and theoretical constructions, in a manner of giving primacy to variables closer to the realist ontology and epistemology. The conclusion is that this is one way of overcoming the critics towards the research program, which from the perspective of this work, has been contributing decisively to the study of international politics and can keep doing so. Key-words: Neoclassical Realism; Domestic Variables; Realpolitik.       Recebido em: junho/2019 Aprovado em: dezembro/2020


Author(s):  
Dale C. Copeland

This chapter summarizes the theoretical and practical implications of the trade expectations theory, including the relevance of its logic for the future of US–Chinese relations. It then considers the implications of this approach for international relations theory, focusing on its broader importance for thinking about liberal and realist theories that are not focused on economic interdependence per se. The chapter then turns to an examination of the contemporary US–China relationship. It contends that China's growing dependence on external raw materials and markets along with its expectations for the future are critical to predicting the likely shape of the relationship over the next two or three decades.


1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Hoffmann ◽  
Robert O. Keohane ◽  
John J. Mearsheimer

1953 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-262
Author(s):  
William W. Kaufmann

The history of international relations has lent itself to many uses. Its narrators have employed the tangled web of intention, maneuver, alliance, and war to vindicate or besmirch men's reputations, prove the guilt or innocence of nations in conflict, enrich traditions, furnish precepts for the present, and provide guides to the future. Their activity has gone on for a very long time and the product of their research has grown enormous. Presumably such a vast and varied output reflects a number of needs and interests. But is its perusal a useful way of gaining insight into the varied problems of international politics? More, as diplomatic history customarily is written, does it constitute an effective training ground for statesmen?


1973 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Langhorne

The negotiations between England and Germany over the future of the Portuguese Empire which were in progress between 1911 and 1914 have been given little attention by historians. Such as there is has usually taken the form of en passant remarks to the effect that the successful conclusion of an agreement was part of the evidence for something like an Anglo-German détente just before war broke out. Although the view that the episode does not rate full treatment is certainly correct, considerable importance was attached to the negotiations at the time, and their course does reveal some interesting features. There is useful evidence for discussing such problems as the views and influence of the permanent officials at the Foreign Office, the importance of imperial considerations in international politics at the time, and the attitudes of Sir Edward Grey and Mr ‘Lulu’ Harcourt (Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1910–15). The resolution of the divisions on the British side and the way in which the negotiations were handled has not before been put together from the available papers, and to do so gives an opportunity to reconsider what was the true significance of the episode in Anglo-German relations.


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