Reputation and International Politics (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs) - Hardcover

Mercer, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801430550 ISBN 13: 9780801430558

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1996

Synopsis

By approaching an important foreign policy issue from a new angle, Jonathan Mercer comes to a startling, controversial discovery: a nation's reputation is not worth fighting for. He presents the most comprehensive examination to date of what defines a reputation, when it is likely to emerge in international politics, and with what consequences. Mercer examines reputation formation in a series of crises before World War I. He tests competing arguments, one from deterrence theory, the other from social psychology, to see which better predicts and explains how reputations form. Extending his findings to address recent crises such as the Gulf War, he also considers how culture, gender, and nuclear weapons affect reputation. Throughout history, wars have been fought in the name of reputation. Mercer rebuts this politically powerful argument, shows that reputations form differently than we thought, and offers policy advice to decision-makers.

About this title

About the Author

Jonathan Mercer is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington.

From the Back Cover

This book is more about words than about weapons. It is about how the keenest minds in the world made formal an argument to support conflict today in order to avoid conflict tomorrow. Mercer examines reputation formation in a series of crises before World War 1. He tests competing arguments, one from deterrence theory, the other from social psychology, to see which better predicts and explains how reputations form.

From the Inside Flap

By approaching an important foreign policy issue from a new angle, Jonathan Mercer comes to a startling, controversial discovery: a nation's reputation is not worth fighting for. He presents the most comprehensive examination to date of what defines a reputation when it is likely to emerge in international politics, and with what consequences. Mercer examines reputation formation in a series of crises before World War I. He tests competing arguments, one from deterrence theory, the other from social psychology, to see which better predicts and explains how reputations form. He extends his findings to address contemporary crises such as the Gulf War, and considers how culture, gender and nuclear weapons affect reputation. Throughout history, wars have been fought in the name of reputation. Mercer rebuts this politically powerful argument, shows that reputations form differently than we thought, and offers policy advice to decision-makers.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0801430550
• ISBN 13: 9780801430558
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 248