Asymmetry and International Relationships - Softcover

Womack, Brantly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107589533 ISBN 13: 9781107589537

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Power is real, but it does not always prevail. This book explores how disparity structures international relationships. Beginning at the bilateral level, the relationship between the smaller side and the larger side can be normal as long as the smaller does not feel threatened and the larger can assume that its capabilities are respected. However, the smaller can be tempted to brinksmanship, while the larger can be tempted to bully. Asymmetric conflicts are often stalemated because the limited commitment of the larger side is met by the smaller's mortal resistance. In multilateral situations, asymmetry shapes patterns of uncertainty and attention. In global systems, how hegemons treat their subjects is the unobserved sand shifting beneath their feet as they look toward their challenger. Since 2008, the US has retained primacy but not dominance. The management of asymmetric relationships in a multinodal world will determine how power matters in the current era.

About this title

Review:

'Womack explores the dynamics of asymmetrical relationships in international relations, including unequal bilateral relationships and patterns of asymmetry in multilateral settings. He finds, inter alia, that asymmetric conflicts are often stalemated when the limited commitment of the larger side is met with 'mortal resistance' by the smaller side.' Survival: Global Politics and Strategy

'Some books tell you all you want to know about a subject; some tell you more than you want to know; some don't tell you much at all; but some raise questions in your mind, provoke new thoughts, and lay the groundwork for further research. To his credit, Brantly Womack's Asymmetry and International Relationships is that last kind of book.' David A. Baldwin, H-Diplo

Book Description:

In most international relationships, the weaker side cannot do to the larger side what the larger side can do to it. But the lesson of Vietnam is that power does not always prevail. This book explores the role of disparity in shaping - but not determining - international relationships.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1107589533
• ISBN 13: 9781107589537
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 262