Crisis Diplomacy: The Great Powers Since the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Product Description


Why do some international crises lead to war, while others are resolved peacefully? Does the outcome depend mainly on underlying structural causes, or on decision makers' choices and diplomacy? In this book James Richardson examines nine major international crises from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to explain the differing outcomes of each. The author evaluates the main theories that have served to explain crisis behavior, emphasizing the conflict between theories based on an assumption of rationality, and those which emphasize the nonrational.


Review


"Crisis Diplomacy makes three important contributions to the literature. First, chapter 2 presents an excellent synthesis and summary of existing theories and concepts....Second, chapters 10 through 15 contain a wealth of interesting evaluations and critiques of contemporary theories of crisis behavior....Third, the book's insights from the historical cases refine and qualify the usual list of seven maxims of crisis management: maintain multiple advocacy, limit objectives, keep options flexible, avoid misperceptions of the adversary, communicate and signal clearly, keep close political control over military operations, and reduce time pressure." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"[Richardson's] final conclusions have cogency and even a ring of urgency for policy makers: the need for multiple advocacy to insure that all options are considered, a careful limitation of objectives, flexibility in selecting options, the importance of perceptions and their verification, and constant attention to communications. In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the return to more ambiguous situations of war and peace, these admonitions have force and relevance. We must hope that some future policy makers will read and possibly heed." American Historical Review


Book Description


Why do some international crises lead to war, while others are resolved peacefully? Nine major international crises are examined in order to explain the differing outcomes of each, in relationship to theories that explain crisis behavior--nonrational as well as rational.


About the Author


Richardson is Professor in the Department of International Relations at the Australian National University.