Role theory and the cognitive architecture of British appeasement decisions : symbolic and strategic interaction in world politics / Stephen G. Walker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walker, Stephen G., 1942-

Series:

Role theory and international relations ; 3.

Role theory and international relations ; 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain--Foreign relations--1936-1945.

Great Britain.

International relations.

Great Britain--Politics and government--20th century.

Politics and government.

International relations--Research.

Physical Description:

xiii, 245 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2013.

Summary:

"Appeasement is a controversial strategy of conflict management and resolution in world politics. Its reputation is sullied by foreign policy failures ending in war or defeat in which the appeasing state suffers diplomatic and military losses by making costly concessions to other states. Britain's appeasement policies toward Germany, Italy, and Japan in the 1930s are perhaps the most notorious examples of the patterns of failure associated with this strategy. Is appeasement's reputation deserved or is this strategy simply misunderstood and perhaps improperly applied? Role theory offers a general theoretical solution to the appeasement puzzle that addresses these questions, and the answers should be interesting to political scientists, historians, students, and practitioners of cooperation and conflict strategies in world politics. As a social-psychological theory of human behavior, role theory has the capacity to unite the insights of various existing theories of agency and structure in the domain of world politics. Demonstrating this claim is the methodological aim in this book and its main contribution to breaking new ground in international relations theory"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I Role Theory: The Puzzle of Britain's Appeasement Decisions in the 1930s

1 The Appeasement Puzzle in World Politics 3

2 Modeling the Appeasement Strategy 14

3 Binary Role Theory and the Uncertainty Problem in International Relations Theory 27

Part II Role Demands: Substantive Rationality and Structural Adaptation

4 Britain's Roles in the Manchurian Conflict, 1931-1933 45

5 Britain's Roles in the Conflicts over Abyssinia and the Rhineland, 1934-1936 59

6 Britain's Roles in the Search for Peace, 1937-1938 74

7 Britain's Roles on the Road to War, 1939-1941 94

Part III Role Conceptions: Bounded Rationality and Experiential Learning

8 Psychological Mechanisms and British Appeasement Decisions 117

9 Turning Points for Peace: The Anschluss and the Sudeten Crisis in 1938 134

10 Turning Points for War: The Prague Coup and the Polish Crisis in 1939 154

Part IV Role Enactments: Communicative Rationality and Altercasting

11 Binary Role Theory and Britain's Appeasement Decisions 175

12 Crossing Simon's Bridge: Is Binary Role Theory a Theory of Everything? 186.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9780415832359

0415832357

OCLC:

839396856