Concepts and Foreign Policy: Beliefs, Institutions, and Political Change

Author: (USA) Goltzmann, (USA) Keohane
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: This book reveals, through empirical examination of major decision-making processes in international relations, that both ideational factors and material factors play equally important roles in foreign policy decisions. It argues for three manifestations of ideas: worldviews, principled beliefs, and causal beliefs. These ideas influence foreign policy decisions through three pathways: they help define interests and serve as roadmaps; when multiple interests compete, ideas can act as a focal point and a binding agent, helping to form cooperative alliances; ideas can be transformed into institutions, exerting lasting influence. This book embodies the years of dedication from master minds of American international relations theory, serving as a bridge between liberal institutionalism and constructivism. Alexander Wendt, the founder of constructivism, praised it by saying, "It is a must-read for both idealist theorists and their critics."