Rationality and the analysis of international conflict
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Rationality and the analysis of international conflict
(Cambridge studies in international relations, 19)
Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1992
- : hard
- : pbk
Available at 48 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 243-250
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In this book, Professor Nicholson outlines social scientific approaches to international relations and then describes the problems of rational decision-making in conflict situations. He shows how rationality is in many strategic situations hard to define and often leads to paradoxes such as the prisoners' dilemma. In the following part the author explores rational beliefs about the international system. He examines theories of arms races, alliances and the international problems of ecology. Here he is critical of the classical school of international relations for a lack of rigour in dealing with the problems of evidence and belief. Finally, Michael Nicholson discusses the philosophy of science, policy and ethics. This book is both an exposition and a defence of a social scientific approach to international relations. With its emphasis on social scientific approaches, theory building and testing - and above all its clarity and accessibility - it provides students with a key to understanding the complex field of conflict analysis.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: rationality and the analysis of conflict
- Part I. Conflict: 1. Concepts of conflict
- 2. Social science and the study of conflict
- Part II. Rational Behaviour: 3. Rationality and Conflict
- 4. Conflict and the paradoxes of rationality
- 5. The zero-sum game: solutions and interpretations
- 6. Emotion and rationality
- 7. International crises: the warping of rationality
- Rational behaviour and rational choice: an assessment
- Part III. Rational Belief: Some Topics in Conflict Analysis: 8. The statistical analysis of warlike phenomena
- 9. Arms and arms races
- 10. Ecology and the free-rider
- 11. The theory of alliances
- Part IV. Conclusion: 12. The critics
- 13. Social science and values
- References
- Index.
by "Nielsen BookData"