A Century of Crisis and Conflict in the International System

This book is designed to present a fully developed theory of international crisis and conflict, along with substantial evidence of these two closely related phenomena. The book begins with a discussion of these topics at a theoretical level, defining and elaborating on core concepts: international crisis, interstate conflict, severity, and impact. This is followed by a discussion of the international system, along with two significant illustrations, the Berlin Blockade crisis (1948) and the India-Pakistan crisis over Kashmir (1965-66). The book then presents a unified model of crisis, focusing on the four phases of an international crisis, which incorporate the four periods of foreign policy crises for individual states. Findings from thirteen conflicts representing six regional clusters are then analyzed, concluding with a set of hypotheses and evidence on conflict onset, persistence, and resolution.

Presents theoretical findings and reflections on extensive archive of 450 case studies on international crises Addresses critical questions around the causes, escalation, and resolution of international crises to explore the crisis-conflict-war linkage Offers the first book-length exposition of the International Crisis Behavior (ICB) Project Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Michael Brecher is the R.B. Angus Professor of Political Science at McGill University, Canada.

Inhalt

1. Multiple Paths to Knowledge .- 2. Theory I: Core Concepts and Systems .- 3. Theory II: Unified Model of Crisis (UMC) and the ICB Framework .- 4. General Findings: Foreign Policy Crises .- 5. Theory III: Interstate Conflicts .- 6. Select Case Study Findings on Interstate Conflict: Africa and Americas .- 7. Select Case Study Findings on Interstate Conflict: Asia .- 8. Select Case Study Findings on Interstate Conflict: Europe and the Middle East .- 9. Select Case Study Findings on Interstate Conflict: Inter-Region .- 10. What Have We Learned about Interstate Conflict? .- 11. Critique of International Studies.