TY - JOUR
T1 - What can International Relations Theory learn from the origins of World War I?
AU - Lebow, Richard Ned
PY - 2014/12/10
Y1 - 2014/12/10
N2 - World War I is a foundational or critical case for theories of international relations that address the causes of war. They include balance of power, deterrence, power transition theory, and rationalist models of decision making. Recent historical work on the underlying and immediate causes of World War I raises serious problems for all these approaches. Among other things, they highlight the importance of context, how it is understood by leaders, their motives and assumptions, and their tendency to exaggerate the constraints acting on them, the freedom of other actors, and their ability to predict events and control risks.
AB - World War I is a foundational or critical case for theories of international relations that address the causes of war. They include balance of power, deterrence, power transition theory, and rationalist models of decision making. Recent historical work on the underlying and immediate causes of World War I raises serious problems for all these approaches. Among other things, they highlight the importance of context, how it is understood by leaders, their motives and assumptions, and their tendency to exaggerate the constraints acting on them, the freedom of other actors, and their ability to predict events and control risks.
KW - international relations theory
KW - July crisis
KW - World War I
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84916638990&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0047117814556157
DO - 10.1177/0047117814556157
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84916638990
SN - 0047-1178
VL - 28
SP - 387
EP - 410
JO - International Relations
JF - International Relations
IS - 4
ER -