What can International Relations Theory learn from the origins of World War I?

Richard Ned Lebow*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)387-410
Number of pages24
JournalInternational Relations
Volume28
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Dec 2014

Keywords

  • international relations theory
  • July crisis
  • World War I

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