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  1. Home
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  3. Rationality and the Analysis of International Conflict
  • Cited by 42
  • Michael Nicholson, London Centre for International Relations, University of Kent, Canterbury
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
November 2009
Print publication year:
1992
Online ISBN:
9780511598739
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511598739
Series:
Cambridge Studies in International Relations (19)
Subjects:
Politics and International Relations, International Relations and International Organisations
Information

Book 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.

Reviews

‘The work explores, from a philosophical basis, the various aspects of rationality, as well as its inherent dilemmas, as applied to the study of the arms race as well as to that of alliances, in most cases ending up with persuasively common sense-like suggestions … the work is not overburdened with mathematical formulae, but for the most part written in a fluent style, appealing to the layman as well as the specialist.’

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