Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T21:09:55.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Relative-Gains Problem for International Cooperation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Joseph Grieco ,
Robert Powell  and
Duncan Snidal
Joseph Grieco
Affiliation:
Duke University
Robert Powell
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Duncan Snidal
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Modern realism claims that the fear that others will enjoy relatively greater benefits frequently impedes international cooperation. Recent articles in this Review by Duncan Snidal and Robert Powell modeled conditions under which the impact of relative gains varied. Joseph Grieco criticizes Snidal's model as based on assumptions that allow him to avoid, rather than confront, the realist arguments. He also argues that Powell's model, while constructive, ignores important additional sources of sensitivity to relative gains. In response, Powell discusses the value of alternative assumptions about preferences and constraints in international relations. Snidal defends his analysis and presents an additional proof to support the independence of his central result—the diminishing impact of relative gains with increasing numbers of states—from assumptions of concern to Grieco. Both responders emphasize their work as contributing to a contextually rich theory of international politics that builds on elements of both realism and neo-liberalism.

Type
Controversies
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 87 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 729 - 743
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aron, Raymond. 1973. Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations. Trans. Howard, Richard and Fox, Annette Baker. Garden City: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Axelrod, Robert. 1984. The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Axelrod, Robert, and Keohane, Robert O.. 1985. “Achieving Cooperation under Anarchy: Strategies and Institutions.” World Politics 38:226–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brito, Dagobert, and Intriligator, Michael. 1985. “Conflict, War, and Redistribution.” American Political Science Review 79:943–57.Google Scholar
Gilpin, Robert. 1971. “The Politics of Transnational Economic Relations.” International Organization 25:398–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilpin, Robert. 1975. U.S. Power and Multinational Corporations: The Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment. New York: Basic Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilpin, Robert. 1981. War and Change in World Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilpin, Robert. 1987. The Political Economy of International Relations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gowa, Joanne. 1989. “Bipolarity, Multipolarity, and Free Trade.” American Political Science Review 83:1245–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grieco, Joseph. 1988a. "Anarchy and the Limits of Cooperation.” International Organization 42:485–507.Google Scholar
Grieco, Joseph. 1988b. “Realist Theory and the Problem of International Cooperation.” Journal of Politics 50:600–624.Google Scholar
Grieco, Joseph M. 1990. Cooperation among Nations: Europe, America, and Non-tariff Barriers to Trade. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jervis, Robert. 1978. “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma.” World Politics 30:167–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jervis, Robert. 1988. “Realism, Game Theory, and Cooperation.” World Politics 40:317–49.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Woosang, and Morrow, James. 1990. “When Do Power Transitions Matter?” Hoover Institution. Typescript.Google Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1976. “State Power and the Structure of World Trade.” World Politics 28:314–47.Google Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1978. Defending the National Interest: Raw Materials Investments and U.S. Foreign Policy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1985. Structural Conflict: The Third World against Global Liberalism. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1991. “Global Communications and National Power: Life on the Pareto Frontier.” World Politics 43:336–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipson, Charles 1984. “International Cooperation in Economic and Security Affairs.” World Politics 37:1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastanduno, Michael. 1991. “Do Relative Gains Matter? America's Response to Japanese Industrial Policy.” International Security 16:73–113.Google Scholar
Morgenthau, Hans J. 1948. Politics among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Oye, Kenneth, ed. 1986. Cooperation under Anarchy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, Robert. 1991. “Absolute and Relative Gains in International Relations Theory.” American Political Science Review 85:1303–20.Google Scholar
Powell, Robert. 1993. “Guns, Butter, and Anarchy.” American Political Science Review 87:1–18.Google Scholar
Snidal, Duncan. 1991a. “Relative Gains and the Pattern of International Cooperation.” American Political Science Review 85:701–26.Google Scholar
Snidal, Duncan. 1991b. “International Cooperation among Relative Gains Maximizers.” International Studies Quarterly 35:387–402.Google Scholar
Snyder, Glen. 1990. “Alliance Theory: A Neorealist First Cut.” Journal of International Affairs 44:103–23.Google Scholar
Stein, Arthur A. 1983. “Coordination and Collaboration: Regimes in an Anarchic World.” In International Regimes, ed. Krasner, Stephen D.. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Stein, Arthur A. 1984. “The Hegemon's Dilemma: Great Britain, the. United States, and the International Economic Order.” International Organization 38:355–86.Google Scholar
Tucker, Jonathan B. 1991. “Partners and Rivals: A Model of International Collaboration in Advanced Technology.” International Organization 45:83–120.Google Scholar
Walt, Stephen. 1987. The Origins of Alliances. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Walt, Stephen. 1988. “Testing Theories of Alliance Formation: The Case of Southwest Asia.” International Organization 42:275–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1979. Theory of International Politics. Reading: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1986. “Reflections on Theory of International Politics: A Response to My Critics.” In Neorealism and Its Critics, ed. Keohane, Robert O.. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.