The Ideological Origins of Great Power Politics,
1789–1989. By Mark L. Haas. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press, 2005. 250p. $39.95.
Realists argue that state behavior is predicated on the distribution
of power in the international system. Specifically, states attempt to
acquire, maintain, exercise, and balance power in response to the same
behavior expected of other states in the system. In this book, Mark L.
Haas offers a compelling argument for thinking beyond power variables and
considering the independent effects of ideology on leaders' foreign
policy decisions. The main thrust of his thesis is that the greater the
ideological distance between decision makers of different states, the
greater the likelihood that they will view each other as threats to
domestic power and international security. Conversely, the greater the
ideological affinity between states' leaders, the greater the
likelihood that they will see each other as mutually supportive of one
another's interests and, therefore, as less threatening. Decision
makers' conflictual or accommodative foreign policies, then, are a
function of threat perception caused by ideological distance. The book
begins with the explication of the theoretical argument and then applies
the theory to five different historical case studies. Haas concludes with
policy implications and prescriptions for current and future international
politics generally, and U.S. foreign policy specifically.