A Cultural Theory of International Relations

Author: Richard Ned Lebow;  

Publisher: Cambridge University Press‎

Publication year: 2008

E-ISBN: 9781316975824

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780521871365

P-ISBN(Hardback):  9780521871365

Subject: D81 international relations

Keyword: 外交、国际关系

Language: ENG

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Description

An original theory of politics and international relations based on ancient Greek ideas of human motivation. A novel theory of politics and international relations rooted in ancient Greek theories of human motives. Lebow offers a framework for understanding transformations of regional and international systems as well as original explanations for the rise of the state, the causes of war, and the reformulation of prospect theory. A novel theory of politics and international relations rooted in ancient Greek theories of human motives. Lebow offers a framework for understanding transformations of regional and international systems as well as original explanations for the rise of the state, the causes of war, and the reformulation of prospect theory. In this volume, Richard Ned Lebow introduces his own constructivist theory of political order and international relations based on theories of motives and identity formation drawn from the ancient Greeks. His theory stresses the human need for self-esteem, and shows how it influences political behavior at every level of social aggregation. Lebow develops ideal-type worlds associated with four motives: appetite, spirit, reason and fear, and demonstrates how each generates a different logic concerning cooperation, conflict and risk-taking. Expanding and documenting the utility of his theory in a series of historical case studies, ranging from classical Greece to the war in Iraq, he presents a novel explanation for the rise of the state and the causes of war, and offers a reformulation of prospect theory. This is a novel theory of politics by one of the world's leading scholars of international relations. 1. Introduction; 2. Fear, interest and honor; 3. The spirit and its expression; 4. The ancient world; 5. Medieval Europe; 6. From Sun King to Revolution; 7. Imperialism and World War I; 8. World War II; 9. Hitler to Bush and beyond; 10. General findings and conclusions. 'In this successor volume to The Tragic Vision of Politics, Ned Lebow sets out ... a new Grand Theory for the social sciences... This project involves historical studies ranging over two and a half millennia, and in depth readings of many great thinkers; I am quite certain that everyone will enjoy the ride – it would be impossible to read this tour de force without having one's horizons widened.' Chris Brown, London School of Economics 'Ned Lebow's record of research and publication in IR is second to none. What distinguishes it most of all above the common herd are not just its range and sophistication but also that it is genuinely crosscultural. Entirely in the same spirit of virtue-ethical inquiry as his outstanding The Tragic Vision of Politics, Lebow here interrogates the vital underpinnings of human interstate relations from spirit-based Greek and Roman antiquity to the anxious, threat-based strategies of modernity from Hitler to Bush and beyond.' Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge 'Drawing on ancient Greek thought and practice, Richard Ned Lebow has produced a book of great theoretical power and historical sweep. This is the sort of study that can only be done after years of thought and research, and it will be read for many years to come.' Robert Jervis, Columbia University 'In this impressive follow up to The Tragic Vision of Politics, Ned Lebow continues and further elaborates his ground breaking fusion of Ancient Greek thought, historical imagination and contemporary social science to offer a rich and provocative t

Chapter

Appetite

Reason

Order and its breakdown

Fear

Mixed worlds

Change and transformation

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

The future

Problems

Scope

Drivers

Ontology

Levels of analysis

Evaluation

3 The spirit and its expression

Outline of a paradigm

The world of Achilles

Emphasis of the spirit leads to a corresponding depreciation of the appetite

The need for self-esteem is transformed into a quest for fame and even immortality

Honor worlds are extremely competitive

Competition for honor is restricted to an elite

Honor societies generally have limited possibilities for upward mobility

Standing is signaled and sustained by mutually understood markers

People with standing are expected to feel a strong sense of obligation toward their society and those who honor them

Honor worlds require a robust society

Cooperation is both more difficult and easier in honor worlds

Warfare is frequent in honor societies, but generally limited in its ends and means, and governed by rules

Tensions

Historical worlds

Theoretical summary

4 The ancient world

Classical Greece

Striving for honor

Appetite

Competition

Immortality

Markers of standing

Threats to honor and standing

Obligation

Society

War

Tensions

The most important internal tension was between the striving for honor and the nomos that sustains and gives it meaning

The tension between warfare as agon and warfare to achieve political goals

Honor societies are characterized by tension between equality and hierarchy

In honor societies, desire for honor generally succeeds in triumphing over fear

The most serious tension in fifth-century Greece was between the spirit and appetite on the one hand and reason on the other

Thumos to gloria

Macedon

The Romans

Concluding observations

5 Medieval Europe

Charlemagne

The high Middle Ages

The Norman Conquest

Chivalry

The Hundred Years War

Tensions

Motives and honor revisited

6 From Sun King to Revolution

Spirit

Appetite

Restrictions on competition

Markers of standing

Society and warfare

Warfare

Motives

Standing and honor

Late developers and late competitors

The rise of the state

7 Imperialism and World War I

The modern mind

Imperialism

World War I

Prospect theory and foreign policy

Agency

8 World War II

Germany

Italy

Japan

Warfare

Parvenu powers

9 Hitler to Bush and beyond

The Cold War

Iraq

Transformation of the international system

10 General findings and conclusions

Motives

Reason, affect and order

Theory and cases

The ancient world

Medieval Europe

Westphalia to the French Revolution

Imperialism and World War I

World War II and the Cold War

Hitler to Bush

The state

Prospect theory

Parvenu powers

Power transition and power abuse

Power, influence, justice

Identity and order

The psychology of identity

Identity and change

Bibliography

Index

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