Systemic argument that is virtually unknown in international relations. This book describes and tests a fully systemic theory of international politics. Using statistics and diplomatic history, it traces statesmen's efforts to influence the broad contours of the international system within which they interact. Do great leaders make history? Or are they compelled to act by historical circumstance? This debate has remained unresolved since Thomas Carlyle and Karl Marx framed it in the mid-nineteenth century, yet implicit answers inform our policies and our views of history. In this book, Professor Bear F. Braumoeller argues persuasively that both perspectives are correct: leaders shape the main material and ideological forces of history that subsequently constrain and compel them. His studies of the Congress of Vienna, the interwar period, and the end of the Cold War illustrate this dynamic, and the data he marshals provide systematic evidence that leaders both shape and are constrained by the structure of the international system.
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Hinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
"Braumoeller presents the first logically sound and empirically tested systemic theory of international relations. He challenges systemic theorists such as Waltz and Wendt and combines rigorous theory, historical analysis, and statistical testing in one coherent package. He engages a wide range of literatures and debates, from the agent-structure debate to computational systems theory to the historical legacy of the Congress of Vienna, all with keen intelligence and even wit."
Andrew Kydd, University of Wisconsin
Andrew Kydd, University of Wisconsin