1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910454198103321

Autore

Lebow Richard Ned

Titolo

A cultural theory of international relations / / Richard Ned Lebow [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2008

ISBN

1-107-19760-0

1-281-98261-X

9786611982614

0-511-46445-2

0-511-57517-3

0-511-46288-3

0-511-46519-X

0-511-46212-3

0-511-46367-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xi, 762 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

327.101

Soggetti

International relations - Philosophy

Constructivism (Philosophy)

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 571-740) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Fear, interest and honor -- The spirit and its expression -- The ancient world -- Medieval Europe -- From Sun King to revolution -- Imperialism and World War I -- World War II -- Hitler to Bush and beyond -- General findings and conclusions.

Sommario/riassunto

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.