Risk-taking in international politics
Subtitle: prospect theory in American foreign policy
By: Rose McDermott.
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Language: eng
Number of pages: 242
Subjects: International relations -- Decision making.; Risk-taking (Psychology); United States -- Foreign relations -- Decision making.
Description: Risk plays a dramatic role in international relations as leaders make decisions about issues such as war and peace, disarmament, and about lowering economic barriers to trade and investment. How a country's leaders think about risk in making foreign policy decisions is important in understanding why and how they make decisions. Rose McDermott applies prospect theory to four cases in American foreign policy.

Prospect theory, developed by psychologists to understand decision making under conditions of risk, suggests that decision makers who are confronting losses are more likely to take risks than are those decision makers who are satisfied with the status quo.

Risk-Taking in International Politics offers a unique application of a sophisticated psychological model to international relations theory. The book will appeal to political scientists and psychologists interested in decision making, in international relations, and in American foreign policy.
Notes: Incudes bibliographical references (p. 225-232) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Prospect theory; title: The Iranian hostage rescue mission; title: The decisions about admitting the Shah; title: The U-2 crisis; title: The 1956 Suez crisis; title: Conclusions.