Compound Dilemmas

by McGinnis, Michael D.

• ISBN13: 9780472112074
• ISBN10: 0472112074
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-08-01
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

For most of the period after World War II until the fall of the Soviet empire, there was a remarkable consensus in the United States in support of our policies toward the Soviet Union. This consensus resulted in enormous defense expenditures and in the development of a system of alliances that spanned the globe and marked a vast expansion of America's overseas obligations. Compound Dilemmasaddresses the question of how such widespread domestic support for a very expensive and continual arms race developed. Current models of the arms race often fail to explain the persistence of American support or the pattern of the U.S. response to Soviet actions. Michael D. McGinnis and John T. Williams use social choice theory to offer a new understanding of popular support for U.S. Cold War policies, including the American arms buildup. The authors consider the use domestic actors made of information about Soviet military expenditures in developing consensus on the size and nature of the appropriate American military response. In addition, their use of game theory and statistical analysis offers new insights into how these methods might be employed to understand foreign policy questions. This book will appeal to political scientists interested particularly in methodology, international relations, and American aspects of the political system. It will also be of interest to readers seeking information about the Cold War and its arms race. Michael D. McGinnis is Associate Professor of Political Science, Indiana University. John T. Williams is Professor of Political Science, Indiana University.

Author Biography

John T. Williams is Professor of Political Science at Indiana University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	vii
List of Tables	ix
Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(8)
Rivalry in International Relations	9	(16)
Democracy and Rivalry	25	(21)
Rational Expectations and the Arms Race	46	(18)
Dynamics of Superpower Rivalry	64	(23)
Organizations and the Domestic Politics of Rivalry	87	(19)
International Cooperation and the End of Rivalry	106	(14)
Lessons for the Post-Cold War World	120	(13)
Appendix A. Data Appendix	133	(12)
Appendix B. Methodological Appendix	145	(6)
Notes	151	(10)
References	161	(18)
Index	179