Role Quests in the Post-Cold War Era

by Le Prestre, Philippe G.; Universite Du Quebec a Montreal Centre D'Etudes Des Politiques etrange

• ISBN13: 9780773515321
• ISBN10: 0773515321
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-04-01
• Publisher: Carleton Univ Pr

Summary

A state's articulation of its national role betrays its preferences and an image of the world, triggers expectations, and influences the definition of the situation and of available options. Extending Kal Holsti's early work on the usefulness of the concept of role, Role Quests in the Post-Cold War Era examines the nature, evolution, and origins of role conceptions, key aspects largely ignored in a literature obsessed with the quest for immediate relevance. For each country contributors present the major foreign policy debate that took place at the end of the Cold War and examine, through an analysis of major speeches, the relative weight of identity and international status in the definition of the national role. Uncovering the different roles that states claim for themselves allows reflection on the possibility of international cooperation in the maintenance of international order. This study helps assess the importance of identity in national role conceptions, identify potential conflicts arising from the clash of roles masquerading as interests, and clarifies existing contradictions in prevailing roles. Contributors include Caroline Alain, Onnig Beylerian, Christophe Canivet, Jean-Rene Chotard, Andre Donneur, Philippe G. Le Prestre, Paul Letourneau, Jacques Levesque, Alexander Macleod, Marie-Elisabeth Rakel, Jean-Francois Thibeault, and Charles Thumerelle.

Table of Contents

Figures	vii	(1)
Tables	viii	(5)
Acknowledgments	xiii
1 Author! Author! Defining Foreign Policy Roles after the Cold War	3	(12)
PHILIPPE G. LE PRESTRE
2 The Soviet Union/Russia: Which Past for Which Future?	15	(25)
JEAN-FRANCOIS THIBAULT
JACQUES LEVESQUE
3 Articulating the New International Role of the United States during Previous Transitions, 1916-1919, 1943-1947	40	(25)
JEAN-RENE CHOTARD
4 The United States: An Elusive Role Quest after the Cold War	65	(23)
PHILIPPE G. LE PRESTRE
5 Japan: A Great Power Despite Itself	88	(23)
ALEX MACLEOD
6 Germany: To Be or Not to Be Normal?	111	(20)
PAUL LETOURNEAU
MARIE-ELISABETH RAKEL
7 France: The Straitjacket of New Freedom	131	(30)
CHARLES THUMERELLE
PHILIPPE G. LE PRESTRE
8 Great Britian: Still Searching for Status?	161	(26)
ALEX MACLEOD
9 China: Role Conceptions after the Cold War	187	(38)
ONNIG BEYLERIAN
CHRISTOPHE CANIVET
10 Canada: A Reassertion of Its Role as a Middle Power	225	(26)
ANDRE P. DONNEUR
CAROLINE C. ALAIN
11 Change and Continuity in Foreign Policy Role Conceptions after the Cold War	251	(12)
PHILIPPE G. LE PRESTRE
Notes	263	(8)
References	271	(34)
Contributors	305	(2)
Index	307	(10)
Centre d'etudes des politiques etrangeres et de securite, Universite du Quebec a Montreal	317