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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Sell Unipolarity? The Future Of An Overvalued Concept, Jeffrey W. Legro
Sell Unipolarity? The Future Of An Overvalued Concept, Jeffrey W. Legro
Political Science Faculty Publications
For at least the past thirty years, scholarship on international relations has been bewitched by a simple proposition: the polarity of the international system is a central cause of great power strategies and politics. The number of "poles" (dominant countries) in the system is like an invisible fence that shapes states as if they were dogs with electronic collars or a Skinner box that conditions national "rats." States can choose to ignore the fence or box, but if they do, they must pay the consequences. The polarity of the international system as defined by the number of great powers - …
Introduction: Navigating The Unknown, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Introduction: Navigating The Unknown, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Political Science Faculty Publications
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. Hardly anyone had foreseen this event. When President Ronald Reagan had challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in June 1987 “to tear down this wall,” he never anticipated that Berliners themselves would have the opportunity and courage to bring about such dramatic change. We now know that the Wall came down as a result of accidental circumstances, a series of mistaken statements and understandings among officials of the German Democratic Republic. No one had planned for this to happen, and no one had plans to deal with a new landscape that might …
Conclusion: Strategy In A Murky World, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Conclusion: Strategy In A Murky World, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro
Political Science Faculty Publications
Making national strategy is a byzantine business in the best of times. When dramatic events happen, when the international arena is complex and changing, when threats and opportunities are uncertain, leaders struggle to understand and react effectively. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the attacks of 9/11 opened vistas that were unfamiliar and complicated. How did U.S. leaders manage those transitions?