Asymmetry and International Relationships

America's longest wars have been 'small wars'. This book explains how power differences shape - but don't determine - international relationships.

Brantly Womack (Author)

9781107589537, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 December 2015

260 pages, 14 b/w illus. 9 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.39 kg

'Some books tell you all you want to know about a subject; some tell you more than you want to know; some don't tell you much at all; but some raise questions in your mind, provoke new thoughts, and lay the groundwork for further research. To his credit, Brantly Womack's Asymmetry and International Relationships is that last kind of book.' David A. Baldwin, H-Diplo

Power is real, but it does not always prevail. This book explores how disparity structures international relationships. Beginning at the bilateral level, the relationship between the smaller side and the larger side can be normal as long as the smaller does not feel threatened and the larger can assume that its capabilities are respected. However, the smaller can be tempted to brinksmanship, while the larger can be tempted to bully. Asymmetric conflicts are often stalemated because the limited commitment of the larger side is met by the smaller's mortal resistance. In multilateral situations, asymmetry shapes patterns of uncertainty and attention. In global systems, how hegemons treat their subjects is the unobserved sand shifting beneath their feet as they look toward their challenger. Since 2008, the US has retained primacy but not dominance. The management of asymmetric relationships in a multinodal world will determine how power matters in the current era.

Introduction
Part I. Asymmetry and Bilateral Relationships: 1. Basic structure of asymmetric relationships
2. Asymmetry and conflict
Part II. Asymmetric Systems: 3. Multilateral asymmetry
4. Regional asymmetric relationships
Part III. World Systems: 5. Cycles and sustainability
6. Multinodality and the status ad quem
Part IV. Policy Implications: 7. Asymmetric prescriptions.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]