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Fighting for Credibility
US Reputation and International Politics
Frank P. Harvey (Author), John Mitton (Author)
9781487500757
Hardback, published 27 December 2016
312 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.58 kg
‘This detailed, technical study will be of special interest chiefly to the scholars of international relations and foreign policy.’ ‘This book is a necessary addition to the bookshelf of any scholar or practitioner interested in reputation, deterrence and compellence, or American foreign policy.’
When Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people in Syria, he clearly crossed President Barack Obama’s "red line." At the time, many argued that the president had to bomb in order to protect America's reputation for toughness, and therefore its credibility, abroad; others countered that concerns regarding reputation were overblown, and that reputations are irrelevant for coercive diplomacy. Whether international reputations matter is the question at the heart of Fighting for Credibility. For skeptics, past actions and reputations have no bearing on an adversary’s assessment of credibility; power and interests alone determine whether a threat is believed. Using a nuanced and sophisticated theory of rational deterrence, Frank P. Harvey and John Mitton argue the opposite: ignoring reputations sidesteps important factors about how adversaries perceive threats. Focusing on cases of asymmetric US encounters with smaller powers since the end of the Cold War including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Syria, Harvey and Mitton reveal that reputations matter for credibility in international politics. This dynamic and deeply documented study successfully brings reputation back to the table of foreign diplomacy.
Introduction Chapter 1: Reputations Research and Premature Closure of Inquiry Chapter 2: Reputations Matter: Rational Deterrence Theory and Credibility Reconsidered Chapter 3: US Reputation Building in Deterrence Encounters, 1991–2003 Chapter 4: The Strategic Logic of US Coercion: Explaining Failures and Successes in Syria, 2011- 2013 Chapter 5: RDT, Domestic Politics, and Audience Costs Chapter 6: Reputations, Credibility, and Transferability – Reconsidering Syria’s Relevance to Iran, North Korea, and Beyond Chapter 7: Responding to Critics: Alternative Explanations and Competing Policy Recommendations Chapter 8: Expanding Theory-Policy Gaps in International Relations Appendix 1 Glossary of Terms