Constraints, states, and wars

Abstract. The rational choice assumption is already disputable at the individual level of decisionmaking. At the level of collective decision-making unitary rational action is an unrealistic assumption. It neglects the transitivity of collective preferences issue, the logic of collective action and freeriding, the agency problem, and the human tendency to agree with each other irrespective of the facts. While unitary rational action is rejected as a basis for theorizing on international relations and war, the idea of decision-making under constraints seems as valid in the interstate context as in economics. The most important constraints on national security decision-making are the anarchical character of the international system and the corresponding need for self-help, the security and the territorial delimitation dilemmas, the presence or absence of plausible blueprints for victory, and the presence or absence of domestic constraints on bellicosity. A simple explanatory model of war built on these ideas is suggested and tested with dyadic data for the 1962–1980 period. In addition, there is some discussion of why collective security is doomed to fail, and why hegemony rather than balance improve the prospects of peace.     

Williamson Murray's wars: A review essay

Williamson Murray, The Change in the European Balance of Power, 1938–1939: The Path to Ruin (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. xix, 494, £33.50 or $50 (hb); £13.20 or $19.50 (pb).     

The rhetoric of public diplomacy and propaganda wars: A view from self-presentation theory

Abstract.  Efforts by governments to affect foreign public opinion through direct communication – and in competition with rival governments – have been a stable and consistent feature of international diplomacy since the turn of the twentieth century. Yet public diplomacy and its use in propaganda wars has not been sufficiently theorized, a lacuna that this article seeks to address by means of the social-psychological theory of self-presentation and impression management. The discussion suggests that public diplomacy is a form of self-presentation for social empowerment, in which rhetorical strategies and associated tactics are means of addressing image predicaments in foreign public opinion. The analysis is illustrated by means of the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its presentation in the official websites of the parties.     

浅析高技术局部战争情报保障工作

战争成败取决于多方面因素,如综合国力(政治、经济、军事、文化、科技等)、领导人的决心意志、指挥员的指挥艺术、部队的战备水平、军人的作战经验等等,但隐藏在其中的、各国严格保密的情报工作作用可谓居功至伟。局部战争中,各国用最新的科技武装情报工作,使战场单向透明度大大增加,为赢得战争奠定基础。     

浅析明星代言广告的风险

广告主利用明星代言广告已经成为常规宣传方式,然而不是所有的广告主都能品尝到明星代言广告的喜悦,明星代言广告还存在着一定的风险.本文分别从"匹配"、"人气"、"干扰"、"创意"、"事件"、"健康"六个方面对明星代言广告存在着的风险进行了分析.