Reluctance in World Politics: Why States Fail to Act Decisively

Front Cover
Reluctance in World Politics: Why States Fail to Act Decisively
Copyright information
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
About the Author
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
	A gap in the literature
	What is reluctance and how can we explain it?
	Empirical analysis: varying reluctance in regional crisis management
2 Conceptualizing Reluctance
	Mapping the field: reconnecting concept reconstruction and concept building
	Concept reconstruction
		The broader semantic field
		Related theoretical approaches
	Reluctance: concept building
		The negative poles
		Constitutive dimensions and concept structure
		Operationalization
	Summary
3 Theorizing Reluctance in World Politics
	Difficulties in domestic preference formation
		Political weakness
		Limited capacity
		Cognitive problems
		Normative struggles
	Competing international expectations
	The interplay of difficulties in preference formation and competing expectations
	Alternative explanations
	How to study reluctance empirically
4 India’s Reluctant Crisis Management in South Asia
	India and crisis management in Afghanistan
		India’s approach to the conflict in Afghanistan
		Explaining India’s reluctance in crisis management in Afghanistan
	India and crisis management in Nepal
		India’s reluctant approach to the crisis in Nepal
		Explaining India’s reluctant approach to Nepal
5 Germany’s Mixed Approach: Not Always a Reluctant Hegemon
	Germany’s reluctant approach to intervention in Libya
		Germany and its approach to the crisis in Libya
		Explaining German reluctance in the Libya crisis
	Germany and the Ukraine crisis of 2014–15
		Germany’s low reluctance in the Ukraine crisis
		Explaining Germany’s decreasing reluctance in the Ukraine crisis of 2014–15
6 Brazil’s Non-Reluctant Approach to Regional Crisis Management
	Brazil’s leadership of MINUSTAH
		Brazil and MINUSTAH
		Explaining Brazil’s non-reluctant approach
	Brazil’s approach to the conflict in Colombia
		Explaining Brazil’s non-reluctant approach
7 Explaining Reluctance in Other Contexts
	Reluctance in different types of crisis
	Reluctance by small states and great powers
	Reluctance beyond the nation-state
8 Conclusion
	Lessons learned: reluctance, rising powers and issue salience
	Policy implications
	Avenues for further research: what are the consequences of reluctance?
Appendix: List of Interviewees
References
Index