Contexts of International Politics [Paperback]

Through different theoretical references and concrete studies, Goertz illustrates the fruitfulness of the contextual approach to international politics.This examination of the ways and means by which nation-states interact with their environment proposes a theory of context that traces how system structure, normative environment and history can act as contexts for decision makers, either as causes, barriers, or by changing meanings.This examination of the ways and means by which nation-states interact with their environment proposes a theory of context that traces how system structure, normative environment and history can act as contexts for decision makers, either as causes, barriers, or by changing meanings.This book examines the ways and means by which nation-states interact with their environment. The author proposes a theory of context that examines the way in which system structure, normative environment, and history can act as contexts for decision makers, either as causes, barriers, or by changing meanings. The theoretical and methodological material is illustrated by a number of case studies that apply context theory to specific problems, such as decolonization, USSR-East European relations, and enduring military rivalries.1. Introduction; 2. Modes of context; 3. Context as changing meaning; 4. Contextual indicators; 5. Rational actor and diffusion models; 6. Barrier models of context; 7. Oil nationalization, 191880; 8. Eastern Europe, 194589; 9. Historical contexts; 10. Enduring rivalries; 11. The context of international norms; 12. The norm of decolonization; 13. Postface: interacting contexts and explaining contexts.