Domestic Society and International Cooperation: The Impact of Protest on US Arms Control Policy [Hardcover]

This book shows how peace movements affected US decisions to enter nuclear arms control talks during the Cold War.This book shows how peace movements affected US decisions to enter nuclear arms control talks during the Cold War. Most scholarship assumes that state policies on pursuing international cooperation are set by national leaders, in response either to international conditions, or to their own interests and ideas. By demonstrating the importance of public protest and citizen activism, Jeffrey Knopf shows how state preferences in this can also be shaped from below.This book shows how peace movements affected US decisions to enter nuclear arms control talks during the Cold War. Most scholarship assumes that state policies on pursuing international cooperation are set by national leaders, in response either to international conditions, or to their own interests and ideas. By demonstrating the importance of public protest and citizen activism, Jeffrey Knopf shows how state preferences in this can also be shaped from below.This book shows how peace movements affected US decisions to enter nuclear arms control talks during the Cold War. Most scholarship assumes that state policies on pursuing international cooperation are set by national leaders, in response either to international conditions, or to their own interests and ideas. By demonstrating the importance of public protest and citizen activism, Jeffrey Knopf shows how state preferences for cooperation can be shaped from below.Introduction; 1. The domestic politics of cooperation: three views; 2. Protest and arms control: a first look; 3. A framework for assessing activism's influence; 4. Eisenhower's first initiatives: a matter of priorities; 5. Eisenhower and the test ban movement; 6. The decision to begin SALT; 7. Reagan and the freeze movement. ...Knopf makes a truly significant contribution. David Skidmore, Political Science Quarterly