{"product_id":"crucible-of-beliefs","title":"Crucible of Beliefs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow do foreign policymakers learn from history? When do states enter alliances? Why have some small powers chosen to enter alliances whereas others have stayed neutral?\u003c\/b\u003e In \u003ci\u003eCrucible of Beliefs\u003c\/i\u003e, Dan Reiter uses work in social psychology and organization theory to build a formative-events model of learning in international politics. History does inform the decisions of policymakers, he suggests, but it is history of a specific sort, based on firsthand experience in major events such as wars.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTested against balance-of-threat theory, the leading realist explanation of alliance behavior, Reiter's formative-events model of learning emerges as a far better predictor of states' decisions. \u003ci\u003eCrucible of Beliefs \u003c\/i\u003eshows that, contrary to balance-of-threat theory, state leaders ignore the level of international threat and focus instead on avoiding past mistakes and repeating past successes. A serious blow to realism, these findings demonstrate that to understand the dynamics of world politics, it is essential to know how leaders learn from history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Dan Reiter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43576139022518,"sku":"9781501772078","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0251\/4980\/0541\/files\/9781501772078_f7ae595f-63c0-4b17-865d-62d0dc59e160.jpg?v=1738964581","url":"https:\/\/combined-academic.myshopify.com\/products\/crucible-of-beliefs","provider":"Combined Academic Publishers - Mare Nostrum Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}