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Palgrave Macmillan

Great Power Conduct and Credibility in World Politics

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Sergey Smolnikov

    1. Department of Politics, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

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  • Sheds light on the phenomenon of great powers’ obsession with retaining images of their primacy and resolve in international affairs

  • Draws from social psychology and suggests that credibility-fixated type of behavior is connected to a particular stage of the power cycle

  • Contributes to the IR pragmatist tradition of creating predictable values and generates further knowledge about generalized patterns in world politics

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction

    • Sergey Smolnikov
    Pages 1-10

  3. Part I

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11
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    2. Operationalization of Power

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 13-46

    3. Measuring Intangibles

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 47-77

    4. Power Periodicity

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 79-108

    5. Dynamics of Primacy

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 109-146

  4. Part II

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 147-147
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    2. Re-examining Modern Realist and Constructivist Concepts of World Politics

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 149-173

    3. The Narratives of Power and Credibility

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 175-201

    4. Distinguishing Credibility

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 203-245

    5. Conceptualizing Power Credibility

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 247-269

    6. Six Attributes of Credibility

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 271-298

    7. Conclusion

      • Sergey Smolnikov
      Pages 299-306

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 307-315
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Keywords

About this book

This book seeks to answer one main question: what is the core concern of great powers that streamlines their behavior in the contemporary system of international relations? Building on the examples of the United States, China, Russia, France, and Britain, it tracks both consistency and fluctuations in global power dynamics and great power behavior. The author examines the genesis, causality, and policy implications of decision makers’ fixation with retaining a credible image of power in world politics, while exploring how the dynamics of power distribution in international systems modify perceptions of primacy. Drawing on findings from disciplines such as history, economics, social and political psychology, communication theory, philosophy, political science, strategic studies, and above all, from International Relations theory and practice, the volume proposes a novel theory of power credibility, which offers an original explanation of great powers’ behavior at the stage of their relative decline.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Politics, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Sergey Smolnikov

About the author

​Sergey Smolnikov teaches in the fields of International Relations and Comparative Politics at York University, Canada, and is a former Professor of International Relations at the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan. 

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