The Language of Foreign Policy

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3916062
AutoresOle Waever (0000-0002-9053-5855, Centre for Peace and Conflict Research, Copenhagen, autor de correspondencia)
Año1990
Volumen27
Número3
Páginas335-343
Fecha de publicación1990-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022343390027003009
OpenAlexW2077256587
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas26

In Ideology and Foreign Policy: Problems of Comparative Conceptualization, Walter Carlsnaes develops a framework for the study of foreign policy based on the concept of action. Functionalist and structuralist theories are thrust aside on the way to a logical clarification of the nature of explanation. Overall, this contribution is evaluated as positive and stimulating. Three points for possible criticism are made: (1) The `action' framework relegates structural factors to a secondary position; (2) the conceptualization in terms of values and perceptions rests on a narrow and rationalist understanding of psyche and language; (3) the concept of `ideology' remains too closely linked to the issue of beliefs (held by individuals) and thereby an important ideational dimension of social reality is missed. The first point is seen by the reviewer as a necessary price to be paid for the clarification of the intentional dimension. Emphasis is put on the second point. Based on a contrasting conception of language it is pointed out how Carlsnaes ends up in a too narrow concept of politics. This is the major source of the problems in the third category, too. The review suggests that the book might form part of a new `Scandinavian Approach' taking a different approach to the role of theory from the dominant US and British approaches to foreign policy analysis. The review indicates lines along which this new approach can be developed

Action (physics) · Conceptualization · Criticism · Dimension (graph theory) · Economics · Epistemology · Foreign policy · Ideology · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Psyche · Sociology · European Union Policy and Governance · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy