Richard K Herrmann
Biographic Data
| ID | 1065776 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richard K Herrmann |
| GIVEN NAMES | Richard K |
| FAMILY NAME | Herrmann |
| SIGNATURE | HERRMANN R K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Richard K. Herrmann is Director of the Mershon Center and Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University. |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 643 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1985 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
How Attachments to the Nation Shape Beliefs About the World: A Theory of Motivated Reasoning
If competing beliefs about political events in the world stem largely from information asymmetries, then more information and knowledge should reduce the gap in competing perceptions. Empirical studies of decision making, however, often find just the reverse: as knowledge and the stakes in play go up, the beliefs about what is happening polarize rather than converge. The theory proposed here attributes this to motivated reasoning. Emotions inside…
Attachment to the Nation and International Relations: Dimensions of Identity and Their Relationship to War and Peace
Since the rise of mass politics, the role national identities play in international relations has been debated. Do they produce a popular reservoir easily tapped for war or bestow dignity thereby fostering cooperation and a democratic peace? The evidence for either perspective is thin, beset by different conceptions of identity and few efforts to identify its effects independent of situational factors. Using data drawn from new national surveys i…
From Prediction to Learning: Opening Experts' Minds to Unfolding History
Although it would be nice if the intelligence community's tradecraft or the academic community's theories could predict the future, it is essential that international security experts learn quickly and accurately from unfolding history. This article reports on a multiyear study of experts dealing with security on the Korean Peninsula. It examines how experts learn and what can derail rational updating. Three factors common to much of the work in …
Ending the Cold War: Interpretations, Causation and the Study of International Relations
Although in hindsight the end of the Cold War seems almost inevitable, almost no one saw it coming and there is little consensus over why it ended. A popular interpretation is that the Soviet Union wa
Beliefs, Values, and Strategic Choice: U.S. Leaders’ Decisions to Engage, Contain, and Use Force in an Era of Globalization
Do ideational factors shape the strategic choices of American leaders in the realm of national security policy? If they do, what perceptions and value dispositions guide choices toward critical countries like Russia, China, Japan, and Iran? Macrotheories of international relations make assumptions about the microprocesses at the decision-making level that are rarely examined empirically. For instance, do leaders decide based on their perceptions …
How Americans Think About Trade: Reconciling Conflicts Among Money, Power, and Principles
Trade has again emerged as a controversial issue in America, yet we know little about the ideas that guide American thinking on these questions. By combining traditional survey methods with experimental manipulation of problem content, this study explores the ideational landscape among elite Americans and pays particular attention to how elite Americans combine their ideas about commerce with their ideas about national security and social justice…
Defending International Norms: The Role of Obligation, Material Interest, and Perception in Decision Making
States defend norms in some cases but not in others. Understanding this variation sheds light on both U.S. foreign policy and the role of normative reasoning. We report the results of four experiments embedded in a survey of U.S. elites. The experiments identified the effects of felt normative obligation (that is, the logic of what is appropriate) and concern for U.S. economic and security interests (that is, the logic of utilitarian consequence)…
Mass Public Decisions on Go to War: A Cognitive-Interactionist Framework
How do Americans decide whether their country should use military force abroad? We argue they combine dispositional preferences and ideas about the geopolitical situation. This article reports the results of a representative national survey that incorporated five experiments. Findings include the following: (1) Respondent dispositions, especially isolationism versus internationalism and assertiveness versus accommodativeness, consistently constra…
Images in International Relations: An Experimental Test of Cognitive Schemata
We build on the tradition of studying images in international relations by developing a theory of perceived relationships and their associated images. The psychological theory is connected to a set of assumptions drawn from international relations theory that suggest perceived strategic relationships can be conceived of as a function of perceived relative power, perceived culture, and the perceived threat or perceived opportunity that a subject b…
Beyond the enemy image and spiral model: Cognitive–strategic Research After the Cold War
Systemic theories of international politics are inadequate for explaining particular states' policies, and some neorealists reach for supplementary foreign-policy-level concepts. Yet these studies almost never provide the empirical evidence required by their motivational constructs. Available psychological studies rely too heavily on notions peculiar to the cold war—such as the image of the enemy. A new theory proposes four additional ideal-type …
Policy-Relevant Theory and the Challenge of Diagnosis: The End of the Cold War as a Case Study
This paper concentrates on three questions: (1) What analytical challenges does explaining the end of the Cold War necessarily entail? (2) In what ways did Soviet perceptions change during the Gorbachev period and how was the change perceived and explained by Western analysts? In other words, what did Americans learn about what Soviet leaders had learned? (3) How can we explain the learning that occurred? What is involved in treating perception a…
Soviet Behavior in Regional Conflicts: Old Questions, New Strategies, and Important Lessons
Regional conflicts have played a major role in American interpretations of Soviet foreign policy. They have affected judgments about Soviet intentions and have served as a barometer of Moscow's competitiveness. This study looks at the change in Soviet policy under Gorbachev. It proposes a strategic framework for the analysis of Soviet behavior and then examines Moscow's actions in terms of military support, active involvement, and the terms for p…
The Middle East and the New World Order: Rethinking U.S. Political Strategy after the Gulf War
Perceptions and Behavior in Soviet Foreign Policy
American Perceptions of Soviet Foreign Policy: Reconsidering Three Competing Perspectives
This paper reviews and critiques three diagnoses of Soviet foreign policy and competing prescriptions for U.S. strategy. In each case, it considers three areas: first, the development of central concepts and claims, focusing upon their definition and falsifiability; second, the empirical evidence that confirms or disconfirms the various claims; and third, the dangers associated with the advocated prescription. It attempts to bring insights from t…
Analyzing Soviet Images of the United States: A Psychological Theory and Empirical Study
Interpretations of Soviet foreign policy often rest on assumptions about Soviet perceptions of the United States. This article presents a method for inferring Soviet perceptions. The effort builds on theories that are related to the analysis of perception in foreign policy decision-making and complements other empirical studies of Soviet statements. The article analyzes Soviet images at two levels: (1) media coverage of four regional conflicts, a…
Mass Public Decisions on Go to War: A Cognitive-Interactionist Framework
How do Americans decide whether their country should use military force abroad? We argue they combine dispositional preferences and ideas about the geopolitical situation. This article reports the results of a representative national survey that incorporated five experiments. Findings include the following: (1) Respondent dispositions, especially isolationism versus internationalism and assertiveness versus accommodativeness, consistently constra…
Beyond the enemy image and spiral model: Cognitive–strategic Research After the Cold War
Systemic theories of international politics are inadequate for explaining particular states' policies, and some neorealists reach for supplementary foreign-policy-level concepts. Yet these studies almost never provide the empirical evidence required by their motivational constructs. Available psychological studies rely too heavily on notions peculiar to the cold war—such as the image of the enemy. A new theory proposes four additional ideal-type …
Images in International Relations: An Experimental Test of Cognitive Schemata
We build on the tradition of studying images in international relations by developing a theory of perceived relationships and their associated images. The psychological theory is connected to a set of assumptions drawn from international relations theory that suggest perceived strategic relationships can be conceived of as a function of perceived relative power, perceived culture, and the perceived threat or perceived opportunity that a subject b…
Attachment to the Nation and International Relations: Dimensions of Identity and Their Relationship to War and Peace
Since the rise of mass politics, the role national identities play in international relations has been debated. Do they produce a popular reservoir easily tapped for war or bestow dignity thereby fostering cooperation and a democratic peace? The evidence for either perspective is thin, beset by different conceptions of identity and few efforts to identify its effects independent of situational factors. Using data drawn from new national surveys i…
How Americans Think About Trade: Reconciling Conflicts Among Money, Power, and Principles
Trade has again emerged as a controversial issue in America, yet we know little about the ideas that guide American thinking on these questions. By combining traditional survey methods with experimental manipulation of problem content, this study explores the ideational landscape among elite Americans and pays particular attention to how elite Americans combine their ideas about commerce with their ideas about national security and social justice…
How Attachments to the Nation Shape Beliefs About the World: A Theory of Motivated Reasoning
If competing beliefs about political events in the world stem largely from information asymmetries, then more information and knowledge should reduce the gap in competing perceptions. Empirical studies of decision making, however, often find just the reverse: as knowledge and the stakes in play go up, the beliefs about what is happening polarize rather than converge. The theory proposed here attributes this to motivated reasoning. Emotions inside…
Defending International Norms: The Role of Obligation, Material Interest, and Perception in Decision Making
States defend norms in some cases but not in others. Understanding this variation sheds light on both U.S. foreign policy and the role of normative reasoning. We report the results of four experiments embedded in a survey of U.S. elites. The experiments identified the effects of felt normative obligation (that is, the logic of what is appropriate) and concern for U.S. economic and security interests (that is, the logic of utilitarian consequence)…
Beliefs, Values, and Strategic Choice: U.S. Leaders’ Decisions to Engage, Contain, and Use Force in an Era of Globalization
Do ideational factors shape the strategic choices of American leaders in the realm of national security policy? If they do, what perceptions and value dispositions guide choices toward critical countries like Russia, China, Japan, and Iran? Macrotheories of international relations make assumptions about the microprocesses at the decision-making level that are rarely examined empirically. For instance, do leaders decide based on their perceptions …
Analyzing Soviet Images of the United States: A Psychological Theory and Empirical Study
Interpretations of Soviet foreign policy often rest on assumptions about Soviet perceptions of the United States. This article presents a method for inferring Soviet perceptions. The effort builds on theories that are related to the analysis of perception in foreign policy decision-making and complements other empirical studies of Soviet statements. The article analyzes Soviet images at two levels: (1) media coverage of four regional conflicts, a…
Soviet Behavior in Regional Conflicts: Old Questions, New Strategies, and Important Lessons
Regional conflicts have played a major role in American interpretations of Soviet foreign policy. They have affected judgments about Soviet intentions and have served as a barometer of Moscow's competitiveness. This study looks at the change in Soviet policy under Gorbachev. It proposes a strategic framework for the analysis of Soviet behavior and then examines Moscow's actions in terms of military support, active involvement, and the terms for p…
Policy-Relevant Theory and the Challenge of Diagnosis: The End of the Cold War as a Case Study
This paper concentrates on three questions: (1) What analytical challenges does explaining the end of the Cold War necessarily entail? (2) In what ways did Soviet perceptions change during the Gorbachev period and how was the change perceived and explained by Western analysts? In other words, what did Americans learn about what Soviet leaders had learned? (3) How can we explain the learning that occurred? What is involved in treating perception a…
American Perceptions of Soviet Foreign Policy: Reconsidering Three Competing Perspectives
This paper reviews and critiques three diagnoses of Soviet foreign policy and competing prescriptions for U.S. strategy. In each case, it considers three areas: first, the development of central concepts and claims, focusing upon their definition and falsifiability; second, the empirical evidence that confirms or disconfirms the various claims; and third, the dangers associated with the advocated prescription. It attempts to bring insights from t…
From Prediction to Learning: Opening Experts' Minds to Unfolding History
Although it would be nice if the intelligence community's tradecraft or the academic community's theories could predict the future, it is essential that international security experts learn quickly and accurately from unfolding history. This article reports on a multiyear study of experts dealing with security on the Korean Peninsula. It examines how experts learn and what can derail rational updating. Three factors common to much of the work in …
The Middle East and the New World Order: Rethinking U.S. Political Strategy after the Gulf War
Perceptions and Behavior in Soviet Foreign Policy
American Perceptions of Soviet Foreign Policy: Reconsidering Three Competing Perspectives
This paper reviews and critiques three diagnoses of Soviet foreign policy and competing prescriptions for U.S. strategy. In each case, it considers three areas: first, the development of central concepts and claims, focusing upon their definition and falsifiability; second, the empirical evidence that confirms or disconfirms the various claims; and third, the dangers associated with the advocated prescription. It attempts to bring insights from t…
Analyzing Soviet Images of the United States: A Psychological Theory and Empirical Study
Interpretations of Soviet foreign policy often rest on assumptions about Soviet perceptions of the United States. This article presents a method for inferring Soviet perceptions. The effort builds on theories that are related to the analysis of perception in foreign policy decision-making and complements other empirical studies of Soviet statements. The article analyzes Soviet images at two levels: (1) media coverage of four regional conflicts, a…
The Middle East and the New World Order: Rethinking U.S. Political Strategy after the Gulf War
Soviet Behavior in Regional Conflicts: Old Questions, New Strategies, and Important Lessons
Regional conflicts have played a major role in American interpretations of Soviet foreign policy. They have affected judgments about Soviet intentions and have served as a barometer of Moscow's competitiveness. This study looks at the change in Soviet policy under Gorbachev. It proposes a strategic framework for the analysis of Soviet behavior and then examines Moscow's actions in terms of military support, active involvement, and the terms for p…
Policy-Relevant Theory and the Challenge of Diagnosis: The End of the Cold War as a Case Study
This paper concentrates on three questions: (1) What analytical challenges does explaining the end of the Cold War necessarily entail? (2) In what ways did Soviet perceptions change during the Gorbachev period and how was the change perceived and explained by Western analysts? In other words, what did Americans learn about what Soviet leaders had learned? (3) How can we explain the learning that occurred? What is involved in treating perception a…
Beyond the enemy image and spiral model: Cognitive–strategic Research After the Cold War
Systemic theories of international politics are inadequate for explaining particular states' policies, and some neorealists reach for supplementary foreign-policy-level concepts. Yet these studies almost never provide the empirical evidence required by their motivational constructs. Available psychological studies rely too heavily on notions peculiar to the cold war—such as the image of the enemy. A new theory proposes four additional ideal-type …
Images in International Relations: An Experimental Test of Cognitive Schemata
We build on the tradition of studying images in international relations by developing a theory of perceived relationships and their associated images. The psychological theory is connected to a set of assumptions drawn from international relations theory that suggest perceived strategic relationships can be conceived of as a function of perceived relative power, perceived culture, and the perceived threat or perceived opportunity that a subject b…
Mass Public Decisions on Go to War: A Cognitive-Interactionist Framework
How do Americans decide whether their country should use military force abroad? We argue they combine dispositional preferences and ideas about the geopolitical situation. This article reports the results of a representative national survey that incorporated five experiments. Findings include the following: (1) Respondent dispositions, especially isolationism versus internationalism and assertiveness versus accommodativeness, consistently constra…
How Americans Think About Trade: Reconciling Conflicts Among Money, Power, and Principles
Trade has again emerged as a controversial issue in America, yet we know little about the ideas that guide American thinking on these questions. By combining traditional survey methods with experimental manipulation of problem content, this study explores the ideational landscape among elite Americans and pays particular attention to how elite Americans combine their ideas about commerce with their ideas about national security and social justice…
Defending International Norms: The Role of Obligation, Material Interest, and Perception in Decision Making
States defend norms in some cases but not in others. Understanding this variation sheds light on both U.S. foreign policy and the role of normative reasoning. We report the results of four experiments embedded in a survey of U.S. elites. The experiments identified the effects of felt normative obligation (that is, the logic of what is appropriate) and concern for U.S. economic and security interests (that is, the logic of utilitarian consequence)…
Ending the Cold War: Interpretations, Causation and the Study of International Relations
Although in hindsight the end of the Cold War seems almost inevitable, almost no one saw it coming and there is little consensus over why it ended. A popular interpretation is that the Soviet Union wa
Beliefs, Values, and Strategic Choice: U.S. Leaders’ Decisions to Engage, Contain, and Use Force in an Era of Globalization
Do ideational factors shape the strategic choices of American leaders in the realm of national security policy? If they do, what perceptions and value dispositions guide choices toward critical countries like Russia, China, Japan, and Iran? Macrotheories of international relations make assumptions about the microprocesses at the decision-making level that are rarely examined empirically. For instance, do leaders decide based on their perceptions …
From Prediction to Learning: Opening Experts' Minds to Unfolding History
Although it would be nice if the intelligence community's tradecraft or the academic community's theories could predict the future, it is essential that international security experts learn quickly and accurately from unfolding history. This article reports on a multiyear study of experts dealing with security on the Korean Peninsula. It examines how experts learn and what can derail rational updating. Three factors common to much of the work in …
Attachment to the Nation and International Relations: Dimensions of Identity and Their Relationship to War and Peace
Since the rise of mass politics, the role national identities play in international relations has been debated. Do they produce a popular reservoir easily tapped for war or bestow dignity thereby fostering cooperation and a democratic peace? The evidence for either perspective is thin, beset by different conceptions of identity and few efforts to identify its effects independent of situational factors. Using data drawn from new national surveys i…
How Attachments to the Nation Shape Beliefs About the World: A Theory of Motivated Reasoning
If competing beliefs about political events in the world stem largely from information asymmetries, then more information and knowledge should reduce the gap in competing perceptions. Empirical studies of decision making, however, often find just the reverse: as knowledge and the stakes in play go up, the beliefs about what is happening polarize rather than converge. The theory proposed here attributes this to motivated reasoning. Emotions inside…
Political science (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Politics (13 works) · International Relations and Foreign Policy (12 works) · Law (12 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (9 works)