How Intractable is Security Dilemma Thinking
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10071468 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark S Bell (0009-0002-9846-4868, University of Minnesota), Kai Quek (0000-0001-8403-4280, University of Hong Kong) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 287-309 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00220027251356279 |
| OpenAlex | W4411851130 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 76 |
How intractable is the security dilemma? The extent to which scholars believe the security dilemma’s pernicious effects can be ameliorated marks a key dividing line between theoretical approaches to international relations. However, questions about the intractability of the security dilemma have remained largely theoretical and not directly empirically tested. We take advantage of the fact that the security dilemma relies on individual-level mental processes. We use parallel survey experiments in the United States and China across two waves in early 2020 and mid-2023 to assess the extent to which threat perceptions consistent with security dilemma thinking exist among mass publics, change with political context, and can be ameliorated. Our findings are consistent with interpretations of the security dilemma emphasizing its relative intractability. At least in the U.S.-China context, threat perceptions consistent with security dilemma thinking do not appear easily ameliorated by priming respondents to consider factors believed to ameliorate the security dilemma: offense-defense distinguishability, economic interdependence, nuclear weapons, and the reciprocal nature of the security dilemma
Computer security · Dilemma · Economics · Epistemology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Security Dilemma · Computer Science · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
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Causes of War
Rational Theory of International Politics
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Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs
Ingroup Bias in Official Behavior
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Foreign Policy Implications of Chinese Nationalism Revisited
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Racing toward Tragedy
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The Inscrutable Intentions of Great Powers
The Dynamics of an Entangled Security Dilemma
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The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution
China's New NationalismPride, Politics, and Diplomacy
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Authoritarian Audiences, Rhetoric, and Propaganda in International Crises
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Arguing for a Negligible Effect
The Psychology of Coercion Failure
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Sources of Authoritarian Responsiveness
The Security Dilemma
Kettles of Hawks
Ontological Security in World Politics
How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace
Essays in the Public Philosophy
Atomic Aversion
Herbert Butterfield, History and Human Relations
Strongmen and Straw Men
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |