Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Do populists escalate international disputes

Bibliographic Data

ID4032860
AuthorsSandra Destradi (0000-0001-7509-9349), Johannes Plagemann (0000-0001-9501-5114)
Year2024
Volume100
Issue5
Pages1919-1940
Publication date2024-09-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ia/iiae172
OpenAlexW4402379671
LanguageEN
Citations received4

Among the potentially most consequential effects of populism is its impact on countries' international conflict behaviour. However, empirical evidence about populists' approach to international disputes is inconclusive. We develop a theoretical framework focused on mobilization and personalization, which we argue are particularly relevant characteristics of populist foreign policy-making. We hypothesize that, on a conflict-cooperation continuum, a country's approach to a bilateral dispute will become more conflictive under a populist government if that dispute is strongly used for domestic political mobilization, and if decision-making on that issue is highly personalized. Conversely, foreign policy will not become more conflictive in cases of weak mobilization and personalization. We carry out in-depth qualitative within-case comparisons of non-populist and populist governments' policies in Bolivia (2002-2019), India (2004-2022), and the Philippines (2010-2022), focusing on two selected bilateral disputes per country. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including 71 expert interviews conducted in the three countries, we find that populists in power escalate international disputes if they strongly use foreign policy issues for domestic mobilization and, at the same time, strongly personalize decision-making. This finding nuances existing assessments about the effect of populism on foreign policy change

Economics · International trade · International Development and Aid · International Relations and Foreign Policy · International Relations in Latin America

  • Populist Publics’ Affinity for Nuclear Weapons? Explaining Opposition to the Nuclear Sharing Weapons in European Populist Publics

    Open Access•Tom W Etienne, Tom Etienne et al.•International Studies Quarterly•2025

  • All on the Same Page? Comparing European Populist Radical Right Governments’ Foreign Policy towards China

    Open Access•Lunting Wu•Foreign Policy Analysis•2025

  • What kind of vision(s)? The far-right and European security

    Open Access•Raffaele Mastrorocco•International Politics•2024

  • The Long‐Term Effects of Populism on Foreign Policy

    Open Access•Sandra Destradi, Emidio Diodato•JCMS Journal of Common Market…•2025

Unique citing works4
Citations per year2
Citation span2024 - 2025 (2)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae