Offense-defense theory offers an optimistic view of international politics based on the argument that war can be prevented if defense gains an advantage over offense. It also argues that an effective arms control can reduce the risk of arms races and war. The theory has been useful in foreign policy analysis and in international relations scholarship since it is used to explain theoretical and ...

Interpersonal relations are shaped by the judgements associated with the social categories that individuals perceive in their social contacts. I develop a model of how those judgments form based on a theory of symbolic values. The model depicts the interaction between two values, one associated with an inherited ethnic trait (‘‘nationality’’) and one with an endogenous achievement trait (‘‘inco...

a r t i c l e i n f o Research on intergroup attitudes in children has focused on contact with out-group peers but neglected the role of adults. This cross-sectional self-report study examined the association between the ethnic attitudes of 174 minority (Turkish-and Moroccan–Dutch) preadolescents (ages 9–13) and the perceived interpersonal relationships with their (native Dutch) majority group ...

Throughout its short history, federal relations in Russia have been dominated by extra-legal political and economic relations rather than constitutionalism and the rule of law. The Russian Federation’s unique blend of constitutional, socioeconomic, and political asymmetry, far from promoting democracy, has bolstered authoritarian regimes in the regions. Federalism and regional democracy have al...

The development of Indigenous political organizations in the Ecuadorian Amazon is illustrative of the state of affairs throughout the region. The moral economy that had governed inter-ethnic relations until recently has given way to a political economy in which Indigenous groups have come to understand the importance of defining the issues surrounding their relations with government agencies. T...

Historically, issues of gender, race and the environment have received little attention in mainstream International Relations (IR) scholarship. Great strides have been made, however, in interrogating the inadequacies of the field in these areas and, similarly, in demonstrating the necessity of expanded definitions of security and violence in IR. Despite these strides, mainstream environmental s...

The state plays a central position in theoretical debates in International Relations (IR). Both Realists and Liberals see the state as the central actor in the international system and thereby follow a Western understanding of the state as the holder of the monopoly of force. In the IRsub discipline of security studies new categories such as weak state, quasi state or state failure have created...

The authors used an event-contingent daily recording strategy, the Rochester Interaction Record (RIR), to examine the motivational dynamics of interpersonal relations. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors demonstrated that social interactions were more pleasant when participants felt autonomous, competent, and related. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness consistently predicted inte...

Recent rhetoric surrounding the contemporary aid relationship between donors and African states is couched in terms of a high level consensus between western and African political leaderships, a central pillar of which is adherence to liberal principles of governance and economic management. The paper argues that an analysis of the nature of this consensus and its prospects requires that we nee...