[Discussion] PUBL.- Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2, Spring 2005

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

From: Journal of Cold War Studies <jcws@fas.harvard.edu>

PUBL.- Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2, Spring 2005

Journal of Cold War Studies
Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 2005

Special Issue: Ideas, International Relations, and the End of the Cold Wa=
r

Contents:

Kramer, Mark.
Editor's Note

Tannenwald, Nina.
Wohlforth, William Curti, 1959-Introduction: The Role of Ideas and the=20
End of
the Cold War

Subjects:
International relations -- Philosophy.
Cold War.
Abstract:
The end of the Cold War helped to prompt new interest in the study of ide=
as
in international politics. Once the province of a few dedicated researche=
rs
on the fringes of the discipline, scholarship on the role of ideas now
occupies an important place in the mainstream of North American and
especially European international relations research. The five articles i=
n
this special issue of the journal are intended to move the research agend=
a
on ideas and the end of the Cold War to a new level of rigor. They develo=
p
new models of how ideas affected the outcome and, in so doing, take stock=
 of
this event to refine our understanding of how ideas work in international
politics. Although we seek a deeper understanding of the end of the Cold =
War
itself, we also use this seminal case to clarify and advance the debate o=
ver
the role of ideas in international politics more generally.

Tannenwald, Nina.
Ideas and Explanation: Advancing the Theoretical Agenda

Subjects:
International relations -- Philosophy.
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- 1985-1991.
Abstract:
This article responds to key methodological and theoretical challenges=20
posed by
the literature on the role of ideas in international relations,=20
especially the
literature on ideas and the end of the Cold War. The article develops a
theoretical framework that guides the analysis of the empirical articles=20
that
follow. It identifies explanatory strategies for the role of ideas and=20
seeks to
clarify key methodological issues in the study of ideas. The article defi=
nes
terms, identifies several different relationships between ideational and
material factors, and lays out a series of "tests" for evaluating the cau=
sal
effect of various kinds of ideas and ideational mechanisms. It then seeks=
 to
clarify two primary issues: whether it is possible to draw a clearer line
between the material and the ideational; and what is meant by "constituti=
ve
effects" and "constitutive explanation." The article defends the notion o=
f
constitutive explanation and shows how both causal analysis and constitut=
ive
analysis are valid explanatory strategies for the role of ideas.

English, Robert (Robert D.)
The Sociology of New Thinking: Elites, Identity Change, and the End of th=
e
Cold War

Subjects:
International relations -- Philosophy.
Soviet Union -- Intellectual life.
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1991.
Abstract:
This article recounts the origins of Soviet "new thinking" as a case=20
study of
how Soviet intellectuals sought to redefine national identity in=20
response to the
West. It demonstrates that new thinking was fundamentally normative, not
instrumental, insofar as it was developed in a period (1950s=AD1960s) whe=
n
"socialism" was thought to be materially outperforming capitalism. It als=
o
demonstrates that new thinking decisively affected Soviet policy in the=20
second
half of the 1980s. Putting forth a socialization argument to show how
new-thinking ideas originated in the post-Stalin period within a communit=
y
ofintellectuals, the article charts the growing influence of these=20
intellectuals
through the 1970s and 1980s. In the mid-1980s, when Gorbachev became gene=
ral
secretary of the Communist Party and empowered many of the new thinkers a=
s
advisers, their liberal, Westernizing ideas played an indispensable role =
in
shaping his reforms. The analysis focuses on mechanisms of identity=20
change at
two levels: that of the community of reformist intellectuals, and that=20
of the
Soviet Union itself. The analysis challenges realist and rationalist=20
views that
new thinking was largely instrumental. Until the Gorbachev era, Soviet=20
reformers
advocated new-thinking ideas often at the risk of their personal,=20
professional,
and institutional interests.

Bennett, Andrew.
The Guns That Didn't Smoke: Ideas and the Soviet Non-Use of Force in 1989

Subjects:
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- Europe, Eastern.
Europe, Eastern -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union.
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- 1985-1991.
Europe, Eastern -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1989.
Abstract:
Why did Soviet leaders not resort to force to preserve the Warsaw Pact=20
in 1989?
This article provides a cognitive model of how decision-makers learn from
experience. It seeks to specify and establish the causal effect of this
mechanism (elite cause-and-effect learning) as opposed to alternatives (m=
ore
materialist or normative arguments) and to lay out the scope conditions=20
for its
operation. Soviet leaders learned from past Soviet military interventions=
 in
Czechoslovakia, in Afghanistan, and elsewhere the high costs and negative
consequences of the use of force. Even Soviet hardliners, for both=20
material and
ideational reasons (i.e., beliefs about the efficacy of force), would hav=
e
hesitated about the use of force in Eastern Europe had they been in=20
power. The
hardliners did, however, have much different views about the terms the=20
Soviet
Union should seek regarding German unification. Gorbachev's ideas prevail=
ed
largely because of the lingering authority of his position as top leader.=
 In
short, although ideas and material constraints pushed in the same=20
direction to
produce the startling events of 1989, ideas and governmental structure we=
re
critical in determining which of competing policy prescriptions would=20
prevail
regarding German unification.

Thomas, Daniel C. (Daniel Charles)
Human Rights Ideas, the Demise of Communism, and the End of the Cold War

Subjects:
Human rights.
Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1945-1991.
Communism -- Soviet Union.
Abstract:
This article analyzes the role of human-rights ideas in the collapse of
Communism. The demise of Communist rule in Eastern Europe and the Soviet=20
Union
was significantly influenced by the transnational diffusion of human-righ=
ts
ideas. The analysis focuses on how human-rights norms were transmitted=20
to Soviet
dissidents and policymakers. The article also considers precisely how,=20
and how
much, these norms affected policy. The two primary causal mechanisms=20
were the
transmission of these ideas by a transnational Eastern European social=20
movement
for human rights, which expanded the roster of available political=20
concepts and
the terms of political legitimacy, and the mechanism of "rhetorical=20
entrapment"
whereby Soviet leaders became "trapped" or constrained to uphold their
rhetorical commitment to the Helsinki Accords by the expanding discourse =
of
human rights. Subsequently, Soviet leaders accepted human rights ideas=20
for both
substantive and instrumental reasons. Western power played some role,=20
but the
ideas themselves were salient, legitimate, and resonant for Soviet leader=
s
seeking a new identity and destiny for the Soviet Union.

Forsberg, Tuomas, 1967-Economic Incentives, Ideas, and the End of the Col=
d
War: Gorbachev and German Unification

Subjects:
Soviet Union -- Foreign economic relations -- Germany.
Germany -- Foreign economic relations -- Soviet Union.
Germany -- History -- Unification, 1990.
Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931
Abstract:
Focusing on Gorbachev and German unification, this article shows how the
effectiveness of economic aid depends on ideas decision-makers hold about
economics and identity. German economic statecraft worked in securing
Gorbachev's support for German unification solely because of a specific=20
set of
ideas that animated Soviet decision-makers during that period. The=20
weakness of
the Soviet economy made economic assistance from Germany attractive, but
Gorbachev did not bargain hard over the amount of aid because he thought =
it
would ruin an anticipated close partnership with Germany in the future. T=
he
importance of the German economic incentives lay in their role as=20
trust-building
measures. In contrast, Japan's effort to use economic aid to persuade Sov=
iet
leaders to return the Kurile Islands during the same period failed, in pa=
rt
because Soviet leaders did not expect a friendly relationship with=20
Japan. For
cultural and political reasons, Soviet leaders were more oriented toward=20
Germany
and the West. The fact that Soviet leaders did not seek aid or=20
technology from
Japan--a technology powerhouse--and turned instead to Germany, shows that
material pressures alone cannot account for the success or failure of=20
economic
incentives.

Wohlforth, William Curti, 1959-The End of the Cold War as a Hard Case=20
for Ideas

Subjects:
International relations -- Philosophy.
Cold War.
Abstract:
The articles in this special issue of the journal succeeded in meeting=20
the core
objective set out in the introduction: to refine, deepen, and extend=20
previous
studies of the role of ideas in the end of the Cold War. In particular, t=
hey
confront more forthrightly than past studies a major challenge of=20
studying ideas
in this case; namely, that ideas, material incentives, and policy all=20
covaried.
Two other important problems for those seeking to establish an=20
independent role
for ideas remain to be addressed in future studies. Facing those problems=
 as
squarely as the contributors to this issue have faced the covariation=20
problem
will yield major benefits for the study of ideas in this case and in
international relations more generally.

For more information, please visit the Journal of Cold War Studies web=20
site at:
<http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/journal.htm>



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