Reconstructing respect : the quest for prestige in the international system
Name
773930084-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
8.84 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8f7ad55a785054352521ed23ce1585dc
Author(s)
Kacos, Samantha Anne
Advisor(s)
Roger Petersen.
Date Issued
2011
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Prestige is a term that appears in a wide range of international relations literature, but it is rarely ever defined. There is a vague consensus that prestige involves measures of status and respect, but its exact usage is different in every work. This thesis analyzes the various manifestations of prestige to develop a workable definition of the concept and then uses this definition to show how prestige plays a role in the major foreign policy decisions of states. This thesis argues that prestige motivations can overcome security concerns in some instances and cause a state to take an action that seems irrational. This is especially true if the state has recently suffered a severe drop in prestige, such as one incurred after losing a war, becoming isolated from the international community or facing state collapse. When such a dramatic loss occurs a state must take one of four paths to salvage its lost reputation: winning a war, becoming an economic power, taking the lead on an important political negotiation or developing nuclear weapons. This thesis uses two large case studies - Iran and Egypt - along with three smaller case surveys - France, Japan and Pakistan - to illustrate these four paths of status adjustment in action. It also presents a dataset of states that have suffered a severe loss in prestige to show how states can lose prestige and how they can gain it back.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-150).
Subjects
Political Science.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science
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