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Of Predators and Pariahs: Path Dependence and the Social Origins of the Revisionist State
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Abstract
Why do revisionist states arise in world politics? Indeed, North Korea’s uncertain
aims, the steady march of a rising China, and the fragile nature of a nuclear-armed Pakistan all underscore the pressing need to understand why and when states challenge an existing status quo. Surprisingly, there are few dedicated studies of such actors. Moreover, existing neorealist and rationalist arguments suffer from a number of important limitations, including a reluctance to explore the issue of actor motivation. This paper argues instead that the roots of revisionism lie in the path dependent properties of the collective identity that a regime uses to legitimate its rule. Leaders can become ‘entrapped’ by their own legitimating rhetoric and thus forced to engage in revisionist behavior as a means of ensuring continued rule. The paper details a set of generalizable propositions about when entrapment pressures are probable and tests the proposed explanation against rationalist and neorealist accounts of Napoleon III’s grand strategy (
1848-71
).
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1
Abstract
Why do revisionist states arise in world politics? Indeed, North Korea’s uncertain
aims, the steady march of a rising China, and the fragile nature of a nuclear-armed
Pakistan all underscore the pressing need to understand why and when states challenge
an existing status quo. Surprisingly, there are few dedicated studies of such actors.
Moreover, existing neorealist and rationalist arguments suffer from a number of important
limitations, including a reluctance to explore the issue of actor motivation. This paper
argues instead that the roots of revisionism lie in the path dependent properties of the
collective identity that a regime uses to legitimate its rule. Leaders can become ‘entrapped’
by their own legitimating rhetoric and thus forced to engage in revisionist behavior as a
means of ensuring continued rule. The paper details a set of generalizable propositions
about when entrapment pressures are probable and tests the proposed explanation
against rationalist and neorealist accounts of Napoleon III’s grand strategy (
1848-71
).
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