{"product_id":"9781400840748","title":"Painful Choices: A Theory of Foreign Policy Change","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnder what conditions should we expect states to do things radically differently all of a sudden? In this book, David Welch seeks to answer this question, constructing a theory of foreign policy change inspired by organization theory, cognitive and motivational psychology, and prospect theory. He then \"test drives\" the theory in a series of comparative case studies in the security and trade domains: Argentina's decision to go to war over the Falklands\/Malvinas vs. Japan's endless patience with diplomacy in its conflict with Russia over the Northern Territories; America's decision to commit large-scale military force to Vietnam vs. its ultimate decision to withdraw; and Canada's two abortive flirtations with free trade with the United States in 1911 and 1948 vs. its embrace of free trade in the late 1980s.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e  \u003ci\u003ePainful Choices\u003c\/i\u003e has three main objectives: to determine whether the general theory project in the field of international relations can be redeemed, given disappointment with previous attempts; to reflect on what this reveals about the possibilities and limits of general theory; and to inform policy. Welch argues that earlier efforts at general theory erred by aiming to explain state \u003ci\u003ebehavior\u003c\/i\u003e, which is an intractable problem. Instead, since inertia is the default expectation in international politics, all we need do is to explain \u003ci\u003echanges\u003c\/i\u003e in behavior. \u003ci\u003ePainful Choices\u003c\/i\u003e shows that this is a tractable problem with clear implications for intelligence analysts and negotiators.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121438867696,"sku":"9781400840748","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781400840748_p0.jpg?v=1763712472","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781400840748","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}