Conflict Resolution and Peace

From the time of the detonation of a nuclear weapon by the Soviet Union in the late1940s through the demise of that nation in the early1990s, arms control and disarmament reigned as one of the foremost international issues of what was termed the "Cold War" (Wright and McManus, 1991, pp. 135223). The conflict over arms control and disarmament existed primarily between the United States and the Soviet Union (Spangler, 1991, pp. 108342).

Arms control and disarmament, as important an issue as it was during this period, however, may have been more a manifestation of policy responses to underlying factors than it was an end in and of itself. Further, in seeking arms control and disarmament, alternative strategies were available to the nations involved in this conflict. This research analyzes selected topics in conflict resolution and peace science that may explain the behavior of the United States in the pursuit of arms control and disarmament during the Cold War period.

Explaining the International Behavior of States

Two important hypotheses in international relations theory are the systemic hypothesis and what Kenneth Waltz (1959, pp. 80123) designated as "the second image" hypothesis. The systemic hypothesis holds generally that the international relations policy of a given state tends to be a product of the international regime of which it is a part (Rogowski, 1987, pp. 1121113

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cannot be applied to the actions of states in their abstract universal formulation, but that they must be filtered through the concrete circumstances of time and place (Morgenthau, 1988, p. 10). A fourth approach to the analysis of international political relations is rationalism. This approach is based upon a premise that a rational and moral political order, derived from universally valid abstract principles, can be achieved here and now (Morgenthau, 1988, p. 3). It is within the context of the rational approach that games theory is applied in the conduct of international relations. As far back as the 1960s, a trend was observed toward the formulation and implementation of policy in international relations through the practices of gaming and simulation (Banks, Groom, and Oppenheim, 1968, pp. 117). Several advantages are attributed to the practices, including that the game enables one to study the behavior of the participants in a way that other techniques do not easily afford, and that possibilities may be discovered and demonstrated that can be linked to hypotheses or evidence obtained by other techniques A fundamental problem with the processes is that gaming and simulation deal with models, as opposed to reality, an
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Bank GATT, Richardson Model, Skidmore Smith, Threat Response, Bloomfield Whaley, Kenneth Waltz, Gulf War, Soviet Union, Union Hollist, Notes Defense, image hypothesis, systemic hypothesis, soviet union, international relations, richardson model, defense spending, world bank, imf world bank, imf world, games theory, bank gatt, world bank gatt, arms control disarmament, hypothesis image hypothesis, conduct international relations,
Approximate Word count = 6123
Approximate Pages = 24 (250 words per page)

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