Conflict Resolution and Peace

AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED TOPICS IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACE SCIENCE

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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