
Fear and the Making of Foreign Policy
Europe and Beyond
Raymond Taras(Author)
Edinburgh University Press
Published on 24. March 2015
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-7486-9901-8 (ISBN)
Description
This is a book about conflicts and fears: how domestic reasons are drawing countries in Europe into international events. There has been much research into why the U.S. and U.K. militaries intervened in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflict zones. But what explains France's newfound international activism, which is taking its military to Libya, Mali and deeper into Africa? Why has Poland become deeply engaged in Ukraine's politics? Why is Sweden, which has not fought a war since 1814, concerned with the fierce internal wars in Iraq and Syria? Can these actions be explained as countries simply protecting their national interests, or could domestic xenophobia also be playing a part? In 'Fear and the Making of Foreign Policy', Raymond Taras explains the causal mechanisms propelling these three EU states to become engaged in outside conflicts and tells the story of when and why xenophobia at home is converted into xenophobia abroad.
Reviews / Votes
This is a meticulously researched, very well written and compellingly argued work. Taras' multidisciplinary approach makes for a book that will be informative and accessible to readers from different areas and at different levels of expertise. -- Metodi Siromahov, Royal Holloway, University of London * Nations and Nationalism * An original and insightful approach to the understanding of foreign policy. Applying cultural, historical and psychological perspectives grounded in classical and modern scholarship, Raymond Taras shows how suspicions, hatreds and fears of real and imagined enemies are major factors in foreign policies. In so doing, he provides a needed corrective to the assumptions of rational decision making. -- William Safran, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Colorado at BoulderMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
4 black and white illustrations, 15 black and white tables
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7486-9901-8 (9780748699018)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2015
Edinburgh University Press
€24.49
Available for download

E-Book
03/2015
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€0.00
Available for download
Person
Raymond Taras is Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the Australian National University in Canberra and Professor of Political Science at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Content
Acknowledgements; 1. Fear and suspicion in contemporary politics: citizens, strangers, elites; 2. Reconnecting culture with foreign policy; 3. Reflections on designing research for the study of fear and foreign policy; 4. French Muslims and France's foreign policy; 5. Poland's Fixation with Russia: Fear or Reason?; 6. Sweden: the limits of humanitarianism at home and abroad; 7. Summing up; Select bibliography; Index.