Risk–Taking in International Politics – Prospect Theory in American Foreign Pol…

Risk-Taking in International PoliticsProspect Theory in American Foreign Policy\nAuthor(s): Rose McDermott\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: The University of Michigan Press, United States\nImprint: The University of Michigan Press\nISBN-13: 9780472087877, 978-0472087877\nSynopsis\nRisk plays a dramatic role in international relations as leaders make decisions about such issues as war and peace, disarmament, and about lowering economic barriers to trade and investment. How a country's leaders think about risk in making foreign policy decisions is important in understanding why and how they make decisions.\nRose McDermott applies prospect theory, a theory developed by psychologists to understand decisionmaking under conditions of risk, to four cases in American foreign policy. Prospect theory suggests that decisionmakers who are confronting losses are more likely to take risks than are those decisionmakers who are satisfied with the status quo. The cases used to demonstrate this dynamic .