Adaptation as a Framework for the Analysis of Foreign Policy Behavior

In: Cooperation and conflict: journal of the Nordic International Studies Association, Volume 12, Issue 4, p. 221-250

Abstract

The article explores the usefulness of James N. Rosenau's adaptation model for the analysis of foreign policy behavior. In the first part the structure of the model is analyzed, and several weaknesses and inconsistencies are pointed out. In the second part a reconstructed adaptation model is presented, and its component variables are discussed at some length. The revised model is based on the concepts of influence capability and stress sensitivity, the configuration of which is hypothesized to lead to four modes of adaptive behavior: dominance, balance, acquiescence and quiescence. Finally transformation from one adaptive mode to another is discussed.