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Opponents rarely go to war without thinking they can win--and clearly, one side must be wrong. This conundrum lies at the heart of the so-called "war puzzle": rational states should agree on their differences in power and thus not fight. But as Dominic Johnson argues in Overconfidence and War, states are no more rational than people, who are susceptible to exaggerated ideas of their own virtue, of their ability to control events, and of the future. By looking at this bias--called "positive illusions"--as it figures in evolutionary biology, psychology, and the politics of international conflict, this book offers compelling insights into why states wage war. Johnson traces the effects of positive illusions on four turning points in twentieth-century history: two that erupted into war (World War I and Vietnam); and two that did not (the Munich crisis and the Cuban missile crisis). Examining the two wars, he shows how positive illusions have filtered into politics, causing leaders to overestimate themselves and underestimate their adversaries--and to resort to violence to settle a conflict against unreasonable odds. In the Munich and Cuban missile crises, he shows how lessening positive illusions may allow leaders to pursue peaceful solutions. The human tendency toward overconfidence may have been favored by natural selection throughout our evolutionary history because of the advantages it conferred--heightening combat performance or improving one's ability to bluff an opponent. And yet, as this book suggests--and as the recent conflict in Iraq bears out--in the modern world the consequences of this evolutionary legacy are potentially deadly

A new title in the Oxford Handbooks in History series, offering an authoritative view of British political history from 1800 to 2000, engaging with the sweeping changes in the ways in which Britain was governed, the duties of the state, and its role in the wider world, and suggesting avenues of future research

AbstractHow has English-speaking Canadian political science conceived of the relationship between Quebec and Canada? Why has an issue that has been considered central for more than three decades become less attractive, if not marginal, within the discipline? The aim is to examine, from this example, the overlapping relationship between science and politics. The intent is also to show that Canadian political science has examined the Quebec/Canada relationship from four different angles: 1) its interest in Quebec politics was part of the urgency of the moment, based on a crisis that challenged the foundations of the political system; 2) it questioned the legitimacy of the sources of the dispute, namely the compatibility between the new expressions of Quebec nationalism with the presumed principles on which the Canadian political community had been founded; 3) Quebec nationalism also encouraged a reflection on the existence (or not) of "English Canada" as a sociological and political reality; 4) the combination of the first three factors caused the prescriptions for getting out of, or resolving, the crisis to evolve over time, to the point of rendering research on this issue obsolete.

The relationship between researchers and their objects of study has varied and continues to vary across time and disciplinary traditions. A key element in such variations is the degree of reflexivity involved in the process of knowledge production. To what extent are researchers aware of how they themselves produce knowledge? This question is discussed in the context of political science. It is suggested that the various forms the study of culture has taken in political science can serve as an indicator of different levels of reflexivity or modes of engagement. Three influential conceptualizations of "culture" in political science are presented as examples: political culture theory, civilizational theory, and constructivism. Toward the end, the case is made for a cosmopolitan engagement with culture and examples from political science of this type of engagement are introduced.

The Aristotelian concept of phronesis or practical wisdom has played a prominent role in the long and deep wake of the Perestroika controversy in political science, where a diverse group of practitioners rallied in opposition to the perceived hegemony of quantitative methods in the discipline. As scholars like Bent Flyvbjerg have proposed the contours of a post-Perestroikan social science, political scientists and theorists have taken his use of the idea of practical wisdom to herald the dawning of a new social science, less beholden to notions of method. This paper examines the post-Perestroikan appropriation of Aristotle using Hans-Georg Gadamer's interpretation of phronesis as a starting point. Viewed from this vantage, contemporary uses of phronesis seem less like the foundations for a new social science, and more like a new spin on the old arguments about method that have characterized social science since the mid-1800s. Adapted from the source document.

Este trabajo intenta desarrollar nuevos marcos teóricos para la rigurosa práctica de la historia de los conceptos políticos en los tiempos globales. Expandiendo la elaboración de Reinhart Koselleck sobre la construcción de los fundamentos metodológicos de la historia conceptual –lo que implica el reconocimiento por parte del historiador del carácter localizado del punto de vista por el cual la noción misma de "historia" se ha establecido como el efecto autorreflexivo de la experiencia moderna de la temporalidad–, este ensayo aspira a radicalizar los alcances de la Begriffgeschichte frente a las transformaciones definitivas de la composición conceptual que ha determinado los límites de la modernidad europea. La categoría de "límite" es, de hecho, crucial para la comprensión de lo que está en juego en una historia conceptual global: en la medida en que los límites temporales, geopolíticos, económicos y también lingüísticos se encuentran habitados cada vez más por tensiones recíprocas que siempre están sujetas a ser politizadas o despolitizadas, es la tarea del historiador conceptual el cruzarlos y objetarlos con el propósito de rastrear su origen en la conflictiva naturaleza de su genealogía global. Una práctica de este tipo requiere, ante todo, problematizar el privilegio atlántico que continúa caracterizando el escrutinio historiográfico de los conceptos políticos y descolonizarlos del sesgo teórico del Estado moderno europeo. Palabras clave: Historia de los conceptos políticos, Koselleck, Chladenius, historia global. ABSTRACT This paper aims to develop new theoretical frameworks for the rigorous practice of a history of political concepts in global times. By further elaborating on Reinhart Koselleck's construction of the methodological foundations of conceptual history – which imply the historian's awareness of the situated character of the standpoint whereby the very notion of "history" has been established as the self-reflective effect of the modern experience of temporality –, this essay aspires to radicalize the scopes of Begriffgeschichte vis-à-vis the definitive transformations of the conceptual arrangements that have determined the boundaries of European modernity. The category of "boundary" is indeed crucial as to the comprehension of the stakes of a global conceptual history: as far as temporal, geopolitical, economic as well as linguistic borders are increasingly inhabited by reciprocal tensions that are always liable to be politicized or de-politicized, it is the task of the historian of concepts to cross or challenge them in order to trace them back to the conflictual nature of their global genealogy. Such a practice requires first and foremost problematizing the Atlantic privilege that continues to characterize the historiographic scrutiny of political concepts and de-colonizing them from the theoretical bias of the modern European state. Keywords: Historia de los conceptos políticos, Koselleck, Chladenius, historia global.

Political scientists have contributed to the world of electoral systems as scientists and as engineers. Taking stock of recent scientific research, we show that context modifies the effects of electoral rules on political outcomes in specific and systematic ways. We explore how electoral rules shape the inclusion of women and minorities, the depth and nature of political competition, and patterns of redistribution and regulation, and we consider institutional innovations that could promote political equality. Finally, we describe the diverse ways that political scientists produce an impact on the world by sharing and applying their knowledge of the consequences of electoral rules and global trends in reform.

The COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the Oman national health security system, putting the officials and medical crews under sustained pressure and challenges to cope with this crisis. We need to improve the national health security system to achieve health equity and to protect us all from the threat of COVID-19 and future pandemics. This study addresses the impact of COVID-19 on Oman national health security system. The study focuses on three objectives to determine the relationship between COVID-19 and national health security in Oman, to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on national health security, and to identify the role of government in mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on national health security. The study applies a qualitative method approach and was conducted in two parts using questionnaire surveys and interviews. The study has found that, having a strong relationship between COVID-19 and national health security, the COVID-19 has had impacts on Oman national health security system and the role of the government in mitigating the impacts is very important. The purpose of the study is to generate recommendation to Oman national health security system to pave the way to a robust and resilient national health security system.