Imitation in International Relations: Observational Learning, Analogies and Foreign Policy in Russia and Ukraine Hardcover - 2005

From the jacket flap

"When do state leaders draw foreign policy lessons from the historical experience of other countries? Ben Goldsmith in his book, "Imitation in International Relations," provides new insights and answers to this critical question by a compelling combination of theoretical analysis, statistical tests, and comparative cases studies. This book represents a major contribution to scholarship on when and why learning takes place in foreign policy. This book is a must read for students of foreign policy decision making."
--Paul Huth, University of Michigan
"We know that state elites often watch carefully their counterparts in other states. Too often, however, scholars have built ad hoc theories of imitation, policy transfer, and demonstration effects. Goldsmith's ambitious book locates an explanation of why and when state elites will draw lessons from the experience of other states inside a broader theory of foreign policy. It thus advances our understanding of this important phenomenon."
--Wade Jacoby, Brigham Young University
"This innovative study of foreign policy perceptions and decisions compares Russian and Ukrainian attitudes toward privatization and foreign investment in the 1990's, highlighting contrasting views toward the Soviet past in Moscow and Ky'iv. It enriches our understanding of how elites maneuvered unchartered and challenging territory in the first decade after the collapse of communism."
--Dr. Angela Stent, Georgetown University.

Media reviews

Citations

• Choice, 07/01/2006, Page 2069