1. Some Considerations Relevant to National Policy.
- Author
-
Deutsch, Morton
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL relations ,NATIONAL security ,POLICY sciences ,STATE power ,MILITARY policy ,GOVERNMENT policy - Abstract
The article focuses on some considerations relevant to national policy. There are social situations which do not allow the possibility of "rational" behavior so long as the conditions for mutual trust do not exist. A characteristic symptom of such non-rational situations is that any attempt on the part of any individual or nation to increase its own welfare or security (without regard to the security or welfare of others) is self-defeating. Thus, for example, if the Soviet Union attempts to increase its security by taking over Berlin, it will decrease its real security by increasing the likelihood of nuclear war. In such situations the only way that an individual or nation can avoid being trapped in a mutually reinforcing, self-defeating cycle is to attempt to change the situation so that a basis of mutual trust can develop. To induce a mutual welfare orientation in another, one has to demonstrate toward the other that its own behavior is based upon such a premise and that one cannot improve its welfare by violation of it.
- Published
- 1961
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