Parenting in a System of Oppositional Defiant States.

Since September 11, 2001, people, especially in the United States, have been asking for answers and seeking explanations for why the terrorist attacks of that day happened. Among the responses offered we find some people believing that the cause of such events can be attributed to such feelings as jealousy and differences in culture. While these may have a role to play in the reasons for such attacks, these are not the only reasons. Those explanations are easy to create but far more difficult for researchers to believe. This paper is an attempt to examine the role that the states viewed as the victims of such hostilities actually has to play in them. During a period of hegemony, a hegemon is much like a parent or other authority figure and the other states in the international system are much like the children or subordinates. From psychological and organizational studies and literature we know that children and subordinates often respond negatively and destructively to inconsistent parenting or management. Should states controlled by people be viewed any differently? Can the international system be compared to families and organizations in this way? With the range of influence possessed by a hegemon, particularly at its height, one can expect to see hegemons attacked more frequently than other states. From previous studies, we know that these attacks increase as hegemons exhibit greater vulnerability, but nothing indicates why some hegemons are attacked more frequently than others at similar points in their positions as hegemons. The hypothesis examined in this paper is that hegemons with greater degrees of inconsistency between their foreign policies and their foreign policy rhetoric, as well as greater inconsistencies between policies, are the victims of outside attacks more frequently than other hegemons at similar points in their positions as hegemons. If this is correct, it can help shed some light on the role of policy making and policy makers in both the cause and solution of such international events as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]