TY - JOUR
T1 - 'To put oneself into the other fellow's place'
T2 - John Herz, the security dilemma and the nuclear age
AU - Wheeler, N.J.
PY - 2008/1/1
Y1 - 2008/1/1
N2 - It is well known in the literature on security dilemma theorising that John Herz coined the concept in the early 1950s, with Herbert Butterfi eld developing a very similar concept at the same time. What is less well appreciated is that Butterfi eld powerfully argued in his 1951 book History and Human Relations that there was no prospect of state leaders and diplomats overcoming the dynamics of mutual suspicion and distrust that created what he had chosen to call a condition of 'Hobbesian fear'. Herz parted company with Butterfi eld on this fundamental question, considering that two adversaries could come to appreciate that what they perceived as the other's hostile behaviour was a defensive response to their own actions. This article revisits this fundamental question that divided the pioneer theorists of the security dilemma as to whether better mutual understanding between potential rivals might be the key to mitigating fear-based hostility. The article discusses this question in relation to Herz's ideas about surviving the nuclear age, and shows how he believed that knowledge of the security dilemma was critical if the superpowers were to mitigate their security competition. Having examined how far the end of the Cold War supports Herz's position, the article concludes by showing how Herz became increasingly disillusioned that the United States was capable of acting to mitigate the security dilemma in th post-Cold War world.
AB - It is well known in the literature on security dilemma theorising that John Herz coined the concept in the early 1950s, with Herbert Butterfi eld developing a very similar concept at the same time. What is less well appreciated is that Butterfi eld powerfully argued in his 1951 book History and Human Relations that there was no prospect of state leaders and diplomats overcoming the dynamics of mutual suspicion and distrust that created what he had chosen to call a condition of 'Hobbesian fear'. Herz parted company with Butterfi eld on this fundamental question, considering that two adversaries could come to appreciate that what they perceived as the other's hostile behaviour was a defensive response to their own actions. This article revisits this fundamental question that divided the pioneer theorists of the security dilemma as to whether better mutual understanding between potential rivals might be the key to mitigating fear-based hostility. The article discusses this question in relation to Herz's ideas about surviving the nuclear age, and shows how he believed that knowledge of the security dilemma was critical if the superpowers were to mitigate their security competition. Having examined how far the end of the Cold War supports Herz's position, the article concludes by showing how Herz became increasingly disillusioned that the United States was capable of acting to mitigate the security dilemma in th post-Cold War world.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=yv4JPVwI&eid=2-s2.0-57449096944&md5=dc36cc429e20c722739013e5dda0e21f
U2 - 10.1177/0047117808097313
DO - 10.1177/0047117808097313
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:57449096944
SN - 0047-1178
VL - 22
SP - 493
EP - 509
JO - International Relations
JF - International Relations
IS - 4
ER -