Blackwell Reference Online

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Ideas are nebulous things, and often trade at a discount in the material world of international affairs. “How many divisions has the pope?” Stalin sneeringly asked, exemplifying what that generation's high priest of historical materialism thought of the power of ideas detached from the tools of force. Yet the fact that the question came up illustrates a deeper truth: if force is the final arbiter of international affairs, ideas are the trigger of force, the governor of force, the measure of whether force has accomplished what its authors desire. Force may be how international affairs are waged; ideas are why . Consequently, any study of international affairs must start with a study of ideas. Whose ideas need to be studied depends on the regimes, polities, and societies examined. A student of Soviet foreign affairs during Stalin's long reign might credibly concentrate on what Stalin and perhaps a few of his closest henchmen thought about the world and Russia's place therein. Dictatorships have advantages – for those who study them if not necessarily those who live under them. By contrast, in a pluralist democracy such as the United States, the larger number of actors influencing foreign affairs necessitates a broader field of inquiry. Historians have entered this field from various directions. Some have taken important individuals – presidents, secretaries of state, influential ... log in or subscribe to read full text