Reagan and Gorbachev: Altercasting at the End of the Cold War

Abstract

Observing the evolution of international relations theory, one scholar wrote ``Students coming of age in the post-cold war era seem to grasp intuitively that the study of international relations …is ultimately about human beings, and that the way in which human beings engage in such relations …'' is difficult to comprehend through the lenses of theories that dominated throughout the cold war era (Gaddis 1992/1993, 55). Conventional international relations theories, such as neorealism and institutionalism, traditionally reject the impact of ideational variables on politics (Keohane and Martin 2003; Waltz 1979). By the end of the cold war it was evident that these theories were in trouble as they had to face an increasing number of empirical anomalies. The reason they were in trouble appeared to be a denial of ideational variables and the importance of leaders in the conduct of world politics.