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Political Mistakes and Policy Failures in International Relations pp 1–29Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Introduction: Mistakes and Failures in International Relations

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Abstract

This introduction firstly considers the concepts of ‘mistakes’ and ‘failures’ and reflects on ontological and epistemological perspectives on how to study mistakes and failures. We secondly turn to the question of what causes mistakes and failures and introduce a range of theories for explaining and understanding mistakes and failures. Part three examines the notion of responsibility attribution and considers why and how actors get blame d for mistakes and failures. In these three parts, we both summarize the state of the art and point out how the chapters in this volume add new insights and perspectives. Part four offers an overview of the chapters which are to follow and part five elaborates on the lessons learnt from these insights on mistakes and failures in international relations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social Sciences and History, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Andreas Kruck & Alexander Spencer

  2. Department of Politics, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, UK

    Kai Oppermann

Authors
  1. Andreas Kruck
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  2. Kai Oppermann
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  3. Alexander Spencer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geschwister-Scholl-Institute of Political Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Andreas Kruck

  2. Department of Politics, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom

    Kai Oppermann

  3. Institute of Social Sciences and History, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Alexander Spencer

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Kruck, A., Oppermann, K., Spencer, A. (2018). Introduction: Mistakes and Failures in International Relations. In: Kruck, A., Oppermann, K., Spencer, A. (eds) Political Mistakes and Policy Failures in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68173-3_1

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