Foreign Policy Decision Making

An analysis of decision making and negotiation in international relations, this book offers a political–psychological model of the images that compose policymakers' world views. It explores the limits these images impose on diplomatic adaptation to changes in the foreign policies.

Martha Cottam is assistant professor of American foreign policy at the University of Denver's Graduate School of International Studies.

Introduction 1. The Decision Making Literature in International Relations: A Review of the Literature and New Direction 2. Psychological and Political Categories: The Political World View 3. Political World View Categories: Some Empirical Evidence 4. Political Judgments: Using Political Categories 5. Images of Mexico: Historical and Perceptual Background 6. The Effects of Psychological Categories on Political Decision Making: The Case of US-Mexican Natural Gas Negotiations 7. Conclusions