Event Date: October 6, 2015 - 12:00
Location: FSS 4007; en présentiel et sur Zoom, 120 Université, Université d\'Ottawa
DANIEL NEXON, Georgetown University.
Presented by the CIPS and the International Theory Network (ITN).
Free. In English. Registration is not required. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
Why do dominant actors invest in costly projects with few immediate benefits? We argue they may do so when they perceive fundamental threats to their legitimacy—and therefore their dominance—that require increasing their stock of symbolic capital. The logic of our argument combines insights from hegemonic-order and social-field theories. We provide evidence for our claims through a comparative study of the American Apollo Project and the Ming Dynasty’s treasure fleets. Our account explains, first, why the Ming and the United States suddenly undertook such massive expenditures, second, how they performed these projects, and, third, why both the Ming and the Apollo missions ended abruptly—a fact that observers of both series of expeditions often find puzzling. In doing so, we advance the development of the “new hierarchy studies” in the field of international relations.
Dan Nexon is a professor at Georgetown University and specializes in international security and international-relations theory. His current research focuses on statecraft and instruments of power politics, particularly in the context of unequal inter-state relations. He is the current lead editor of International Studies Quarterly. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. Professor Nexon’s work covers issues in international-relations theory, American foreign policy, power politics, the politics of religious contention, and the relationship between popular culture and world politics. He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change(Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010. His articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, Dialogue IO, European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Perspectives,International Studies Review, International Studies Quarterly, the Review of International Studies, the Review of International Political Economy, and World Politics.
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