System Effects

Robert Jervis is Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics at Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books, including Perception and Misperception in International Politics (Princeton).

Co-Winner of the 1998 Best Book Award, Political Psychology Section of the American Political Science Association Winner of the 1998 Lionel Trilling Award, Columbia University Honorable Mention for the 1997 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Government and Political Science, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1998 "Drawing on a diverse body of scholarly research and a wealth of illuminating examples, Jervis shows that 'system effects' are an important and often overlooked part of social and political life... His insights will capture the imagination of those who puzzle over other social problems as well... Viewed as a whole, System Effects offers a sobering and valuable moral."--Steven M. Walt, The Atlantic Monthly "There are few doubts that System Effects is an important and timely book, one that should be studied closely not only by Foreign Offices, but by all people faced with the task of making decisions while uncertain about the consequences of alternative actions--and such people make a very large readership indeed."--Zygmunt Bauman, The Times Literary Supplement

• Acknowledgments One Introduction Definitions and Illustrations WE CAN NEVER DO MERELY ONE THING Emergent Properties Interconnections KINDS OF INTERCONNECTIONS Games against Nature Are Not Games against Nature Two System Effects Indirect and Delayed Effects Relations Are Often Not Bilaterally Determined Interactions, Not Additivity FIRST INTERACTIONS: RESULTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED FROM THE SEPARATE ACTIONS SECOND INTERACTIONS: STRATEGIES DEPEND ON THE STRATEGIES OF OTHERS THIRD INTERACTIONS: BEHAVIOR CHANGES THE ENVIRONMENT Products of Interaction as the Unit of Analysis Circular Effects Outcomes Do Not Follow from Intentions A QUALIFICATION Regulation Implications for Testing and Method POWER CAUSES AND EFFECTS TESTING PROPOSITIONS YARDSTICKS AND INDICATORS Three Systemic Theories of International Politics What Are the Variables? STABILITY Both Dependent and Independent Variables Systemic System as the Dependent Variable System as the Independent Variable Waltz WALTZ'S CONCEPT OF STRUCTURE WHAT WALTZ'S THEORY CAN EXPLAIN Structural versus Behavioral Polarity BIPOLARITY AND STABILITY: IGNORING THE PERIPHERIES AND OVERREACTING TO THEM STRUCTURE AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS Four Feedback Types of Feedback DEBATES ABOUT FEEDBACKS Balance of Power AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW--IS IT SYSTEMIC? ANTICIPATION OF THE OPERATION OF BALANCE OF POWER Negative Feedback That Resembles Balance of Power Other Forms of Negative Feedback SELF-LIMITING SUCCESS INFORMATION, INFERENCES, AND PSYCHOLOGY Positive Feedback PROCESSES AND AREAS OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK Information and Expectations Tipping Consensus Effects Competition Power POSITIVE FEEDBACK AND PATH DEPENDENCE--THE BIG IMPACT OF SMALL ADVANTAGES OTHER AREAS OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK DOMINO DYNAMICS Reputation General Validity of the Domino Theory Conditions under Which Domino Effects Are Likely SPIRALS AS POSITIVE FEEDBACK Balance of Power, Dominoes, and Spirals: Feedback and Force Five Relations, Alternatives, and Bargaining Triangular Relations THE PIVOT Seeking and Maintaining the Pivot: Divide and Influence Alternatives and Bargaining Leverage PUSHES AND PULLS The Influence of Structure Structure Does Not Determine--Room for Judgments Six Alignments and Consistency How and Why Systems Become Consistent Causes of Consistency THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND Who Is the Main Enemy? Balance as a Psychological Dynamic Conditions and Limits AVOIDING UNDESIRED BALANCE SEEKING IMBALANCE: TRYING TO BE FRIENDS WITH TWO ADVERSARIES Differences in Strategies Producing Imbalance CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH BALANCE IS LIKELY Necessity for Choice PRE-WORLD WAR I DIPLOMACY: THE FORMATION OF A BALANCED SYSTEM THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENTENTES Seven Acting in a System Information, Beliefs, and Action EFFECTS DEPEND ON IMPRESSIONS Lack of Awareness of System Effects Acting in a System CONSTRAINING Anticipating System Effects THE LIJPHART EFFECT THE DOMINO THEORY PARADOX DOING THINGS "IN TWOS" QUASI-HOMEOSTASIS Seeking the Desired Level of Risk The Sequel to a Great Victory Is Often a Great Defeat Indirect Approaches MOVING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION Doing More Than One Thing Index