Lateral Pressure Theory as Applied to Global Warming: An Initial Assessment

Abstract

Environmental problems that are global in scale involve both socio-economic and ecological processes, and understanding the politics of these problems may require applications of alternative theories of inter national relations, as well as more mainstream theories. Both sets of theories may need to be reformulated and respecified before they prove useful. This article explores the applicability of the theory of lateral pressure to a specific global environmental problem, the problem of global warming. Lateral pressure theory is an alternative approach that repre sents a promising effort to integrate environmental factors into a theory of international relations. However, its application to the problem of global warming will require added specification of the theory and expan sion of its causal links. Factors hitherto bypassed by the theory appear indispensible for analyzing how the global community will respond to this complex and novel set of problems.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ashley, R. (1980). The Political Economy of War and Peace. New York: Nichols Publishing Co.

Choucri, N. (1974). Population Dynamics and International Violence: Propositions, Insights, and Evidence. Washington, D.C. : Heath/Lexington Books.

Choucri, N. (ed.) (1984). Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Population and Conflict. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

Choucri, N. and M. Bousfield (1978). "Alternative Futures: An Exercise in Forecasting " In Forecasting in International Relations, ( N. Choucri and A. Robinson , eds.). San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co.

Choucri, N. and R. North (1972). "Dynamics of International Conflict: Some Policy Implications of Population, Resources, and Technology." World Politics, 24: 80.

Choucri, N. and R. North (1975). Nations in Conflict. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Choucri, N. and R. North (1989). "Lateral Pressure in International Relations: Concept and Theory." In Handbook of War Studies, ( M.I. Midlarsky , ed.). Winchester, MA: Unwin Hyman.

Choucri, N. , R. North and S. Yamakage (forthcoming). The Challenge of Japan Before World War II and After: A Study of National Growth and Expansion. New York: Harper Collins.

Cohen, J. "Popper, Methodological Individualism, and Situational Logic." Ms. unpublished.

10.

Daly, H.E. and J. Cobb (1989). For the Common Good. Boston : Beacon Press.

11.

Dessler, D. (1989). "What's at stake in the agent-structure debate ." International Organization, 43, 3: 441.

12.

Deutsch, K. (1981). "The Crisis of the State." Government and Opposition, 16, 3: 331-343.

13.

Haas, P. (1989). "Do regimes matter? Epistemic communities and Mediterranean pollution control." International Organization , 43, 3: 377.

14.

Harris, J. and V. Samaraweera (1984). "Economic Dimensions of Conflict." In Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Population and Conflict, ( N. Choucri , ed.). Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

15.

Keohane, R. (1984). After Hegemony. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

16.

Keohane, R. and J. Nye (1977). Power and Interdependence. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

17.

Keohane, R. and J. Nye (1987). "Power and Interdependence Revisited." International Organization, 41, 4: 725.

18.

Krasner, S. (1988). "Sovereignty: An Institutional Perspective." Comparative Political Studies, 21, 1.

19.

March, J. and J. Olsen (1984). "The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life." American Political Science Review, 78: 735.

20.

North, R. (1990). War, Peace, Survival. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

21.

Pollins, B. (1976). "National Determinants of Foreign Expansion: Forecasting U.S. Lateral Pressure." Paper prepared for the meeting of the International Political Science Association, Toronto.

22.

Waltz, K. (1979). Theory of International Politics. New York: Random House.

23.

Wendt, A. (1987). "The agent-structure problem in international relations theory." International Organization, 41, 3: 335.

24.

World Bank (1988). World Development Report. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

25.

Young, O. (1989). "The Politics of International Regime Formation: Managing Natural Resources and the Environment." International Organization, 45: 349-375.