Book Review : Kjell Goldmann: International Norms and War Between States: Three Studies in International Politics. Swedish Studies in International Re lations 1. Utrikespolitiska Institutet and Läro medelsförlagen, Stockholm 1971
| Author | Thomas G. Hart |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083677100600117 |
| Published date | 01 March 1971 |
| Date | 01 March 1971 |
Book
Review
THOMAS
G.
HART
Kjell
Goldmann:
International
Norms
and
War
Between
States:
Three
Studies
in
International
Politics.
Swedish
Studies
in
International
Re-
lations
1.
Utrikespolitiska
Institutet
and
Läro-
medelsförlagen,
Stockholm
1971.
Kjell
Goldmann,
known
to
readers
as
a
frequent
contributor
to
this
journal,
has
published
an
imposing -
278
tightly-
printed
pages,
59
pages
of
methodological
appendices,
42
tables,
notes
and
biblio-
graphy -
and
impressive
account
of
his
research
into
a
central
but,
at
least
for
the
more
’scientific’
school
of
international
re-
lationists,
hitherto
relatively
neglected
as-
pect
of
the
field,
namely
the
effects
of
international
norms
on
the
behavior
of
States,
especially
with
respect
to
inter-
State
warfare.
Despite
its
title,
Goldmann’s
book
is
both
more
and
less
than
’three
studies’
of
this
question:
it is
’less’
because
the
three
parts
or
sections
of
the
study
actually
represent
the
conceptualization,
data
gathering
and
description,
and
hypo-
thesization/application
stages,
respectively,
of
essentially
the
same
major
research
endeavor.
At
the
same
time
it
is
in
a
sense
considerably
more
than
three
studies
since
Goldmann
has
been
forced
by
the
paucity
of
modern
work
on
this
subject
to
solve,
or
at
least
to
deal
with,
a
truly
for-
midable
number
of
theoretical,
methodo-
logical,
analytical
and
other
problems.
In
view
of
the
importance
of
these
problems
to
all
social
scientists,
both
in
and
out
of
Goldmann’s
special
field,
and
the
almost
compulsive
manner
in
which
they
are
treated
(a
point
to
which
I
shall
be
return-
ing
presently),
it
seems
justifiable
to
re-
frain
from
writing
a
purely
’critical’
re-
view
and
instead
to
attempt
to
convey
to
the
reader
some
idea
of
the
range
of
the
contributions
Goldmann
has
made,
as
well
as
to
describe
and
comment
upon
some
of
his
solutions
and
findings.
First
a
short
presentation
of
the
contents
of
the
various
sections.
I
Part
I
is
entitled
’International
Norms
and
Governmental
Behavior:
A
model
of
Social
Control,
Applied
to
the
International
Sys-
tem’.
Goldmann
bases
his
model-building
on
three
well-known
concepts,
Herbert
Simon’s
’bounded
rationality’
(as
a
basis
for
understanding
how
decision-makers
act
’rationally*
despite
imperfect
information),
0.
R.
Holsti’s
formulation
of
the
concept
of
’belief
system’
which
acts
as
a
perceptual
and
normative
filter
through
which
infor-
mation
is
ordered
in
relation
to
decision
needs,
and
the
general
sociological
concept
of
social
norms
as
standards
against
which
behavior
is
measured,
and
sanctioned,
either
positively
or
negatively.
Establishing
these
concepts
as
a
base,
he
proceeds
to
construct
a
model
relating
such
norms
as
exist
in
the
international
system
to
the
authoritative
behavior
of
States
in
deci-
sion-requiring
situations.
Fortunately
yet
convincingly,
Goldmann
arrives
at
some
mildly
surprising
conclusions
concerning
the
relationships
of
the
most
important
variables
in
this
model:
Norms,
he
finds,
may
be
formalized,
or
verbalized,
or
merely
customary,
or
combinations
of
these
-
furthermore
there
is
no
requirement
that
they
be
internalized.
The
’central
relation-
ships’
in
the
post-decisional
behavioral
output
of
States
are
those
obtaining
be-
tween
and
among
norms,
acts,
and
justi-
fying
statements,
the
latter
being
the
es-
sential
bit
of
information
supplied
by
the
actor in
order
to
demonstrate
to
would-be
sanctioners
that
his
act
is
compatible
with
existing
norms.
Thus
the
phenomenon
of
the
’justifying
statement’,
long
regarded
by
observers
as
probably
the
least
reliable
sort
of
infor-
mation
conceivable
in
ascertaining
’real
motives’,
etc.,
becomes
the
key
to
identi-
fying
existing
international
norms
(or
what
the
actor
assumes
will
carry
normative
weight
with
potential
sanctioners
of
his
actions,
which
is
the
same
thing),
and
norms
in
turn
are
seen
as
important
con-
straints
on
decisions
to
act,
since
it
can
safely
be
assumed
that
no
actor
willingly
To continue reading
Request your trial