Crucible of Beliefs

Dan Reiter is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Political Science at Emory University. He is the author of How Wars End, coauthor of Democracies at War, and editor of The Sword's Other Edge.

Introduction Learning in International Politics Realism, Balance of Threat, and Alliances Cases, Hypotheses, and Variables Quantitative results Case Studies Case Studies Political Structure and Learning Conclusion

This exceptionally well-written book sets out to explore question in the study of international politics: how do national leaders learn from history? (International History Review) On the basis of its clarity, elegance, and predictive power, Reiter's learning theory is an unqualified success that must be taken seriously and addressed by anyone studying the alliance behavior of small powers. (Political Science Quarterly) Reiter develops a comprehensive set of hypotheses and variables for the case studies. (Millennium) In all, Crucible of Beliefs is a provocative, well-crafted, insightful, and informative work. Reiter is meticulous in developing and testing his theory; he is attentive to potential problems that would inhibit his findings. Furthermore, the prose is crisp and clear, chock full of illustrative anecdotes and examples. An additional strength of the work is its focus on small states-the most numerous members of the inter- national system, yet the least studied (American Political Science Review)