Approaches to the Study of Crisis

In the nuclear era, the use of even low levels of force risks catastrophe for all mankind. Yet military force remains an important element of political strategy, and control and coordination of its use with other instruments of national power is of vital importance. There has been an increasing concern on the part of policy makers, the public, and the Congress with the subject of crisis decision making since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. This is the first chapter of this book, which examines what we know about crisis, to provide a framework for analysis, to describe some crisis decisions, to analyze crisis behavior, and to suggest several conclusions. The major academic approaches to the study of crisis are the rational/analytic approach, strategic studies approach, decision-making approaches, and the social-psychological approach. Graham Allison was one of the first to apply multiple models explicitly to an international crisis.