ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes an overview of the prevailing literature, it argues that rationalist assumptions limit the scope of realist, liberal, and constructivist analyses, leading them to overrate the efficiency with which agents use information and to obscure the inefficiencies that cause instability and crisis over time. It develops an alternative approach; it integrates constructivist and historical institutionalist insights in a theory that juxtaposes "fast-thinking" constructions of crises marked by emotional overreactions, their "slow-thinking" conversion into intellectual frameworks. The book explores historical interpretations of American liberal values and interests, distinguishing more principled isolationist and crusading stances from intellectually refined realist beliefs. It also explores methodological and case selection issues, provides an overview of the empirical claims, and foreshadow key theoretical, historical, and policy implications.
