ABSTRACT
The idea of rationality is at the centre of Western strategic thinking. Rationality is 'choosing to act in the manner which gives best promise of maximizing one's value position on the basis of a sober calculation of potential gains and losses, and probabilities of enemy actions'. Ethnocentrism is a factor which must therefore be entered into the account, whether one's interest is in theorising for its own sake or in the hope that better practice will be a by-product. The greater the ethnocentrism, the wider will be the gap between strategic theories and behavioural facts. International politics and strategic history are full of examples of societies attempting to fit the behaviour of others into their own preconceived outlook. This increases the temptation to project one's own assumptions. Such faulty methodology is particularly significant when an established society has to account for a new phenomenon, such as a revolutionary state or the rise of a new great power.
