Trusting Enemies

Download or read book Trusting Enemies written by Nicholas J. Wheeler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "How can two enemies, locked into a spiral of fear and insecurity, transform their relationship into a trusting one? Trusting Enemies argues that the field of International Relations has not done a good job of answering this question. This is because it has been looking in the wrong place. Where trust-building has been theorized by the discipline of International Relations, the focus has been on the state and the individual. This book argues that there is a need to appreciate the importance of a new level of analysis in trust research-the interpersonal. In its development of a theory of interpersonal trust between state leaders in adversarial relationships, this book argues that the obstacles to leaders sincerely signalling their peaceful intent can be overcome and that trust-based relationships provide the greatest assurance of accurate signal interpretation. This book examines three cases: the interaction between US and Soviet leaders Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev and its role in ending the cold war; the interaction between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and its role in the Lahore peace process of 1998-9; and the interactions across 2009-10 between Barack Obama and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that did not lead to a breakthrough in the US-Iranian nuclear relationship"(ed.)