Hawks and Doves

A masterful scientific debunking of the liberal myth. If you want to know what we do not know about the democratic peace, read this book! -- Dirk De Bièvre, University of Antwerp

Bakker’s book offers fresh insights on the microfoundations of international relations and on the importance of leaders. It challenges the very core of democratic peace theory’s causal mechanisms, and establishes the importance of hawkishness as a critical factor in individual-level threat perception. The book contributes greatly to our understanding of leader psychology, foreign policy, and international politics. -- Juliet Kaarbo, University of Edinburgh

Focusing on the microfoundations of democratic peace theory, this book examines how the decision makers involved are likely to perceive threat and its sources in decisions to go to war. Using an innovative experimental design and American, Russian, and Chinese students as decision makers, the author finds, contrary to expectation, it is not liberal norms that shape decision makers’ choices but how hawkish they are to start with. The results challenge democratic peace theory as currently constructed. -- Margaret G. Hermann, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

Femke E. Bakker studies politics and international relations from a political-psychological perspective. Her research interests include the microfoundations of democratic peace theory, political leadership, belief systems, stress-management for crisis decision-makers, and the impact of meditation on political behaviour. She teaches in the fields of political psychology, international relations and research methods.