The Dynamics of Power Politics

Summary:
This talk will give an overview of an in-process book manuscript, The Dynamics of Power Politics (with Paul MacDonald and Daniel Nexon), which develops a relational-network approach to power political mobilization. Much of international relations theories assume that states have access to “stocks” of power, that military, economic, and diplomatic tools are readily available and ready to deploy in power-political competition. Instead, we argue that scholars should orient their analysis of great power competition around processes of collective mobilization and demobilization, with the goal of identifying the strategies of mobilization that replicate across time and space.

Bio:
Stacie Goddard is the Betty Freyhof Johnson ‘44 Professor of Political Science and Associate Provost for Wellesley in the World. Her research and teaching focuses on questions of great power competition and international order. Her latest book, When Right Makes Might: Rising Powers and World Order was published by Cornell University Press in 2018. Here she examines how a rising power’s legitimation strategy affects whether a great power confronts or accommodates a potential challenger. If a rising power can portray its ambitions as legitimate, it can make the case that, far from being a revolutionary power, its advances will only preserve, and perhaps even protect, the prevailing status quo, then great power accommodation is likely. In contrast, if a rising power’s claims are illegitimate—if they are inconsistent with prevailing rules and norms—then great powers will see its actions as threatening, making containment and confrontation likely.

At Wellesley, she teaches a number of courses rooted in this research, including a seminar on great power competition, a course on “dangerous ideas” and international order, and a course on nuclear politics. She also enjoys writing for public outlets, and her work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.