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The Jervis Effect
The Scholarship and Legacy of Robert Jervis
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Edited by:
Richard H. Immerman
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2026
About this book
Robert Jervis (1940–2021) was a titan in the field of international relations. Part political scientist, part psychologist, part historian, and part policy analyst, he drew on a vast array of theoretical approaches and empirical methods to develop keen and distinctive insights on a wide range of topics. From academic political science to the policy world, the scope of Jervis’s influence is astonishing.
Bringing together top scholars in political science, international relations, and history, this book offers a deep dive into Jervis’s pathbreaking scholarship and its legacy across disciplines. The authors consider how his work reshaped subjects such as nuclear strategy, arms control, deterrence theory, structural realism, diplomatic history, intelligence analysis, and the causes of war. They further discuss Jervis’s leadership on the CIA’s declassification board, which provided a bridge between academics and the intelligence community, and his influence as a public intellectual. The contributors also pay tribute to Jervis as a mentor, colleague, and friend who worked to build and sustain a broad intellectual community. Offering a wide-ranging overview of Jervis’s most important contributions to many fields, this book provides a deep understanding of Jervis’s scholarly work, which continues to inspire new generations of scholars who seek to follow in his footsteps.
Bringing together top scholars in political science, international relations, and history, this book offers a deep dive into Jervis’s pathbreaking scholarship and its legacy across disciplines. The authors consider how his work reshaped subjects such as nuclear strategy, arms control, deterrence theory, structural realism, diplomatic history, intelligence analysis, and the causes of war. They further discuss Jervis’s leadership on the CIA’s declassification board, which provided a bridge between academics and the intelligence community, and his influence as a public intellectual. The contributors also pay tribute to Jervis as a mentor, colleague, and friend who worked to build and sustain a broad intellectual community. Offering a wide-ranging overview of Jervis’s most important contributions to many fields, this book provides a deep understanding of Jervis’s scholarly work, which continues to inspire new generations of scholars who seek to follow in his footsteps.
Reviews
The Jervis Effect is more than a celebration of Robert Jervis’s esteemed scholarship—though it is certainly a loving presentation of him. The book also shows the breadth of Jervis’s service, and the result is revelatory regarding the application of theory and research to real-world events.
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An appropriately substantial and multifaceted monument to the work and impact of the late Robert Jervis. Leading scholars in the field provide detailed reviews of the pathbreaking contributions Jervis made to the analysis of relations between states. But they also testify to the impact he made beyond his writings—as a teacher and mentor, through his personal qualities as well as his intellectual ones. A giant in the field of international relations, Jervis was also quite clearly an exceptional person.
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A witty, warm, and very readable collection. Jervis’s curiosity, enthusiasm, and scholarship over more than fifty years is revealed in these essays. A book for every bookshelf, and the most thoughtful guide to a deeper understanding of how international relations actually work.
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Who else other than Robert Jervis could have attracted some of the top names in the academy, gathered together in this outstanding volume to write about him and his contribution to scholarship with such warmth, respect, and sense of loss? An inspiration to students and a constant source of original ideas who was not afraid of speaking truth to power, there was really nobody else in our field like him.
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Frontmatter
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CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
1 - I ROBERT JERVIS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY
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1 ACTING IN WHICH SYSTEM?
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2 REALISM AND MISPERCEPTIONS
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3 SEMINAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO RATIONAL THEORIES OF STATE BEHAVIOR
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4 THE JERVISIAN STYLE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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5 A NOT-SO-CLOSET CONSTRUCTIVIST?
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6 THE “FOURTH” ASSUMPTION FOR THE OPERATION OF BALANCE OF POWER SYSTEMS
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7 A LIBERAL REALIST
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8 THE FIELD OF SECURITY STUDIES
120 - II ROBERT JERVIS, PSYCHOLOGY, AND BARGAINING
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9 A LEADER AND A SUBVERSIVE
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10 UNDERSTANDING LIFE AND LIFE’S CHOICES
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11 ON “COOPERATION UNDER THE SECURITY DILEMMA”
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12 PERSPECTIVES ON THE SECURITY DILEMMA
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13 SCHOLARLY SILVERBACK AND FOUNDER OF THE FIELD OF POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
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14 A PSYCHOLOGY OF RATIONAL SIGNALING
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15 THE CONSUMMATE FOX
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16 JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF ALL
181 - III ROBERT JERVIS AND THE PRACTICE OF STATECRAFT
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17 POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE ANALYSIS OF INTELLIGENCE FAILURES
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18 THE SOCIAL DILEMMAS OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
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19 COMPLEXITY, NONLINEARITY, AND OTHER ESSENTIAL JERVISIAN INSIGHTS ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROBLEMS
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20 BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PUBLIC DISCOURSE AND SECRET INTELLIGENCE
220 - IV ROBERT JERVIS, HISTORY, AND HISTORIANS
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21 THEORIST AND METHODOLOGIST
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22 READING ROBERT JERVIS
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23 REMEMBERING ROBERT JERVIS
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24 LEARNING FROM HISTORY
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25 AN APPRECIATION
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26 PERCEPTIONS AND MISPERCEPTIONS AND THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR I
266 - V ROBERT JERVIS AS PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL
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27 THE ART AND SCIENCE OF THE POSTMORTEM
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28 ROBERT JERVIS AND OFFICIAL HISTORY
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29 THE CIA’s HISTORICAL REVIEW PANEL
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30 LOWERING BARRIERS AND CONNECTING SCHOLARS THROUGH INNOVATIVE ONLINE PUBLICATIONS
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31 THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL
322 - VI ROBERT JERVIS AS COLLEAGUE, MENTOR, AND FRIEND
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CODA
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EPILOGUE
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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APPENDIX
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CONTRIBUTORS
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INDEX
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
January 6, 2026
eBook ISBN:
9780231563796
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9780231563796
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
