From Pariah to Phoenix: Improving a National Reputation from the Ashes of the Past

(Hardback)

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Description

Since the end of the Cold War, one of the most commonly cited threats to international has been the existence of rogue states, so-called because they actively defy many of the rules and norms of international politics that have been established to bring order to the international system. While it is well known how such states become designated as pariahs, it is less clear how such states might be re-socialized into the international community short of a forced military intervention and regime change. How can a state designated as a rogue rehabilitate their national reputation among members of the international community How are members of the international community to know when such states undertake meaningful attempts at improving their reputational status This book develops a theory of reputational improvement that combines elements of existing theories on reputation in international relations with aspects of a growing literature on nation branding and public diplomacy that will show how pariah states might go about improving their reputations and more importantly, convincing others that they are no longer deserving of the designation of being treated as a deviant state

Reviews

For all the discussion of states reputations, we have remarkably little work on how states with bad reputations seek to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of the world. This Matthew Clary has done, with interesting theorizing and excellent case studies. Although it is audiences that control states reputations, states are not without agency, and their strategies are very well mapped here. -- Robert Jervis, Columbia University and author of The Logic of Images in International Relations

Author Bio

Matthew Q. Clary is lecturer of political science at Auburn University.