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The Behavior of Particularistic and Universalistic States
This article proposes a Theory of State Behavior’s Determination by Particularistic/Universalistic Identity-Morality-Ideology. States with particularistic identity-morality-ideologies (IMIs) are free (but not guaranteed) to pursue their vital-realpolitik (VR) interests via realpolitik. But states with universalistic IMIs, such as Cosmopolitan-Liberalism or Communism, are driven by them (and other psychological factors) to pursue much more than just their VR interests, via non-realpolitik means. This causes universalists to impinge upon other states’ interests far more often than needed to defend the universalists’ own VR interests. The theory is academically and practically useful for understanding much of the behavior of many great powers, including recent and current ones.