Part VI Actors and Institutions, Ch.34 Epistemic Communities

As the world becomes more globalized, decision-makers grow uncertain about what their interests are and how best to achieve them, and ideas become increasingly important as maps or frames for decision-makers in an unfamiliar setting. With the end of the Cold War, decision-makers cannot rely on geopolitical doctrines as a guide for various areas of foreign policy and international practice. The environment provides a telling issue area in which to address the role of ideas in an increasingly uncertain global policy context. This chapter looks at the concept of...