Problem Representation in Foreign Policy Decision-Making

Previous studies of foreign policy decision making have largely focused on the choice among specified options rather than the prior question of how the options were specified in the first place. Such "problem representation" is the focus of this volume. How do the game theorists' options and utilities come about? The editors contend the representation of the problem to which the options are a response, the determinants of that representation, and its ramifications must all be analyzed. The contributors to the volume consider these issues, employing the methods of both international relations and political psychology.