Reputation for Resolve: How Leaders Signal Determination in International Politics

"Danielle Lupton's Reputation for Resolve: How Leaders Signal Determination in International Politics (Cornell University Press, 2020) examines how leaders establish reputations in international politics and how these reputations influence international conflict. Using innovative survey experiments and in-depth archival research into American-Soviet relations, Lupton shows that leaders acquire personal reputations based on their foreign policy statements and behavior. And statements create expectations of how a leader will react to foreign policy crises in the future. Reputation for Resolve challenges the often-publicized view that reputations do not matter in international politics. The book reframes our understanding of the influence of leaders and their rhetoric on crisis bargaining and the role reputations play in international politics.

Danielle Lupton is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Colgate University. Her research investigates the impact of individual leaders on international security and foreign policy. In addition to her forthcoming book, her research is published in Political Analysis, International Interactions, Political Research Quarterly, and the Journal of Global Security Studies."

For any questions or to request an accommodation, please contact Dan McDowell at dmcdowel@syr.edu.