The Concept of Crisis in International Politics

While the importance of crises in the inter-national system is well understood, a clear understanding of what causes situations to be seen as crises has so far eluded students of the subject. One possible reason for this conceptual vagueness is the lack of analytic frameworks in which to place the concept. To a large extent, the explanation for this absence of theory rests with the confusion and vagueness surrounding the use of the term. In its ordinary use, crisis has been equated with an important situation, one which is violent or potentially violent. It has been referred to as both the actual prelude to war and the averted approach. The tendency has been to extend its meaning to include a wide range of situations. As a result, it has become difficult to opera-tionally distinguish crisis from non-crisis periods. This tendency has not been con-ducive to the production of systematic knowledge about international relations, and it appears to represent a difficulty which is common to both the scholar and the prac-titioner. Two approaches to a more systematic definition of crisis can be found in the literature: the substantive and the procedural approaches.i With the first or substantive approach, the conception of crisis used is one that is specific to the content of a particular problem or situation. Those using this definition have been concerned primarily with the implications of a particular policy