Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy Resolve
Is there a politics of opposites where dovish leaders are better at selling conflict to their publics while hawkish leaders are better at selling cooperation? If so, do competing states respond to the domestic political environment that confronts the president at home? This study posits that a hard line foreign policy helps doves obtain the electoral benefit of a politics of opposites because it proves their moderate credentials. As a result, it expects doves will exhibit greater resolve in foreign policy than hawks as their domestic support falls. The study then considers the counter-intuitive hypothesis that rivals states increasingly avoid doves and exploit hawks experiencing electoral distress. Empirical analyses support these propositions in the context of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War from 1966--1992.