Crisis Management

Abstract

This article provides an assessment and critique of the current state of crisis management literature with special emphasis on what historical case studies reveal about the validity of this approach to world politics. After a review of the literature, which notes the benefits from a variety of approaches to the study of crisis, the authors examine the stated and unstated assumptions about the need for dealing with crises and the means by which this might best be accomplished. The authors offer some advice on how to improve studies in this area by recognizing the variety of crisis situations in history, the importance of individual people and thier domestic context, and the need for a taxonomy of crises.