Mitigation

Abstract

Disciplines or fields of study — whichever description best applies to CAR — can grow in a number of different ways. One of these is a process by which, as the world itself changes, new problems are encountered, calling for new explanations and new solutions — the dynamics of state collapse, the spread of nuclear weapons or the rise of transnational terrorism. Another is through the formulation and testing of new theories to explain old puzzles — prospect theory or entrapment theory to help to explain the difficulties of de-escalating an intractable conflict. A third involves a recognition of the failure of existing theories in satisfactorily explaining contemporary events or processes — the inadequacy of traditional power theories to explain the successful resistance of an ostensibly weak Vietnamese nationalist movement against the apparently overwhelming coercive capacity of the United States.