| In my dissertation, I analyze how changing international norms influenced the adjustment strategies employed by non-Western former empires after defeat. Although international relations theorists have explored the post-war grand strategies of the victorious, they have given little consideration to the strategies of the defeated great powers. Drawing on sociological theories of stratification, I argue that defeated empires respond to their diminished position by adopting a grand strategy designed to bolster their status. Even in situations where the victor does not have an influence in post-defeat strategy formulation, the quest for status leads to a strong initial preference for deliberate assimilation to system norms. This suggests that status quo order in the international system is driven not only by those at the top but also by those who once were at the top and are struggling to regain their position. Socialization to international norms is not a unidirectional process. Defeated powers retain agency by assimilating selectively and strategically transmitting international norms to peripheral regions.; The implications of this framework are then demonstrated in detailed historical analysis of foreign policy decisions in the comparative cases of Turkey after WWI, Japan after WWII and the former Soviet Union after the Cold War. |
