US Foreign Policy: A Political Psychology Perspective

El Professor David Houghton del US Naval War College delivered a talk where he developed a quick overview of psychological approaches to foreign policy, with emphasis on emotion and decision making.

He discussed the scholarly transition from focusing “cold cognition” to “hot emotion” in the study of decision-making.

He explained what the Rational Actor Model (RAM) is, and how psychology began to undermine it, as well as the rise of cognitive approaches and the more recent rise of emotional views of Foreign Policy decision making.