International Reputation Reimagined: Cooperation, Complexity, and Contestation

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel features insights at the frontier of reputation research, such as the role of identity in reputation formation, how states manage their image abroad, and the under-appreciated reputational linkages between actors and issue areas. Powers and Renshon bring social identity theory into the study of reputation, exploring how “us” or “them” dynamics influence reputational inferences. Bush, Donno, and Zetterberg explore the intersection of image management and women's rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban's return to power. Matush, Goldsmith, Horiuchi, and Powers examine how democratic backsliding in the US impacts American soft power, as well as the soft power of both other democracies and non-democratic geopolitical competitors. Focusing on reputation for resolve and compliance, Goldfien, Pratt, and Yarhi-Milo develop a theoretical framework that explains when state behavior generates multiple, simultaneous reputational effects, and how this creates tradeoffs for policymakers as they manage their image abroad. Pratt, Powers, and Goldfien also explore reputational spillover, exploring the extent to which a state's 'bad' reputation in one issue area undermines that state's ability to obtain favorable bargains in other policy domains.

Sub Unit

• Division 17: International Collaboration

Individual Presentations

• Identity and Reputations in World Politics - Ryan M. Powers, University of Georgia; Jonathan Renshon, University of Wisconsin, Madison

• Women's Rights and International Reputation in Afghanistan - Daniela Donno, University of Oklahoma; Sarah S. Bush, University of Pennsylvania; Par Zetterberg, Uppsala University

• Multidimensional Reputation in International Politics - Michael Goldfien, Naval War College; Tyler Pratt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Keren Yarhi-Milo, Columbia University

• Democratic Backsliding & Foreign Public Opinion: Implications for US Soft Power - Kelly Matush, Florida State University; Yusaku Horiuchi, Dartmouth College; Benjamin E. Goldsmith, Australian National University; Kathleen E Powers, Dartmouth College

• Negative Reputations, Spillover, and Cooperation - Tyler Pratt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Michael Goldfien, Naval War College; Ryan M. Powers, University of Georgia; Jonathan Renshon, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Chair

• Mark J.C. Crescenzi University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Discussants

• Mark J.C. Crescenzi University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Michael Poznansky Naval War College