Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T10:24:21.349Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Force of Face-to-Face Diplomacy: Mirror Neurons and the Problem of Intentions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2013

Marcus Holmes
Marcus Holmes*
Affiliation:
Fordham University, New York. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Face-to-face diplomacy has long been the lynchpin of international politics, yet it has largely been dismissed as irrelevant in theories of cooperation and conflict—as “cheap talk” because leaders have incentives to dissemble. However, diplomats and leaders have argued for years that there is often no substitute for personally meeting a counterpart to hash out an agreement. This article argues that face-to-face diplomacy provides a signaling mechanism that increases the likelihood of cooperation. Face-to-face meetings allow individuals to transmit information and empathize with each other, thereby reducing uncertainty, even when they have strong incentives to distrust the other. The human brain has discrete architecture and processes devoted to parsing others' intentions via cues in face-to-face interaction. These processes enable actors to directly access the intentions of others with a higher degree of certainty than economic and game-theoretic models of bargaining predict.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 67 , Issue 4 , October 2013 , pp. 829 - 861
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allport, Gordon W. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Avikainen, Sari, Wohlschläger, Andreas, Liuhanen, Sasu, Hänninen, Ritva, and Hari, Riitta. 2003. Impaired Mirror-Image Imitation in Asperger and High-Functioning Autistic Subjects. Current Biology 13 (4):339–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bennett, Andrew O. 2003. Trust Bursting Out All Over: The Soviet Side of German Unification. In Cold War Endgame: Oral History, Analysis, Debates, edited by Wohlforth, William C., 175–206. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Bond, Charles F. Jr., Omar, Adnan, Pitre, Urvashi, Lashley, Brian R., Skaggs, Lynn M., and Kirk, C.T.. 1992. Fishy-Looking Liars: Deception Judgment from Expectancy Violation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 63 (6):969–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bush, George, and Scowcroft, Brent. 1998. A World Transformed. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, John T., and Berntson, Gary G.. 1992. Social Psychological Contributions to the Decade of the Brain: Doctrine of Multilevel Analysis. American Psychologist 47 (8):1019–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo-Merino, Beatriz, Glaser, Daniel E., Grezes, Julie, Passingham, Richard E., and Haggard, Patrick. 2005. Action Observation and Acquired Motor Skills: An fMRI Study with Expert Dancers. Cerebral Cortex 15 (8):1243–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carnevale, Jessica J., Inbar, Yoel, and Lerner, Jennifer S.. 2011. Individual Differences in Need for Cognition and Decision-Making Competence Among Leaders. Personality and Individual Differences 51 (3):274–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiappe, Dan, Brown, Adam, Dow, Brian, Koontz, Jennifer, Rodriguez, Marisela, and McCulloch, Kelley. 2004. Cheaters Are Looked at Longer and Remembered Better Than Cooperators in Social Exchange Situations. Evolutionary Psychology 2:108–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chollet, Derek H., and Goldgeier, James M.. 2003. Once Burned, Twice Shy? The Pause of 1989. In Cold War Endgame: Oral History, Analysis, Debates, edited by Wohlforth, William C., 141–74. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Crowe, William J. Jr., and Chanoff, David. 2001. The Line of Fire: From Washington to the Gulf, the Politics and Battles of the New Military. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
de Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles Maurice, de Broglie, Albert, de Beaufort, Raphael Ledos, and Hall, Angus W.. 1892. Memoirs of the Prince de Talleyrand. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.Google Scholar
de Vignemont, Frederique, and Singer, Tania. 2006. The Empathic Brain: How, When and Why? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 10 (10):435–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Druckman, James N., Green, Donald P., Kuklinski, James H., and Lupia, Arthur. 2011. Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelstein, David M. 2002. Managing Uncertainty: Beliefs About Intentions and the Rise of Great Powers. Security Studies 12 (1):1–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekman, Paul. 2009. Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Ekman, Paul, and O'Sullivan, Maureen. 1991. Who Can Catch a Liar? American Psychologist 46 (9):913–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Faber, David. 2009. Munich, 1938: Appeasement and World War II. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Fearon, James D. 1994. Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes. American Political Science Review 88 (3):577–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fogassi, Leonardo, Ferrari, Pier Francesco, Gesierich, Benno, Rozzi, Stefano, Chersi, Fabian, and Rizzolatti, Giacomo. 2005. Parietal Lobe: From Action Organization to Intention Understanding. Science 308 (5722):662–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frank, Robert H. 1988. Passions Within Reason: The Strategic Role of the Emotions. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Frank, Mark G., and Ekman, Paul. 1997. The Ability to Detect Deceit Generalizes Across Different Types of High-Stake Lies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 72 (6):1429–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallese, Vittorio. 2009. Mirror Neurons, Embodied Simulation, and the Neural Basis of Social Identification. Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives 19 (5):519–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallese, Vittorio, Fadiga, Luciano, Fogassi, Leonardo, and Rizzolatti, Giacomo. 1996. Action Recognition in the Premotor Cortex. Brain 119 (2):593–609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallese, Vittorio, and Goldman, Alvin. 1998. Mirror Neurons and the Simulation Theory of Mind-Reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2 (12):493–501.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gazzola, Valeria, van der Worp, Henk, Mulder, Theo, Wicker, Bruno, Rizzolatti, Giacomo, and Keysers, Christian. 2007. Aplasics Born Without Hands Mirror the Goal of Hand Actions with Their Feet. Current Biology 17 (14):1235–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glenberg, Arthur M. 2011a. Introduction to the Mirror Neuron Forum. Perspectives on Psychological Science 6 (4):363–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glenberg, Arthur M. 2011b. Positions in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear. Perspectives on Psychological Science 6 (4):408–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldman, Alvin I. 2006. Simulating Minds: The Philosophy, Psychology, and Neuroscience of Mindreading. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grèzes, Julie, Frith, Chris, and Passingham, Richard E.. 2004. Brain Mechanisms for Inferring Deceit in the Actions of Others. Journal of Neuroscience 24 (24):5500–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gutsell, Jennifer N., and Inzlicht, Michael. 2011. Intergroup Differences in the Sharing of Emotive States: Neural Evidence of an Empathy Gap. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 7 (5):596–603.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hari, Riitta, and Kujala, Miiamaaria V.. 2009. Brain Basis of Human Social Interaction: From Concepts to Brain Imaging. Physiological Reviews 89 (2):453–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hasson, Uri, Ghazanfar, Asif A., Galantucci, Bruno, Garrod, Simon, and Keysers, Christian. 2012. Brain-to-Brain Coupling: A Mechanism for Creating and Sharing a Social World. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16 (2):114–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herrmann, Richard K., and Choi, Jong K.. 2007. From Prediction to Learning: Opening Experts' Minds to Unfolding History. International Security 31 (4):132–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, Robert. 1969. Development of an Empathy Scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 33 (3):307–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horgan, Terence, and Woodward, James. 1985. Folk Psychology Is Here to Stay. Philosophical Review 94 (2):197–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iacoboni, Marco. 2009a. Imitation, Empathy, and Mirror Neurons. Annual Review of Psychology 60:653–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iacoboni, Marco. 2009b. Mirroring People: The Science of Empathy and How We Connect with Others. New York: Picador.Google Scholar
International History Review. 1994. Symposium on Paul W. Schroeder. 16 (4):663–862.Google Scholar
Jay, Martin. 2010. The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
Jönsson, Christer, and Hall, Martin. 2005. Essence of Diplomacy. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keysers, Christian, and Gazzola, Valeria. 2007. Integrating Simulation and Theory of Mind: From Self to Social Cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11 (5):194–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kydd, Andrew H. 2005. Trust and Mistrust in International Relations. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langleben, Daniel D., Willard, Dan F.X., and Moriarty, Jane C.. 2012. Brain Imaging of Deception. In Neuroimaging in Forensic Psychiatry: From the Clinic to the Courtroom, edited by Simpson, Joseph R., 217–36. Chichester, UK: Wiley.Google Scholar
Levendusky, Matthew S., and Horowitz, Michael C.. 2012. When Backing Down Is the Right Decision: Partisanship, New Information, and Audience Costs. Journal of Politics 74 (2):323–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindley, Dan. 2003. Avoiding Tragedy in Power Politics. Security Studies 13 (2):195–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindley, Dan. 2007. Promoting Peace with Information: Transparency as a Tool of Security Regimes. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermott, Rose. 2009. Mutual Interests: The Case of Increasing Dialogue Between Political Science and Neuroscience. Political Research Quarterly 62 (3):571–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mearsheimer, John J. 2011. Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Meyer, John W., and Rowan, Brian. 1977. Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony. American Journal of Sociology 83 (2):340–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitzen, Jennifer. 2013. Power in Concert: The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Global Governance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitzen, Jennifer, and Schweller, Randall L.. 2011. Knowing the Unknown Unknowns: Misplaced Certainty and the Onset of War. Security Studies 20 (1):2–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molnar-Szakacs, Istvan, Wu, Allan D., Robles, Francisco J., and Iacoboni, Marco. 2007. Do You See What I Mean? Corticospinal Excitability During Observation of Culture-Specific Gestures. PLoS ONE 2 (7):e626. Available at ⟨http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0000626⟩. Accessed 11 January 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mondak, Jeffery J. 2010. Personality and the Foundations of Political Behavior. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orme-Johnson, David W., Alexander, Charles N., Davies, John L., Chandler, Howard M., and Larimore, Wallace E.. 1988. International Peace Project in the Middle East: The Effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. Journal of Conflict Resolution 32 (4):776–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palazhchenko, Pavel. 1997. My Years with Gorbachev and Shevardnadze: The Memoir of a Soviet Interpreter. University Park: Pennsylvania State University.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, Thomas F., and Tropp, Linda R.. 2011. When Groups Meet: The Dynamics of Intergroup Contact. New York: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 2001. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Rathbun, Brian C. 2007. Uncertain About Uncertainty: Understanding the Multiple Meanings of a Crucial Concept in International Relations Theory. International Studies Quarterly 51 (3):533–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rathbun, Brian C. 2011. Trust in International Cooperation: International Security Institutions, Domestic Politics and American Multilateralism. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redcay, Elizabeth, Dodell-Feder, David, Pearrow, Mark J., Mavros, Penelope L., Kleiner, Mario, Gabrieli, John D.E., and Saxe, Rebecca. 2010. Live Face-to-Face Interaction During fMRI: A New Tool for Social Cognitive Neuroscience. NeuroImage 50 (4):1639–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rendall, Matthew. 2007. A Qualified Success for Collective Security: The Concert of Europe and the Belgian Crisis, 1831. Diplomacy and Statecraft 18 (2):271–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renshon, Jonathan. 2009. When Public Statements Reveal Private Beliefs: Assessing Operational Codes at a Distance. Political Psychology 30 (4):649–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rizzolatti, Giacomo, and Craighero, Laila. 2004. The Mirror-Neuron System. Annual Review of Neuroscience 27:169–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rizzolatti, Giacomo, Fabbri-Destro, Maddalena, and Cattaneo, Luigi. 2009. Mirror Neurons and their Clinical Relevance. Nature Clinical Practice Neurology 5 (1):24–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rizzolatti, Giacomo, Fogassi, Leonardo, and Gallese, Vittorio. 2006. Mirrors in the Mind. Scientific American 295 (5):54–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, Dennis. 2008. Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Google Scholar
Schroeder, Paul W. 1996. The Transformation of European Politics, 1763–1848. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schulte-Rüther, Martin, Markowitsch, Hans J., Fink, Gereon R., and Piefke, Martina. 2007. Mirror Neuron and Theory of Mind Mechanisms Involved in Face-to-Face Interactions: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Approach to Empathy. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 19 (8):1354–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schultz, Kenneth A. 2001. Democracy and Coercive Diplomacy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Self, Robert. 2006. Neville Chamberlain: A Biography. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Self, Robert, ed. 2005. The Neville Chamberlain Diary Letters. Vol. 4, The Downing Street Years, 1934–1940. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Sharp, Paul. 2009. Diplomatic Theory of International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shumaker, David. 1995. Gorbachev and the German Question: Soviet-West German Relations, 1985–1990. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.Google Scholar
Snyder, Jack, and Borghard, Erica D.. 2011. The Cost of Empty Threats: A Penny, Not a Pound. American Political Science Review 105 (3):437–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storper, Michael, and Venables, Anthony J.. 2004. Buzz: Face-to-Face Contact and the Urban Economy. Journal of Economic Geography 4 (4):351–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tetlock, Philip E. 1998. Social Psychology and World Politics. In Handbook of Social Psychology. 4th ed. Vol. 2, edited by Gilbert, Daniel T., Fiske, Susan T., and Lindzey, Gardner, 868–912. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Tingley, D. 2006. Neurological Imaging as Evidence in Political Science: A Review, Critique, and Guiding Assessment. Social Science Information 45 (1):5–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vrij, Aldert, Akehurst, Lucy, Soukara, Stavroula, and Bull, Ray. 2004. Detecting Deceit via Analyses of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior in Children and Adults. Human Communication Research 30 (1):8–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, Hutton. 1921. World History. New York: D.C. Heath.Google Scholar
Webster, Charles K. 1931. The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh: Britain and the Reconstruction of Europe. 2 vols.London: G. Bell and Sons.Google Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wohlforth, William C. 2003. Cold War Endgame: Oral History, Analysis, Debates. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Xu, Xiaojing, Zuo, Xiangyu, Wang, Xiaoying, and Han, Shihui. 2009. Do You Feel My Pain? Racial Group Membership Modulates Empathic Neural Responses. Journal of Neuroscience 29 (26):8525–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio, Tanida, Shigehito, Mashima, Rie, Shimoma, Eri, and Kanazawa, Satoshi. 2003. You Can Judge a Book by Its Cover: Evidence That Cheaters May Look Different from Cooperators. Evolution and Human Behavior 24 (4):290–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zelikow, Philip, and Rice, Condoleezza. 1995. Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Zubok, Vladislav. 2002. Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War: Perspectives on History and Personality. Cold War History 2 (2):61–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar