SIGNORINO, Curtis S <br/><br/>
Strategic interaction and the statistical analysis of international conflict 

 - New York, NY :  Cambridge University Press,  June 1999 
<br/><br/> Historians from Thucydides (1972) to Taylor (1954) to Kissinger (1994) and Kagan (1995) all detail the machinations of state leaders trying to achieve their foreign policy goals through sometimes peaceful but often violent means. Not surprisingly, most international relations theories - especially those of international conflict - assume that states behave strategically. One might go so far as to say that strategic interaction is the defining characteristic of international relations.