Final answer:
In international politics, a state determines its actions against an adversary through substeps that include predicting potential responses, identifying strategic objectives, assessing capabilities, evaluating alliances, and considering alternative pathways such as diplomacy or military force.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the realm of international relations and politics, the process a state or adversary uses to determine its actions involves several critical substeps. These five substeps are essential for understanding how states interact with one another on the global stage:
- Predicting potential responses requires analyzing how adversaries might react to the state's own actions, akin to predicting moves in chess, albeit with imperfect information.
- Identifying strategic objectives involves understanding what the adversary aims to achieve in the long term, which guides their short-term actions and strategies.
- Assessing adversary capabilities allows a state to evaluate their opponent's actual strength and potential to carry out their strategies.
- Evaluating potential alliances helps a state consider how it can align with others to strengthen its position against an adversary or to promote a common cause.
- Finally, considering alternative pathways such as diplomacy, economic measures, or military force to achieve desired outcomes reflects the reality that states may opt for cooperation and stable institutional solutions over overt force.
These steps are dynamic and may evolve as the situation changes and new information comes to light, particularly in response to the actions of other international actors.