| Strategy as a field of study will renew itself in the next few years if it runs true to the pattern of several centuries: now is therefore a good time to introduce theoretical studies that can enrich the field's future. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between values and strategy. On the whole, students of International Relations have paid more attention to the relationship between interest and strategy. The dissertation proposes a theory built on the hypothesis that national values influence national strategy. The research suggests that national values influence national strategy through three mechanisms: cognition, appreciation and evaluation. Each mechanism, and indeed the whole value-focused approach to strategic thinking, is described using a network of inter-related statements. This value-focused approach to the study of strategy draws on the French school of strategic thought and theories of decision-making.; The theory is tested for internal consistency before it is applied to a single historical case: French decision-making, regarding its national strategy, between 1955 and 1970. Because of its generality, the same theory could be applied to other cases. As with any theory, it is possible to vary successively or simultaneously assumptions or conditions, and derive new predictions. This process of deriving variations on a theory has the potential to help the training of strategists, especially since a number of methodological problems have been solved.; Therefore, this research could interest practitioners of strategy, strategic theorists, and students of decision-making or French foreign policy. |
