Surprise in Diplomacy

Research on the subject of surprise has thus far been limited to its use in war. Current literature on military surprise thoroughly explores topics such as the optimal use of surprise in tactical and strategic planning; methods of anticipating surprise; and the frequent occurrence of intelligence failures despite strong evidence of an imminent attack. The development of the theory of military surprise has, however, reached the point of diminishing returns.1 At this stage, the study of surprise should expand in new directions.KeywordsForeign PolicyNational SecurityWestern DemocracyDiplomatic RelationArab StateThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.