Exam #3 International Relations

Topic 6-9

International War

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A military conflict waged between (or among) national entities, at least one of which is a state, that results in at least 1,000 battle deaths of military personnel within a twelve-month period

Interstate War

Wars between states

Intrastate War

Wars that take place within a state (civil wars)

Correlates of War (COW)

The main goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of international conflict. To achieve this, the project collects and analyzes data on a range of variables related to international conflict and cooperation, such as military expenditures, alliances, territorial disputes, and international organizations.

General War

War to conquer and occupy enemy territory (total war, full-scale war)

Limited War

War fought for other purposes

Terrorism

Scholars disagree on a universal definition:


1. Political in nature or intent
2. Perpetrators are nonstate actors
3. Targets are non-combatants, such as ordinary citizens, political figures, or bureaucrats

Jus in Bello

Deals with the question of what acts are considered legal and illegal when fighting the war

Jus ad Bellum

Deals with the question of when it is legal to go to war

Just War Theory

The idea that wars must be judged according to two categories of justice (Michael Walzer)

Jus ad Bellum Exceptions

* There must be a just cause


* The leaders need to have the correct intentions


* They need to have exhausted all other possibilities for ending the abuse

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Article 51

•“…the inherent right of **individual or collective self-defense** if an armed attack occurs…”

Article 42

”\[UN Security Council\] may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security…”

R2P (Responsibility to Protect)

Sovereign states have the primary responsibility to protect its citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity

Noncombatant Immunity

A core principle of international humanitarian law that holds that people not bearing arms in a conflict may not be deliberately targeted or systematically harmed; this category includes unarmed civilians, soldiers who have surrendered, and soldiers who are too severely injured to defend themselves

The Genocide Convention (1948)

“…acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group…”

Manifestly Failing (R2P)

**On a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate**.

Liberal Approaches to Managing Insecurity

* Collective security (UN)
* Arms control

Realist Approaches to Managing Insecurity

* Balance of power (global hegemony)
* Deterrence (arms control)

Arms Control

Regulating arms research, manufacturing, deployment, and proliferation of weapons systems

Disarmament

Reducing the number of arms and the types of weapons employed by a state

Deterrence

The threat to use force in order to prevent an adversary  from taking an action that it otherwise would take

General Deterrence

One nation tries to prevent another nation from attempting to alter the status quo

General Deterrence (Failure)

When the challenger couples a demand for change in the status quo with the threat or initiation of military action

* Marks the beginning of an international crisis

Immediate Deterrence

One nation tries to prevent another nation from attacking by issuing threat to retaliate

Immediate Deterrence (Failure)

* Always arises from the failure of the general deterrence.
* Fails when the challenger does attack
* Escalation from crisis to war

Credible Deterrence

The deterree believes that the deterrer has

* The capability to inflict a punishment that exceeds the gain from making threat, and
* The willingness to inflict such a punishment

Willingness and Capability

Two conditions of credible deterrence

Massive Retaliation

Any act of aggression by the Soviet Union would prompt a response by U.S. of proportions that would destroy Soviet civilization

Flexible Response

Force applied in proportion to level of force used by the attacker

Realism (Cooperation)

Cooperation is not possible because of

* Relative gains
* The problem of cheating (prisoner’s dilemma)

Relative Gains

States can be hesitant to cooperate when one side reaps larger benefits of cooperation

Cheating

Cooperative/nice behaviors can be taken advantage of

Prisoner’s Dilemma

A theoretical game in which rational players (states or individuals) choose options that lead to outcomes (payoffs) such that all players are worse off than under a different set of choices

Neo-liberalism (Cooperation)

Selfish states can cooperate in an anarchic world

Liberal (Cooperation)

* Democracy facilitates cooperation
* Economic interdependence facilitates cooperation
* International organizations/treaties reduce transaction costs
* International organizations/treaties make states’ commitments more credible

International Law

Consists of a body of rules and norms regulating interactions among states, between states and IGOs, and, in more limited cases, among IGOs, states, and individuals

Economic Interdependence

States mutually rely on one another for goods and/or economic gain

Customs

Either a hegemon or a group of states solves a problem in a particular way; these habits become ingrained as more states follow the same custom, and eventually, the body codifies the custom into law

Treaties

Explicitly written agreements among states that lay out rights and obligations (MOST SIGNIFICANT)

Customs and Treaties

Sources of International Law

Vertical Enforcement

A legal process whereby one actor works to constrain the actions of another actor over which it has authority in order to secure its compliance with the law

Top-down

* ICJ and ICC
* Vertical enforcement

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Primary judicial organ of the UN that settles legal disputes submitted to it by member states and gives advisory opinions on legal questions to the UN General Assembly

ICJ Weaknesses

* Hears very few cases


* Rarely deal with the major controversies of the day
* Only states may initiate proceedings

International Criminal Court (ICC)

* 2002, the Rome Statute
* Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression
* committed after 7/01/2002

Universal Jurisdiction

States may claim jurisdiction if an individual’s conduct is sufficiently heinous to violate the laws of all states

Bottom-Up

Universal Jurisdiction

Horizontal Enforcement

A process whereby states work to elicit compliance with international law by other states

* Power (realism)
* Reciprocity (neo-liberal institutionalism)

Self-interest

States compliance with international law is compatible with their national interests

Normative and ethical reasons (liberalism and constructivism)

* It is the right thing to do
* International law reflects universal ethics
* States desire to be seen as legitimate

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

* Establishment of maritime zones around state borders


* Functional issues such as fishing and management of mineral resources

UNCLOS (Signatories)

167 countries and the EU

Territorial Waters

States have sovereignty over these waters and natural resources

* 12 nautical miles

Exclusive economic zone

All natural resources

* 200 nautical miles

Statism

Economic version of realism

* Sovereign states as the major actors

Mercantilism

An economic theory that international commerce should increase a state’s wealth, especially gold; state power is enhanced by a favorable balance of trade

Economic Liberalism

Ideas based on Adam Smith that when individuals pursue their own self-interest, efficiency for everyone is achieved, markets function best when governments interfere the least

Invisible Hand

Minimum role of state

Balance of Trade

The value of a state’s imports relative to its exports

* Export minus import

China

Largest exporter

US

Largest importer

Trade Deficit

* Negative balance of trade
* When a state imports more than it exports

Trade Surplus

* Positive balance of trade
* When a state exports more than it imports

Non-tariff Barriers

the restrictions on international trade designed to protect the health, safety, or national security

Tariffs

The taxes on goods and services crossing borders

Absolute Advantage

A country can produce a good using less resources than another country

* Japan (Wii)
* Saudi Arabia (oil)

Adam Smith

Absolute advantage

Comparative advantage

It can be beneficial for two countries to trade even if one has absolute advantage on producing all goods

David Ricardo

Comparative advantage

Resource endowments

* Labor
* Capital
* Land

Capital

* Abundant
* Scarce

Land-Labor ratio

* High
* Low

Heckscher-Ohlin Theory

Countries will export goods that use the most intensive endowments of the state and import products that use scarce factors

Stolper-Samuelson Theorem

Protection benefits- liberation of trade hurts- owners of factors in which that society is poorly endowed as well as producers who use the scarce factors intensively

The World Trade Organization (WTO)

* A global lending agency focused on financing projects in developing countries; formally known as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, established as one of the key Bretton Woods institutions to deal with reconstruction and development after World War II
* 164 member economies

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

Founded by treaty in 1947 as the Bretton Woods institution responsible for negotiating a liberal international trade regime that included the principles of nondiscrimination in trade and most-favored-nation status; re-formed as the World Trade Organization in 1995

WTO core principles

* Market liberalism
* Nondiscrimination

Most-favored-nation (MFN) principle

Nondiscrimination in trade whereby states agree to give the same treatment to all other GATT members as they give to their best trading partner

MFN Exceptions

* Exception 1: Preferential trade arrangements (RTAs and FTAs)
* Exception 2: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): advanced states give developing countries lower tariffs

National treatment

Governments should treat domestic and foreign versions of the same product similarly once they enter the domestic market

Regional trade regimes

* The European Union (EU)
* The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, 1994, USMCA, 2018)
* The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
* ASEAN Free Trade Area

Preferential trade agreements (PTAs)

Some goods

* examples

Free trade agreements (FTAs)

All goods

* examples

Gold standard

The standard economic unit of account is fixed weight of gold

Gold standard pros

* Permanent fixed exchange rate
* The “price specie-flow mechanism”

Gold standard cons

* Not enough gold
* Domestic instability for exchange rate stability

Bretton Woods system

Goals: a stable exchange rate and domestic economic autonomy

* 1944-71

Exchange-rate flexibility

States can depreciate or appreciate its currency when facing a fundamental disequilibrium

Bretton Woods (how it works)

A fixed relationship between gold and the dollar ($35 per ounce of gold), and a commitment by the U.S. government to exchange gold for dollars at any time

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Construction of factories and investment in the facilities of natural resources of MNCs

* Financial crisis

Exchange rate determinants

* Long term
* Supply side
* Demand side

Adjustment problem

Downward rigidity in wages and prices which prevented the normal price adjustment of the gold standard price specie flow mechanism to operate

Liquidity problem

There was not enough gold to supply world liquidity (reserve) needs

Bretton Woods collapse

•1969: SDRs were created.

•1971: US suspended the convertibility of the dollar into gold.

•Fall 1971: The Smithsonian Realignment

•1973: most developed countries abandoned fixed exchange rates and floated their currencies

•1976: The Jamaica Accord

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The Bretton Woods institution originally charged with helping states deal with temporary balance-of-payments problems; now plays a broader role in assisting debtor developing states by offering loans to those who institute specific policies or structural adjustment programs

IMF Quota

Denominated in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF's unit of account

SDRs

1950-60s: Infrastructure

1970s: health, education, and housing

1980s: The Washington Consensus

1990s: Sustainable development

Sustainable development

An approach to economic that incorporates concern for development of renewable resources and the environment

The World Bank

Objective: reconstruction and development by providing low-interest loans and interest-free credit and grants