International Politics Midterm 2

cuz we gotta have two of them apparently

Lima 2012

Discussing the Cuban Missle Crisis from the Cuban perspective

The constant fear that something is going to blow up

Soviet troops entering Cuba, under Castro’s letter to Khruschev

The US U2 plane capturing missiles

Kennedy announcing a quarantine around Cuba AKA a blockade

Cubans prepeared to fight after Bay of Pigs failure

Fear Amercians might stop the Cuban revolutionary government

Allison 1969

Allison, a political scientist, tried to explain three models for the Cuban Missile Crisis; offers three explanations:

1. “Rational Actor" Model AKA structural realism — US and USSR reacting to the weapon imbalance in favor of the United States = an objective threat means fixed state response → the blockade was the only rational option to Kennedy and advisors (ExComm)

2. "Organizational Process" Model AKA domestic politics — existing governmental bureaucracy places limits on a nation's actions, and often dictates the outcome, each organization follow set "repertoires" and procedures when taking actions, Kennedy and ExComm just considered blockade due to strong navy

3. "Bureaucratic Politics" Model AKA domestic politics — “Where you stand depends on where you sit.” your job determines your external stance from select options; Policies are the product of conflict between organizations → unintended results from compromise

Krasner 1972

Is CRITIQUING Allison, construcivist viewpoint

puts the blame on Kennedy and leadership, that the “rational” choice is a subjective view he held of Cuba

That SLIPPAGE of policy decision doesn’t apply

That the president plays a role in who even is at the table in the first place

points out that ExComm members contradicted their position — CONTRADICTING HOW YOU STAND DEPENDS …

Believes Allison’s view is dangerous for obscuring presiden’ts power and releiving high officials of responsibily → most against bureacratic model = not neccesity, president’s choice

Brooks and Wohlforth 2007

Debating historian explanation of the fall of Soviet Russia

Believe that Gorbachev was more a victim of the real economic pressure of Soviet Russia having to cut previous intervention

There is either no debate or they are a complimentary argument

Their explanation is more to explain several decisions broadly — explaining the shift in Soviet Russia’s internal politics because it could not economically maintain the Communist block

Keck and Sikkink 1998

Transnational advocacy networks and how they can fit into a global society

How they facilitate and create new norms — norm implementation, goal to change state behavior by applying international pressure to target actors and domestic issues

TANs consist of individuals and NGOs acting in pursuit of a normative objective, including human rights, the environment, economic and social justice, democracy, women’s rights

are networks of activists, who are motivated by principled ideas or values and seek to build new links among actors in civil societies, states, and international organizations

Boomerang effect — connect with activists overseas to apply presure to government from the outside when they would otherwise be blocked

Information sharing

Persuasion and socialization of norms (the norms life cycle):

(i) agenda-setting by political entrepreneurs;

(ii) tipping point and “norms cascade”;

(iii) internalization

Putting pressure on states (for policy change) – directly or indirectly

* The boomerang model

Western and Goldstein 2011

Discussing internvention in the past and its flaws, the fraught relationship between wanting to intervene and the actual impact

The Arab spring and the intervention in Libya, Somalia and famine assitance and civil war, Bosnia and Balkan Civil Wars

Nonintervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states is a basic norm of international law — fear of breaching soverignty

Lessons show:

• Early intervention can protect lives.

• Diplomacy has to be backed up by military power.

• Intervening governments must plan for domestic opposition.

• A broad coalition of international, regional, and local actors can legitimate the work of intervention and post-intervention transitions.

Siripurapu and Berman 2024

Chinese-US relationship and the WTO — CHINA SHOCK

History of U.S.-China trade relations

Mutual gains and existing tensions

U.S. policy responses to China’s rise

The future of the WTO and the global trading system

Cheap Chinese labor created cheaper products and US consumers got cheap goods, China became a major exporter and job market

Created fears of national security and currency manipulation

Tension within the WTO — US doesn’t have patience for China, thinks WTO not doing enough

Froman 2025

Discusses more on WTO, US and China

WTO is crumbling: No longer a negotiation forum, as a monitoring body, nor as a dispute settlement organization

China shock — Domestic sectors negatively impacted from accelerated speed of Imports from China — creating political polarization and concern of technology being taken.

Protectionsim with US tarrifs on Chinese imports, could spin out and raise barriers for trade

Paletta 2018

Andean Trade Preference Act and impact on rose growers in Colombia and US

Previously relied on drug cartels, US created agreement to make more legitimate revenue source for Colombia and cheaper roses in US

hated by unions but has created other jobs in other industires and lowered tarrifs for certain US crops

shows globalization of trade

Hiscox 2008

Asking why some governments support free trade while others don’t, policy preferences

Each government starts with their own amount of factors of production, and will react accordingly —> either favoring trade or protectionism (if trade decreases demand for scarce factors)

Immigration and foreign investment also play a role

Political institutions affect policy outcomes by defining who gets to vote, how political representatives are elected, and how policy making takes place in legislatures

Qureshi 2023

Income and wealth inequality is elevated. In the absence of policies to counter recent trends, inequality could rise to still higher levels

Globalization has been a force in recent decades for reducing inequality between economies by expanding export opportunities for emerging economies and spurring their economic growth

Absent more responsive policies to combat inequality, the current high levels of inequality are likely to persist or even rise further

Inequality among countries vs. inequalitywithin economies

Income inequality or wealth inequality (capital income and inheritance)

Income inequality or quality of life (life expectancy, education, health care, etc.)

income inequality is mixed — stable in places with already high levels of it, while wealth inequality is on the rise, leading to more income inequality

within economies there is rising inequality, but between countries is lowering contributing to global inequality

erosion of the middle class and a decline in intergenerational mobility

Globalization (international trade, offshoring) also has contributed to rising inequality within economies

Ero 2024

Issues with label of “global south”

Argues the label of “global south'“ is a vague term that simplifies the unique self interests of complex nations

that it is misleading and applies a double standard

how country from BRICS fight to become the leader of the Global South

Ingram 2024

(might not be on exam)

Cuban Missile Crisis — Realism

The U.S. and the Soviet Union responded rationally to the strategic situation.

Optimal, middle course was chosen out of available options to ExCom.

Soviet action was based on a calculated need to overcome U.S. strategic superiority.

Cuban Missile Crisis — Constructivism

Critiques the assertion of an “objective threat”

[Objective threat => Fixed state response]

Construction of the Cuban enemy

Role of language

Cuban Missile Crisis — Domestic Politics

Rejects the notion that there is a fixed “rational” outcome — CRITIQUE OF REALISM

Examines patterns of the decision-making process within the state.

[Objective threat => Fixed state response]

Bureaucratic Politics Model

No organization or individual has preponderant power.

Where you stand depends on where you sit.

Policies are the product of conflict between organizations.

Established “action channels” help shape outcomes.

Slippage occurs between policy decisions and implementation

Criticism of BPM

Does your stance really depend on where you sit?

- Krasner’s critique of Allison

- everyday decisions vs. crisis situations

No top dog?

- The president as first among equals

Vague and difficult to apply

- Selective use of evidence

Key debate of the ending of the Cold War — Modified Realism

The unexpected breakdown of bipolar stability

Domestic economic failures in the Soviet Union and American arms buildup contributed to a change in the relative balance of power between the two superpowers, which upset the stability of the international system.

=> But why did perceptions change so dramatically? Realists cannot capture the timing or rapid acceleration of change in the late 1980s.

Another variant of realism argues that it is the perceived (rather than actual) balance of power that matters the most. While the Soviet Union had gradually been on the decline since the 1970s, its leaders only began to feel the impact in the mid-1980s.

=> But realist explanations still do not tell us how the Soviet Union collapsed the way it did – voluntarily and peacefully.

Gorbachev

Soviet and Russian politician who was the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until the country's dissolution in 1991

Routinization of Cold War

- The West stands aloof as the Prague Spring is crushed in 1968.

  - The Helsinki accord and “peaceful   coexistence” further routinize the Cold War.

  - Arms negotiations (SALT talks) and détente   begin in the early 1970s.

Perestroika

Russian for "restructuring”

reforms and overhaul of system → decrtrailzed economy

Glasnost

Russian for “openness”

free speech

all to catch up with US

collapse of Soviet Union

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan — too long and a failure

Gorbachev’s introduction of perestoika and glasnost

In 1990-91, the upheaval in Eastern Europe spreads to the different nationalities within the USSR.

Berlin Wall collapse in 1989

The perestroika-induced economic reforms are unsuccessful, and glasnost allows publics to voice their dissatisfaction and revolt against the central government.

Gorbachev survives a KGB-led coup in August 1991 but is forced to step down in December when the Soviet Union disintegrates into the Confederation of Independent States

Key debate of the ending of the Cold War — Liberalism

Détente and the Helsinki Accords (1975) allowed regularized contact among not only leaders but policy elites and nongovernmental organizations, which opened up domestic institutions and created transnational coalitions.

The Information Revolution and technological innovation created new positive economic incentives for change in Soviet policies.

Key debate of the ending of the Cold War — Constructivism

Diffusion of international norms and Gorbachev’s “New Thinking”

- formulation of new ideas in foreign policy

- newfound identification with a “common European home”

- Gorbachev is persuaded by Western officials to accept a reunified Germany in NATO

Key debate of the ending of the Cold War — Domestic politics

Gorbachev’s successful maneuvering over domestic “hawks”

Intensification of legitimacy crises of socialist governments in Eastern European countries

- Influence of Western culture

NGOs

non-governmental organization (NGO) is an entity that is not part of the government

IGOs

Intergovernmental Organization

TANs

Transnational Advocacy Networks

are networks of activists, who are motivated by principled ideas or values and seek to build new links among actors in civil societies, states, and international organizations

Functions of International Institutions

Peace and security

Economic and social development

International law and human rights

Boomerang model

Putting pressure on states (for policy change) – directly or indirectly

International Intervention + Impacts

Nonintervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states is a basic norm of international law.

Principles of sovereignty and nonintervention also provide order to the anarchic international system.

Article 2 (7) and Article 51 of the UN Charter stipulate the domestic jurisdiction and the right of national self-defense of governments

International Political Economy

International political economy (IPE) = IR + PE

Political economy is the juxtaposition of states and markets.

Markets – efficiency

States – distribution of power and values

IPE brings in the condition of anarchy and multiple sovereign-states with their own “values.”

Global Economic System - Liberalism

Mutual gains through specialization based on comparative advantage

Interdependence dampens incentives for conflict

Economic exchanges mediated by rules and institutions

Global Economic System - Statism/Realism

Economic ties among states almost always involve power relations.

Composition: what I trade

Protectionism: how much I trade

Discrimination: with whom I trade

Consequence of anarchy: Economic goals are important as long as they do not undermine security objectives

Exceptions to free trade

National security restrictions in military and dual-use technology

Protection of infant industries

Strategic trade theory

Hegemonic Stability Theory

The hegemon provides collective goods (indivisibility and nonrivalrous consumption) that maintain the stability of the global economic system.

  e.g. security, markets, common currency, and loans

  - The hegemon bribes “free riders” driven by parochial interests by offering security assistance or foreign aid.

Global Economic System - Marxism

Domestic class conflict

- winners and losers within societies

International conflict

- “law of uneven growth” among capitalist states

- exploitation of poorer countries by the rich (dependency theory)

Andean Trade Preference Act

U.S. growers cannot compete with cheap imports.

Some exit the industry, while others focus on higher-end flowers with larger profit margins.

New jobs are created in Florida and elsewhere.

American consumers benefit from year-round affordable prices

The evidence seems to indicate that the Andean Trade Preference Act (1991) contributed to the stemming of inflows of Colombian drugs in the United States.

Benefits of free trade

Economists are unanimous in concluding that international trade benefits all economies involved. Reducing trade barriers is good for a nation’s economy.

Specialization increases productivity, fueling economic growth. Example: Adam Smith’s 200 vs. 48,000 pins.

The law of comparative advantage implies that a nation gains most by specializing in producing and exporting what it produces most efficiently

Heckscher-Ohlin model

Countries differ in their supply of land, labor, and capital. These factor endowments determine national comparative advantage and, in turn, determine what countries produce and export.

Countries export goods that make intensive use of the resources a country has in abundance and imports goods that make intensive use of the resources in which the country is scarce

Protectionsim

While trade is beneficial in the aggregate, it can harm the interests of individuals and groups within a given country. Trade creates winners and losers.

Domestic industries protected by trade barriers receive clear and concentrated benefits. On the other hand, consumers and exporters may suffer the costs of protection

•Examples of trade barriers:

–Import tariffs

–Export bans

–Countervailing duties

–Emergency safeguards

To prevent protectionism

Domestic policy packages (including large government spending programs, central bank interventions, and flexible exchange rates)

Early global coordination toward the rejection and prevention of competitive protectionism

Preserving rules-based trade and the dispute settlement mechanism

Stolper-Samuelson theorem

Trade benefits those who own well-endowed factors of production (e.g., Australian and Canadian landowners; American and Japanese firms).

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE

Ricardo-Viner model

Workers and owners in the same industry (e.g., owners and employees in U.S. steel or textile industries) band together to lobby for protective import barriers

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE

Political insittutions for global trade

Organization of interests

Collective action problem and strong protectionist voice

Elections and representation

National electoral system

Political parties and partisanship

Bureaucratic agencies

“Captured” departments

Independent central bank

The Battle of Seattle (1999)

Demonstrations against WTO conference and its free trade agenda

- Tensions between rich and poor countries on key issues, such as anti-dumping and labor or environmental standards

Dumping: overruning economy with cheaper alternatives

The Global South

About 20~40% of the world’s population lives in conditions of poverty.

the Global South broadly comprises Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (excluding Israel, Japan, South Korea), and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand).[2] Most of the Global South's countries are commonly identified as lacking in their standard of living, which includes having lower incomes, high levels of poverty, high population growth rates, inadequate housing, limited educational opportunities, and deficient health systems, among other issues

East Asian “miracles”

export-led industrialization

East Asian bureaucracies could discipline capital and execute long-term industrial policy

High state autonomy and strategic intervention

Latin America “lost decade”

import-substitution industrialization —replaces foreign imports with domestic production to build self-sufficiency

Explanations of least developed countries

The legacy of colonialism

Declining terms of trade (structural dependency)

- primary products vs. manufacturing

MNCs and exploitation of labor

Power disparity in international institutions

- resistance to agricultural trade liberalization

- the “Washington consensus” and recommendations of structural

adjustment

Global inequality — Realist perspective

Depedent on a hegemon and hiarchy is required for development

Global inequality — Liberalist

liberals debate whether gloabilzation is the cause or solution to economic gap

Global inequality — Critical theory

Colonialism

Issues with measuring global inequality

Inequality among countries vs. inequality within economies

Income inequality or wealth inequality (capital income and inheritance)

Income inequality or quality of life (life expectancy, education, health care, etc.)

China shock

Domestic sectors negatively were impacted due to the accerlated speed of imports from China’s low wage work forc. The loss of manufactoring jobs created political polarization and a concern of the same happening agains with green technology. especially with China artificallykeeping their currency’s value low through the WTO and taking advantage of western technology. has created tension within the wto system itself, wto is not properly addressing china

“Where you stand depends on where you sit”

One's position in an organization dictates one's stance on an issue

Bretton Woods System

Fixed exchange rates and the dollar/gold standard

Institutionalization of multilateral trade and capital controls (GATT/WTO, IMF, World Bank)

* Most favored nation (MFN) principle

Golden age of capitalism