INTS Studies Test 1 Review: Historical Origins of Warfare and Violence

de jure definition of a State

a political entity recognized by other states as sovereign; a member of the United Nations

de facto definition of a State

An organization with the following properties:

• Organized ruling group (government)

• That can successfully use threat of force to compel people

• Within a well-defined territory

• To extract economic resources (taxes) used to support the ruling group

• And regulate the population it controls

• And defend its control from other groups both within its territory and outside it.

Types of Non-State Actors

terrorists, insurgents, rebels, criminal enterprises, private military companies / mercenaries, international / multilateral organizations, multinational corporations, media companies, journalists, NGOs

How do Civil Wars tend to end? Why?

Barbara Walter:

• Civil Wars overwhelmingly end in decisive military victory, rather than in negotiated settlement

  • Civil war as a zero-sum game, either control country or do not

• Negotiation requires power-sharing and oftentimes outside support (UN, NATO, or foreign country supervision/governance/forces)

How long do Civil Wars tend to last? What factor(s) increase the length of Civil Wars?

Barbara Walter

• Average length of 10 years (since 1945)

• If the conflict involves multiple factions, the war is likely to last longer.

Explain how international conflicts impacted the development of Civil War in Syria.

Iran and Russia were formerly supportive of the Assad regime

• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine directed resources away from supporting Assad’s regime

• Iran’s conflict with Israel likewise decreased their support for Assad

Russia and Iran became focused on their own international conflicts, which undermined the strength/authority of the Assad regime. Allowed rebel forces to have a more dramatic impact.

What approaches are most effective at combating terrorism / quashing terrorist groups?

Political acceptance and policing are the most effective strategies for disbanding terrorist groups.

• 43% end violence when government legitimizes concern / accepts them into political process

• 40% ended when states use policing and intelligence to unwind

• 10% achieved goals or disbanded

• 7% disbanded militarily

This evidence suggests that the War on Terror is not a largely effective tactic at reducing the violence of terrorist groups. More localized policing, rather than full-fledged military conflict is shown to be a much more effective counter-terrorism response.

What is a “Model” in International Relations?

A formal representation of variables that are believed to capture the main relationships in the situation one is studying.

Qualities of a Model:

• Variables and relationships are generalized

• Many details often omitted

Formalization can:

• Force consideration of variables taken for granted

• Ensure all sides taken into account

• Overcome assumptions/biases

What is a Case Study in International Relations?

Case studies involve more nuance and detail than a model, focusing on understanding a particular country or conflict.

Qualities of a Case Study:

• Wide range — can be a single comparison or collection of many

• Necessarily involve subjective judgments

• Tendency to take deductive reasoning from famous cases and assume lessons/application to many others

• Cultural and Historical factors taken into account

What are the developments that Steven Pinker argues have made the world more peaceful?

• The Leviathan (Development of the State)

• International commerce

• Feminization

• Expanding Circles of Sympathy

• Escalator of Reason

Pinker envisions a framework called the Pacifist’s Dilemma. He argues that these developments increase the mutual benefits of peace and the mutual negative consequences of aggression.

According to Pinker, how has The Leviathan made the world more peaceful?

The state has control over violence, which limits the desirability of aggression. Since the state has a monopoly over violence, violence cannot be haphazard. The Leviathan can also manifest in international institutions (UN, NATO) that use sanctions or rejection from the world order as meaningful dissuaders of violence.

According to Pinker, how has international commerce made the world more peaceful?

• Origins in McDonald’s Peace Theory

  • No two countries with McDonalds will wage war against each other

• Conflict will result in the loss of peaceful trade

  • Peaceful trade is mutually beneficial, conflict harms both countries’ economic ambitions

According to Pinker, how has Feminization made the world more peaceful?

• Violence largely perpetrated by men

• Role of male ego in violent conflict (glory in victory, humiliation in defeat)

• Does not necessarily have to manifest in complete transfer of power to women, but can also be move from society based on masculine ideas

• Increased women’s rights to bodily autonomy (abortion) may reduce violence

According to Pinker, what is the Expanding Circle and how has it made the world more peaceful?

• Circle of Sympathy (Empathy) is expanding

• In a more global world, we have become more sympathetic to others’ interests

  • Role of Mass media, news, internet, social media

    • As a result, we are less likely to initiate violence against them.

  • Perhaps a contrast to the “othering” that has long been a driver of violence

According to Pinker, what is the Escalator of Reason and how has it made the world more peaceful?

• Ability to reason leads to lower levels of violence

  • Rational pursuit of mutual flourishing (humanism)

  • Focus on cooperation, liberalism and democracy

What is some evidence against Pinker’s argument that violence and war are decreasing?

• Pinker’s evidence was only taken from Europe, which is not a representative sample of the entire world

• We have not experienced enough years of decreased violence to make a claim that violence is in fact decreasing. To make this claim, we would have to experience “about 150 years of uninterrupted peace for us to reject conclusively the claim that the underlying probability of systemic war remains unchanged.”

  • Contrast to claim that peace since WW2 indicates more peaceful world

  • This is Bear Braumoeller’s perspective in Only the Dead

• Measuring conflict in terms of battle deaths/year is problematic (Braumoeller)

  • Certain conflicts last longer, total death toll is higher

  • Illustrates importance of variable selection

• Paul Poast —> violence is prevalent both domestically (U.S.) and internationally (Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas, etc.)

  • War has become much more widespread

• Paul Poast —> Upssala Conflict Data Program “identified 2022 and 2023 as the most conflictual years” since 1945

• Disregards notion that resources play an important role in conflict

  • South China Sea

    • Taiwan semiconductors

    • Congo material resources

• Violence against women and girls is increasing

Why might conflict actually be on the rise?

• Great Power Distraction

• US removing itself from the international order

  • More Isolationist approach

• Failure of international institutions

• Breaking of the international order

  • Russia invasion of Crimea

  • War on Terror

• Climate Change

  • Resource competition

    • Contrast to Pinker

What are some of the difficulties in declaring trends in violence?

• Variable selection

• Chance

• Non-comparables and counterfactuals

• Missing data from earlier eras

• Scale

• Number of conflict opportunities vs. conflicts

  • Measuring rate vs. frequency

• Statistical probability and rates of war

  • “Rule” of two world wars/century

• Randomness and Clumping

  • Blip or trend

    • Too early to tell

What is Rational Choice Theory?

• Choices motivated by self-interest

  • What will provide that actor with the greatest benefit?

    • Dependent on personal beliefs and values

      • Can be difficult to understand actors who have different perspectives

• Assumes that actors are not driven by non-rational emotions

  • Limitations, as actors can often be driven by emotional responses

What is the rational model of war?

Groups engage in conflict when the perceived benefits of violence outweigh the perceived costs of fighting.

• If +1 to fight and -.5 to lose, rational decision to fight.

Conflicts can be settled if each side sees gain that exceeds their cost.

• Cost for both sides is -.5. Settlement is +.75. Rational to have a settlement, as the settlement is mutually beneficial.

How are economics related to the likelihood of Civil War?

Paul Collier

• Civil Wars occur when rebels are financially viable and can afford to fight. A government can always fund a military due to its ability to tax its population. Rebel groups need to have a significant source of income to wage civil war. Collier argues that Civil Wars are not driven by grievances, but instead by greed or desire to prey on resources / financial systems.

What are factors that can contribute to civil conflict?

• Factors are listed below:

  • Role of diasporas

    • Geographically distant from conflict

    • Wealthy diasporic populations can fund conflicts

      • Irish immigrants funding IRA

    • Foreign countries / actors can also fund conflicts

  • Geographic diversity

    • Harder for the government to maintain control, especially in distant regions

  • Commodity exports

    • Easier for rebels to prey on these exports to generate financial backing

      • “Looting”

    • Desire for control over these primary commodities

• Interestingly, ethnic diversity does not seem to indicate higher likelihood of civil war, except in the case of ethnic dominance (45-90%). Ethnic homogeneity is actually more dangerous than ethnic diversity.

What does Barbara Walter say about why (Civil) conflict begins?

• Uncertainty regarding rebel capabilities

  • The government does not know how powerful the rebel forces are until they engage with them militarily

    • Unsure about rebels’ economic backing

• Governments want to signal toughness

  • Do not want to appease a weak-group that they could have defeated

    • Need to portray strength and stability

    • Committed vs. uncommitted governments

      • Maintenance of status quo vs. willing to make concessions

• Commitment problems

  • Unsure that terms of bargain will be agreed to post-conflict

    • Factors that contribute to this:

      • Weak political and legal institutions

      • Cemented political cleavages

      • Relative gains accrue over time

        • Power changing hands over time

• Indivisibility

  • A specific territory / aim that can not involve compromise

    • China’s claims in the South China Sea

      • Wants control of all territory

What is the Irrational theory of War?

• People and groups often behave contrary to their interests. War is explained in terms of perceived threats that are often considered existential.

How has Cognitive Social Psychology contributed to understandings of conflict?

• Demonstrated human tendency to categorize, even when differences are manufactured and trivial

• Demonstrates in-group vs. out-group dynamics

  • tendency to favorably treat those perceived to be part of the “in-group”

• Comparisons affect group- and self-esteem

What is Social Identity Theory?

• Explains intergroup bias

  • People feel good when their perceived group is viewed favorably

• Helps explain response to status inequality

  • Perceived deprivation and group identity influences behavior

  • Strong group identity can influence behavior without deprivation

• Stereotyping

  • Contextually determined and more easily altered than believed

How can you change social identities/interactions to reduce bias between groups?

• De-categorization

  • Personalize contact so group identity is less relevant

  • Or finding new categories that can cut across existing tensions

• Redraw category boundaries

  • Finding common, new and larger category that includes in-group and out-group

    • “Common in-group identity”

      • Nation-state (Nationalism) dissolving ethnic conflicts

• Focus on cooperation between groups

  • Equal status interactions

  • Personal interaction

  • Supportive norms

  • Cooperative interdependence

Group bias tends to be more pro in-group rather than anti-out group. Finding ways to integrate “other” groups into a common, shared group can be an effective way to mitigate intergroup tensions.

How can Social Identity Theory be applied to ethnic conflict?

• Ethnic conflict as a product of the struggle for relative group worth

  • Inter-ethnic comparisons are natural; desire for positive group evaluation

  • Membership in group matters; similarities among members does not

  • Competition among groups leads to non-rational behavior

In-group and out-group designations are assigned to particular ethnicities, which can be a lifelong label that is difficult to change or combat.

How did Colonial Rule use ethnic categorization?

• Colonial rule strengthened ethnic variations as basis of identity

  • tension between “advanced” and “backward” groups

    • Perception as “backward” impacted group self-esteem

      • Created sense of inferiority, desire to seek preferential advantage

        • “Revenge” for past wrongs / exclusion

          • Keep up or be extinct

            • “Backward” groups more often perpetrators of violence, “advanced” groups more often victims

              • Connection to conflict perceived as existential threat

• Differential opportunities between groups based on locale, population, soil-quality; self-selection for migration, education, and employment also important

  • Stereotypical evaluation of group behavior based on opportunities

    • Hard-working vs. lazy

    • Aggressive vs. passive

    • Etc.

What are the types of evidence used in the anthropological examination of humans’ tendency for violence?

• Archaeological

• Ethnography

• Bio-archeology

• Evolutionary biology / sociobiology

Describe the archeological evidence for humans’ violent tendencies.

• Cave paintings of battles from 10,000 years ago

• Evidence of fortifications

  • Walls surrounding settlements

• Cemeteries offer clues about population size and causes of death

  • If there are a lot of males missing from cemetery, could assume that they died in violent conflict.

Describe how ethnography has shaped understandings of humans’ tendency for violence.

• Examination of societies that have little contact with the outside world

  • Perceived to be more indicative of how societies would have operated in the past.

• Certain societies display violent tendencies, but also for many war is a foreign concept

  • Foreign concept:

    • Eskimos, Semai people

  • War part of society

    • Maori (culture of warfare)

• Relies on Hobbes’ assumption of a “state of nature”

  • These societies are thought to be a part of that environment of anarchy

Describe how bio-archaeology has shaped understandings of human tendencies for violence.

• Archeological evidence that focuses on observed damage to human bodies

  • See evidence of dismemberment, beheading, throughout history

  • Also see evidence of damage from weapons to human bodies

    • Pinker argues that rate of violence was actually much higher historically than today

Describe how evolutionary biology has shaped understandings of human’s tendencies for violence.

• Humans’ closest relatives are chimpanzees

  • Chimpanzees engage in territorial conflict

    • Incredibly violent species

    • Males have a tendency to fight, similar to humans

      • Argues that there is a evolutionary pressure for men to fight, that has been reinforced through natural selection (from chimps to humans)

        • Increased resource access, increased access to potential mates

• BUT, Humans are also closely related to bonobos

  • Bonobos have very peaceful societies

    • Importantly, they are matriarchal societies, which perhaps offers more evolutionary support for connections between feminism and pacifism.

What is evidence / support against the hypothesis that humans are innately violent?

• Warfare is an invention

  • Some groups / societies do not engage in conflict

    • This is something seen in indigenous societies (Eskimo) and in relatively modern nation states (Switzerland)

  • Warfare is an outlet for “prestige-seeking” / pursuit of power

    • Other inventions could theoretically take its place

• War is not as intrinsic / ancient as we think

  • More prevalent as societies got more complex (last 6000 years)

    • Over long span of human history, relatively recent development

      • Development of states actually led to increased war

  • Many hunter-gatherer societies lacked the capability to engage in war

What does Pinker say about the inevitability / tendency for humans to go to war?

• "Violence is endemic to humans because any organism that evolved by natural selection will have something to fight about, but that doesn’t mean that they will always fight.”

  • Reasserts the role of the state (Leviathan) in pacifying the world

    • State helps to maintain peace through a variety of factors

      • Agriculture

      • Consolidation of tribes

        • Adoption into the in-group (Common group identity)

      • Centralized power creates specialized classes

      • Emerging states establish control and territorial integrity

• BUT, cites the percentage of deaths due to violent conflict rather than total number

  • Percentage higher in ancient societies, but population much higher now

    • WW2 had more deaths numerically than prehistoric conflict