GO131 Final

International Relations defintion

Relations among sovereign communities in the context of anarchy

Social Science defintion

the subject is not agreed upon, facts are dependent on the observer, theoretical plurality is not progression

Types of Theory purpose

ExplanatoryInterpretivenormative/moral

Theory Judgement criteria

Explanatory powerScopeParsimony (simplicity/elegance)ConsistencyCritical reflexivity: admission of social science/bias in perspective

No separate peace clause definition

if one alliance member is at war all are at war

5 super empires

Great BritanFranceAustria/HungaryGermanyRussia

Liberal Internationalism definition

ideas derived from the belief that solving war is possible

Harmony of interests defintion

the idea that everyone wants peace (foundation of liberal internationalism)

Cause of domestic war

lack of democracy

cause of international war

anarchy

solution of domestic war

democratization

solution of international war

international policing

Wilson's 14 Points

Woodrow Wilson's plan for post-war peace: no secret treaties

freedom of the seas

removal of economic barriers

reduction of arms

adjust colonial claims

Strands of Liberal Internationalism

commercial, welfare, hobbesian

main realist thinkers

E.H Carr, Hans Morgenthau, Reinhold Niebuhr

Carr main points

Neglect of power in liberal internationlismPurpose of liberal internationalism overshadows analysisLiberal internationalism created by Haves to keep down have notsAccommodate have nots for peaceful changeHarmony of interest does not existHuman exisistence = conflict

Morgenthau main points

Politics is driven by objective laws rooted in human nature (politics has rational patterns)National interest defined in terms of powerRealism manifests in different waysUniversal moral principles dont guide state actionsNational morality is not universal moralityInternational politics is a separate sector

Niebuhr main points

perfection/dirability not possible with man (men are not gods)Salvation is utopian (liberal internationalism is utopian)Dual conception of man: God like attributes animal creatures

Similarities of realist thinkers

Suspicion of universal political/moral ideasSkepticism about eliminating warSovereign state is main actorPursuit of power is key motivationEthical agenda: mitigate conflict using power

differences of realist thinkers

What Drives Conflict:Carr: infinite needs finite worldNeibuhr: ignorant of ignoranceMorgenthau: will to dominateRealism - what is itCarr: social science/ideology - not agreedNeibuhr: theology based in religionMorgenthau: science (laws)

3 images of Waltz

human nature, domestic order, international system

Waltz good theory

simplify, explain cause and effect, parsonimony, good IR explains war

Waltz justification of international system cause of war

Structure is anarchyNo function difference of unitsStates pursue and keep powerUnits differ in capability

power defintion

capability, relation, structure

balance of power

Capability influences relations (not always correct)

Democratic Peace Theory

Idea that democracies tend not to fight wars against one another and that the spread of democratic government can be the antidote to war in the international system

Democratic Peace Theory theorists

Micheal Doyle, Immanuel Kant

Complex Interdependence

A model of world politics based on the assumptions that states are not the only important actors, security is not the dominant national goal, and military force is not the only significant instrument of foreign policy --> stresses soft power as a major component of IR power

Complex Interdependence theorists

Joseph Nye, Robert Keohane

Neoliberal Institutionalism

a reinterpretation of liberalism even in an anarchic international system, states will cooperate because of their continuous interactions with each other and because it is in their self-interest to do so (driven by absolute gains not relative gains)

Neoliberal Institutionalism theorists

Robert Keohane, Joseph Nye

Critical International Theory

Umbrella term asserting that theory is for some purpose

5 main points of CIT

1. Historical: IR is dynamic and evolves based on history2. Voluntaristic: humans have free will with which to create or change anarchy/history3. Emancipitory: humans can separate from things that don't work4. anti-foundationalist: denial of shared human knowledge (meaning of things are unique to each human)5. theory is a practice influenced and has influence

CIT theorists

Lin Klater, Robert Cox, Richard Devetak, E.H. Carr

Feminism (CIT)

traditional theory is for men by men sustaining patriarchy(gender is not a factor in IR)

Strands fo Feminist IR

1. liberal: goal is inclusion/equality2. standpoint: invert domination of IR3. post modern: denies that any theory can speak on behalf of all women

Feminism theorists

J. Ann Tickner, Cythia Enole

Post Modernism (CIT)

rejection of theoretical revolution instead looking to deconstruct theories through promotion of pluralism using power

Post Modernism (CIT) main ideas

1. perspectivism: all knowledge is perspective 2. anti-essentialism: no fundamental truths3. textuality: reality conceptualized in symbolic language4. knowledge power nexus: power determines historical knowledge

Post Modernism theorists

Richard K. Ashley, R.B.J Walker

Post modernism in conversation with

neo-realist and neo-liberal (challenges scientific nature of IR)

Dependency Theory (struturalist)

A structuralist theory that offers a critique of the modernization model of development. Based on the idea that certain types of political and economic relations (especially colonialism) between countries and regions of the world have created arrangements that both control and limit the extent to which regions can develop.

Constructivism

A movement in IR theory that emphasizes the dynamic nature of Ir relationships (system level) as well as the construction of the nation through post-religion-emphasized world. (unit level)

Randomness contingency

how nations explain why bad things happen to good people: shared nation burden of bad things to good people

fatality contingency

how nations explain why people die: individuals die but the nation survives therefore individuals live in the collective memory

Constructivism thoerists

Alexander Wendt, Benedict Anderson (unit)

Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

End of the Cold War

Marked by the fall of the communist nations (1989) Soviet Union (1991) which was the result of Eastern European countries gaining independence (Brezhnev doctrine), economic and political struggle in the USSR, and grassroots/US pressures and competitions

Official end of the Cold War

Soviet Union dissolves in December 1991