POLSCI 372 Exam 1 Definitions and Concepts

Wednesday, October 7

What are the Two Main Questions for International Security?

Two Questions? 

1. Security from what? 

2. Security from whom?

What are factors of State Security?

Territorial Integrity  Sovereignty  Political Independence Regime/ State Survival

What are factors of Human Secuirty?

Physical Safety  Food  Health  Freedom from Violence   Freedom from Repression

What is a State?

A durable political organization that claims sovereignty over a population within a territory

What is a Government?

The people and institutions currently exercising political authority

What is a Regime?

The rules governing how political power is acquired, exercised and transferred

What is a Nation?

A political or cultural community whose members imagine themselves as belonging together based on shared:

• History 

• Language 

• Culture 

• Indenity 

• Political Aspirations 

Practical Answer for Why do International Relations courses keep putting states at the center?

• States do a lot of what we are trying to explain 

  • Fight Wars 

  • Negotiate Treaties 

  • Maintain Militaries 

  • Collect Taxes 

  • Control Passports 

  • Recognize Governments 

  • Imprison People 

Analytical Answer for Why do International Relations courses keep putting states at the center?

• Sometimes we treat the state as a single actor 

• Simplification helps us identity broader patterns  

• But saying “the U.S. decided…” can hide disagreements among domestic actors 

What is Sovereignty?

Ultimate political authority within a territory and independence from outside political authorities

What are the Four Dimensions of Sovereignty?

1. Domestic Authority 

2. External Independence- how other states view you 

3. Border Control- Krasner says ineffective border control always existed 

4. Recognition- the ability to sign agreements, legal privileges with the status of a state, being able to be involved in international organizations 

What is State Capacity?

The ability of the state to actually accomplish what it tries to do 

• Can it: 

  • Collect taxes 

  • Enforce laws 

  • Administer territory 

  • Provide services 

  • Maintain infrastructure 

  • Control violence 

What are Examples of Non-State Actors?

• Armed Groups 

• Corporations 

• NGOs 

• International Organizations 

• Religious Groups- The Catholic Church 

• Advocacy Groups 

• Influential Individuals- the Pope

What is Anarchy?

No government above states that can reliably protect them or enforce agreements 

• We have international law, treaties, institutions, and courts…but if survival is threatened, no global authority guarantees rescue  

What is Power?

The ability to shape outcomes, to get other actors to do things they would otherwise not do 

• People usually think about military strength and capacity, but power is a lot more broad than this   

• Power is relational. Power is NOT absolute 

Power and security are not…..?

Equivalent  

• If having so much power results in people arming themselves against you, that does not mean you have security 

What is The Security Dilemma?

Measures one state takes to increase its security can decrease the security of others

• Fear creates more fear as a feedback look

  • I arm because I fear you -> You see this and fear me -> You arm -> Initial suspicions confirmed 

What is a Stag Hunt?

Countries may fail to cooperate even when it is their preferred outcome  

• Would hunters cooperate to catch a stag or will one abandon his position to catch a rabbit and cost the group the stage

What is Race?

Race is socially constructed; Societies assign meaning to perceived differences such as:

• Ancestry 

• Skin color 

• Ethnicity 

• Language 

• Geographic origin  

Which Questions are Related to Racial Classifications and Hierarchy?

• Racial classifications can be attached to assumptions:

  • Who is civilized? Who is violent? Who is trustworthy? 

  • A bit darker- Who can govern themselves? Who belongs? 

For international security these questions feed into how countries view sovereignty

What is Racialization?

• The process through which a population comes to be understood through supposedly inherent group characteristics 

What is Racism as an Explanatory Variable? How does race becomes relevant to security?

Set of beliefs or institutions that assign unequal status, capability, or worth to racialized groups 

• Did racial ideas affect… 

  • Who received sovereignty? 

  • Who was seen as threatening? 

  • Who seemed capable of self-government? 

  • How violence was justified? 

  • What policy options seemed legitimate? 

This is how race becomes relevant to security  

What is Imperialism? How many types of Imperialism are there and what are they?

• One political community extending control over another 

• Formal- annex and govern territory 

• Informal- dominate another state’s economic, diplomatic, or military choices 

What is Colonialism?

A more specific form of imperial rule in which an outside power governs a territory and population 

• Empire requires hierarchy

• The ruler and the ruled do not retain equal rights  

• Ideological problem?

What is a State?

• A political organization that: 

  • Governs a territory 

  • Possesses institutions 

  • Claims authority over the population

What is Ethnicity?

• A community connected through some combination of: 

  • Ancestry 

  • Language 

  • Religion 

  • Culture 

  • History 

  • Customs and Traditions

What is a Nation?

• A community with a shared identity that carries a political dimension, often connected to: 

  • Culture 

  • Language 

  • History 

  • Territory 

  • Collective Self-Determination

What is Nationalism?

• The belief that one’s nation has particular: 

  • Value 

  • Identity 

  • Political interests 

  • Claims to collective self-determination 

• When nation and state overlap= nation-state 

What are Three Ideas Behind Nationalism?

1. Nations are real and valuable  

2. Nations have ethical significance   

   1. People feel morally obligated to help others in their society such as through taxes and welfare 

3. Nations have political significance 

   1. Miller says self-determination is not the same as independence  

   2. National self determination exists in degrees  

What is Primordialism? What are Challenges to this Theory?

• National and Ethnic ties are deep and inherited 

• People are born into: 

  • Language 

  • Family 

  • Religion 

  • Culture 

  • Traditions 

  • Historical Memory 

• Challenges? 

  • This is way too simple 

  • If there are really durable and permanent identity why are their saliencies variable throughout history 

What is Constructivism?

• Identities acquire political meaning through: 

  • Education 

  • Media 

  • Maps 

  • Language Policy 

  • Military Service 

  • Institutions 

• Challenges?

  • “Imagined Communities” 

What is Instrumentalism?

• Political elites can mobilize identities to achieve political goals 

  • Winning elections 

  • Building armies 

  • Defeating rivals 

• Challenges?

  • People hold multiple identities 

  • Politics can change which identity becomes salient 

    • Political elites  

What Makes A Territory Valuable?

• Material Value 

• Strategic Value  

• Symbolic and Identity Value 

When geography becomes memory, territorial language (e.g. lost recovered) tell political stories 

What is Irredentism?

An effort to bring territory inhabited by ethnic or national kin into the state  

• But colonial borders divided many African ethnic communities, and yet most African borders survived 

• Ethnic ties matter most when the group has political weight 

• The can of worms- Most ethnic diversity can sometimes mean fewer irredentist claims 

Bad borders may sometimes be preferable to renegotiable borders

What is Material and Strategic Value?

States should be more likely to claim territory when it provides resources, advantage, power, and leverage.

• Material value matters less than we might expect in explaining where claims occur 

What is Institutions and Borders?

• Some bordaries are clear, others not 

  • “The border follows the river” 

  • “From the large tree northward to the old trading post…” 

• Claims become more plausible where” 

  • Colonial boundaries changed 

  • Demarcation is ambiguous 

  • Competing historical interpretations exist 

What is a Rationalist Actor?

• Has some goals 

• Considers the possible available actions 

• Anticipates other’s actions 

• Chooses a strategy it believes will best advance those goals 

A  bad outcome/being wrong is not irrational

What is Bargaining Theory?

asks why mutually preferable deals fail 

What is Rationalist Theory?

explains a lot, but not everything 

Why does Bargaining Fail?

1. Private information and incentives to misrepresent 

   1. Costly signal vs. cheap talk 

2. Commitment problems 

   1. Preemptive vs. preventive war 

3. Issue indivisibility 

What is the Unitary Actor Assumption?

Treats the state as if it has one set of preferences 

• Whose costs? Whose benefits? 

International conflict occurs between states 

Foreign policy is made inside states  

What is Diversionary Theory? What are Examples of Diversionary Conflict?

• Leaders facing trouble at home may seek conflict abroad 

  • Create national unity 

  • Shift attention 

  • Exploit nationalism 

  • Improve political support 

Calling Everything Diversionary is Wrong: Wars are really costly

What are Domestic Pathways to Conflict?

1. Diversion - Leaders under distress will pursue war to unite their nation and to distract from domestic issues they are failing to fix

2. Political Survival- Leaders may accept risks that are bad for the country if they improve their own chances of maintaining power and not dying

3. Domestic Institutions- Who can punish the leaders? Depending on the type of regime leaders may have very different foreign policy options 

4. Domestic Preferences- What the leader and other constituents prefer; Constraints do not always produce peace 

What steps do a Rationalist Decision Maker Make?

Preferences -> Information -> Evaluate Options -> Decision 

What Steps do a Behavior Approach Decision Maker Make?

Information -> Human Mind->  Interpretation ->  Decision 

Where Do Misperceptions Come From?

Conformation Bias- Once a belief is formed, all of the information you gain will be filtered through the conclusion that you already made

Attribution Bias- My behavior by circumstances, your intentions; hypocritical

Overconficence- Lack of knowledge can lead to overconfidence and over optimism

Analogies- “What does this remind me of?” Humans learn from history but the problem is that we choose to use very bad/ the wrong analogies for a situation;

Loss Aversion- Losing hurts more than gaining