POLI244

International Relations

the study of interactions among actors participating in international politics. key actors include states, politicians, firms, NGOs, international organizations etc.

zero-sum game

state interests are always contradictory such that when one state wins, the other loses and vice versa.

Paradigms

philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them

parsimonious theory

the optimal combination of simplicity and explanatory power in a theory

What does it mean to say the international system is organized horizontally?

meaning that all sovereign states have equal authority; however, NOT power; no state has authority over the rest.

What is a sovereign state?

A geographical area that is controlled by a central government which exercises supreme independent authority over that area internally and externally.

How has the idea of state sovereignty changed since the treaty of Westphalia?

Human rights is a new implementation of the original idea of state sovereignty that provides new limits to what a state's government can and cannot do towards its people.
The Treaty of Westphalia legitimized territorial sovereignty and encouraged trade between states, with trade also emerging international state intervention
This "checks and balance" concept permits intervention and the illegibility of persecution.
State sovereignty has evolved to center around human rights → religion below politics, government above church etc.

originally, genocide and persecution were legitimized because there was no legitimacy to foreign intervention

what is foreign policy

a set of strategies used by the government to guide their actions in the international arena that includes both general objectives and the means whereby objectives are to be achieved.

What are three main types of decisions in foreign policy?

High order → long time frame, not sudden, grave concern of issue and large variety of actors involved

Administrative → narrow in scope, low threat, handled at lower level of government

Crisis → high threat, sudden/short time, finite time to make the decision, involvement of highest level of government / foreign policy establishment

international anarchy

State sovereignty implies there there is no higher power above the sovereign; no authority over sovereign states and no interference in internal affairs

self-help system

States / actors cannot rely on anyone else for their protection

state centrism

An approach to political analysis that takes the state to be the key actor in the domestic realm and on the world stage.

What are the three levels of analysis?

individual, domestic, international

Individual level of analysis

focuses on individual differences and the character of leaders and the biases they may have in creating outcomes of a phenomenon. An example may be explaining WWII through Hitlers leadership, or Putins role in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia

domestic level of analysis

comparative politics; concern actions within the state. Understood through regime type, economic performance, geography, cultural views.

Ex. End of the cold war occurred because of the USSR economic collapse in 1980s, that made them disadvantaged economically in the war

international level of analysis

A level of analysis focusing on the international system, ie power relations, polarity, norms, and geopolitics. How characteristics of the international system shape actors' behaviour.

Ex. The US and USSR were both leading powers in the international arena at the time prior to cold war, which would lead to inevitable conflicts

balance of threat theory

Stephen Walt, Realist theory alternative to balance of power theory; insists that states can become more powerful and not necessarily more threatening depending on the state's foreign policy and reputation

Where can the modern state system be traced from?

The modern nation state system can be traced from the end of the 30 Years War that took place in Europe in 1648. This religious conflict gave rise to a new form of political organization and state sovereignty, completely transitioning the system of political units from the feudal system to the Westphalian state system. Near the end of the war, rulers and adversaries agreed to end the conflict and gave each ruler the right to designate their religion in their territory. J Rochester

Five core elements of Western liberal order that render it self-sustaining

Security co-binding / interdependence → war has become unthinkable

Penetrated reciprocal hegemony → transparency and permeability of US government; many mechanisms to input their interests

Semi-sovereign states and partial great powers → internal reconstruction of revisionist states by US after WWII

Economic openness / interdependence

Civic identity → spread of common civic identity; democracy, ethnic toleration, individual rights

Unipolarity sources of instability

Counter-hegemonic balancing → regional rivalries and regional balancing; states may be involved in regional security dilemmas and arms races and the unintended effect of this is lessening of the power gap between the hegemon and states in regional rivalry

Lazy hegemon → incentives to grow and become more powerful aren't as dire for the hegemon, so it becomes lazy in a sense of not putting too much effort in becoming more powerful; revisionists states still trying to increase power because the hegemon is a constant threat so the power gap may be decreasing

Overburdened hegemon → hegemon usually has to pay for the costs of maintaining and enforcing the rules of the international order and these are costs that other powers don't have. As a result, the hegemon is less able to keep up with the growth of other state; hegemonic decline leads to hegemonic war

Unipolarity Sources of Stability

Unipolar threshold → idea that states may become too powerful to be balanced; likelihood of balancing decreases once threshold is reached

Collective action problems with counter hegemonic balancing → increased incentive to free-ride and defect and internal balancing is self defeating

Regional vs global imperatives → very likely states will be more concerned with regional threats rather than the hegemon

Nuclear weapons as a side note → having nuclear weapons changes the dynamic of state relationship with the hegemon. Having nukes makes power preponderance of hegemon more tolerable for other states because they have second strike capacity
Hegemonic war becomes way too costly with involvement of nuclear weapons

Why do states conform to a given international order?

3 modes of social control

coercion --> actor fears punishment by rule enforcer(realism)

interests --> actor sees rules as own self-interest(liberalism)

legitimacy --> actor feels rules are legitimate and should be obeyed (constructivism)

Why are hegemons rare?

Few states have the necessary endowments; they must be considerably wealthy and have a strong army. Other states will also seek to prevent a state from becoming a regional hegemon, so there are many obstacles.

bandwagoning

a strategy in which states join forces with the stronger side in a conflict (if u cant beat em join em)

Appeasement

A policy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war.

What are some strategies for checking aggressors?

Balancing
Buck-passing

Balancing

external --> creating defensive alliance
internal --> increasing armaments and mobilize resources

great power assumes responsibility for stopping aggressor, but will fight war if that fails; allying with others against prevailing threat

Buck passing

recognizes the need to prevent aggressor but looks for some other state to rake on the responsibility of balancing.

Balancing world

threatening states and aggression provokes resistance; Balancing behavior is more common, especially within peacetime or in early states of war

Bandwagoning World

threatening states and aggression are rewarded; Bandwagoning is more dangerous because intentions change and they can turn against you

Balance of Power Theory

the idea that national security is enhanced when military capabilities are distributed so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others --> states either seek a balanced distribution of power because they are power gap minimizers, of an unbalanced distribution of power tilted in their favor (power gap maximizers)

even balance of (material) power promotes peace

Explains order as a result of balancing to counter external or hegemonic power ie order is a produce of balancing / adjustment under anarchy

quantitative arms race

requires social, political and economic capacity to reallocate resources from civilian to military purposes. Consists of expanding numerical strength of existing military force

qualitative arms race

requires dynamic technology; consists of replacing existing military force / weapons system with new and more effective forms of force
A number of distinct races

security dilemma

A dilemma that arises when efforts that states make to defend themselves cause other states to feel less secure. This dilemma can lead to arms races and war due to fear of being attacked.

action reaction spiral

what are two constrains at the heart of the security dilemma?

Difficult to differentiate between offensive and defensive weapons

No trust of any state intentions in the system

democratic peace theory

democracies rarely go to war with other democracies; there exists stable peace among democracies; there is no consensus on why this occurs

what is nuclear proliferation debate?

The nuclear proliferation debate consists of pursuing the question on whether states will go nuclear and what the responses of other states will be when / if they do so.

waltz --> nuclear proliferation is not a problem because nuclear weapons have not proliferated. Only 9 nations are militarily capable since the development of nuclear weapons 50+ years ago. Accordingly, it also doesn't particularly matter who has nuclear weapons because whoever has them behaves with caution and moderation → nuclear deterrence.

horizontal nuclear proliferation

spread of nuclear weapons to other states

vertical nuclear proliferation

increased nuclear capability within the state

nuclear proliferation treaty

An international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

according to scott sagan what are the 3 main dangers of nuclear weapons?

idea of nuclear shield --> promoting aggression under idea of being invincible

terrorist theft

problem of loose controls

describe the norm life cycle

1) norm emergence; tie new norm to existing ones; promote idea of norm

2) norm cascade; behavioral conformity (naming and shaming and boomerang model)

3) norm internalization; behavioral conformity is automatic and norm is unquestioned

boomerang model

a process through which NGOs in one state are able to activate transnational linkages to bring pressure from other states on their own governments

How do you know if a norm is internalized?

Extent of reaction to deviation from norm

what are norms?

standards of behavior for actors with a given identity in a given social context

When is humanitarian military intervention legitimate?

when it is multilateral

why is humanitarian intervention odd from conventional perspectives?

because it doesn't conform to conceptions of national interest. What are the advantages gained?

Human rights

inherent dignity of the human person; the state is seen as a product of contracts among people to protect natural rights and provide conditions for people to realize them. Rights arrive from human needs and reflect the minimum requirement for human dignity

universal declaration of human rights

A 1946 United Nations covenant binding signatory nations to the observance of specified rights.

what are two major classes of the human rights?

1) Civil and political rights (right to life, nationality, freedom of thought, equal suffrage etc)

2) Social, economic and cultural rights (right to food, health, work, rest, education) Some claims that the only valid rights are civil and political ones

what are the two human rights covenants?

international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights and international covenant on civil and political rights.

What are the main issues of implementing human rights into foreign policy?

the legal and moral issues raised by intervention on behalf of human rights abroad,

Technically no state is entitled to enforce obligation of legal rights

Western origin of the idea of human rights

Which rights to focus on in foreign policy?

International Law

a body of rules that create rights and obligations for states and other actors; consent based system of law; no legal action is binding unless the actor gave consent (system of contracts)

What are problems with international law?

the interpretation problem (there is no interpretive authority to say what a law means or requires → ambiguity) and the enforcement problem (who enforces the treaty when violated?) there is no third party to turn to.

Why would states obey international law?

3 Rs
Reciprocity; violation legitimizes reciprocal violations from other parties
Retaliation; violation legitimizes retaliatory measures
Reputation; reputational costs / benefits

What are two principal sources of international law?

custom (inferred consent) and treaty (explicit consent)

Describe the huge array of issues with the United Nations

1) UN has become overloaded with security issues and the extent to which it can transfer these responsibilities to regional organizations is debatable
2) Most conflicts in contemporary world involve element of civil / ethnic war which UN was not established to tackle
3) fundamental issues of interest and perception
4) Structure of security council is in danger of losing legitimacy
5) basic collective security questions

UN Charter

The founding document of the United Nations; it is based on the principles that states are equal, have sovereignty over their own affairs, enjoy independence and territorial integrity, and must fulfill international obligations. The Charter also lays out the structure and methods of the UN.

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter

general ban on the use of force between states → Declaration of war illegal with two exceptions

1) Article 51: right to use force in self defense
2) Article 42: right to use force under authorization of UN security council

What are the 6 primary organs of the UN?

General assembly, security council, international court of justice, secretariat, trusteeship council, economic and social council

describe the general assembly

Plenary organ of the UN with 193 members today; it is the primary forum for discussion of global issues and there is an annual meeting in Sept. NYC; resolutions are nonbinding and sovereign equality (all have 1 vote)

Describe the Security Council

Political organ with only 15 members: 5 permanent members (US, France, China, Russia, UK) and 10 nonpermanent members that rotate every two years; primary purpose is to maintain peace and security ie peacekeeping missions and peace enforcement; resolutions are legally binding

describe the international court of justice

Headquarters in Hague, Netherlands and composed of 15 judges that resolve inter-state disputes based on international law and help with interpretation. Issues are legally binding decisions and advisory opinions

What are some counter terrorism strategies

Deterrence, criminalization, preemptive offense, and negotiation + compromise

What prevents rational actors from finding an agreement that both would prefer to war?

1) incomplete information
2) commitment problems
3) indivisible goods

complete information

knowledge of the capabilities (ability to win a war) and the resolve ( willingness to fight over bargained goods) of other states; size of bargaining range can depend on this information

incomplete information

lacking information in terms of another state's capabilities and resolve. This can result in two different perceptions of the bargaining range.

why would states misrepresent / manipulate information?

states may exaggerate their own strength and hide their weaknesses so in turn they would exaggerate their capabilities and their resolve.

commitment problems

limits on state ability to credible commit to uphold a mutually preferable bargain

indivisible goods

certain goods cannot be divided ie land, building nuclear weapons; indivisible goods can be socially constructed; States may frame a good as indivisible because if the good were to be divided, the value of the good would collapse. Claims of indivisibility may also be strategic

what do states fight over?

territory, policies, regime type, natural resources

Classical realism

Classical realism adapts a pessimistic view of human nature such that humans have an innate desire to dominate others and act out of self interest and aggression. This innate flaw in human nature applies directly to the behavior of states. Classical realists believe multipolarity is more stable than bipolarity because great powers can gain power through alliances and petty wars that don't directly challenge other powers which isn't possible in bipolar systems. Defined as a materialist - individualist attitude.

realism

COMPETITIVE INTERESTS
Realism is the dominant IR paradigm and focuses on how states act in an anarchic international system. LEVEL OF ANALYSIS: State level

Who are the predominant actors: Sovereign states

What do they want: Security/Survival. They want to maximize national interest as unitary actors

How do states act: Rationalism (think out of self-interest and egoism)

What do they do: Maximize security through internal strategy (economic development; military buildup) and through Alliances, war (with little cooperation)

Main beliefs:
- International relations as a constant struggle for power.

- Realists emphasize zero-sum games which claim that state interests are always contradictory such that when one state wins, the other loses and vice versa.
- States are positional and only concerned with relative gains The main limit of realism is that it doesn't account for international change and assumes interests are finite.
- Anarchy threatens state security - it is an underlying cause of war
Anarchy - state centrism - self interest - rationality

neorealist theory

LEVEL OF ANALYSIS: Third image (international)
- Often called "structural realism" and tends to be associated with Kenneth Waltz;
- This theory emphasizes the importance of power politics, that the structure of the international system is the distribution of material capabilities, and concludes that bipolarity is more stable than multipolarity.
- Anarchy makes war possible, and power is a measure of a state's survivability.
- International politics can be explained only by polarity and power distribution. States will never act in a way that will reduce their power.

War occurs because there is no international system to prevent it.

defensive neorealism

In contrast to offensive realists, defensive realists argue that the anarchical structure of the international system encourages states to maintain moderate and reserved policies in order to attain security.

They argue that states are not intrinsically aggressive and that the first concern of states is not to maximize power but to maintain their position in the system.

This is the crucial point of departure from offensive realism, which instead argues that anarchy encourages states to pursue aggressive territorial expansion to ensure security through increased state power, as the world is condemned to perpetual great power competition.

offensive neorealism

- States seek to maximize their power and influence through domination and hegemony in order to survive in an anarchic system.

- State concern for relative gains is going to make the absolute gains possible from cooperation unattainable → Conflict is inevitable.

EX. The crisis in Ukraine is explained via offensive neorealism, where Russia's power was threatened by NATO/EU enlargement, US interference and democratization

offense - defense theory

War is more likely when states can conquer each other more easily; when defense is easier than offense, incentives to expand decrease and cooperation could blossom. This theory provides a powerful predictor of war initiation and international conflict.

Neoliberalism

INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS
Neoliberalism is a reaction to realism in the late 80s / 90s.
SYSTEM LEVEL: State level (opening the black box)
- Asks the question if the world is so competitive, then why is there so much cooperation? NeoLiberalism shares most fundamental assumptions to realism ie Anarchy - State centrism - Self Interest - Rationality.
- However, the main goal of neoliberalism is to explain cooperation. It does so with the key element of interdependence. Economic interdependence discourages conflict because warfare would threaten prosperity. Similarly, international regimes/institutions facilitate cooperation by helping to overcome selfish state behavior by emphasizing the greater good.
- Neoliberals emphasize a non-zero sum game which claims that there are state interactions where both can lose and both can win; i.e. overlapping interests.
- Neoliberals assume states are atomistic, in that only absolute gains matter.
- Neoliberals also emphasize typical liberal values such as viewing the spread of democracy is key to world peace.

- International institutions facilitate cooperation through reducing ambiguity, make cheating visible, cheapen joint decision making, dispute resolution

Constructivism

LEVEL OF ANALYSIS: STRADLES
COLLECTIVE INTEREST
- Constructivist theory describes that state behavior is shaped by elite beliefs, norms and identities with a large focus on ideas and discourse.
- Constructivists regard the interests and identities of states as highly malleable products of specific historical processes.
- They focus on how identities are created, how they evolve and how they shape states. Constructivists see IR as a distribution of ideas.
- Material forces should be understood through social concepts
- Social structures are built by shared understanding/expectations, which creates identities with creates interests and lastly interaction (state behaviour) and repeat

liberal theory

Philosophically shared liberal background to neoliberalism but must be distinguished because two theories are not interchangeable. Neoliberals treat the state like an individual (i.e. having a single set of preferences such that states and interests are a given). Liberal theory has an entirely different conception of the state. (Most similar to constructivism / there is some overlap)

The state is not an actor but a biased representative institution constantly subject to capture and recaptures by coalitions of social actors
State preferences are a result of domestic politics / domestic actors

What are the IR levels of analysis for liberal theory?

1) Domestic causes → international effects (2nd image)
2) International causes → domestic effects (2nd image reversed)
3) Domestic interactions → ← international interactions (2 level games)

Logic of consequences vs. logic of appropriateness

(realism) vs. (constructivism)

Logic of consequences → rationalism; interests lead to expected consequences which leads to behavior

Logic of appropriateness → social identity and social context lead to socially constructed appropriateness (norms) which then lead to behavior

How can the logic of consequences and logic of appropriateness be combined

1) begins with logic of consequence and ends with appropriateness
2) logic of consequence embedded in logic of appropriateness
3) two logics operating independently of each other

intergovernmental war

(state v state) reflects the process and structure of international politics; interstate war is never impossible as long as governments choose war or peace in terms of their own interests and sometimes miscalculate those interests; Defensive stronger form of warfare in intergovernmental war; Initially symmetrical and war ends when one government succeeds in imposing will or interests

antigovernmental war

(state v non state actor) → reflect process and structure of domestic politics; offensive stronger form of warfare; asymmetrical; negotiation and compromise tend to lack in domestic war

revolutionary war

occurs when government is distant from counterelite → both fighting for support of socioeconomic group who is imperfectly integrated into existing political system and which side convinces target group its winning is in fact winning

Coup d'etat

can only be undertaken by a group already a participant in existing political system and possesses some institutional bases of power within that system

1) Government coup → leadership changed but no significant change of social structures / institutions

2) Revolutionary coup → basic social / economic changes to alter underlying distribution of power within political system

3) Reform coup → combo of other two

Why do rebel groups fight civil wars?

Grievances (mistreatment, systematic discrimination) or for self-determination (separatism and irredentism)
greed (control over resources or control of state)

How do rebel groups overcome collective action problems?

Group level explanation → strong solidarity and collective identity; strong leadership; strong beliefs and motivation

Country level explanation → political institutions / culture; effective apparatus of repression; wealth

International level explanations → aid from outsiders; proxy wars

What are some strategies for gaining power?

War
Blackmail

Bait and Bleed --> causing two rival sto engage in protracted war so that they "bleed" each other while "baiter" is still strong

Bloodletting --> make sure any war between one's rival is long and costly conflict

How does rational choice work?

1) Rational actor considers all possible strategies of feasible courses of action they could take
2) Deduce what outcome is going to follow if I take given course of action
3) Rank - order outcomes and identify which expected consequences for my actions is the most preferred based on my pre-given assumed interests.

what is prospect theory?

people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains; used to explain why people consistently deviate from the predictions of rational choice. --> Key concept is that what is rational is not necessarily the goal an actor seeks, but the relationship being the goal and choice.

Endowment effect

expected utility of loss is higher than positive utility of gain in the same game

Normative Theory

moral judgement about what should be

Backward mapping

looks at origins and history of policy processes and how they created/ contributed to current problem

forward mapping

looks at policy action taken at time of crisis and asks whether they responded appropriately

why is the world of power politics resistant to change?

External cost of deviance; social system reinforces certain practices and discourages others

Internal cost of cognitive dissonance and vested interest; tendency to conform to existing beliefs ie questioning the world and major practices generates anxiety

What are some critiques of rational choice?

not all state behavior is rational in that its not the result of considerations of outcomes but instead internalized norms

Even if state behavior is rational, there is the issue of state interest which are neither given nor fixed.

The impossibility of rational calculations → rational calculations cannot exist in the real world because we cannot process all relevant information about all possible courses of action. Rationality is bounded with limited information.

Egocentric bias and fundamental attribution error → mutual attribution of hostile intentions; wrong reading of reality

discounting evidence that's inconsistent with beliefs. This includes choosing opinions whose anticipated outcomes are consistent with prior beliefs.

Dominant strategy

strategy that is best response to whatever the other player does

Dominated strategy

strategy which doesn't result in optimal outcome in any case; there is always a course of action with a higher payoff