POLI2520: Section 1-2

International Relations

Subfield of political science studying politics across borders and the international system

Foreign Policy

A particular states decision and action toward other countries

World Politics

Broader global politics involving state and non-state actors

State

Political entity exercising authority over a territory and population

Non-State Actors

An entity influencing world politics without being a sovereign state

International System

Actors, their environment, and their patterns of interaction

Structure

Relationships and arrangements that shape actors choice

Actor Structure relationship

Actors influence structures while structures constrain actors

Structural Theory

Explains behaviour through the organization of the overall system

Macroeconomics Analogy

IR examines the larger international system

Microeconomics Analogy

Foreign policy examines decisions of individual states

Westphalian Model

State centered international order based on territorial sovereignty

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Treaties associated with ending the Thirty Years War

Sovereignty

Supreme political authority within a territory and external independence

Internal Sovereignty

A states authority within its territory

External Sovereignty

A states formal independence from other states

Anarchy

Absence of supreme political authority above sovereign states

Self help

states ultimately taking responsibility for their own security

Hierarchy

Political relationships organized through superior and subordinate authority

Globalization

Increasing economic, political, and social interconnectedness

Theory

framework for explaining patterns and generating testable claims

Paradigm

Broad family of theories sharing basic assumptions

Explanatory Theory

attempts to explain why something happens

Prescriptive Theory

Recommends what political actors should do

Interdisciplinary Approach

Using knowledge from several academic discipines

Bipolarity

International system dominated by two major powers

Multipolarity

International System containing several major powers

Unipolarity

International System dominated by one major power

Stephen M. Walt

One World, Many Theories: Different theories explain different aspects of international politics; no single theory explains everything

Dan Reiter

Should We Leave Behind the Subfield of IR?: IR should remain a distinct subfield with flexible boundaries

Thomas Hobbes

Absence of effective authority creates insecurity, helping explain realist concerns about international anarchy

Kenneth Waltz

International structure and power distribution influence state behaviour; bipolarity can be comparatively stable

Connection: Westphalia → Sovereignty → Anarchy → Realism

The modern sovereign states model provides an important starting point for realism because states are formally independent and lack a supreme global authority

Connection: System → Structure → Actors

States make decisions within international structures, but their actions can also transform those structures

Connection: Walt → Reiter

Walt explains why competing theories are useful and Reiter explains why IR remains valuable as a distinct field of study

Pre-Westphalian Europe

Overlapping political and religious jurisdictions

Territorial State

Political authority organized around a defined geographic territory

Centralization

Concentration of political power and resources under one authority

Bureaucracy

Administrative institutions carrying out government functions

State Capacity

Ability of government to collect revenue and implement decisions

Sinews of War

Financial, material, and administrative resources necessary for warfare

Military Revolution

Developments in weapons, armies, fortifications, and military organization

Mercantilism

Economic approach emphasizing exports, restrictions on imports, and national power

Balance of Trade

Difference between value of exports and imports

Agricultural Surplus

Food production beyond immediate needs, supporting populations growth and specialization

Urbanization

Growth of cities and urban populations

Reformation

religious movement contributing to challenges to established authority

Social Contract Theory

Explanation of political legitimacy through and agreement establishing governing authority

Capitalism

economic system involving markets, private productive ownership, and profit

Industrialization

Shift toward machinery, factories, and large scale industrial production

Enclosure

Consolidation and restriction of traditionally shared agricultural lands

Corn Laws

British grain import restrictions protecting domestic agricultural interests

Economic Liberalism

Approach emphasizing markets, productivity, and opportunities for mutually beneficial exchange

Pax Britannica

Period of substantial British Global commercial and naval influence

Gold Standard

Monetary arrangement linking currency values to gold

Nationalism

Political ideology emphasizing national identity and aspirations

National Self-Determination

Principal that peoples should determine their political future

Ethnic Nationalism

National belonging based on ancestry, culture, religion or language

Civic Nationalism

National belonging based on citizenship and political institutions

Ethnic Nationalism

Nationalist Ideas promoted primatily by influential leaders or intellectuals

Popular Nationalism

Nationalist movement involving broad public participation

Creole Nationalism

Colonial-born elites pursuing national independence, particularly in the Americas

Post Colonial Nationalism

National identity and political independence following imperial rule

Levée en Masse

Revolutionary French mass mobilization for national defence

Republicanism

Political legitimacy grounded in a public political community rather than hereditary monarchy

Constitutionalism

Organization and limitation of political power through constitutional rules

Secularism

Separation or reduction of religious authority in political government

Humanism

Emphasis on human dignity, reason, and capacities

Liberalism

ideology emphasizing liberty, rights, and forms if limited government

Marxism

ideology emphasizing liberty, rights, and forms of limited government

American revolution

Challenge to British imperial rule, republican independence

French revolution

Challenged monarchy and promoted popular sovereignty and nationalism

Haitian Revolution

Overthrew colonial slavery and established Haitian independence

Revolution of 1848

European movements demanding reform, constitutionalism, and national aspirations

Russian Revolution

Revolutionary changes contributing to Bolshevik rule and Soviet state

Chinese Communist Revolution

Revolutionary struggle culminating in Communist Party rule in 1949

Anti-Colonia Revolutions

Independence movements challenging imperial domination

Imperialism

Expansion or exercise of domination over other societies

Formal Colonialism

Direct foreign political administration of a territory

Informal Imperialism

Significant foreign influence without direct colonial administration

Decolonization

Process through which colonial territories gain political independence

Sphere or Influence

region where a powerful state exercises considerable political or strategic influence

Civilizing Mission

Imperial claim that colonial domination would improve other societies

Scientific Racism

Pseudoscientific attempts to justify racial hierarchies

Social Darwinism

Misuse of evolutionary ideas to justify political and racial domination

Mestizo

Historical latin American category associated with mixed Indigenous and European ancestry

Miscegenation

historical term for relationships or reproduction across assigned racial categories

Revisionist State

State attempting to alter major elements of the existing international order

Appeasement

Concession intended to avoid conflict with another state

Collective Security

states cooperating to respond to aggression against international peace

Embedded Liberalism

postwar compromise between international economic openness and domestic government intervention

Cold War

Strategic and ideological rivalry between the united states and soviet union

Deterrence

Discouraging aggression by threatening sufficiently severe consequences

Meiji Restoration

Japanese political and economic reforms beginning in 1868

League of Nations

International institution established after WWI to promote peace

United Nations

Post 1946 institution supporting international cooperation and security

Bretton Woods Institutions

IMF and World Bank, central to postwar economic order

Global IR

approach incorporating non-Western histories, institutions, and ideas into IR

Eurocentrism

Treating european experiences as central or universal

Ethnocentrism

evaluating other cultures through ones own cultural standards