Midterm Review and Liberalism Notes
Midterm Information
The midterm will be available on Quercus under 'Assignments'.
Students will need to sign in with their University of Toronto account.
The test duration is two hours, with extra time provided for students with accessibility accommodations.
Grades will not be immediately available due to potential makeup tests.
Questions may be reused on makeup tests, but efforts will be made to minimize any unfair advantage.
The spelling guide is now available on Quercus under Lecture 4.
The template has 160 questions.
Reason for the number of questions:
Online, open-book format.
Designed to encourage studying rather than simply looking up answers during the test.
Aims to ensure fairness by limiting the ability to gain an advantage through external resources.
The test runs from 1 PM to 3 PM
Accessibility accommodations:
Students requiring test extensions through accessibility services need to have documentation submitted on time.
The instructor will send an email confirming receipt of the accessibility letter and the allotted extra time.
Course Perspective
Instructor's Role: Dream Crusher
Each week, a different perspective on international relations will be presented.
The instructor will outline the foundational principles and assumptions of each perspective.
The instructor will highlight the flaws and weaknesses of each perspective.
Goal for Students
To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective.
To form their own judgment on which perspective has the most strengths and fewest weaknesses.
Liberalism
Main Assumptions
Identifying main features is complex due to the variety within liberalism.
Liberals borrow ideas from various fields such as sociology, political science, economics, and psychology.
Liberals have a broader analytical focus compared to realists.
They focus on war and peace, they also consider ethics, morality, economics, justice, domestic politics, and democracy.
Defining Characteristics
Variation and categorization are more challenging with liberals than realists.
Key Principles of Liberalism
State is not the only principal actor
Realists focus on the state due to its control over the primary means of violence.
Liberals acknowledge the importance of the state but also consider other actors.
International organizations (United Nations, World Trade Organization).
Corporations (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, IBM, Apple).
Religious entities (Catholic Church).
Non-profit NGOs (Amnesty International, Transparency International, Refugees International).
International courts and institutions.
Liberals investigate how all these factors affect the world order.
Levels of analysis:
Realists typically focus on the system level (overall) and, to a lesser extent, on the unit level (state).
Liberals analyze all three levels (system, units, and individual/small group) and the connections between them.
Optimistic orientation:
Liberals are generally more optimistic than realists; they believe the world can be improved.
They propose different methods for improving the world, such as democracy, economic factors, and international courts.
Realists view the international system as static and unchanging, maintaining a pessimistic outlook.
Variable Sum interactions:
Realists see interactions in zero-sum terms (one party's gain is another's loss).
Liberals believe many interactions can be win-win (variable-sum).
An example is trade, where both sides benefit.
Example: Trading vinyl records can make both sides win.
Wide analytical focus:
Liberals focus on issues beyond security and war, such as economics.
They explore the benefits of trade and cooperative development.
Possibility of order in an anarchic world:
Liberals agree with realists that the international system is anarchic.
They believe this anarchy can be moderated through various means.
Balance of power.
International courts.
International organizations.
Trade.
Regime theory.
Critiques of Liberalism
Wishful thinking:
Realists argue that liberals are naive and fail to recognize the true realities of the world.
E.H. Carr suggests liberals are utopian and idealistic.
Thucydides’ Melian Dialogue illustrates the destruction of Milos by Athens, despite Milos being morally right, because Athens had more power.
Uneven theory building
Liberals borrow ideas from various fields in an ad hoc manner.
Critics argue that liberals lack an overarching metatheory to guide their analysis.
Marxism, in contrast, has a strong metatheory based on class struggle.
Liberals are criticized for focusing too much on descriptive elements rather than analytical and normative aspects.
Liberal Thinkers
Hugo Grotius
Hugo Grotius (Dutch scholar, 16th-17th century) is considered the father of modern international law.
Grotius's work emphasizes the development of international law and the idea of limiting warfare.
His concepts:
: deals with under what conditions is it legitimate to go to war.
: deals with which weapons, tactics, etc. are permissible once a war has begun.