International Relations Midterm

Chapter 1

 1/30/25

• An interdisciplinary field of study with interactions with many actors in the world

• IR tries to identify patterns of interactions who goes to war with whom & why, how states influence other states, and what kind of leaders initiate/reject peace

• World is motr prsvrgil 

• The pinker world is more peaceful

• Dempsey's world is more violent

Pinkers Argument

• Violence has declined domestically and international

• Human nature has not changed 

• Governments prevent tribal wars promote a centralized trade system, decline in state violence like burning people, the rights revolutions 

Anti-Pinkers argument

• Nuclear weapons have escalated warfare

• Killing capacity has

• Governments are agencies of violence 

• Democratization is complete

• Long Peace

• Post-cold war has been violent

• Rights revolutions have failed people

How should we approach international relations

• Politically who has influence over whom 

• Theoretically and empirically we generalize it

• Prominent Perspectives International Relations 1. Realism - states promote their power interests 2liberalism-states mix conflict & cooperation and often act through more violent means 3 constructivism-states act on the basis of constructed ideas (human rights, war)

• Interdisciplinary relies on insights/knowledge of many disciplines

Interdsicplionaty of International Politics 

• History

• Philosophy

• Religion

• Economics 

• Psyc

• law

Philosophers and International Politics

• Thomas Hobbes (wrote the Leviathan) describes the state of nature as violent and selfish behavior

• This perception is classical realism

• Immanuel Kant epersent the idealist side

Historical Relations Chapter 2

• Westphalian state system had several principles 1. state of sovereignty 2. state control over its territory 3. Noninteferece in others' domestic affairs

• Legalization of sovereignty (Jean Bodin)  1. Establishment of militaries

• Capitalist economic systems

• Nationalism

• Westphalia resulted in 5 national balances of power of great powers: England frame, Austria, Russia, Prussia

The Emergence of a Sovereign European State 

Westphalia Balance of Power

• Roughly equal power distr btw great 5

• The golden rule prevents the emergence of any hegemonic power

• The balance of power is tilted to GP others will establish alliances to restore the balance through total diplomatic flexibility

• States will resort to war

• Defeated and great powers will be allowed to rejoin the system to restore balance

Disintergration/Replacement of the BOP

• Prussia became too powerful defeating Denmark Austria and France

• German unification- annexes Alsace Lorraine creating animosity with France

• Germany challenges Britain’s: naval superiority, arms race

• Fierce colonial-imperial competition

• Russian-Austrian Balkan rivalry

• The BOP was replaced by two opposing coalitions Triple Entente and Triple Alliance 

Why they went to war in 1914 WWI

• General causes: nationalism, imperialism. Fear, anxiety honor

• State-by-state considerations

• Peripheral states

Class 3

• Theories- specify phenomena by explaining relationships

• should be generalizable explain events across space, testable, theoretical

• Highly abstract

Realism

• Anarchy

• States act in self-interest

• States are unitary actors

Neorealism

Liberalism

Humans are rational and social beings

Cooperation btw states is possible

Collective security

Constructivism

• How norms, ideas, and institutions shape state identity and interests

• Neither states or the international interested are predetermined or fixed

• How to nations identify other nations as a friend or foe

Hard power

Military power

Soft power

Key terms to know

Anarchy

Levels of Analysis in International Politics

• 3 different levels

• International system: explains international issues are realted to the system as a whole, distribution of pwr, interdependence, etc.

• state/societal level: most actions are taken basis of natural interests government character

• Individual level personality, perception, and choices by individual leaders determine actions

International System 

• System: an assemblage of units in an interaction

• International system: with a particular structure and behavioral rules

• Realism: views the system as anarchic with sovereign states seeking power thru alliances and war

• A multipolar system is any system in which the distribution of the power to conquer is concentrated in more than two states. 

• Bipolar systems are those in which the distribution of the power to conquer is concentrated in two states or coalitions of states.

• A unipolar system is one in which the power to conquer all other states in the system combined resides within a single state

• For neorealists, the key is structural polarity-unipolar, multipolar, bipolar

Liberalism is less concerned with the distribution of power within the international sytem

1. Level of International Interdependence

2. multiateral/unilateral action 

3. The role of common institutions (UN, WHO)

Constructivism challenges the universality of the concept of ‘international system’

Itself and its use

The State

• The state has been the central player in IR

• The State has different sources of pwr giving it influences

Power Sources:

1. Geographic size and location

2. Natural resources and other economic capabilities

3. Population

4. Military power

5. Intangibles of power

Geopolitics: is about the relationship btw geography and foreign policy: especially where the state is located in relation to other states and its tech military ability to use sea, ocean, and lakes to promote its interests

Major Geopolitical Analysis 

Alfred Thayer Mahan developed a sea-based geopolitical theory the state that controls the ocean routes controls the world

Halford Mackinder promoted land-based geopolitics

Population

Intangibles

• “Soft power”

• National image 

Population Factors

• Size of pop

• Level Education

• unity

The Individual Level of Analysis

• IR is an abstract field

• Independent leaders vs. Participatory leaders

• Leaders have belief systems

• As set of beliefs about the world

Basic concepts about the state

• 195 states today 

• 1 Realism state-centric focusing on military power, 2 Liberalism emphasized that the states make the rules for economic interactions 3 Marxism state carries out the class’s interests 4) Constructivism

• States are unique in a few ways 1) control huge militaries 2 raise hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes 3) fully recognized as international actors 4 commands the loyalty of millions of patrons 

Has the global state system replaced Westphalian system?

Statehpd and Nationhpd

State and nation are used interchangeably they are different

A state is a formal legal entity 

A nation is a group of ppl sharing language history culture religion values

Nation-state means they are overlapping

Most conflicts in today's world are a result of 1) several nations residing inside the same state creates both separatism ot competition for power 2

Nations are split into different spates it creating irredentism 3 nations that are stateless

Tools of Statecraft

States convert their pwr into influence this is what diplomacy is about (power-diplomacy-influence)

5 diplomatic variants

1. Traditional diplomacy ambassadors 

2. Public diplomacy tries to influence other publics by speeches articles, press conferences 

3. Track II diplomacy non govt ppl negotiate ppl 

4. Summit diplomacy 

5. Shuttle diplomacy

• Economic statecraft 

1. Engagement (positive sanctions) such as MFN

2. Sanctions” tariffs free

• use/threat of force

Challenges to the Contemporary State

• Collective Security

• Globalization

• Transnational movements

• Criminal cartels

• Human rights movement

Classifying Wars

• Security has been the single most important

• War 

• Interstate wars- wars among states

Variants of the Interstate War

• Characteristics of IW: high stakes, long, indecisive, foreign involvement

• Most interstate wars are unconventional and asymmetrical: guerilla warfare and terrorism

Causes of war 

• Realism” War is natural

• Liberalism: culture of war, lack of democracy, value diversity, dysfunctional institutions

• Constructivism: wars result from different identities

• Marxism/dependency wars result from economic inequality

Wars may be explainable

• Aggression by individuals, leaders, etc.

• Certain societies might promote war/violence

Preventing/ Managing War & Conflict

1. The cost of war is enormous

2. Great uncertainty about war

3. Balance of pwr works

4. Deterrence is successful (NATO)

5. Collective security is difficult to achieve

6. Arms control and disarmament

7. Norms against war possibly formulated in international law

Premeptive

Preventive  to attack

International Cooperation and International Law

Chp 6 is pessimistic talks about conflict

Ch 7 is about cooperation

Example of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty

Game theory methodology for studying the interaction bt rational decision makers working in their own interests

One of the games is known as Prisoners' Dilemma: 2 armed pl are detained on the suspicion of breaking into a store at 2 am they are separated by the police so cannot cooordinte sotie police are getting each og them to condesswhat should they do

Solving and Applying the Prisoner's Dillema to IR

Similar to US/USSR

Nuclear arms race

Ended up spending less resources + stability

Modes of International Cooperation 

1. International institutions

2. International trade

3. Share ideas/technology

Hugo Grotius rejects the Westphalian realist idea that sovereign states can do whatever they want

The Source of International law

• International law is difficult

• Best way is to go to Art 38

1. Customs traditions that have existed for millennia

2. Treaties and other interstate agreements 

3. General Principles of Law

4. Precedents: international and domestic legal decisions

5. Scholarly writings, books and articles by IL experts

Enforcing international Law

Peace through law is attractive but does not work well in IR

In theory: Vertical Enforcement through an international institution

ICJ: impressive theory but not very consequential in actual IR Problems only few cases per yea,r voluntary attendance & In organs, states may refuse to comply, judges not recusing themselves

Horizontal enforcement: states coercing others to behave but doesn't work for major countries that are IL violators

Law of the Sea increasingly important fort economic and political reasons

Codification: putting principles of law into a document 

The Evolution and Ideas of the International Economy

1. Mercantilism: every state economically independent & self-sufficient. Selexander Hamilton. Trump

2. Economic liberalism. Maximize international trade on the basis of ricardos “comparative advantage” linked to political liberalism, democracy

3. Economic radicalism Marxism & neomarxism. Restructure world economy to enable underdeveloped countries to take off ;reform center-periphery relations

The US has supported #2 through  actions  by Govt MNCs, Intl economic institutions

Since the US has dominated the world economy after 1945 it was able to shape it. Brazil, Russia, China are members of the G20

The World Economy Today

Close relations btw strong economy, military power, political influence but sometimes this “natural link” is broken

The level of globalization/ interdependence is unprecedented: it includes industrialized countries, oil exporters, previously communist states, and developing countries

Not all globalizing activities are equally good for all some will result in loss of manufacturing jobs in industrialized countries in increasing economic gaps

The keys to economic structureare an  educated population 

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Global Supply Chains

The world economu today depends on GSc where 1.) good are shipped from one part of the globe to another 2 in large containers 3 maximizing interdependence and comparative advantage

Todays GSC evolved over 30 years accompanied by US disengagement and economic emergence of China

Rise of China Mahan and Mckinfrt geopolitica rise of economic

Globalization the houthins 

US Options toward China

1. Renewed engagement, avoid conflict, minimize competition, try to cooperate with China continue globalization

2. Decoupling reduce, shrink, restrict relations with China but without cutting relationships

3. Industrialize America especially in critical industries, reducing supply shortages

4. Maybe a possible of creative combination of all 3

How and why International Organizations emerged

• International orgs have emerged only in the second half of the nineteenth century. The red cross was established as a result of crimean war

• Three contributing factors: wide publicity of horrific events, ability of ppl to travel, increasing international awareness

• Some of the most prominent orgs have been intergovernmental orgs, especially important league of nationsthat was unsuccessful in preventing wars

• This led to economic technical cooperation different areas will spillover to politics

• Today you have two types of IGOs political military alliances (Nato, warsaw pact) and functional orgs (WHO, ILO)

• Most important functional orgs called specialized agencies

United Nations Organization

• On oct 24,1945 the UN was established in the US

• The idea have a more effective collective security than the LOn by establishing the security council with 5 permanent members with VETO power

• The UN charter enables both peaceful action an enforcement action

• But due to the cold war this complicated machinery were paralyzed

• In the mid 1950s teh UN developed a new strategy peacekeeping military but non violent intervention

• Un has done great work in dealing with human issues, health climate change etc

Regional Organizations: The Eu as a model 

The political idea of uniting europe has been around for a long time but the concrete/ urgent issues  the European Union emerged as result of WWII especially the recognition that french german reconciliation was essential

1. Historical states of EU creation 

2. Major events great advancement of common goals

3. Principal institutions p.334

4. Problems and challenges pp.336-339 withdrawals, refugees international migration economic disparities identity cooperation

5. Different values 

Future scenario

United states lose linked mixed model

Natural rights- god given

Human rights

The Emergence of International Human Rights

Human rights is an idea developed by modern liberal/humanistic thought emphasizing the idea that there are or should be fundamental or inalienable rights every person is entitled to for being human

The concept of human rights was coined by John Locke on the basis of the more traditional concept of “natural rights”. It was then adopted by Thomas Jeffersosn and by the French revolution

1939-1945 Crime against humanity . revival of hrs

In 1948 the UN generally adopted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights

The last 70+ years of debates

While almost everyone is in favor of HRs there are debates about their applicability

What is the meaning of the inalienability of rights? Can they ever be limited?

Are rights universal or is there cultural relativism

Should some right be prioritized over other rights

Who has the responsibility of responding to HR violations? Is it a right or absolute obligation? The traditional position: the state has the responsibility/right to protect its states but what if the state is the violator/abuser can then the responsibility be transferred to other states the international community

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is important but merely a declaratory document. It is implemented through a long list of other agreements. The International Covenant on civil/political rights 2) the Covenant on economic/social/cultural rights 3) connections on Racial Discrimination & Apartheid Women, slavery

States may violate obligation of HR

HR & International Responsibility

• Human rights are a part of Humanitarian internal law” which  includes the Geneva conventions on protecting POWs and civilians at time of war . There is today talk about an “international bill of rights”, but the IBR is flawed weak in a number of ways 1) Many states are prime violators of HRs 2) the stronger the state the more immune it is from outside intervention 3) while NGOs can make a lot of noise they can not enforce HRs  4)intl community is still debiting respo for HRs

The cutting edge debate is over w what is called “r2p”, the responsibility to protect the international community must intervene in extreme cases of genocide or threat, ethic cleansing, failed states etc but who decides the Security Council regional orgs (NATO), States?