International System & Globalisation – IPS 1B Lecture Notes

Paper: IPS 1B – World Politics
Lecturer: Dr. Morten Pedersen
- Office: Room 29-210
- Email: m.pedersen@adfa.edu.au
Two complementary frames introduced in today’s material:
- The International/Westphalian model (state-centric).
- The Globalisation model (multi-actor, inter-connected).

Jeffrey Lewis, “Iran Is on Course for a Bomb After U.S. Strikes Fail to Destroy Facilities.”
- Satellite imagery: Iranian nuclear capabilities bruised but not annihilated.
- Indicates resilience of hardened facilities and limits of military coercion.
Eric Brewer, “Israel’s Attacks Make an Iranian Bomb More Likely.”
- Raids damaged infrastructure yet strengthened Tehran’s resolve; risk of accelerated enrichment.
Steven A. Cook, “Iran Policy Has Gone Post-modern.”
- Critique of the Trump administration: policy analysis reduced to a “pure narrative,” detached from facts.
- Illustrates the power of competing stories in framing state behaviour.

Domestic politics (IPS 1A):
- State ≈ government – highest public authority.
- Internal sovereignty: monopoly on the legitimate use of force.
International politics (IPS 1B):
- State ≈ country – self-governing territory + population, society inclusive.
- External sovereignty: legal recognition by, and independence from, other states.

$1648$ – Peace of Westphalia ⇒ European state system.
Late $18^{\text{th}}$ C. – Independence of “New World” colonies ⇒ Western state system.
Early $20^{\text{th}}$ C. – Decolonisation ⇒ membership explodes in Asia & Africa.
$1990\text{s}$ – Break-up of the USSR & Yugoslavia ⇒ further multiplication of sovereign units ⇒ truly global system.

Internal Sovereignty – supreme authority of the government within borders; domestic actors are subordinate.
External/National Sovereignty – right to make laws & policies free from foreign interference.
International Anarchy – absence of overarching world government; no compulsory rule-maker.

Hierarchy – Powerful states can coerce or set rules for weaker ones.
Co-operation – Voluntary pooling of authority in IGOs (e.g.
United Nations, European Union) to manage common problems.

“Complex web of interconnectedness whereby lives are increasingly shaped by events and decisions taking place far away.” (Heywood, p. 9)

Sep $2008$ – Lehman Brothers bankruptcy ⇒ worldwide financial contagion.
Dec $2019$ – COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan ⇒ rapid planetary spread.
Mar $2022$ – Russia invades Ukraine ⇒ NATO revival, spike in global energy & grain prices, food-security crises in the Global South.

People – tourism, migration, refugees.
Goods – international trade volumes.
Capital – investment, bank transfers, currency trades.
Information – telephone, WWW, social media.
Ideas – diffusion of statehood, democracy, human rights, neo-liberal economics.

Plurality of Actors – states are not sole or always dominant players.
Porous Borders – external forces permeate domestic space.
Transnational Problems – many issues exceed the capacity of any single state to solve.

Working definition: created by $\ge 3$ states to pursue common interests.
Landscape: ~ $5{,}000$ IGOs catalogued (Yearbook of International Organisations).
Influence Channels:
- Legitimacy (speak for the community of states).
- Authority & Expertise (norm-setting, technical advice).
- Financial resources (World Bank loans, EU budget, etc.).
Ongoing debate: autonomous power-centres vs. instruments of great powers?

Definition: citizen-based, non-violent, not-for-profit actors operating in >1 country.
Numeric growth: $6{,}000 \rightarrow 26{,}000$ (1990-1999) ⇒ ~ $40{,}000$ today.
Key functions: advocacy, humanitarian relief, norm diffusion.
Influence: expertise, networks, media access; seek legitimacy through moral authority.

Definition: firms with operations in $\ge 2$ states.
Scale: Fortune Global 500 revenues $\approx US\$31\,\text{trillion}$ (= $40\%$ of world GDP); workforce >65\,\text{million}.
- Hypothetical: If Walmart were a state, it would be the $28^{\text{th}}$ largest economy.
Leverage mechanisms:
- Footloose capital (ability to shift investment).
- Economic blackmail (jobs vs. regulation).
- Advertising to shape consumer & political preferences.

Examples: ISIS, Al-Qaeda; Colombian drug cartels.
Exhibit agenda-setting power via asymmetric violence, propaganda, illicit trade.

Technological revolution – radio ➔ TV ➔ mobile ➔ internet: communication volumes & speeds outpace state monitoring.
Economic integration – trade, FDI, aid link domestic economies into a single global market.
Empowered transnational actors – challenge the norm that governments alone decide what happens inside frontiers.

Military Power – most states retain a near-monopoly on organised force.
Regulatory Capacity – can still block capital, migrants, data if determined.
Adaptive Ability – states vary in resources & governance; some cushion transnational shocks better than others.

“Who are the most influential actors in world politics today?”
Illustrative answers (slides):

Military – United States.
Economic – United States, China, European Union.
Ideas / Norms – United Nations, prominent INGOs (e.g.
Amnesty International).
Information – Big Tech (Apple, Microsoft, Google).
Threat – transnational terrorist organisations (Al-Qaeda, Islamic State).