FPA TEXTBOOK

I. Theoretical Foundations

1. Realism

• Core Idea: States are the primary actors in an anarchic international system, primarily motivated by the pursuit of power and security.

  • States operate in a self-help system without a central authority.

  • The international environment is characterized by competition and potential conflict.

• Key Concepts:

  • National Interest: The goals and aims that a state pursues to ensure its survival and well-being. Often defined in terms of power, security, and economic prosperity.

  • Balance of Power: A condition in which no single state dominates the international system. Achieved through alliances and counterbalancing measures.

  • Security Dilemma: A situation in which one state's efforts to enhance its security provoke insecurity in others, leading to an arms race or conflict.

• Application in Text: Great-power competition is a recurring theme; states vie for dominance, influencing international norms and institutions.

  • Examples: Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis’s declaration of great-power competition; the ancient Athenians’ rationale in the Melos dialogue ("the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.")

2. Liberalism

• Core Idea: Cooperation among states is possible and can be fostered through international institutions, norms, and economic interdependence.

  • Progress is attainable through reason and the implementation of reforms.

  • Shared interests and mutual benefits can mitigate conflict.

• Key Concepts:

  • International Norms: Shared expectations about appropriate state behavior.

  • Institutions: Formal organizations and informal frameworks that facilitate cooperation (e.g., the UN, trade agreements).

  • Democracy: A system of government that promotes peaceful conflict resolution and upholds the rule of law.

  • Free Trade: Economic exchanges that create material incentives to resolve disputes peacefully.

  • Collective Security: A system in which states agree to collectively respond to threats to peace.

• Application in Text: President Woodrow Wilson’s advocacy for the League of Nations, and the emphasis on international law and cooperation.

  • Examples: Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the creation of the League of Nations to provide mutual guarantees of political independence.

II. Historical Examples of World Order

1. The Westphalian System (1648)

• Key Features: Establishes the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference.

  • Emerges from the Peace of Westphalia following the Thirty Years’ War.

  • Introduces a horizontal conception of international order, replacing the hierarchical medieval system.

• Impact: Development of international laws anchored in custom, diplomacy, and the nation-state system.

  • States have the freedom to negotiate treaties and form alliances without external interference.

  • Each state is responsible for its own security.

• Example from Text: The Peace of Westphalia (1648) and its recognition of state sovereignty.

2. Post-Napoleonic Order (Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815)

• Key Features: Emphasis on the balance of power and the establishment of the Concert of Europe.

  • Aims to maintain stability and prevent any single power from dominating the continent.

  • Involves regular consultations among the great powers.

• Impact: A period of relative peace through diplomatic engagement and power balancing.

  • Reintegration of France into the great-power club.

  • Promotion of mutual friendship and concord among European states.

• Example from Text: Austrian Chancellor Prince Klemens von Metternich and British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh worked to craft a lenient peace settlement。

3. Post-World War I (Versailles, 1919)

• Key Features: Creation of the League of Nations, punitive measures against Germany, and the principle of self-determination.

  • Aims to prevent future conflicts through collective security and international cooperation.

  • Includes harsh territorial and financial reparations for Germany.

• Impact: Failure to prevent future conflict due to the treaty's harsh terms, lack of universal participation, and the rise of nationalist resentment.

  • Germany was forced to accept responsibility for the war and pay significant reparations.

  • The U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.

• Example from Text: The Treaty of Versailles, the “war guilt” clause, the establishment of the League of Nations, and its subsequent shortcomings.

4. Post-World War II (Bretton Woods, UN)

• Key Features: Establishment of the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions (IMF, IBRD), and efforts at collective security.

  • Aims to promote international cooperation, economic stability, and prevent future wars.

  • Includes the creation of a bipolar world order and the onset of Cold War tensions.

• Impact: Creation of new international economic structures, a global forum for dispute resolution, and a framework for addressing social and economic issues.

  • The UN Security Council is given primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.

  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is created to stabilize currency exchange rates.

• Example from Text: The establishment of the UN, the Bretton Woods Conference, and the division of Germany.

III. Key Concepts in Great-Power Competition

1. Great Powers

• Definition: States with significant economic and military capabilities that exert substantial influence in international events.

  • Possess the ability to project power and shape the global order.

  • Play a crucial role in crafting the rules and institutions of international relations.

• Characteristics:

  • Extensive interests spanning multiple regions and issues.

  • Superior economic and military capabilities.

  • A willingness to project power abroad to influence events.

• Examples from Text: France, the United Kingdom, Russia/Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, the United States, and China.

2. Hegemony

• Definition: A state’s leadership and mastery in the international system that is largely accepted by other states.

  • Encompasses both material capabilities and the exercise of international leadership.

  • Implies a degree of consent and acceptance from other actors.

• Characteristics:

  • Exercise of international leadership in economic, military, and political domains.

  • Implementation of rules and institutions that reflect the hegemon's interests.

  • Surpassing other great powers in military capability while earning deference.

• Examples from Text: France under Louis XIV and Napoleon—sought a position of leadership but faced resistance.

3. Polarity

• Definition: The distribution of power among the leading states in the international system.

  • Refers to the number of dominant power centers.

  • Can be unipolar (one dominant power), bipolar (two dominant powers), or multipolar (multiple dominant powers).

• Impact: Influences stability and conflict dynamics within the international system.

  • Affects alliance patterns, the likelihood of conflict, and the nature of international norms.

  • Polarity is a manifestation of the more general process of capability concentration and diffusion.

• Examples from Text: Unipolarity (France under Louis XIV), bipolarity (Cold War), and multipolarity (pre-WWI Europe).

4. Power Transition Theory

• Definition: Conflict between great powers is likely when the distribution of power shifts, and a rising power challenges a declining one.

  • Focuses on the dynamics between states that are satisfied with the status quo and those that seek to revise it.

  • Suggests that war is more likely when a rising challenger begins to converge in strength with a declining hegemon.

• Implications: Instability during power shifts, the potential for hegemonic war, and the risk of miscalculation by rising and declining powers.

  • Either the declining leader initiates a preventive war so as not to be overtaken by the challenger, or the challenger strikes first, confident that it can accelerate its climb to the zenith of international power.

• Examples from Text: Conflict between status quo and revisionist states, the rise of Germany, and war often involves a “rear-end” collision between a rising dissatisfied state and a once-preeminent state that is striving to arrest its decline.

5. Imperial Overstretch

• Definition: The gap between a state’s external commitments and its internal resources, leading to a decline in relative power.

  • Occurs when a global leader devotes excessive resources to military purposes rather than wealth creation.

  • Results in the erosion of economic competitiveness and long-term growth.

• Implications: Economic strain, reduced long-term economic growth, and a weakening of a state’s international position.

  • As U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower explained, the dilemma, as U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower explained, is to “figure out how far you should go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.”

• Examples from Text: Eisenhower’s warning about destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.

6. Collective Security

• Definition: A system in which states agree to collectively respond to threats to peace and acts of aggression.

  • Based on the principle that peace is indivisible and that an attack on one state is an attack on all.

  • Requires a commitment from all members to take timely and robust action against aggressors.

• Requirements: Commitment, capacity, and consensus to act against aggression, a clear definition of "aggression"

  • Timely and robust approach.

  • This theory is anchored in the creed voiced by Alexandre Dumas's musketeers: “One for all and all for one!”

• Examples from Text: Wilson’s vision for the League of Nations and the UN Security Council.

IV. Analysis of Specific Events

1. Origins of World War I

• Levels of Analysis:

  • Individual: Misperceptions, psychological factors, and the influence of nationalism.

  • Domestic: Internal pressures for change in authoritarian institutions and public insistence for democratic reforms.

  • Systemic: The tightening web of alliances and the widespread belief that modern technology favored offensive military action.

• Key Events: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the July Crisis.

  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

  • Russia mobilizes in support of Serbia.

  • Germany declares war on Russia and France.

• Factors: A complex series of events, psychological factors, a climate of virulent nationalism, internal conditions, and the tightening web of alliances.

  • Political leaders generally held virtuous images of themselves, diabolical images of their adversaries, and fears that they were becoming increasingly vulnerable.

  • Ethnic prejudices flourished in this environment.

2. Origins of World War II

• Levels of Analysis:

  • Individual: Adolf Hitler’s truculent personality and aggressive tactics, based on Mein Kampf.

  • Domestic: Internal economic crises, the demise of democratic governance, and a climate of hypernationalism in Germany.

  • Systemic: The harsh terms imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, the political fragmentation of Central Europe, the failure of the League of Nations, and the collapse of the world economic system.

• Key Events: Hitler’s rise to power, appeasement, and the invasion of Poland.

  • Hitler cultivated a pacific image, signing a nonaggression pact with Poland, a naval arms limitation agreement with Great Britain, and suggesting a willingness to enter into other accords that would preserve world peace.

  • March 1939, Britain and France formed an alliance to protect the next likely victim—Poland.

• Factors: Treaty of Versailles, the political fragmentation of Central Europe, the failure of the League of Nations, and the collapse of the economic system.

V. Contending Approaches to World Order

1. International Norms

• Definition: Shared understandings among states about appropriate conduct in specific situations.

  • Based on collective evaluations of what ought to be done and expectations about what will be done.

  • Can be permissive (giving states wide latitude) or restrictive (limiting the use of force).

• Impact: Moderates state behavior and determines the legitimacy of actions.

  • Compliance with international norms elicits approval from other states and noncompliance, disapproval.

  • Norms are particularly influential among states with leadership that is sensitive to their reputations.

• Examples from Text: Permissive vs. restrictive norms, compliance leading to approval, and noncompliance to disapproval.

  • Respect and preserve “the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League.”

  • Decisions to use force required unanimity, and diverging interests and inconsistent cooperation among the Allies made securing a unanimous vote difficult.

2. Institutional Mechanisms

• Definition: Organizational arrangements devised to induce restraint when and where normative rules break down.

  • Can range from tacit agreements among great powers to explicit covenants pledging concerted action.

  • Designed to prevent any one great power from subduing all others.

• Impact: Reinforces normative rules and provides a framework for cooperation and conflict management.

  • Foreign policy makers decide how to treat defeated powers after a hegemonic war.

  • Heads of state choose whether the framework should be based on permissive or restrictive norms as well what types of institutions will fortify the new code of statecraft.

• Examples from Text: Agreements among great powers and covenants pledging concerted action.

3. Realism vs. Liberalism: Contrasting Views on How to Construct World Order

• Realism:

  • Focus: Power, strategic necessity, and the balance of power.

  • View of Human Nature: Competitive, egoistic

  • Core Concern: National interests

  • Policy Orientation: Maintaining independence

  • Conception of Politics: A struggle for relative gains

  • Guiding Principle: Strategic necessity

  • Normative Order: Permissive

• Liberalism:

  • Focus: Cooperation, international norms, and institutions.

  • View of Human Nature: Cooperative, altruistic

  • Core Concern: National and global interests

  • Policy Orientation: Maintaining interdependence

  • Conception of Politics: A search for mutual gains

  • Guiding Principle: Moral duty

  • Normative Order: Restrictive