GS231 Class Notes - Definitions, Origins, and Causes

**Definitions, Origins, and Causes -** Week 1- September 9 **War in Many Forms** Has been a persistent pattern Hurting and destroying economic development Changing the role of government in our societies Been the primary war, the worlds states and power has changed War has led to the profoundl...

**Definitions, Origins, and Causes -** Week 1- September 9 **War in Many Forms** Has been a persistent pattern Hurting and destroying economic development Changing the role of government in our societies Been the primary war, the worlds states and power has changed War has led to the profoundly of death in states No consensus of it - - - - - - **Inter-state (wars between states) War & Civil War** The causes of war are very complicated Many different kinds/ forms of war Uses force as a strategy Inter-state- huge impact on how modern states have been shaped, has been influential on the modern world and continues to be an influence Casualties- all injuries and deaths together Not a lot of inter-state wars anymore Inter-state because of their scall are catastrophic - tend to destroy more Trends in war- looking at the long term, there may be hope- war is becoming less common The world is getting more peaceful and less violent - war is declining - - - 1. 2. - **Definition of War** War is violent Violence separates war from group rivalry War is different from conflict War does involve conflicts of interest, rivalries War- to describe conflicts, war on cancer, war on poverty Between- a war is between two political organizations, When violence is one sided- it\'s not really war War is a joint outcome of behaviour of two or more outcomes The actors in wars are organizations- not individuals "Sustained, coordinated violence between political organizations" **War is "sustained, coordinated violence between political organizations"** We accept that violence is been used Goals- violence and war Focuses on the idea that violence has to be sustained How many people do you have to kill for it to be considered a war? - 1000 battle deaths a year between organizations for it to be considered a war Violence is sustained over a period of time - - - - - - - - - - - - **Carl Von Clausewitz on war** War is a political object. **The Death of Goliath** - - - - **Rousseau** - **Hobbes** - - - **Original of Warfare?** - - - **Settling Debate Looks at recent research in 3 key areas:** 1. 2. 3. **1. Study of animal Aggression and fighting** - - - - - **Bonobo Exceptions?** - - - - - **2. Studying violent conflict by hunter-gatherers and archeological evidence** **Studying Hunter-Gatherers: focus on homo sapiens (us)** - **Study of War among hunter-gatherers** - - - - - - - - - - **Challenges of contact paradox to assess hunter-gatherer violence** - - - - - **Willian Buckley among australias aborigines** - - - **North-west north america** - - - - - - **Conclusions about war and human nature thus far** 1. 2. 3. - - **Why violence and war?** - - - - **The Origins and Causes of War** **Natural or Learned? Evidence from pre-history** - week 2 sep 11/18 **3. Evolutionary Theory** **Sigmund Freud and Killer Instict** - - - - **Aggressive Instict?** - - - - **Aggression and violence are a tool** - - - - - - - - - **Evolutionary Psychology** - - - **Darwinian Evolution and violence** - - - - - **Violence serves evolutionary purpose** - - - - - **Evolutionary Impulse also explains kin cooperation** - - - - - - **Evolutionary Penalty for Kin Kiling** - - **Other Factors Reinforce Kin Preference** - - **Studying Hunter-Gatherer: focus on homo sapiens** - - - - **How are evolutionare rewards of violence expressed in human behaviour?** - - - - - - - - - - **Desire for reproduction: why? To achieve evolutionary ends** - - - - - - - - **Desire for reproduction: female scarcity paradox- constructed scarcity of females** - - - - - - - - - - - - **Femal scarcity paradox: insecurity dilemma** 1. 2. 3. 4. - - - - **Desire for reproduction: is is all about sex** - - **How are Evolutionary rewards of violence expressed in human Behviour** **Somatic activities as a cause pf violence between hunter-gathers** Desire for somatic activities and resources-livelihood capability - - - - - - **Somatic activites as a cause of violence between hunter-gathers** - - - - - **Somatic activities as a cause of violence between hunter-gathers: Resource scarcity** - - - - - - - **Somatic activities as a cause of violence between hunter-gatherers: territory** - - - - - - - **How are evolutionary rewards of violence expressed in human behaviour?** - **Gendered violene in Hunter-gatherer societies** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **How are evolutionary rewards of violence expressed in human behaviour?** - **Other subordinate causes of hunter-gather warfare: rank** - - - - - - - - **How are evolutionary rewards of violence expressed in human behaviour?** - **Revenge as a cause of violence** - - - - - - - **How are evolutionary rewards of violence expressed in human behaviour?** - **Security dilemma as a cause of violence rational action leads to greater insecurity** - - - - - - **How are evolutionary rewards of violence expressed in human behaviour?** - **World view/ religion as a cause violence among hunter-gathers** - - - - - - **How are evolutionary rewards of violence expressed in human behaviour?** - **Hunter-gatherer warfare** - - - - - - **Asymmetrical Warfare** - - - - - - - **Hunter-gatherer were lethal** - - - - - - - **Sling and Conoes** - **Ritual and shamanistic activity for battle** - - **New Zealand all blacks rugby** - **Pitched face-to-face battles** - - - - **Surprise attacks capability undermines deterrence** - - **Criticism of human nature theories 1986 seville statement on violence** - **Is there an enduring logic to why war ahppens in the international sysytems of sates? -** week 3 (sept 18) **Three age system of history**  **Internationrelations- the scholarly discipline - focus on the state period** - - - **The logic of the Leviathan** - - - - - **What distinguishes states form pre-state forms of human organization** - - - **Did the Leviathan make emerging human state societies less violent?** - - **Lethaluty if hunter-gatherer warfare (paleolithic era) compared to warfare after states developed (neo-lithic revolution)** - - - - **Neolithic revolution and rise of states led to declines in war and violence among humans** - - - - - - - **Three basic forms of world politics** - - - **World imperial system** - - **Feudal system** **Anarchic system of states** - - - - - - **Ancient Greece and the peloponnesian war** - **Is violence and war inherent in state system?** **Or** **Is war simply a tool or a strategy states use to achieve their interests?** **And** **Why do states in the internation system go to war with each other?** **Three basic traditions of explaining international relations** - - - - **Realism** - - - - - **Realism and power** - - - 1. 2. 3. - **Ancient greece and the peloponnesian war illustrate enduring realities of realists** - - **Liberalism** - - - - - - - - - - - - - **Constructivism** - - - - - **Concept of sovereignty is constructed** - - **Responsibilitiy to Protect** - **Constructiveism vs Realism and Liberalism: can war be socially deconstructed?** - - - - - - - **Gender lens and war** - - - - - - - - - **Building blocks of internation politics: what to examine when you want to understand how the world works?** - - - **Actors** - - - - - - **Goals- redefining military security** - - - - - - **Security expanded, especially after 1990s**  **Instruments for Achieving goals in international politics** - - - - - - - **Levels of Analysis and the Causes of War-** week 4 **Levels of Analysis** - - - - - - **Questions of violence and human nature at the INTERNAL individual level** - - - - - **Locating explanation among individuals or using psychology theories of behaviours** - - - - **EXTERNAL infuences of violence at indiviual level** - - - - - **Learned behaviour - individual level or societal level** - - - - - - - - - **Conditioned for violence** - - - - **Appeasement: Conditioned for violence** - **Frustration Agression theory** - - - - - - **Relative Deprivation Theory** - - - - - - **Level of analysis - nation-sate** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **Level of analysis - system** - - - - - - - **Implications and Critiques** - - - - - **Gwynne Dyer - The deadly game of nations** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwnpzFC0ue0 **Film's context: israel invasion of lebanon, june 1982** - - - - - - - **Evolution of States & War -** week 5 **Definition of State** " a [state] can be defined as a soveregiin political unit that may include many different communities and that operartes via a centralized government, which has the authority and powe to decree and enforce laws, collect taxes, and act as the legally recongized representative of its citizens in exchanges with other states, including in the waging of war" - **Definition of a Nation** A [nation] is really just a collection of people who identify with eachother by virtue of shared culture, language, history **Canada- A state with many nation** - - - - **Sovereignty- Post WW2 traditional conceptions** **Changing conceptions of sovereignty: Post-cold war**  **Sovereignty, normative change, and modern war** - - - - **Europe Before 1800** **War and States- 15th to 18th centuries** - - - - **War and the states before 1800: war equals state-building and state-building equals war** Important themes: - - - - - - **Monopolizing violence and eliminating competitiors to state use of violence** - - - - - **Europe Before 1800** **War and the State** - - - - **European state: exploration, pillage, conquest, and commerce** - - - **US costs of iraq-afghanistan wars** **Europe Before 1800** " A truer measure of the wars' total costs pegs them at between \$4 trillion and \$6 trillion. This fuller accounting includes "long-term medical care and discbility compensation for service members, veterans and families, military replenishment and social and economic costs." **Mercantilism** - - - - **Mercantilism: Maritime Power stes the course** - - - - **Eurpopean states good at creating wealth and mechanisms of control** - - - - - - - - **Britian's Militaristics Society** - - - **French Revolution and Napoleonic wars** - - - - - - - - **Wars of napoleon** **Congress of Cienna following napoleon's defeat** - - - Last Wed week 5? **19th Century Power Balances and the Road to WW1-** week 7 **Power** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **Changing power resources among leading states over time** **Balance of Power** **Balance of Power** **1- Balance of power as a description of distribution of power** - - - - - **2- Balance of Power as Policy** - - - **3- Balancing: A General Theory of How States Maintain Power Balances** - - - **4- Balance of Power as Multipolar System** - - **19th Century Balance of Power System**  **Characteristics of 19th Century Balance of Power System** - - - - **Why did the 19th Century Balance of Power Sytems Break Down?** - - - - **A Multi-level Explanation of the Causes of World War 1 (reading and week 6 documentary)** **Tragedy of WW1** - - - - - - **Understanding Disease** - - - - **Troop Disease Deaths Still High: Canadian Boer War Deaths** - - **Road to Total War: Telecommunications Revolution** - - - - **Road to Total War: Technological Developments Railroads and Steamships** - - - - - - - **Road to Total War: Technological Developments - Weapons** - - - - - **Road to Total War: Strategic Challenges - Germany's Schlieffen Plan** - - **19th Century State Development: Victory in War a Function of Manpower and Railroad System** - - - - - - - - **Justifying Imperialism: Duty and Capacity to Control Rest of World- White Man's Burden** **Global Imperialism: 19th Century British Empire - Dominant Trade and Naval Power** - - - - **Read to Toal War: Militarism** - - - - - - - - - - - - **The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Collective -** week 8 **World War 1 is Now History** - - **Human Costs of World War 1** **European Military Deaths in World War 1** - - - - - - - **Europe Before and After World War 1** - - - - - **US President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference** **notes** - - - "There must be a balance of power but a community of power... I am therefore proposing that all nations, henceforth, avoid entangling alliances that draw them into competitions of power, catch them in a net of intrigue and selfish rivalry, and disturb their own affairs with influences intruded from without... When all unite to act in the same sense and with the same purpose, all will act in the common interest and are free to live their own lives under a common protection." **League of Nations** \- A new moral arrangement - **3 Key Points to League's Collective Security** - - - - **3 Key differences between collective security and balance of power** - - - - - - - - - 1. - - - - 2. - 3. - - - **Foreign and us domestic opposition to the league** - - - - - - - **League failure: empty chair** - **Little entente and allies** - - - - **New world order** - - **League successes** - - - - - - - - - - - **League failures** - - - - - - - **England and the league of nations** - - - - - - **French Maginot line mentality** - - - - - **Italy and Ethiopia 1935** - - - - **Fascist brothers: Hitler and Mussolini** **Rise again of collective security** - - - **Cold war freeze** - **Post-Cold war thaw** - - - **Reforming the UN Security Council?** - **1991 Gulf war** - - - - **George Bush, Sr.** - - **Abandoning shite uprising at the end of 1991 Gulf War** - **Collective security again?** **Why do security threats sometimes lead to collective security responses and at other times not? Is this liberal war in action** - - - - **Mapping US hegemony - finding room for collective security** - - - **Somalia - On the collective security agenda again?** - - - - - - **Arab Spring Uprising in Libya 2011: R2P - collective security again or failure?** - - - **Civil war in Syria/Iraq and ISIL/Isis/Daesh - what collective security agenda?** - - **What will determine war and peace in the 21st century?** - - - - - - - - **Nuclear Weapons in the Cold War and Beyond -** week 9 **Key Themes** - - - - - - **Nuclear Fission** - - - - **Hiroshima and Nagasaki** - **Manhattan Project** - - **Hydrogen Bomb** - - - - - **Comparative Nuclear Bomb Yields** - - **Largest H-Bomb Ever - USSR Tsar Bomba** **Early Cold War Strategy: Mad - (M)utually (A)ssured (D)estruction** - - - - **NUKES: Useable Weapons?** - - - - - **Nuclear Weapons In-Balance** - **Nuclear Weapons Balance Today** - - - - - **The World's Current Nuclear Arsenal** - **Nuclear Triad** 1. 2. 3. - - **Tactical Nuclear Weapons** - - - - - - - - - - **West Relied On Nukes to Deal with Soviet Conventional Military Invasion Threat** - - - - - - **US/USSR Nuclear Weapons** **Intercontinental Ballistic Missile** - **US Air Force: Strategic Air Command (SAC)** - **SAC Commander Curtis LeMay** - - - **William Moore on US Nuclear Attack Plans, 1954** SAC plans to: "lay down an attack... of 600-750 bombs by approaching Russia form many different directions so as to hit their (radar) early warning screens simultaneously. It would require about 2 hours from this moment until bombs had been dropped by using the bomb-as-you-go system in which both (blunting) and (destruction) targets would be hit as they reached them (opening up corridors for the bombers that followed)\... the final impression was that virtually all of Russia would be nothing but smoking ruin at thee end of two hours" **US Airborne Alert Flights** - - - - - **US/USSR Nuclear Weapons Balance at 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis** **Early Soviet ICBMs - S7 Semiorka** - - **Sputnik** - - - - **Missile Gap Claims in Late 1950s** **Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP)-62** - - **Robert McNamara -** US defense secretary **Cuban Missile Crisis** - - **Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Control is an Illusion. Dangers and Risks of Armageddon Not Worth the Benefits** " There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know"- Donald Rumsfield, explaining rhe limitations of US intelligence reports - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **Secret Deal to End Cuban Missile Crisis: Remove US Jupiter Missiles in Turkey** - **Post-Cuban Crisis Soviet Nuclear Build-up** **US President Reagan's Star Wars Plan** **Soviet Dead-Hand System: Perimeter** - - - **Costs: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Programs, 1940-1996\* Total:\$5,821.0bill** - - **New Start Targets After 2018** New Start Benefits 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. **Current US Nuclear Forces** - - Summary of total US nuclear weapons - - - - - - - **Current Russian Nuclear Foces** - - - - - - **Recent Dangers on the Road to Nuclear Abolition: Madmen, New Technology, Leaving Old Treaties** **We Must Reduce Tactical Nuclear Weapons** **Nuclear Non-Proliferation Efforts** Whos next? First we got the bomb, and that was good, 'Cause we love peace and motherhood. Then Russia got the bomb, but that's okay, 'Cause the balance of power's maintained that way Whos next? Then France got the bomb but don't you grieve, 'Cause they're on our side (I believe). China got the bomb, but have no fears, 'Cause they can't wipe us out for at least five years. Whos next?... South Africa wants two, thats right: One for the black and one for the white. Who's next? Egypt's gonna get one too, Just to use on you know who. So israel's getting tense, Wants one in self defense. "The Lord's our shepherd," says the psalm, But just in case we better get a bomb. Who's next? Luxembourg is next go And (who knows?) maybe Monaco. We'll try to stay serene and calm When Alabama get the bomb. Who's next? Who's next? -Tom Lehrer, 1965 **Comprehensive Nuclear Teest Ban** **Zero Option: 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons** - Signatory states: 93 - Ratifying states so far: 70 - **History of the TPNW** - - - - - - - - **Canada and the TPNW** - - - - - - **How can we force Canada to sign TPNW? The NATO Dilemma** - - - - - - - 1. 2. - **5 Key Political Effects of Nuclear Weapons on War and States** 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. - **Revolutions and Civil War in the Post-Cold War Era -** week 10 **Types of Conflict 1946-2023** **Non-state Violence and Where Violence is Happening** - - **Congo: Africa World war** **What causes reevolutions? Why do some turn violent?** **Why do some revolution stay peaceful** **The fall of Pepi II, a pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, in 2100 BC** **Definition of a Revolution** A revolution is, according to Sociologist Jack Goldstone, "an effort to transform the political institutions and the justification for political authority in a society, accompanied by formal or informal mass mobilization and non-institutional actions that undermine existing authorities." **Common Explanations for Why Revolution Happen - Not Sufficient** - - - **Making Sense of Revolutions by Distinguishing Common Characteristics** - Outcomes - Ideas - Actors - The way that events unfold-processes - - - **Outcome of Revolution** - - - - - - - **Revolutionary Ideas** - - - - **Revolutionary Actors** - - - - - **The Process of the Revolution** - - - - - - **Making Sense of Revolutions by Distinguishing Different Characteristics** Outcomes - Ideas - Actors - The way that events unfold- processes - - - **Key Factors That Explain WHY Revolutions Happen, Develop, Turn Out** Underlying Causes of Revolution (willingness or grievance) - - - Revolution Process (opportunity) - - - - Revolutionary Outcome - **Key Factors That Explain WHY Revolutions Happen, Develop, Turn Out** Underlying Causes of Civil War (willingness or grievance) - - - Civil War Process (opportunity) - - Civil War Outcome - - **Causes of Revolutions: Influence of the International System** Theda Skocopl-international military and economic competition can undermine domestic state stability - Ideas - in the form of ideologies - can spread across state boundaries - Direct or indirect military intervention OR absence of intervention OR the withdrawal of ongoing support for a regime - International trade networks and the actions of transnational agencies and alliances - **Outside Intervention Can Stop a Revolution** - - - - - - **Withdrawal of Foreign Support Enhances Revolutionary Opportunities** - - - - **International Trade Network Influences: IMF and Water Wars in Cochabamba, Bolivia** **Early 2000s Leftist Reawakening In Latin America** **Relationships Among States, Elites, and Popular Groups** - - - - - **State-Eite Relationships** - - - - - - - - **Ensuring or Losing EElite Support: Effectiveness and Justice** - - - - **Three Social CHanges Generally Undermine Effectiveness and Justice to Increase Regime Risk** 1. 2. 3. **Defeat or Loss in War** **Population Growth** **Global Median Age Structure Can Help Predict Stable Revolutionary Transitions** **Colonial Regimes or Personalistic Dictators** **Revolt or Assassination** **2009 Arab Spring Revolts in Tunisia** **Necessity of Mass Mobilization** Three types of mobilization and their causes: 1. 2. 3. **Frequently Necessary Process Factors** - - - **State Repression Can Blunt or Worsen Revolts and Revolutions** - - - - **Revolutions and their causes** - - - - - - **Causes of Revolution** **Irregular Warfare: terrorism and Insurgency -** week 11 **Defnition of Irregular Warfare** "The use of violence by sub-state actors or groups within states for political purposes of achieving power, control and legitimacy, using unorthodox or unconventional approaches to warfare owing to a fundamental weakness in resources or capabilities" - James Kiras **Varieities of Irregular Warfare** - - - - - - - **Key Difference Between Regular War and Irregular War - Ends vs. Means** 1. - - - - - - 2. - **History and Lessons of Irregular Warfare in Last 100 Years** - - - - - - - **From WW2 to Late 1960s Four Basic Irregualr Warfare Strategies** 1. - 2. - - - **Make Colonial Power Pay** **From WW2 to Late 1960s - Four Basic Irregular Warfare Strateegies** 3. - 4. - **Vangaurds of the CUban Revolution** - **Hybrid Approaches: Shining Path of Peru** - **Another Failed Vanguard Revolution:Che in Boliva** **Counter-Insugeency (COIN)** - - - - **5 Neat Principles of Counter- Insurgency: Inherently Nast, Brutal, Violent** 1. **Abuses of Abu Ghraid Prison - Standard Operating Proceedure for counter- inseugency: intimidation and coercion** **Chushi, Peru - Early 1980s: Control by Massacre and Repression** - - **5 Neat Principles of Counter- Insurgency: Inherently Nast, Brutal, Violent** 2. - 3. - **Surveil and Kill - Technology at the Service of COIN** **5 Neat Principles of Counter- Insurgency: Inherently Nast, Brutal, Violent** 4. - 5. - - - **Responding to Terrorism: Don't Mistake Ends With Means**