Module Two Global Issues Notes PDF

Main Actors in International System - Nation States - International organizations - Multinational corporations (MNC) - Nongovernmental organization (NGO) - Non state actors such as individual leaders, terrorist groups, and famous individuals Levels of Analysis - glob...

Main Actors in International System - Nation States - International organizations - Multinational corporations (MNC) - Nongovernmental organization (NGO) - Non state actors such as individual leaders, terrorist groups, and famous individuals Levels of Analysis - global level - Interstate level - Domestic level - Individual level International relations Collective Goods Problem: a tangible or intangible good created by the members of a group that is available to all group members regardless of their individual contribution; participants can gain by lowering their own contribution to the collective good yet if too many participants do so the good cannot be provided How can this problem be solved? 1. Dominance (the more powerful makes the rules) 2. Reciprocity (eye for an eye) 3. Identity (group identity) The Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia - thirty years war in Europe (1618-1648): beginning of modern international relations - Peace of Westphalia (1648): principle of sovereignty and political rights of monarchs. Laid the groundwork for the formation of the modern nation-state Sovereignty: Internal: monopoly of effective use of force inside a country External: recognition by other states as one of their peers Congress of Vienna (1814-1815): - Napoleonic wars challenged sovereignty of many European powers - Series of high level meetings meant to reorganize the European political boundaries after the napoleonic wars, reestablish the old monarchies and redistribute power among themselves to enable a balance of powers and keep peace - Maintained relative peace among European powers until 1914 Balance of power If we have a rising and threatening actor, what should we do? 1. Building our power internally. Increasing military, budget, draft… 2. Creating an alliance with other concerned nations. This is called the balance of power process. Balance of power process is the process through which different actors put their strength together to oppose a rising and threatening actor. World War I (1914-1918) - Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire against Great Britain, the U.S., France, Russia, Italy, and Japan+smaller powers - More than 9 million soldiers and 40 million people were killed - Why? - Birth of international relations as a field of study World War II (1939-1945) - about 3% of the world population died - 70-85 million died - Why? - How can we reduce occurrence of wars? - How can we reduce intensity of wars? - We need theory What is theory? - Theory is a generalization to limit the amount of information which is necessary to understand an event by focusing on a limited number of important variables - Analytical tool which simplifies reality - Ultimate goals are prediction and control Uses of Theory: - describe: Provides an overview of the ideas, concepts, event, or action - Explain: why the outcome occurred based on theory - predict: using the theory be able to predict future occurrences of the event or outcome - Control Theory All theories have assumptions and variables - Assumptions are predetermined by an author - Variables tell the user what information a theory considers essential Why do we have multiple theories in international relations? 1. They ask different questions 2. They have different assumptions 3. They choose different variables Theories of International relations examine: - main actors? - Most important variable? - Nature of politics? - Possibility of change? - Level of analysis? theories of international relations: - Realism - Liberalism - Constructivism - Historical materialism (Marxism) - feminism Main actors: States, MNCS, Political parties, influential individuals Main variables: military, economic, ideational Nature of politics: cooperative, conflicting Possibility of change: yes or no Levels of analysis: global, interstate, domestic, individual Realism: - Main actors: states - Main variables: military power - Nature of politics: conflictual - Possibility of change: pessimistic - Main levels of analysis: interstate - Liberalism - Main actors: states and other actors - Main variables: economic power - Nature of politics: cooperative - Possibility of change: optimistic - Main level of analysis: all Constructivism: - Main actors: states and other actors - Main variables: economic power - Nature of politics: conflictual and cooperative - Possibility of change: optimistic - Main levels of analysis: global, interstate, domestic - historical materialism: - Main actor: economic classes - Main variables: material power - Nature of politics: conflictual - Possibility of change: optimistic - Main level of analysis: global Realism: - tradition goes back to thousands of years ago - The first articulation of this of thought comes from Thucydides history of war between ancient Athens and Sparta - It is not only one theory but numerous theories which share core assumptions Assumption of realism: - power is the first shared assumption of realist theories - Realism focuses on “hard” power which is the use or threat of using military power - Second shared assumption of realism is that states are primary actors - While realism does not say other actors do not matter it argues that states are the primary drivers within the international system - This also supports the focus on the number of great powers in the system, those states which matter most - many realist theories focus on relative power of the great powers with the system o Unipolar system o Bipolar system o Multipolar system - Third assumption is that the system is anarchic - There is no entity above states to limit their actions in anarchy - The only restraints on the state actions are their own choices of the actions of other states - Last shared assumption of realism is the balance of power - Process through which different actors put their strength together to oppose a rising and threatening actor Realism - nation states are unitary actors - In others words while there are many components within a nation state realists treat countries as unitary actors like billiard balls types of realism - classical/human nature - Defensive - Offensive - Neoclassical What causes states to compete for power: - Human nature: lust for power inherent in states - Defensive: structure of system (no protection) - Offensive: structure of system (no protection) Offensive realism - John Mearsheimer. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.(2001) - Mearsheimer assumes that states seek complete security rather than just survival - And the only they can achieve security is global hegemony (material dominance) - Because of nuclear weapons and the stopping power of seas world dominance is not possible - As a result states go for the next best thing: regional hegemony - They also strive to be the only regional hegemony in the world Neoclassical realism: - seeks to explain variation in the foreign policies of the same state over time or scores different states facing similar external constraints - Like offensive and defensive realists, neoclassical realism accepts that international system limits the policy choices of states - Unlike offensive and defensive realists, neoclassical realism does not assume that all states will pursue similar strategies when faced with similar systemic constraints - Each state makes sense of the international system through the lens of its: o State apparatus (government, administration, army, police, courts, prisons etc) o Leader's image of the situation o Its ability to connect with and receive support from the domestic society - a states strategic culture refers to propensity of a state to choose between a mixture of conflictual and cooperative strategies submit, settle, deadlock, dominate dealing with weaker, equally, powerful, stronger friends, partners, rivals, and enemies over primary and secondary goals security dilemma - when a state increases its power to achieve more security - Other countries feel threatened by it, so they increase their power capabilities as well - Because they all have more means to harm each other they become less secure Game theory The essential elements of a game are: - players: the individuals who make decisions - Rules of the game: who move when? What can they do? - Outcomes: what do the various combinations of actions produce - Payoffs: what are the players’ preferences over the outcomes - Information: what do players know when they make decisions - Chance: probability distribution over chance events, if any Some games are zero-sum games: when we interact what i get, you lose - Poker - Gambling Some games are non-zero-sum games: when we interact we both get something out of our interaction - Prisoner’s dilemma Prisoners' dilemma One of the famous games. This game shows that if actors/countries do not cooperate they will not get the best results. Even when they are most rational and utility maximizing actors If they both stay quiet, they get one year of prison If they both confess, they both get two years of prison If one confesses and the other does not, the confessing player goes free and the other gets three years of jail What should they do? Each one has the following choices - No time in prison - One year in prison - Two years in prison - Three years in prison If they are both selfish and do not truth each other, what is their best option? They both confess to avoid prison And because they both confess, they get two years in prison They both acted rationally and selfishly. However, instead of the best option, they ended up with the second worst choice