International Politics Made Simple PDF

NANA B Nana Baffour Awuah NaNa B (NANA B) INTERNATIONAL POLITICS MADE SIMPLE (THIS SLIDES WAS PREPARED TO AID YOU IN YOUR STUDIES) NANA B NANA B Nana B INTRODUCING INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AS A DISCIPLINE NANA B...

NANA B Nana Baffour Awuah NaNa B (NANA B) INTERNATIONAL POLITICS MADE SIMPLE (THIS SLIDES WAS PREPARED TO AID YOU IN YOUR STUDIES) NANA B NANA B Nana B INTRODUCING INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AS A DISCIPLINE NANA B NANA B MEANING OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS International Relations is a significant field of study in the social sciences.The scope of international relations encompasses the complicated relationships that exist among the world's sovereign states. It is concerned with the investigation of all events and situations that have an impact on many states. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, stated that man is a social animal by nature. Man, as a social animal, cannot exist in isolation. His essential nature and requirements necessitate that he be in contact with others. No individual or state can afford to live in isolation, and no state can afford to exist in isolation. No state, like an individual, is self- sufficient. It must, of course, develop interstate connections. NANA B NANA B CONT. Padelford and Lincoln define it as the “Interactions of state policies within the changing patterns of power relationships”. Quincy Wright defines “International Relations is the relations between groups of major importance in the life of the world at any period of history and particularly relations among territorially organized nation-states which today are of such importance”. Hartman defines “International Relations as a field of study is focused upon the process by which states adjust their national interest to those of other states”. NANA B NANA B CONT. According to Palmer and Perkins “International politics is essentially concerned with the state system. Sprout and Sprout also defined international politics as those aspects of the interactions and relations of independent political communities in which some element of opposition, resistance, and conflict”. Morgenthau defines “International Relations is the struggle for and use of power among nations.” NANA B NANA B NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS The term ‘International politics’ refers to the relationships and exchanges that exist between nations.There are sovereign states whose interests are not identical, just as there are sovereign states whose interests are not identical in politics. National interests refer to the interests of sovereign states. In order to achieve their goals, sovereign states come into conflict with one another, and power is frequently employed as a tool to achieve those goals.Thus, international politics is the component of sovereign state interactions and relations in which a conflict of interest exists. NANA B NANA B CONT. It is a process in which countries use power to protect their contradictory interests. International relations, on the other hand, are more than just state-to-state political connections. Hartmann opines, "International relations include all intercourse among states and all movements of peoples, goods, and ideas across national frontiers” As a result, it is evident that international relations include more than just political connections. Political considerations, such as economic, cultural, and religious factors, undoubtedly dominate other factors in international relations.As a result, it investigates the whole of all the relationships between and among the world's states. NANA B NANA B ANARCHIC SYSTEM Anarchy reigns supreme in the field of international relations. There are no centralized organizations that regulate states. Even though there are organizations like the UN, they can’t really influence the behavior of nations. Nations deals with the external world based on their strength. In international relations theory, the concept of anarchy is the idea that the world lacks any supreme authority or sovereignty. In an anarchic state, there is no hierarchically superior, coercive power that can resolve disputes, enforce law, or order the system of international politics. In international relations, anarchy is widely accepted as the starting point for international relations theory. International relations generally does not understand "anarchy" as signifying a world in chaos, disorder, or conflict; rather, it is possible for ordered relations between states to be maintained in an anarchic international system. Anarchy provides foundations for realist, neorealist, and neoliberal, and constructivist paradigms of international relations. NANA B NANA B DIPLOMACY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATION States in the global system interact on a number of level. In the midst of wars and other conflicts, they still try to engage in discussions and negotiations. Diplomacy is one of the central means used by countries to interact with one another. Diplomacy primary means the practice and process of conducting negotiations, holding discussions and meetings between accredited representatives of countries and intergovernmental organization. Those who engage in diplomacy are called Diplomates. There are two ways of becoming a diplomates; Career Diplomates and Appointed Diplomates. NANA B NANA B CONT. Diplomates enjoy diplomatic privileges in the countries where they are stationed.These privileges are referred to as DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITIES. Nonetheless, diplomates can be stripped of their immunity when they do things considered unacceptable by the countries where they are working. Some of these can be engaging in espionage activities.This is when diplomates spy on the countries where they are working and send a report to their home governments. Ones a diplomats engage in espionage activity, he can be declared as persona non grata ,meaning he is no longer welcomed in host country. NANA B NANA B TYPES OF DIPLOMACY Standard Diplomacy: interaction between government and intergovernmental organizations at the highest levels. Bilateral Diplomacy: Kind of diplomacy between only two countries or parties. Multilateral Diplomacy: involves at least three countries engaging in diplomacy. Regional Diplomacy: a type of multilateral diplomacy that takes place in a particular region of the world. Public Diplomacy: Concern itself with ways and strategies used by countries and intergovernmental organization to communicate directly to people of other countries. NANA B NANA B CONT. Shuttle Diplomacy: Diplomacy where third party or country serves as a mediator between two parties who do not want to sit down and talk with each other Gunboat Diplomacy: is when countries display their military might in the pursuance of their foreign policy. Coercive Diplomacy: is when countries threaten or force other countries to follow certain foreign policy directives. NANA B NANA B DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS Group of people from one country who work in another country on behalf of their country. Embassies and High Commissions High Commissions is a diplomatic mission from Commonwealth country to another Commonwealth Country. Embassies is refers to diplomatic mission from a commonwealth country to a country that is not a member of the commonwealth NANA B NANA B FUNCTIONS OF DIPLOMATIC MISSION Consular services: issuing visa to those who want to visit their country. Giving information to their home government Cultural and educational exchange program Signing of agreement on behalf of their countries NANA B NANA B ACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ARENA There are individuals and organizations whose actions and inactions influence the international system in profound ways.These individuals and organizations are known as Actors These actors play major roles in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the world. Actors are either State or Non-State actors. State Actors act on behalf of the State/Countries Non-State Actors act on behalf of themselves, multinational corporations, nonprofit organization, terrorist and other militant groups etc. NANA B NANA B INTERNATIONAL LAW Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) is the father of international law International Law are rules framed to guide the interaction among states at the international level. Two Types of International Laws: Public International Laws: are laws that pertains to government to government relations as well as countries relations with other types of transnational actors like International Organizations among others. Private International Laws : are routine transnational intercourse between or among states as well as non-state actors. NANA B NANA B SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS Treaties Customs General Principles law Legal Scholarships NANA B NANA B PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW These principles makes International Law different from other laws 1. Sovereign Equality: All countries at the international systems are equal and have the same protection under international law. 2. Neutrality: means that States that decide to remain neutral or nonaligned in conflicts or war between opposing parties have rights and thus they are protected by international law. 3. Jure Sovereignty: Countries sovereignty is based on law and not fact. 4. Extraterritoriality: allows countries to maintain jurisdictions over their diplomatic missions in other countries. NANA B NANA B THE STATE, NATION AND NATION STATE The state, also called country, denotes a clearly defined area with its own government that exercises authority over its population. The Nation denotes a group of people traceable to particular historical descent or background and living in different parts of the world. The Nation-State is a combination of the nation and the state. It indicates the group of people traceable to a particular background living in the same country. NANA B NANA B EXPLAINING SOME BASIC CONCEPT IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS Sovereignty: means states are independent of one another and that each state can pursue the course of action or policy that it deems important. In other words, states have the exclusive right to exercise control over their jurisdiction. Low Politics: Means a type of politics between governments and people that focuses on economic, social welfare and human wellbeing, environmental and human right issues. High Politics: Suggest the type of politics especially between governments that centers on military, security and defense issues. NANA B NANA B CONT. Soft Power: Implies countries using their ideas, culture and values to influence other countries and people around the world. Hard Power: indicates countries using their military and economic strength, rather than values or culture to shape the global system. Countries mostly adopt gunboat and coercive diplomacy to achieve their objective. National Interest: this basically means what countries want for themselves and do all they can to achieve such interest. Unipolarity: implies the existence of only one center of military and economic power in the world.The Country is mostly called world Hegemon. NANA B NANA B CONT. Bipolarity: suggest the existence of two centers of military and economic might at the international system. Multipolarity: has to do with the presence of three or more centers of military and economic might at the international system. Isolationism: Is the tendency for countries to withdraw or not involve themselves in the affairs of other countries. Just-War Theory: the theory posits that under certain circumstances it is justified for countries to go to war. Bandwagon: when military weaker countries join forces with s militarily stronger countries for protection. NANA B NANA B CONT. Principles of Jus ad bellum and Jus in bello The Rule of jus ad bellum pertains to the circumstances under which states can acceptably wage war. The Rule of jus in bello serves as a guidelines for fighting fairly once war has begun NANA B NANA B INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE Key questions to examine: What are international organizations (IOs)? Why are international organizations important? (i.e. do we need IOs in international relations?) Why do states create IOs? How can we analyze IOs behavior? NANA B NANA B WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IOS International organization is a subfield of international relations Whether IOs are independent actors in their own right or serve the interests of the powerful states who establish them? NANA B NANA B IOS AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE sovereign states cooperate to tackle global problems NANA B NANA B WHAT ARE IOS? Organizations by three or more states (intergov’tal orgs) NANA B NANA B IOS DEFINITION “an organisation that has representatives from three or more states supporting a permanent secretariat to perform on-going tasks related to a common purpose” (Barnett and Finnemore, 2004:177) NANA B NANA B SOVEREIGN RIGHTS OF MEMBERSHIP It enhances their recognition and legitimacy Decolonisation, war, or peaceful dissolution, states immediately join IOs once their sovereignty is recognised (eg. South Sudan the latest member of the UN). NANA B NANA B CLASSIFICATION OF IOS treaty-based issue-based o mandate geographical representation of members whether membership is limited, and whether they are merely fora for inter-state decision-making, or relatively autonomous service organizations that can act independently to meet member states’ directives. NANA B NANA B FORMATION OF IOS IOs are formed by two key ways: 1. Treaty-based IOs (international agreement) - organisation’s mandate - structure - function - resources States sign a treaty to create the IO, then they ratify the treaty through their domestic political processes. NANA B NANA B CONT. 2. Emanation - a ‘spin-off’ IO to undertake more detailed work in a particular area(eg. UNCTAD was created this way) -easy to establish than treaty-based IOs. (increase in emanation IOs than treatybased ones. In 2014,the number of emanation IOs increased to 920 compared with 273 treaty based IOs) what does the increase in the emanation IOs tell you? NANA B NANA B NON-STATE ACTOR/IOS MEMBERSHIP - IOs that include non-state actors in their decision-making and governing structures (eg. ILO), until 1919, International Association of the Legal Protection of Labour. - They set standards for labour conditions, devising and creating conventions and providing technical assistance and policy advice NANA B NANA B HYBRID IOS These are even more complex (eg International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) - it devises int’l standards for technical processes that affect about 80% of world commodity trade (ISO, 2015) - it is an NGO. But membership of ISO is comprised of national standards bodies; either public or private. Its members include states: - the standards est by ISO have become de facto standards for the WTO - ISO has the imprimatur of states and the WTO for devising int’l standards. NANA B NANA B BRIEF MODERN HISTORY OF IOS Created in the mid-19th century - to advance cross-border relations among European states - to improve trade and commerce with one another - agree on common methods of interacting and common standards (eg. IBWM) Isolated examples of Ios existed in the pre-modern period, eg. Hanseatic League (among North German towns between 11th and 17th century,THE earliest modern IO was created in 1815. NANA B NANA B PIUS – MODERN FORM OF IOS ‘Apolitical 'technical organizations These are known as Public Int’l Unions - created to devise solutions to differing standards among states Eg of PIUs: 1. International Telegraphic Union, now Int’l Telec Union; 2. Universal Postal Union Both ITU and UPU are the oldest in existence - UN system NANA B NANA B IOS ARE PURPOSE-BASED Est to address specific issues: – Tariffs – Maritime trade and shipping routes – Rules for aviation – Roads and high ways – Postal services – Telecommunications – Patents and copy rights – Information technology social problems IOs: - public health, labour and humanitarian issues NANA B NANA B NEW THINGS BY MODERN IOS Secretariats Permanent staff to carry out specific functions Meeting of member states at conferences Governing body to enact and implement the wishes of the people in between conferences NANA B NANA B POLITICAL IOS instability in the int’l order - Napoleonic wars, the Great Powers of Europe created multilateral political conferences to restore order - Multilateralism is the practice of coordinating national policies in groups of three or more states (Keohane, 1990: 731) NANA B NANA B EMERGENCE OF POLITICAL IOS Congress of Vienna (1815). - States met to agree on the rules of diplomacy to prevent imperialism in Europe and to define how they relate with each other Concert of Europe - The Great Powers of Europe at the time used the Vienna system to oppose revolutionary mov’ts, weaken the forces of nationalism, and to uphold the balance of power - Regular meetings of states which became part of diplomatic life NANA B NANA B POLITICAL IOS CON’T To further their economic and political interests, including their global empires, they resort to multilateralism, as opposed to bilateralism Nevertheless, they continue to engage in balance of power politics, imperialism and alliances were the primary means of inter-state cooperation. NANA B NANA B HAGUE CONVENTION/HAGUE SYSTEM Hague Convention - 2 separate peace conferences in 1899 and 1907 created it. – Czar Nicholas II brought states together to devise new rules for the conduct of warfare – Unlike the Great Power Hegemony of the Concert of Europe, the Hague Convention brought together all recognized states – not just Great Powers – This means all recognized states were legally equal and had rights, but this excluded the colonized. NANA B NANA B HAGUE CONVENTION CONT. The Hague system also introduces; - the procedural aspects of int’l meetings where chairs are elected, committees are organized, and roll calls held (Claude, 1964: 25, 27). It also attempted to establish a permanent means to address conflict among recognized actors in the int’l system. It created the Permanent Court of Arbitration (which still exists today). Many of the ideas of the Hague system on how to ensure international order were taken up after the First World War. NANA B NANA B LEAGUE OF NATIONS created to resolve international disputes than engage in warfare Direct response to the failure of balance of power politics in Europe. Balance of power killed the League of Nations – absence of major powers made it extremely difficult to take hard decisions Lessons from the failure of the League of Nations directly influenced the founders of the UN and their vision NANA B NANA B WHY DO STATES CREATE IOS? IOs - formal multilateralism. Group of Seven (G7) and the Group of 20 (G20) -informal multilateralism. NB:Which countries comprise of the G7 and the G20? What do they do? Why do states create IOs when they can use more informal groupings where they are not tied to fixed rules, procedures, and financing? NANA B NANA B WHY DO STATES CREATE IOS CON’D Informal multilateralism has benefits such as taking quicker decisions, no stringent or binding int’l treaty, and change directions as circumstances warrant (Lipson, 1991: 501) Despite these, there is “never an absolute need for IOs (Martin, 1992: 791) Four Primary Theoretical Approaches explain why states create formal IOs: –Liberalism - Realism –Constructivism - Marxism NANA B NANA B BEFORE,WE PROCEED,WHAT IS A THEORY? A theory of international relations is a set of ideas that explains how the international system works. Unlike an ideology, a theory of international relations is (at least in principle) backed up with concrete evidence. International relations theories can help us understand the way the international systems work, as well as how nations engage with each other and view the world. Hence, in subsequent slides, we will discuss the theories of international politics in detailed. NANA B NANA B LIBERALISM Key Proponent – David Mitrany (1888-1975) IOs are means to ensure individual prosperity and freedom (Mitrany, 1943; Claude, 1964:11-13) IOs are functional bodies which facilitate prosperity by making trade and commerce across states easier through the institution of common procedures and standards (eg: PIUs) NANA B NANA B CONT. IOs advance international peace. As states engage each other through formal orgs, they would be enmeshed in peace work, this would restrain them from warfare (Mitrany, 1943; Jacobson, 1984:21-29) However, fallouts from the World Wars (I&II) fundamentally undermined the liberal arguments that states’ enmeshment within IOs would restrain them from war. – The liberals were labelled as ‘idealists’ for thinking that cooperating in ‘unimportant’ matters could influence the high politics of state diplomacy and strategic concerns. Liberal scholars retreated on the importance of IOs immediately after WWII. NANA B NANA B NEOLIBERALISM Key proponent – Robert Owen Keohane (1984) The theory took the state as the primary unit. It argues that states used IOs to advance their interests. - These interests can be achieved through collective action. - neoliberal theory is focused “on the problems of whether and how states might cooperate for mutual advantage despite the absence of supranational government (anarchy)” (Fearon, 1998:269). NANA B NANA B REALISM Realists: - reject the optimism of liberal theory about the prospects of IOs. - despite IOs existence, states retain their propensity to engage in conflict to obtain power and advantage. - In the realist framework, IOs are merely the means through which states conduct their diplomacy Examples of realist are : Hans Morgenthau, Kenneth Waltz among others. NANA B NANA B REALISM CONT. Classical realists recognised that IOs and international institutions provide platforms for inter-state negotiations and bargaining that could help change the international order (Morgenthau, 1958:75-6). But later realists dismissed the ability of IOs to influence international politics in any profound way (see Waltz, 2000). Realists believe that international institutions are shaped and limited by states that found and sustain them and have little independent effect (Waltz, 2000:18) IOs “have no independent effect on state behavior” (Mearsheimer, 1994/5:7) NANA B NANA B REALISM CONT. Where neorealists recognized IOs, they considered them as merely reflecting powerful states’ interests - That is, IOs only embody the rules of the game within which power politics takes place Egg: UNSC. All the 5 permanent members were the most powerful and victorious states in 1945. - IOs could be used as tools to achieve states’ interests. Cooperation only takes place if states perceived that they stand to gain more from it than others. NANA B NANA B REALISM CONT. One other reason for states creating IOs is to ensure a balance of power: - hegemons could create IOs (they do this to ensure that none becomes too powerful to the disadvantage of others. In international politics, one state’s gains in security, often inadvertently threatens others. - weak states could also create IOs to either ensure a balance against the hegemon or act where the hegemon fails them. “They were people who sought to live in peace and relied on the promises of international protection, but in their hour of greatest need were left to fend for themselves.”(Charles L. English, US ambassador) Eg. ECOWAS intervention in Liberia in 1990 took place US and UN failed to intervene in the Liberian crisis NANA B NANA B REALISM CONT. IOs actions or inactions reflect the balance of power among great powers, and a lack of consensus among them leads to the ineffectiveness of the IO. The ineffectiveness of the UNSC was demonstrated in the Cold War, owing to the inability of the superpowers to agree on concerted action. More recently, this happened in: - UNSC votes in the war in Syria - Israeli-Palestinian conflict. NANA B NANA B CONSTRUCTIVISM Argument of main stream theories (eg, realism) is that states have enduring interests such as power and wealth (see previous slides). But constructivists counter the propositions of the main stream theories and argue that social forces such as ideas, knowledge, norms and rules influence states’ identities and interests, and the very nature of world politics. IOs are created to provide these Earlier theories such as the English School and feminist approaches to world politics also recognized the importance of international norms BUT constructivists were more attentive to the issues that were at the core of neorealists and neoliberalists views. NANA B NANA B CONT. Various strands of constructivism have been in IOs study. Some focused on the structure, some on the agency, some on stability etc, but in explaining why states create IOs we will use social constructivism. Social constructivism emerged in the 2000s to offer understanding of the purpose of IOs. (They did not only emerge to uncover the influentialwork I0s were doing, but also attempt to seek how and why IOs operatethe way they do. NANA B NANA B SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM Nicholas Onuf coined the term constructivism, but Alexander Wendt is the best advocate of social constructivism in the field of IR. Social constructivism challenged the conception of IOs as merely platforms on which states act (they argue that while IOs provide platforms such as UNSC or the WTO for states to deliberate, significant number of IOs are service IOs.They enact the mandate, policies and operations that states have agreed upon. Social Constructivists argue that IOs are created by states because IOs have expertise to help states to make sense of the world, help states to frame issues, they set international agenda, and they construct new category of actors such as the UNHCR’s distinction between IDPs and refugees. NANA B NANA B CONT. Social constructivists note that many IOs become experts in their field in which states turn for assistance. Eg: IMF,WB, and UNHCR.Therefore, IOS can be powerful actors in changing how states view a problem, and they have the capacity to take action. IOS are created because they are able to enact new norms which become accepted practice among states in the international system. Example, they articulate a framework which determines state’s balance of payments when a state needs a loan from the IMF. They also determine the basis of UN intervention in international conflict, such as preventing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. NANA B NANA B CONT. IOS work is underpinned by a culture which leads to the establishment of new norms by and among staff, rather than the introduction of norms from member states or management NANA B NANA B MARXISM Marxism is traced to Karl Marx (1818-1883) Core of Marxist theory for the purpose of IOS:The Marxist approaches take their position from the perspective that material economics power is fundamental to the structure of all societies and to international relations. NANA B NANA B CONT. Marxists note that there are unequal relations between those who own the means of production and those who provide their labour, and these are inherent within the capitalist system. From the above, the Marxists believe class conflict emerges out of this unequal relations which is a driving force in history, and the changing means of production have propelled the creation of a global capitalist system. Marxists make the supposition that IOS advance the interests of capital through their work, creating a global market through advocating free trade, opening states up for foreign direct investment, and freeing capital to move across borders unimpeded.Through this, Marxists argue that capitalists and investors are able to generate enormous profits from the workers and from natural resources. NANA B NANA B CONT. Marxists observe that the IMF and the World Bank only lends to states if they accept the policy programmes these IOS have devised for them.This they argue signals to capital and investors that their interests will be protected. Developing states, to Marxists have no choice, but to accept IMF and WB policy prescriptions because the IOS were designed to provide loans and programmes to states that cannot obtain funding from anywhere, such as a great power. When states are in difficulties, their only source of hope is the IMF and the World Bank. But their citizens face negative consequences as a result of these prescriptions. NANA B NANA B CONT. Even though conditions set for these states are difficult, they have no option because they are powerless to resist the market. In 1964, developing countries articulated their challenges to the dominant capitalist system through the UNCTAD to challenge the entrenched interests of capitalist states on terms of trade and development, but they were unsuccessful. NANA B NANA B THANK YOU WHATSAPP ME ON : +233 55 588 9155 FOR FURTHERENGAGEMENT