International Relations Notes: 01/15/2009 What are the goals of theories? To understand the world we live in, influence,control and improve it Theories don't just explain the past, they're also a guide to the future, and shape policy But social world is not fixed, change is possible What are theories? States that explain a general phenomenon by: -indetifying important causes -explain correlations -focusing on general causes rather than specific causes Theories must be logical and explain the real world What makes the social sciences different? There are many challenges to the social sciences: -concepts and variables are hard to define and not concrete (i.e. power, state interests) -equifinality, or there are many paths and several causes to one result -historical accidents -observers of the social world often influence it -actual experimentation is very difficult What is a good theory? One that is: -conscious of its limitations -is logically sound -actually explains why a specific historical even occured -contingent or possible propositions 01/20/2009 Daniel Byman ... Fareed Zakaria -Compares British history with America now -Their influence in the world scene (British decline vs. America decline) -U.S. needs to accept that there are other players in the world scene -Britain accepted U.S. as a rising power Stephen Jay Gould -Scientific method has a stereotyped image -says that history is a legitimate science, that paleontology deserves respect -they observe things and take the data and look for patterns -contigency - conditionality, history is dependent on conditions -difference with his science and social science - studies live subjects Are states in decline? There has been a recent sharp increase in the number of states being recognized and/or gaining independence Characteristics of states? -control over territory -sovereignty -the sole legitimate right to use violence (means of coercion) -usually there is a government -Internal and External Sovereignty -internal = legitimacy within a state -external = recognition of the state -Juridical and Empirical Sovereignty Other historical terms of political organization Nations, empires, corporations, international organizations, churches How can we know if states are in decline? First determine what the state does, then find out if those functions are necessary If they are then find out whether other entities (institutions, organizations) can preform them If those other entities are performing those duties than the state is in decline 01/22/2009 Who are the players in International Politics? READINGS: Deborah Avant Huge increas in private contractors in war-torn countries Are these men serving for money (mercenaries) or for their country? Private contractors are more efficient but may make gov't look bad Non-state actors, autonomous Robert Pape Suicide bombers are actually well educated Hezbollah is both losing and gaining legitimacy It has political links and is involved in the government Has its own military as well Is Hezbollah the face of Lebanon? Michael Specter About the Bill Gates Foundation Chairty and disease research Has the power of government without restraints Jessica Matthews Power has shifted from government to non-governmental organizations Zero-sum (your gain is my loss) Transnationalism Anne-Marie Slaughter Non-zero-sum Transgovernmentalism 9/11 Commission New terrorism and the rise of Osama Bin Laden It branches from social, political, economic and religious problems Bin Laden has created massive international networks that work from everywhere Phil Williams Organized crime is becoming part of government Non-state actors, but where do you draw the line? Media is also a key player in modern international politics ANARCHY AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS International politics has concepts that contains parts and wholes i.e. units, actors, players vs. systems, organizing or ordering principles, structures Domestic vs. International Politics -Government: overarching authority vs. no overarching authority -hierarchical organization vs. anarchical organization (networks are transnational politics) -rules, laws, authority vs. bargains, deals, power -enforcement backed up by legitimate violence of state vs. absense of gov't means there is no authority to prevent the use of violence Consequences of Anarchy -conflicts of interest; security is scarce; power, politics and war -some common interest; cooperation is possible; a problem of establishing trust and guaranteeing contracts -world political culture determines the consequences of anarchy 01/27/2009 CLASSIFYING CAUSES WHY DID THE COLD WAR COME TO AN END? THE FIRST LEVEL (INDIVIDUALS) - Gorbachev THE SECOND LEVEL (STATES OR DOMESTIC POLICY) - Totalitarian Regime THE THIRD LEVEL (INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM) - Distribution of Power Among States 01/29/2009 WHAT EXPLAINS PEACE DURING THE 1990S? POWER - People believe unipolar power in the world is more stable. ECONOMICS - Economic forces drive international politics - economic interdependence - reliance on one another for goods and services. The more interdependence, the more trade between countries, the less likely to go to war. IDEAS/CULTURE - Francis Fukayama says that the ideological problems came to an end. People understood that totalitarian and communist regimes were unsuccessful. Triumph of Capitalism/Democracy over Communism INSTITUTIONS - International Institutions (WTO, UN, NATO, etc.) put in place after WWII allow states to achieve common goals. They prevented anarchical effects. ^These reasons are exclusive and do not always complement each other and may contradict at times. READINGS: John Lewis Gaddis - Says that Stalin was the cause of the Cold War. He was fearful of the capitalist system and his country became an extension of himself. Stalin was crazy and paranoid, and transferred his insanity to his country by indoctrinating everything that people saw and did. Driving Forces - First Level of Analysis - Ideas/Culture Robert Jervis - It's about the tendency the US has to divert to imperialism. THe US expansion is uncontrollable. US power is so overbearing that it is only natural for them to expand because there is no one else to challenge them. Fine line between what they are doing and tyranny. Was the cause of the recent US expansion because of the Bush Administration? Or was it in the nature of unipolarity? What was the cause for its agression in the recent years? He says it is the nature of unipolarity. It wasn't a matter of who, it was a matter of time and circumstance. Driving Forces - Third Level of Analysis - Power (unipolarity) John E. Mueller - Some political ideas go in and out of style. They become internationally uneacceptable. Moral compass changes over time and evolves and he is saying this is going to happen to war. i.e. dueling, slavery, etc. go out of style. War is just but an idea. Driving Forces - Third Level of Analysis - Ideas/Culture Andre Gunder Frank - Why are some countries are poor and why some are rich? It is not because the undeveloped nations are missing resources or lack knowledge within their borders. Undeveloped countries are underdeveloped because of developed nations who exploited these poorer countries. The underdeveloped countries have been used for their resources and they get very little benefit from their own resources. The major culprit is the nature of international capitalism. Driving Forces - Third Level of Analysis - Economics Paul Pillar - Describes the disfunctionality between intelligence community and the Bush Administration. The Bush Administration did not listen to its intelligence saying that going into Iraq would be costly. Because the US was in such a post-9/11 agression stage they had to go to war and they selectively listened to what intelligence told them. Driving Forces - Second Level of Analysis - Institutions 02/03/2009 Exam - All the readings, lecture slides, discussions in class, concepts, Mingst readings. For the readings - know reasons and concepts, not the nitty gritty details. In international relations there is a cause-effect relationship. Always striving to answer a question of why something is the way it is (effect) Finding the reason or the answer to the question (cause) Parts, units, actors, players vs. wholes, systems, organizing or ordering principles, structures People don't agree on what it means for the world to not have a government (KNOW WHAT IT MEANS) Anarchy - no higher authority 02/10/2009 Anarchy is an organizational principle for international politics. The Hobbesian view of anarchy is the view that realists have - self-help system Every state for itself If there is no government between states, then power is what each state will strive for States want power because: ...SLIDE Paradox of power, weaker countries come out victorious in wars: - i.e. Soviet Union with great power goes to Afghanistan - i.e. United States in Vietnam - the reason for this is because the power of the stronger states wasn't very fungible, meaning it is not very flexible What is power? The ability to get other actors to do what they will otherwise not do. - Robert Dahl How can we measure power? Quantitative measures? Size - Britain is very small and has a lot of power Population - Many countries have greatly increasing populations that do not gain power Resources - Countries in Africa have resources but other states exploit them GDP - Rich countries based on GNI per capita such as Liechtenstein and Bermuda do not have power Military power - Countries like Japan, France and Italy spend a lot on military and don't have a lot of power Power is multidimensional Huntington's Piece - a real superpower must have a certain amount of power certain aspects of the states Ideational appeal - having a message JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES... examine the relationship between the two Japan was like a "buffer state" for US from China There is an interdependency between the two... Power is context specific - the currency of power changes with context 02/13/2009 - GET NOTES 02/17/2009 Realists believe international politics is about conflict Realists believe states are unitary actors, act as a whole, as an individual States don't make alliances because they like each other or have the same values -they make alliances to create a balance between nations that challenge their power Slaughter's Piece - She rejects the Billiard ball approach, the realist image. She believes in networking, more of a horizontal organization of power rather than a hiearchy US has power in demography (population isn't growing as fast as China and India) geography (key location good for trading) culture (there are more freedoms in America to expand your areas of work and study) First critique of Realism - Neoliberalism Cooperation is everywhere... GAT is replaced by WTO, international trade organization