CH 1 Flashcards
What are the three forms of world politics?
-Imperial system: One goverment controls most of the world
- Feudal system: human loyalties and political obligations are not fixed primarily
by territorial boundaries. Individual has obligation to local lord, but might also
owe other duties to some distant noble or bishop - Anarchic system of states ( Westphalian ystem): composed of states that are
relatively cohesive but with no bigger government above them; city states
ancient Greek ( today)
What are the Legal, political & social differences domestic and international
-Domestic law is clear and consistent, police
and courts enforce it.
- International law is patchy, incomplete, has vague foundations and no common enforcement mechanism.
What are the Force diffrences bewteen domestic and international politics?
- Domestic political system government has monopoly on use of force.
- In international politics, no one has monopoly. This leads to mistrust and
suspicion.
What are the sense of comunity diffences between domestic and in ternatinal politics?
-In domestic system, a widespread sense of community
gives rise to common views
- In international politics people have competing
loyalties. This leads to gap between order and justic
What are the two views of international politics?
Realism : an analytical approach to international relations that was the dominant tradition for centuries. Central problem of international politics is war and use of force, and the central actors are states. The realist starts from the assumption that in
anarchic systems of state, the survival of the state is always at least potentially threatened by other states. International politics is first and foremost about
protecting the states from other states.
- Liberalism: an analytical approach to international relations that sees a global society that functions alongside states and sets an important part of the context for state action. Trade crosses borders, people have contacts with one another, and international institutions (UN) mitigate some of the harsher aspects of anarchy.
What is construtivism?
An analytical approach to international relations that argues that realism and liberalism both fail to explain long-term change in world politics adequately. Everything depends on the ideas that dominate at any given time and ideas change. They focus on identities, norms, culture, national interest and international governance.
What is Marxism?
T hat economic classes – primarily capitalists and workers – were more important. Marxism is an analytical approach to international relations, inspired by the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, that sees economic classes as the primary actors, and explains patterns and events in world affairs in terms of the interactions between classes
What is Feminism
Aims to study world politics more inclusively and reveal “the process through which identities and interests, not merely of states but key social constituencies, are shaped at the global level
What are the three basic concepts to study world politics
- Actors, the traditional realist view only states but now also non-states. •
- Goals, traditionally in anarchic systems this was military security. Now there is also focus on economic wealth, social issues, ecological changes, etc.
- Instruments, the realist view is that only military force is important. This has changed because this force is particularly expensive. Foreign rule is very costly in an age of nationalism. There has been a growing ethic of antimilitarism. Not all issues lend themselves for forceful solutions anymore.
What are the three ways arguments move and constrains can be judged
- By motives or intentions involved
- By the means used
- By their consequences or net effects
Why does ethics play less of a role?
- Weak international consensus on values; there are cultural and religious difference over the justice of some acts. - States are not like individuals; states are abstractions, statesman are judged differently than when they act as individuals.
- The complexity of causation; consequences of actions in international politics are harder to predict accurately, because of interaction between states.
- The institutions of international society are particularly weak and the disjunction between order and justice is greater in international than domestic politics; in international politics, the absence of a common legislature, central executive, or strong judiciary makes it much harder to preserve the order that precedes justice
What are the three different views of ethics in IR
- Skeptics (realism)
No sense of community therefore no moral rights and duties
All order before justice Jus war doctrine: grew out of Roman Christian traditions. Cicerco, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas were key early thinkers. Provides moral guidelines for the resort to force and the use of force in war Consists of: Jus ad bellum: five standard principles; (1) just cause, (2) right intention, (3) legitimate authority, (4) last resort and (5) reasonable chance of success. § Jus in bello: three standard principles; (1) observe the laws of war, (2) maintain proportionality and (3) observe the principle of noncombat immunit
-State moralists (realist and liberals)
Argue that international politics rests on a society of states with certain rules, although those rules are not always perfectly obeyed.
Rule #1: State sovereignty, prohibits states from intervening across borders into others’ jurisdiction. Robert Frost: “good fences make good borders”
In practice, rules of state behavior are violated from time to time.
-Cosmopolitans (Liberals)
See international politics not just as a society of states, but as a society of individuals with a set of universal human rights.
National boundaries have no moral standing § Morality matters as much in peace as in war
