Civil War and The Challenges of Intervention Flashcards
What has happened to wars in the post old war period?
THey have shifted from interstate to intrastate, become increasingly deadly and horrific
What has the US/Russian role been post 1964
we both prop up regimes in the periphery, and when the cold war (& payments) end, regimes are challenged. Political openness in former Soviet Bloc brings ethnic issues to the surface
The puzzle of war is that if all wars are costly, isnt there a better solution to divide the pie up than to destroy it in the process. What are 2 reasons why?
Information is screwed and one side fails to make the appropiate concessions. the stronger side seeks to get a better deal through war. Committment problems are the other side of the issue: if one side is on the rise, the opposition has an incentive to attack/keep attacking them while they’re still weak. This question on if a peace agreement will be altered once the balance of power changes can prevent peace in the first place
What are three of the main causes of the committment problem
large and rapid shifts in military power (like US withdrawing $ support) or ethnic imbalances that make minorities want to succeed and majoritys want to preserve(can be solved with minority rights) or the poor majority is unable to guarantee the rich that they will respect private property if given rights (oppression extended)
Civil wars have a tendency to not work themselves out, but if a thrid party steps in they can solve the committment problem if…
3rd party has an interest in upholding the peace, third party willing and able to uphold peace with force, can signal a requiste amt of resolve
What is the moral hazard roblem and how can this be applied to third parties interventing in civil wat
Moral hazards encourage the behavior that they are trying to deter; ex:rebel groups leave civilians vulnerable to create humanitarian crisis & intervention,
What should we do given the potential for moral hazard problems?
we should have a thrid party that shapes how a war is fought just by threatening to intervene
What is genocide and four points that characherize how we deal with it
genocide is the deliberate destruction of a nation or ethnic group
1) we can’tID genocide in time to stop it
2) focuses on groups rather than individuals
3) does not consider logn term security
4) neglects costs of itnervention to intervening country
What is the responsibility to protect?
it is the obligation of the intl community to interneve if a population is suffering (genocide) serious harm (before it starts and rebuild afterwards
What are some problems with the responsibility to protect?
doesnt define the threshhold of atrocities and calls for intervetntion in lots of diff circumstances
doesnt consider harm to interveners, potentially obligates the interveners to nationbuld afterwards, can be too expansive
What is pragmatic humanitarian intervention?
a process to stop mass killings of several thousand citizens, establish enduring security following the inteervention and at minimal cost to the intervener. (Demands all 3)
What is Mearshimer’s case against intervention in Syria?
we are safe and syria is a minimal interest. terrorism isnt a major threat and intervention only makes it worse. there isnt a very compelling case for intervening on a humanitarian basis
What do Simon and Stevenson say about the end of the Pax Americana
We should draw down military presence in Mid East because of changing regional dynamics(shale rev, make allies happy, we arent as effective) not b/c of lack of domestic support. Offshore balancing view. realize that a lasting peace in Syria is unlikely
What does Byman say in beyond terrorism
we need to distinguist among terrorists and quit using blanket tactics that are ineffective. we need to forget democracy promotion and just aim for peace. need to intervene more to prevent civil war (statebuilding)
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