Class 3

Question 1

Interests:

Answer 1

what actors want to achieve through political action; their preferences over the outcomes that might result from their choices

Big categories:
1. Power and Security
2. Economic or Material Welfare
3. Ideological Goals

Question 2

Actors:

Answer 2

the basic unit of analysis for the analysis of international politics,
individuals or groups of people with common interests

Types Of Actors:

• States, parts of government (House, Senate),
• interest groups (labor unions, corn farmers),
• international organizations
• individuals, etc.

Question 3

State:

Answer 3

a central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws, rules, and decisions within a specified territory.

State possess SOVEREIGNTY

Question 4

Sovereignty:

Answer 4

the expectation of legal or political supremacy– ultimate authority– within territorial boundaries.

Since all states are sovereign, the international system is in a condition of Anarchy

Question 5

Anarchy

Answer 5

Since all states are sovereign, the international system is in a condition of Anarchy

Anarchy: the absence of a central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws that bind all actors.

Question 6

Failed States:

Answer 6

countries governed by states that lose central authority and lack common interests.

E.g., post civil war Somalia and pirates

Question 7

Conflicting Interest Ex: US vs Middle East

Answer 7

• US security interests lead to promotion of democracy in the Middle East

- Some powerful domestic groups in the Middle East may not want democracy

Question 8

National Interests:

Answer 8

interests attributed to the state itself

- Usually security and power

Question 9

The Origins of Interests-

Answer 9

Sometimes we will speak loosely about “the state” when we mean actors within the state.

Example: “The US threatened Iraq”—> “Representatives of the US threatened representatives of Iraq”

National leaders’ interest may originate from:
- A particular interest group
- Personal or political agenda

Question 10

Key Categories of Actors and Interestes in International Politics

Answer 10

Look to Diagram 2.1

Question 11

*War and economic conflict is costly, so why don’t countries cooperate?

Answer 11

Countries, and their citizens/companies etc., could avoid death and destruction, trade disputes, non-coordination in scientic research, etc
So why cant actors avoid these things?

***Answer: Strategic Interaction makes it hard

Question 12

Interactions:

Answer 12

the ways in which the choices of 2 + actors combine to produce political outcomes.

Question 13

In Interactions, Actors have to:

Answer 13

1. Anticipate the likely choices of others

2. Take those choices into account

Question 14

Strategic interactions:

Answer 14

Each actor’s strategy depends on the anticipated strategy of the others

• Actors are purposive
  - Actors adopt strategies that are the best response to anticipated strategies of others (a “best response” strategy)

Question 15

Best Response Strategy

Answer 15

Actors adopt strategies that are the best response to anticipated strategies of others

Question 16

2 Types Of Strategic Interaction:

Answer 16

• Cooperation

- Bargaining

Question 17

Strategic Interaction Categories:

1. Cooperation

Answer 17

Cooperation:
occurs when two or more actors adopt policies
that makes at least one actor better o than it would
otherwise be.

Question 18

Strategic Interaction Categories:

2. Bargaining

Answer 18

Bargaining:
describes an interaction in which actors must choose outcomes that make one better off at the expense of another.

When actors bargain, they move along the Pareto frontier. On the frontier:
- Any improvement in A’s welfare comes at the expense of B’s welfare

The zero-sum game:
- Gains for one side perfectly match the losses of the other

Question 19

Cooperation Diagram (SEE “Cooperation”)

Answer 19

• All points are possible outcomes produced by different combinations of policies chosen by the two actors
• This line is called the Pareto frontier

Question 20

Pareto Frontier on Cooperation Diagram

Answer 20

• On the Pareto frontier, one player cannot become better off without making the other worse off
  
  -To the left of the frontier, “Pareto Improvements” are possible that make someone strictly better off without making anyone strictly worse off

At status quo (q) actors are not doing as well as they could.

Any policy combination that leads to an outcome in the area qba makes both actors better off

Any policy combination on the Pareto frontier between b and a makes the actors as well off as possible

Question 21

Status Quo on Cooperation Diagram

Answer 21

At status quo (q) actors are not doing as well as they could.

Question 22

Area of ‘qba’ on Cooperation Diagram

Answer 22

Any policy combination that leads to an outcome in the area qba makes both actors better off

Question 23

What does it mean to be between b and a on Pareto frontier of Cooperation Diagram?

Answer 23

Any policy combination on the Pareto frontier between b and a makes the actors as well off as possible

Question 24

The Zero Sum Game (Outcome of bargaining interaction)

Answer 24

Gains for one side perfectly match the losses of the other

Question 25

Combine Cooperation and Bargaining:??

Answer 25

Most interactions in international relations combine elements of cooperation and bargaining.

1. Successful cooperation generates gains worth bargaining over.
   - If actors cannot reach a bargain, they may end up failing to cooperate

Question 26

Difference between cooperation and

bargaining: Bargaining is purely re-distributive

Answer 26

Cooperation creates additional value while bargaining only allocates a fixed sum of value between two different actors

Question 27

Power:

Answer 27

• the ability of Actor A to get Actor B to do something that it would not otherwise do
• The more power an actor has, the more it can expect to get in the final outcome of bargaining

3 basic ways of exercising power:

1. Coercion
2. outside options
3. agenda setting

Question 28

3 basic ways of exercising power:

Answer 28

1. Coercion
2. Outside options
3. Agenda setting

Question 29

Coercion:

Answer 29

the threat or imposition of costs on others to reduce the value of the reversion outcome and thus change their behavior.

Examples:
- Roommate with the car can threaten to move out.
- Carless roommate can threaten to frame the car owner for cheating

Means of international coercion include:
- Military force and economic sanctions

Question 30

Outside Options:

Answer 30

the alternatives to bargaining with a specific
actor.

Examples:
If the roommates do not reach an agreement about the division of costs, each has the following outside options:
- The roommate with the car can bargain with the friend next door, splitting costs with her and sharing the car.
- The roommate without a car can walk a mile to a bus stop to ride a bus that comes once every 2 hrs to run errands without a car.

The roommate with the better outside option has leverage

Question 31

Agenda Setting

Answer 31

Consider three states, US, UK, France, that want to intervene in a third country. Need to decide how they are going to do this as a group.

Three options: air strikes, ground troops, aid.

Question 32

Understanding Outcomes

Answer 32

- Understanding the outcomes of complex interplay can be difficult.

- Behind outcomes are (1) interests and (2) institutions

- Game theory helps us study strategic interactions.

Question 33

Behind outcomes are:

Answer 33

1. Interests

2. Institutions

Question 34

Factors that make cooperation easier:

Answer 34

??

Question 35

example of bargaining, even irrelevant to international politics, that illustrates coercion,
outside options and agenda setting?

Answer 35

Roommate/ Car Scenario