Exam 1 Flashcards
International Relations
Relationships that exist between states and relationships between states and non-state actors
Qualifications for being considered a state
have population that resides there, a government and recognized borders
Anarchy
No world government (does not mean chaos)
o No supranational body governing IR
o States fend for themselves
Two aspects of sovereignty
1) The right of countries to run their own affairs
- –Domestically carry out foreign relations with other countries
- –Countries cannot tell one another how to operate
2) States possess the legitimate use of force within their territories
- –Citizens regard government use of force as legitimate but violence used to advance one’s own objectives are illegitimate
Treaty of Westphalia
Brought about the idea of sovereignty (Ended the 30 Years War)
Dominate approach to IR and longest living theory
Reailsm
Realism is a Theory of…
Power Politics
o Explain outcomes in terms of international politics
o Power can be represented in alliances, wars, arms races, violence, etc.
New Theories of IR must define themselves in relation to
Realism
According to Realism states are always involved in
competition for their own security (does not necessarily mean war or violence)
Classical Realism
Human nature Realists
Why do states sometimes end up in conflict?
• Because of human beings: they are made up with people with a lust for power (that they can never overcome)
Individual Level analysis of Realism
Classical
Neo-Relalism
Agree that power is important and IR is a struggle for power
Why do some states end up in conflict?
• Need to look at how many great powers are present in the international system and how power is distributed among these great powers
• War and conflict more likely with more great powers
Structural level analysis of realism
Neo
Assumptions of Realism
1) Struggle for power: power is a relative term but if one country is gaining power another is losing
2) Pessimistic towards ending conflict
3) Security- Competition Equation
5) Emphasis on hard power
6) Immutability of IR (cannot be changed)
Security- Competition Equation
Anarchy+ a need to survive+ uncertainty of intentions= security competition
Who’s Who of Realism
Doers: Ottoman van Bismark, Henry Kissinger
Founders: (Classical) Hans Morganthau (Neo) Kenneth Waltz
Thinkers: Steve Walt (student of Waltz) prof at Harvard (world’s most important thinker)
Assumptions of Liberalism
Same as realism
1) anarchy
2) states want to survive
3) security competition
BUT liberalists believe that states can change for the better
Who’s who of liberalism
Doers: Woodrow Wilson
Founders: John Locke and Emanuel Kante
Thinkers: roger Keonane (prof @ Princeton)
Institutional Liberalism
Institutions can make war less likely
There is a set of rules that states choose to abide by that prescribe certain behaviors
3rd image theory: structural level
Democratic Peace Theory (operating within Liberalism)
No 2 democracies have gone to war with one another therefore democracy is a way towards peace
Normative Logic of DPT
Leaders grow up in non-violent cultures and because of this learn non-violent conflict resolution. Can not trust leaders of non-democracies because they did not grow up in this culture.
Institutional Logic of DPT
People within the country will hold leaders accountable for bad decisions (going to war is a bad decision)
5 outcomes of DPT
1) public constrain: 2 similarly constrained countries will not fight each other
2) Group constrain: power of anti-war groups
3) Slow mobilization: have to persuade constituents
4) No surprise attacks: persuasion through the media
5) Fight to the death: do not want to fight long drawn out war
Constructivism
Radical theory that believes the world can change for the better
Constructivism emerged due to
The fall of the Soviet Union
Constructivists view anarchy as
What the states make of it (does not have to lead to competition)
_______________ believe that states interact the same way people do and how states interact determines the type of anarchy
Constructivists
Two essential concepts of Constructivism
1) Identities: relatively stable, role specific understandings of the self
2) Ideas: way in which countries think about friends and enemies
Hobbesian Anarchy (Constructivism)
- Anarchy of enemies
- States obsessed with power
- Every state considered a potential enemy
- Realist Anarchy
Lockean Anarchy (Constructivism)
- Anarchy of Rivals
- states compete for power and competition can be dampened through institutions
- Liberalist Anarchy
Kantian Anarchy (Constructivism)
- Anarchy of friends
- Possibility but we are not there
- Can get there through changing identities
