Final Exam POLI 283 Issues and Trends in World Politics

Question 1

Cooperation and Conflict…

Answer 1

• Epitomizes the complex and contradictory nature of political
• Can co-exist
• Conflict between China and the U.S regarding the South China sea but Cooperation through the Six Party Talks regarding the North Korean nuclear program

Question 2

Cooperation

Answer 2

• Refers to political actors proactively working together
• Inherently active
• Requires communication and interaction
• Can cooperate within existing structure or create new ones
• Multi/Bi lateral

Question 3

Conflict

Answer 3

• Classes of interest (not necessarily warfare)
• Garners more attention than cooperation since it is more visible
• Sanctions, threats or pre-emptive strikes
• Securitization: naming something as a threat so extraordinary measures can be taken

Question 4

Examples of Conflict: Complexity and Competing Processes

Answer 4

• No diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States until the Obama administration due to their proximity and mutual interests
• Communicated through Canada despite conflict
• War on Drugs, international and domestic conflict
• Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

Question 5

Globalization

Answer 5

• Greater integration and interdependence, growing ever increasingly interconnected
• Globalization itself is not new but its magnitude is
• Economically, socially , politically
• Reduces state autonomy through international regimes, trading blocs and subnational actors.
• Cultural impact

Question 6

Fragmentation

Answer 6

• The attempt to push back against globalization
• Withdrawal from global interactions
• Reactionary or defensive
• Identity politics
• Focus on own interests and concerns
• Impedes globalization , turns government attention to local issues

Question 7

Examples of Globalization: Complexity and Competing Processes

Answer 7

• Travel and communication
• the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis due to currency speculation
• Spice Road
• International law, the enlightenment, UN, World Bank and the IMF

Question 8

Examples of Fragmentation: Complexity and Competing Processes

Answer 8

• Brexit
• Donald Trump
• Protection of Canadian Dairy Farmers
• Iran’s retreat in to nationalism
• Nationalism during WWI, WWII, Cold War

Question 9

Anarchy v.s Order

Examples for Complexity and Competing Processes

Answer 9

• International politics inherently anarchic, basic tensions stem from this
• No supranational power above the level of the state
• Can’t address grievances
• Order through international institutions and cooperation
• Order through formal structures and mutual interests that increase the predictability of the international political system

Question 10

Systemic Level of Analysis

Answer 10

-Big picture
-International
-Anarchic
2 IMPORTANT ASSUMPTIONS
-All states are unitary actors meaning they all have the same internal makeup
-States are rational actors therefore they make decision based on cost benefit analysis
-Tries to give us predictability
-Zero Sum Game

Question 11

Domestic Level of Analysis

Answer 11

• State level
• Examine domestic structure to understand how a state may behave
• For example a democratic state with corresponding institutions operates differently than a non-democratic one

Question 12

Individual Level of Analysis

Answer 12

• Leaders
• Can one individual make a difference
• Operational Code adopted and refined y Alexander George. Used as an analytical tool to see how perspectives and perceptions colour leaders decision making.

Question 13

Cooperation and Conflict: Theory and World Politics

Answer 13

• Climate Change
• Cooperation: Kyoto Greenhouse Gas Emission Protocol and the Copenhagen Accord. Weak international agreements with no tangible consequences. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Idea of collective action to combat an international issue

Conflict: US senate political disagreement about Kyoto Protocol

Question 14

Globalization and Fragmentation: Theory and World Politics

Answer 14

Climate Change

• Globalization: Climate Change itself is a form of globalization. It transcends borders and therefore requires heightened interdependence
• Fragmentation: The developing world argues that they should be exempt from emission standards as they are undergoing the industrialization that the developed world has already gone through and benefited from.

Question 15

Anarchy v.s Order: Theory and World Politics

Answer 15

Climate Change

• Anarchy: No institution at the international level that can enforce Climate Change Agreements
• Order: Existing international framework through which agreements can be facilitated

Question 16

Systemic, Domestic, Individual : Theory and World Politics

Answer 16

Systemic: International institutions. United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change. Unacceptable losses to great powers but climate change reduction cannot take place without them.

Domestic: Developed v.s Developing. EU member states most successful in reducing greenhouse gas emission. Reduce the security dilemma. World Systems Theory, exploitation of the peripheral states by the core

Individual: Trump v.s Trudeau. 2007 Shiela Watt-Cloutier Inuit political leader won UN award for activism against Climate Change. Liberals would argue that she is using international legal mechanisms and institutions to draw attention to her cause.

Question 17

Realism
Classical Realism
Neorealism
NeoClassical

Answer 17

-Law of jungle, every state must protect itself and its own interests. Anarchy and conflict. Survival of the fittest: Hans Morgenthau, Henry Kissinger

Classical: negative view of human nature. people inherently self interested and suspicious.

Neorealism: Corresponds with the systemic level of analysis where every state is the same. Unitary, rational actors. Primary concern is survival. Security Dilemma

NeoClassical: Reintroduces state (domestic level) Relative power measure by its resources and capability, determines position on world stage. Revisionist states attempt to overthrow international regime.

Question 18

Liberalism and Neoliberalism

Answer 18

• Primarily cooperative intellectual tradition
• Contractual aspect of the imposition of restrictions- John Locke
• Cooperation is possible and beneficial
• Variable sum game not Zero sum
• Different beliefs regarding human nature
• Rules that actors choose to adhere to because it is in their best interest to do so

Neoliberalism: relies on systemic analysis, anarchy can be overcome through institutions, regimes and interdependence. Institutions increase trust, reduce possible state defection and facilitate regular communication.

Question 19

Democratic Peace Theory

Answer 19

• Focus on the domestic level of analysis
• Extremely unlikely that liberal democracies go to war against each other
• Immanuel Kant Perpetual Peace

Question 20

Constructivism

Answer 20

• STATES ARE NOT RATIONAL
• Actors interests and identities are developed internally and evolve
• Liberals and realists assume identity
• International actors make their own reality.
• The problem with constructivism is that there are too many moving parts therefore the theory loses all predictive ability, good for explaining but not predicting

Question 21

Conflict and Cooperation: World Politics and Economics 1648-1945

Answer 21

• Systemic: World Wars. After the Napoleonic Wars, Britain promoted a more open economy to promote peace and interdependence. Creation of the UN, Concert of Europe, Bretton Woods System (1945) eventually created the World Bank and IMF. Designed to facilitate economic cooperation
• Domestic: Cold War and the genocide in Yugoslavia are all examples of conflict. American revolution, colonist revolted against taxation without representation that resulted from the debt from the Seven Years War.
• Individual: Woodrow Wilson promoted a system in which all states act in common interest and protection. Collective Security dream of League of Nations. Napoleon and his European conquest.

Question 22

Globalization and Fragmentation: Word Politics and Economics 1648-1945

Answer 22

• Systemic: Globalization of the economy and technology through the Industrial Revolution. Started in Britain and caused population explosion, city growth and a new family structure. Trade forged links.
• Domestic: Fragmentation. The multinational nature of the Austria-Hungary empire.

Question 23

Anarchy v.s Order: World Politics and Economics: Cold War

Answer 23

• There was no supranational institution which could impose any sort of tangible consequences on the two major powers in the international system. Proxy wars raged in Korea and Vietnam but the anarchic nature of the international political arena prevented any intervention by a higher power.
• No predictability so entirely anarchic

Question 24

Cooperation and Conflict: World Politics and Economics: Cold War

Answer 24

-Cooperation through NATO and the Warsaw Pact. These alliances facilitated cooperation and increased the cost of inter-member conflict. Domestic: The cooperation between the Soviet Union and select countries from the Nonaligned Movement. Established close economic and political relations. Systemic: growth of the world economy and the post war liberal economic order.

-Conflict: security dilemma between the Soviet Union and the United States. Vietnam War, Korean War, Afghanistan, Cuban Missile Crisis. Both sides viewed the others self defense mechanisms as direct threats and subsequently increased their offensive capabilities.
Individual: Harry Truman’s “Get Tough” stance to check Soviet Expansion.

Question 25

Globalization and Fragmentation: World Politics and Economics: The Cold War

Answer 25

• The division of the world along the ideological lines set by the bipolar international system
• But conversely the flow of technology and ideas between aligned states. For example the “sponsorship” of communist regimes such as Cuba and Ethiopia by the Soviet Union. Flow of political ideas and technology that increased interconnection between select states.

Question 26

Cooperation and Conflict: Imperialism and Its Surivivors

Answer 26

• Conflict between colonies seeking independence and mother countries. France had a particularly difficult time decolonizing peacefully. From the French Indochina War to the bloody conflict in Algeria France face significant conflict. Countries that fought against independence movements in their colonies characterized the major conflicts in this time period.
• Colonization itself is a form of conflict where imperial powers competed and subjugated local populations to enrich themselves and their home countries.
• Cooperation: Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 to avoid conflict over competing expansion. Spain got all lands West and Portugal got all lands East of the line.

Question 27

Anarchy v.s Order : Imperialism and Its Survivors

Answer 27

-During the competition for colonies which was seen as zero-sum rush over limited resources, the international system was entirely anarchic. It was a scramble for land and resources and lacked any predictability. The colonization of Africa was initially anarchic but as Japan and Germany were stripped of their colonies post WWI the colonial world began to settle momentarily. The sun never set on the British Empire. Momentary order as Britain is the undeniable Imperial hegemon.

Question 28

Cooperation: Globalization and Fragmentation in a New World Order

Answer 28

-Cooperation: in 1991 George Bush Sr. envisioned a system in which states would cooperate against common threats. Declared the establishment of A New World Order. Less confrontational and more cooperative.
Establishment of the European Union (1993), a economic and political agreement with a single market for capital, goods, services and labour. Common currency in 2002.
Dissolution and ethnic war in Yugoslavia. Unorganized and unsuccessful response but a response nonetheless because “we can’t tolerate this in Europe.”
-Limits to collective security include the free rider problem (want action but don’t want to be the ones to do it) and national sovereignty

Question 29

Globalization and Fragmentation: Globalization and Fragmentation in a New World Order

Answer 29

-World wide economic liberalization post Cold War. End of History thesis by Francis Fukuyama
-Spread of Western ideals and culture.
-U.S Economic Hegemony and the role of the US as stewards of an increasingly integrated international economic system . Dominant reserve currency and the integration of world markets made conflict more costly.
The use of technology and massive popular protests spread across borders during the Arab Spring

As a response to the Debt Crisis in the EU, affected states such as Italy and Greece began advocating for fragmentation through Anti EU and anti refugee movements.

Question 30

Conflict: Globalization and Fragmentation in a New World Order

Answer 30

Conflict: Gulf War; when Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait in attempt to gain a dominant position in the Persian Gulf where there were considerable oil reserves. US led coalition approved y the US resulting in a swift victory. Dissolution of Yugoslavia and the resulting ethnic war in the 1990’s. Genocide in Rwanda,

Individual: Mohamed Farah Aideed and other competing warlords using famine as a weapon in Somalia in the early 90’s. War in Iraq. George Bush characterizes Iraq as part of the axis of evil to shift peoples perceptions.

Coalition of the willing aka the U.S and its friends with NO UN approval. Arab Spring- domestic conflicts between dictators and populist movements

Question 31

Anarchy v.s Order: Globalization and Fragmentation in a New World Order

Answer 31

-Anarchy: the US invading Iraq in 2003 without UN approval. Long term effects in the region
Failure of the UN in multiple conflicts, Rwanda, Somalia, Yugoslavia

Order: US dominance in global trade and finance early 21st century

Question 32

Cooperation and Conflict: Security Theory and Practice

Answer 32

• Cooperation to fight climate change and Nuclear Nonproliferation. Economic cooperation among other things reducing the number of interstate wars.
• Conflict: restriction of access to key natural resources by OPEC. Political will and willingness to resist classical example of Vietnam

Question 33

Cooperation and Conflict: Contemporary Security Issues

Answer 33

Cooperation: New nuclear zero with Obama administration. Sharing of intelligence and technology in the face of transnational organizations. The creation of the African Union and their intervention in regional conflicts such a Somalia and Sudan.

Conflict: China’s territorial disputes in the South China Sea and with Taiwan. Initial threat with the Trump administration by calling Taiwan and jeopardizing the 1 China policy.
Individual: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un wants to prove himself to the military to establish leadership. Show he isn’t afraid to go to war to defend sovereignty with nuclear weapons to do so.

Question 34

Globalization and Fragmentation: Contemporary Security Issues

Answer 34

-The US pivot to Asia beginning with the Obama administration. China is the largest holder of US debt. Economic interdependence. Despite China’s large military, the globalized economy prevents conflict.

Question 35

Anarchy v.s Order: Contemporary Security Issues

Answer 35

• Anarchy, the inability of China to respond effectively to North Korea’s increased shows of aggression. The new Trump administration.
• Order: international economic order between China and the US

Question 36

Cooperation and Conflict: Trade and Investement

Answer 36

-All states engage in trade to overcome different allocations of resources. Ricardo’s Model of Trade illustrates the mutual gains and specialization that arise from trade.

Conflict: Use of tariffs and subsidies as weapons. Protection of domestic industries such as the Canadian dairy sector.

Question 37

Globalization and Fragmentation: Trade and Investement

Answer 37

• Globalized international trade. Interdependence

- Fragmentation: withdrawal from free trade to protect domestic industries.

Question 38

Anarchy v.s Order: Trade and Investment

Answer 38

-Anarchy: the currency speculation market is extremely unstable. Resulted in the Asian Market Crisis for the East Asian Tigers.

Question 39

Cooperation and Conflict: Resource Issues

Answer 39

• Cooperation: international organizations link economic development and the environment. NGO’s such as the Sierra Club. There have been numerous UN conflicts regarding water since 1977. Working on issues such as deforestation and pollution require cooperation.
• Conflict: food distribution and the strain of clean water on the growing population. Competing claims over water may lead to war. Prevalence of trans-boundary basins. Problem with food distribution not the amount of food. The chronic hunger cycle, diseases reduced ability to work affects country economies. Women preferentially more affected. All renewable energy sources are expensive for developing countries. Nuclear energy is clean but disastrously dangerous