Key thinkers Flashcards
1
Q
Kenneth Waltz
A
- defensive realist
= states only seek enough power to secure their survival, not to dominate others= IGOs have little impact - bipolarity is more stable than multipolarity
= 2 major powers can negotiate stability easier than many competing powers - Anarchy is international system= no central authority above nation-state level
2
Q
Jospeh Nye
A
- soft power is the ability to influence others through attraction and persuasion, rather than coercion or payments (hard power)
- states are connected through multiple channels (economic, political, environmental), making war less likely and cooperation more necessary
- argued for a blend of hard and soft power= he called it smart power
3
Q
John Mearsheimer
A
- offensive realist
= states are not satisfied with just survival—they want to maximize their power and become the dominant force in the international system
= conflict is inevitable because states are constantly competing for relative gains - global hegemony is almost impossible, so great powers try to prevent rivals from dominating other regions (like the U.S. resisting China in Asia)
- strong critic of liberal theories, arguing that international organizations, democracy, and economic interdependence do not prevent conflict
- opposed NATO expansion, believing it helped provoke Russia’s aggression in Ukraine
4
Q
Karl Marx
A
- inspired later thinkers like Lenin, who argued that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism
= rich capitalist countries exploit poorer countries for raw materials, cheap labor, and markets
= institutions like the World Bank, IMF, and WTO are seen by Marxists as tools of economic domination
5
Q
John Locke
A
- saw international relations as a “state of nature” where states, like individuals, are governed by natural law, emphasising individual rights, limited government, and the importance of consent of the governed, influencing liberal internationalism and just war theory
- natural rights to life, liberty and property
6
Q
Henry Kissinger
A
- ultra realist
- practiced and promoted realpolitik: foreign policy based on power, national interest, and pragmatism, not ideology or morality
- Backed Pinochet’s regime in Chile because it was anti-communist, despite human rights abuses
- maintaining strong military capabilities to deter aggression and strengthen negotiation positions
7
Q
Immanuel Kant
A
- democratic peace theory
= states are less likely to go to war with each other because their citizens would not vote for costly conflicts
= democracies trust each other more, they solve disputes through diplomacy and they have shared norms and accountability - human beings are part of a global moral community, and should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of nationality
- economic interdependence and free trade would make war less appealing
- in ‘Perpetual Peace’, Kant proposed a “league of nations”
= a voluntary federation of states that agree to settle disputes peacefully e.g. UN
8
Q
Samuel Huntington
A
- 1993 theory, the “Clash of Civilizations”, which predicted that future wars would be fought between cultures, not countries
= civilisations rooted in shared cultural, religious, and historical identity—would be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world - culture and religion would define political boundaries, rather than ideological or political affiliations
= as countries become more interconnected, they will also strengthen their cultural identities, often in opposition to others
9
Q
Thomas Hobbes
A
- a state of nature would be a “war of all against all”
= humans in their natural state would act out of self-interest and fear
10
Q
Hugo Grotius
A
- first to argue that international law could be based on natural law
= the idea that there are universal principles of justice and morality that apply to all human beings, regardless of nationality, religion, or culture - even in the absence of a central authority (like a world government), states were still bound by certain moral rules
- Just War Theory
= war could be considered just if it was fought for legitimate reasons (such as self-defence or recovering stolen property) and if it followed certain rules (e.g., proportionality and non-combatant immunity) - emphasised the importance of respecting the autonomy of states as long as their actions did not violate universal moral principles
11
Q
Francis Fukuyama
A
- “End of History” thesis
= liberal democracy might represent the endpoint of humanity’s ideological evolution
= progression of human history as a struggle between ideologies was largely at an end, with the world settling on liberal democracy after the end of the Cold War - saw liberal democracy as universal in appeal, believing that its principles would eventually be adopted by all nations over time
12
Q
Thomas Friedman
A
- Dell Theory of Conflict Resolution
= no two countries that are both part of a major global supply chain, like Dell’s, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain
13
Q
Philip Cunliffe
A
- last 30 years can be described as ‘unipolar globalisation’
= power of the USA to create economic and political institutions has allowed them to expand their power around the globe - international institutions such as the United Nations or World Trade Organization often fail to challenge the power dynamics that sustain global inequality
- globalisation has been based on a liberal belief in a ‘harmony of interests’. This is the mistaken belief that conflict can be overcome and is based on a hegemony of liberal attitudes in global institutions
14
Q
Noam Chomsky
A
- Manufacturing consent
= a higher authority and power of a state uses the media to convince consent of the people by manipulating the people
= all media platforms are driven by profit even if it doesn’t meet the needs and wants of the cooperation
15
Q
Hedley Bull
A
- “The Anarchical Society”
= explores the nature of order in a world without a supreme authority, arguing that states form a society among themselves, bound by common rules and institution
= despite this anarchy, there is still order in international relations as states have developed shared norms, institutions, and practices that regulate their behaviour like the UN - sovereignty was not absolute, it was conditional upon states’ participation in the international society and their adherence to the shared norms that govern international relations
16
Q
Jean Bodin
A
- development of the concept of sovereignty as the supreme authority in a state, the power to make laws and enforce them, and the ability to act without being subject to any other authority
- must be absolute (without any limitations) and indivisible (it cannot be shared between different authorities or institutions)
17
Q
Immanuel Wallerstein
A
- World-Systems Theory
= world economy is structured in a way that benefits core countries at the expense of peripheral ones. Core nations extract resources, labor, and wealth from peripheral nations, maintaining an unequal exchange.
