Lecture 6

Question 1

The Surprise of the Soviet Collapse

Answer 1

• undermined the realist theory
• a world without geopolitical rivals to the US hegemony
• globalization and the primacy of international and economic policy

Question 2

US Power in the 1990s

Answer 2

• US military spending was 1/3 of global military spending
• unemployment dropped
• US budget deficit went from 290 bil in 1992-236 bil surplus in 2000
• the zenith of US soft power

Question 3

The First Persian Gulf War

Answer 3

• Iraq has fifth largest oil reserve
• institutionalization of ethnic tribalism by the British after WWI
• 1963 Baathist coup in cooperation with the CIA
• the takeover by Hassan Al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein in 1968

Question 4

1st Persian Gulf War Timeline

Answer 4

• saddam invades iran 1980
• eight yrs of war
• economic losses 644 bil iran and 453 bil on the iraq side
• US policy flips from opposing Saddam to supporting in mid 80s
• after the war Iraq had 42 bil in debt

Question 5

When did Iraq invade Kuwait?

Answer 5

1990

Question 6

Elements of Globalization

Answer 6

• global economic integration
• communications revolution
• growth of tourism
• proliferation of international organizations
• US soft power
• shrinking world

Question 7

What was Clinton’s foremost foreign policy goal?

Answer 7

To foster globalization and to position the US at its head.

Question 8

Fukuyama’s End of History

Answer 8

• at the end of the war, ‘end of history’
• the ideological evolution of mankind has reached its end
• the universalism of Western liberal democracy as the final form of political structures
• the universalization of economic liberalism as the ideal economic model

Question 9

What is a criticism of Fukuyama’s end of history?

Answer 9

Ignores nationalism and religion

Question 10

Joseph Nye: Soft power

Answer 10

getting what you want using persuasion rather than coercion. All countries have the potential to develop their soft power
- realists downplay the importance of soft and cultural power
-

Question 11

What are the realist viewpoints on the unipolar moment?

Answer 11

1. was the structure in the 1990s unipolar or multipolar?
2. other states will start to counterbalance the US, especially if the US yielded to “imperial temptation”
3. The main threat to American dominance is the life for today nature of US domestic politics. This approach would replace internationalism with American first isolationism
4. Traditional bearers of power such as China will begin to challenge US power

Question 12

Christopher Layne: The Unipolar Illusion

Answer 12

The official view in Washington after the collapse of the Soviet Union was to perpetuate the newly established unipolar order in world politics. The unipolar order is a temporary one which will eventually give way to a multipolar one bc the other states will inevitably balance against the US

Question 13

What is the structural phenomenon of great power emergence?

Answer 13

differential growth rates and the state of anarchy guarantee it

Question 14

Gilpins theory on hegemons

Answer 14

Hegemons will decline bc the costs of sustaining the hegemony will erode its economic strength and the hegemonic paradox will diffuse economic and technological power to other states.

Question 15

What were the two other unipolar hegemons in history?

Answer 15

France (1660)

Great Britain (1860)

Question 16

Realist approach to how American foreign policy should be shaped

Answer 16

• instead of adopting a strategy of preponderance, the US must accept the transition from unipolarity to multipolarity and adjust its strategy to safeguard its interest during and after its transition.
• this policy should be based on strategic independence and offshore balancing

Question 17

According to Michael Mastanduno, what is the main objective of US foreign policy after the Cold War?

Answer 17

To preserve the country’s preeminent global position

Question 18

What did Waltz say about foreign policy after the Cold War?

Answer 18

Bipolarity still endures in an altered state. However, this analysis does not hold up to Waltz’s own definition of great power capabilities in the sense that even though the new Russia might still be strong militarily nevertheless it lacks other capability attributes such as a strong economy and political stability

Question 19

Why do states balance?

Answer 19

In response to threat, and while threat and power overlap they are not identical

The transition from unipolarity to multipolarity is not inevitable and will depend on US behaviour.

Question 20

How to shape US foreign policy?

Answer 20

The US will adopt policies of reassurance towards status quo states, confrontation towards revisionist states and integration towards undecided states.

Question 21

What are two examples of status quo powers?

Answer 21

Germany and Japan

Question 22

What are two examples of undecided states?

Answer 22

China and Russia

Question 23

What is emphasized in foreign policy, moving forward?

Answer 23

Multilateralism.