LECTURE 9 - sovereignty regimes, institutions

Question 1

sovereignty and autonomy (why was chavez upset with bush)

Answer 1

US frequently interferes with other countries
sov = NOT interfering with a country

why did the 1949 Draft Declaration on Rights and Duties of States not get made into law?

• lack of consensus (especially after WW2)

Question 2

Contradictions in the Sovereignty Regime

Answer 2

regime: a system or planned way of doing things, especially one imposed from above.

Principles (beliefs), norms
(general standards), rules
(specific prescriptions/
proscriptions) and decision-
making processes
(collective choice rules)
around which actors’
expectations converge.
* System of governance for a
particular issue area.

How do Article 6 & 7 reconcile with Article 3
“Every State has the duty to refrain from
intervention in the … affairs of any other
State”?

Question 3

protecting sov

Answer 3

• layers of sov get complicated - ie. canada selling things to saudi too be used in yemen
• main actor in IL = states
• sov = exertion of authority

Question 4

why sov matters

Answer 4

• weak level of authority (lack of state presence) = make space for instability
• ^^ lack of state presence in the south of Mozambique - this leads us to civil war
• even in some repressive states, there is an element of predictability

Keeping control of territory, exercising authority
* Weak sovereignty creates space for instability
* Selective application and pursuit of sovereignty
* Northern Mozambique traditionally neglected by power centre in Maputo
* Legacy of civil war
* Where did the weapons come from? The idea to pursue armed rebellion?
* Sovereignty as contingent upon social contract fulfilment from State

Q: What do you do if the violent sovereignty-violating actor is not a state?
A: RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT principle: national response, UN, int coop

Question 5

How does anything get done internationally
if sovereignty means:
* one state can’t tell tother states what to do,
* one state is not allowed to directly coerce
another
* individual states are free to operate internally as
they wish, bounded by provisos that are
unenforceable because of autonomy, and
* there is no centralized ‘centre of command’ that
can impose resolution?

Answer 5

Regimes:
* a means by which States attempt to overcome
collective action problems (scenario in which there is conflict between the individual interest and the group interest)

Question 6

Why do States form regimes?

Answer 6

States see suboptimal outcomes from
independent decision-making and seek
to develop collective decision-making
and collective behavior to achieve better
outcomes
* Conflict – independent decision-making by
different states leads to suboptimal outcomes
* Harmony – independent decision-making by
different states leads to acceptable outcomes
* Cooperation – interdependent decision-
making by different states leads to better
outcomes than available under conflict.
Cooperation as attempt to resolve situations
that would otherwise become conflict
* A search to find an optimal solution to
a collective challenge

Question 7

why Regimes ≠ International Institutions

Answer 7

• Int inst: facilitate INTERdependance that allowed us to get where we are now
• come up with platform to make things exchangeable (avocados between Mexico and canada)
• wto - manage info on trade treaties, adjudicate trade disputes
  
  • states come here to avoid conflict
• purpose of UN: prevent war

Regimes form around ideas, sets of beliefs,
don’t need formal structure
* i.e., the international human rights
regime
* i.e., the international neoliberal regime
* International Institutions form when there is
sufficient agreement on need for ongoing
coordination that the mechanism is given
formal legal form
* You can have a regime without and
international institution, but you almost never
have an international institution without at
least one underpinning regime

Question 8

Int inst

Answer 8

• Formal and informal in nature
• Run by rules and norms
• International Law central
  element to most
• Set up with specific treaties
• An arrangement to coordinate
  different actors in the
  international system
• Constructed by states for specific
  purposes

Question 9

3 key functions of institutions

Answer 9

1. Coordinate global linkages
   * Internet, telecomms, postal service
2. Respond to common problems
   * Environment, natural disaster, poverty
3. Protecting core values
   * Human rights, liberal capitalism

Question 10

why do states abide by institutions?

Answer 10

***- no overarching auth to make us follow rules of institutions
- anarchical int order - operates by actors IN the order
- to not abide by the rules of int ints = too expensive
- constantly subject to attack = they would have to time to invest in progress= not sustainable
- small/middle power cope w powerful countries = you like institutions and multilateralism (participation by 3 or more parties, especially countries) - cheaper to abide by it than to constantly engage in oppressive politics

• Question of managing
  transaction costs
• Follow rules so have
  predictability later on
• Reduces enforcement
  costs for major powers
• Protection