Midterm Flashcards
Why people go to war?
Fear, honor and interest
What was the 30 years war?
A series of declared and undeclared wars between Catholics and Protestants. A key moment in development of state system for rules of war. 4 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died. Ended in 1648 with the treaty of Westphalia.
Significance of Congress of Vienna
Balance of power to prevent another Napoleon. German unification. The birth of international relations.
Significance of WW1
1914-1945 Introduction of total war, possible by new technologies. Nationalism never experienced on this scale. Mass killings, mass participation to save world from German beast. Trench fighting for hours. 37 million deaths civilians and military.
WW2 significance?
The battle of ideologies, no longer about territory and interests. Nazis and totalitarian a result of the upheaval. The dawn of the nuclear age.
Cold War significance?
50 year ideological confrontation, kept in check by the possibility of nuclear war between the Soviet empire and the United States.
Origins of the Just War tradition?
Early Christian thought. St Augustine “ The City of God”
Self Defense
Punishment of the Wicked
Righting of a wrong
Jus ad bellum
Whether the recourse to war is just.
Jus in Bello
Whether the conduct of the combatants in war is just.
Just war tenets
Legitimate authority Last resort Just cause Right intention Chance of success Proportionality
Just war theory
Predicate on a belief in sanctity of life and that war is a tragedy.
Legitimate authority
No private wars
Must be declared
By the sovereign
Just cause
Self defense Protection of the innocent Righting serious harm Regaining something taken, within limits Pride, honor and Revenge fails this test.
Right intention
You cannot do the right thing for the wrong reason.
Chance of success
No romantic Suicide mission
No noble hopeless cause
Crusades
Must be respectful of the lives that could be lost
Proportionality
Is the response proportional to the offense? Are the means being used appropriate to the goals sought?
Last resort
All other options must be exhausted for redress for:
Diplomacy
Law
Threats
Does not require always taking the first punch
Must show no alternative
Does just war still matter?
In the end states and thinkers still do care about the rules of war. Yes still matters because nuclear weapons, germs rogue states are existential threats to our existence
Massive retaliation (1954)
To retaliate instantly at time and place of our own choosing.
Flexible response
Recognizing that massive retaliation wasn’t credible.
Envisions stages of escalation: from conventional war, to limited nuclear strikes to all war.
Deliberate escalation
Meant to give president other options
Mutual assured destruction
A recognition that both side now had enough weapons to destroy each other completely.
Mutual suicide pact.
No defenses
No attempt to defend
Ambiguity
Calculated ambiguity
Attempt to adapt from the nuclear deterrent to non- nuclear threats
Same strategies
Lower numbers
The stability-instability paradox
An international relation theory that says that the but nuclear weapons made the world more stable, but also more unstable due to the constant fear of instant war.
Horizontal proliferation
The spread of WMD to nations that previously did not have them.
Vertical proliferation
Increase in amount of WMD in countries who already have these type of weapons.
Asymmetrical deterrence
Possibility for small actors to influence the international system in a way never seen before in history. One nuclear bomb will ruin your day.
What effect did the end of the Cold War on the ability to keep international order?
The end of bipolar rigidity, chaos. Many conflicts across the world between states.
The problem with with client states?
Arming clients and rebels, lots of weapons left behind. The ubiquitous AK-47. US and Soviets would not allow clients states to fail.
The superpower vacuum after 1998?
Americans turns inward
It’s the economy stupid.
Moscow no longer interested or capable of intervention withdraws from Afghanistan.
Rwanda crisis?
Former Belgian colony Two tribes in conflict: The Hutu and Tutsi President killer in airplane crash Used as pretext to eliminate Tutsi Genocide 1 million dead Tutsi 18 American Rangers dead
Yugoslavia crisis? In Srebenica 1995
Cobbled after WW2 out of six Slavic regions Serbia Bosnia Slovenia Croatia Macedonia Montenegro Mass killing of 8000 Bosnia Muslims and mass rapes UN overrun by Bosnian Serbs UN humiliated
Kosovo 1999?
19 nations agree to attack Serbian government with air strike.
Miloseviic forced out from office
Mladic convicted to life in prison
The USA went from no interventions to interventions all the time!
Remnants of Cold War?
Clients and Allie’s Rigid bipolarity gone overnight Power vacuums Leftover weapons Unresolved disputes Cold War fatigue
How did humanitarian interventions come to be seen as acceptable?
The first two tragedies during the 1990s set the tone, first we did not intervene. Kofi Ann spoke at UN Security Council and said, we need to do more. From Kosovo on, we intervened and intervened often.
Moral Equality of soldiers
Honor and chivalry play only a small part in combat today
War is still a rule governed activity
What is war?
A legal condition which equally permits two or more groups to carry out conflict by armed force.
Walzer main argument
Preventive commercial wars , wars of expansion, conquest, religious crusades, revolutionary wars and military interventions all are barred and banned absolutely
Aggression justifies what?
A war of self defense by victim
A war of law enforcement by victim and other members of international society
Nothing but aggression can justify war
Asymmetrical deterrence
One nuclear bomb will ruin your day
Possibility for small actors to influence the international system in a way ever seen before
What is Deterrence ?
To prevent something
What does nuclear power provides?
Prestige
Raw power
Exclusive club
Negotiation leverage
WMD?
Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons
Biological and chemical weapons characteristics?
Small packages, mobile, very dangerous in hands of state and non state actors
Vertical proliferation?
Increase in stock amount of nuclear weapons for a state that already is a nuclear power.
Horizontal proliferation?
Additional states obtaining nuclear power, who were not a nuclear power
What is considered terrorism?
The killing of large amounts of civilian deaths
Not everything is terrorism
Scared for your life.
What is the propaganda of the deed?
The terrorist act Carrie’s the message of the terrorist
State terrorism names
Acts of war, crimes against humanity
Shultz doctrine?
You don’t have to stop pursuing a terrorist accross international borders.
Six conditions for a just war?
Last resort Chance of success Just cause Legitimate authority Right intention Proportionality
When did the Cold War ended?
With invasion of Ukraine
Why people go to war?
Fear, honor and interest
Why was the 30 years war important?
A complete and total war, that led to the peace of Westphalia treaty
This treaty implies the norms that govern international relations into the 21st century
Begins affirmation of sovereign state as we know it
WW 2?
The battle of ideologies
The dawn of the nuclear age and the ultimate weapon
What is the Cold War?
A 50 year ideological confrontation kept in check by possibility of nuclear war
Why study the principles of the just war?
Central to current debates about changing the rules of war UN documents War on terrorism Legal debates Invasions Nuclear threats
What are the origins of the just war tradition?
Early Christian thought St Augustine the City of God Thomas Aquinas Self defense Righting a wrong Punishment of the wicked
What is jus ad bellum?
Whether the recourse to war is just
What is jus in bello?
Whether the conduct of the combatants is just
Requirements of a just war?
Proportionality Just cause Last resort Legitimate authority Right intention Chance of success
Legitimate authority?
Must be declared by the sovereign
No private wars
Just cause?
Self defense Protection of the innocent Righting serious harm Regain something taken(within limits) Pride honor and revenge abolish this requirement
Right intention
You do not do the right thing for the wrong reason
Bloodlust
Chance of success?
No romantic suicide mission
Proportionality?
Under just ad bellum
Is the response proportional to the offense
Under jus in bello
Are the means use appropriate for the goals sought?
Last resort?
All other options must be exhausted Diplomacy Law Threats Does not require always taking the first punch, but states must show no alternative
Does just war still matter?
Yes, in the end states and thinkers still do care about the rules of war
Massive retaliation?
A nuclear response in time and place of your choosing .
At president’s discretion
Initial strategy employed by superpowers
The world changed from bipolarity to Cold War, to nuclear crisis during Cold War and they are still around
1945 one nuclear power
2020 at least 10 nuclear powers
Flexible response
Meant to give president options
Recognition that massive retaliation was not credible
Mutual assured destruction
Mutual suicide pact
The knowledge that both states have enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other completely
No defenses
No attempt to defend
Calculated ambiguity
Attempt to adapt from nuclear deterrence to non-nuclear threats
Same strategies lower numbers
1550 each
Trauma of Cold War
Constant fear of instant war
The stability-instability paradox
The nuclear weapons made the world more unstable and dangerous, but they also made the world more stable because the two nuclear superpowers did not wanted to begin a WW3 or destroy each other
How did we lost the high tech war?
Americans were unprepared for a new warrior class who ignored our rules of war. This new warrior class does not behave rationally and is ready to sacrifice his life to win. You cannot negotiate with this enemy. He does not want anything from us, he is not afraid of anything
Henry Kissinger?
WW2 veteran Harvard alumni Secretary of State Opened China doors to commerce Nobel prize laureate Author
What led to Westphalia??
Pluralism/multiplicity of political units decades of bloodletting
Religious schisms
Allies states?
Bound to help by treaty
Clients states?
They have something we want, and we exchange for something they want
Rwanda?
800 k civilians Tutsi killed with machete
Genocide
18 American soldiers killed
Srebenica?
8000 dead civilians
UN humiliation by Bosnian Serbs
Overrun UN camp
Kosovo?
Finally the US intervenes together with NATO with an air campaign
Kofi Annan?
In 1999 accepts a new norm emerging in the international system. With great power comes great responsibility
What does aggression justifies?
A self defense war
A war of law enforcement and other members of international society
Nothing but aggression can justify war
Terrorism?
Intended to inflict anxiety Intent to change a state policies Perpetrator no state actors Victims are civilians Many audiences: enemy state, population, third parties, even friends and potential recruits
The propaganda of the deed
The terrorist act is their message
International terrorist groups?
PLO, IRA, Red Army Faction
Weathermen
Terrorism attacks?
Munich Olympics 1972- PLO kills 11 Israeli athletes
Terrorism change after 2001?
Particular demands replaced by imposible demands- Bin Laden convert to Islam More brutal More casualties More indiscriminate attacks Terrorists no longer value their lives Heaven and virgins
Right wing terrorism?
Heavily concentrated in the US
Proud boys
Oathkeepers
Domestic, ethnic, racial, social, racist attacks.
Lone wolfs, but part of online communities
Extremist nationalism
Why people went to war?
Thucydides said for fear, honor and interest
When was the Peace of Westphalia signed?
1648
Six tenets of a just war?
Just cause Proportionality Right intention Last resort Legitimate authority Chance of success
Why Cold War matter now?
It shaped todays policy and decision makers
Impossible to understand the contemporary international system without historical perspective
Nukes didn’t disappear
What do nukes do for state actors?
Prestige
Raw power
What did we learn from the Cold War?
A bipolar environment and stable balancing between two superpowers.
Soviet collapse led to unipolar moment where the US emerged as the world leader, but was it more stable? Maybe, maybe not
