Midterm Flashcards
What is Foreign Policy
- Strategy chosen by a national government to achieve its goals in relation to external entities
State Sovereignty Elements
- Territorial integrity
- Political independence
- Sovereign equality
Territorial Integrity
- States have a right to control what happens within their borders
- 2.4 UN Charter
Political Independence
- A stronger state may try to influence a smaller one
- Need independence
Sovereign Equality
- Officially all states are equal regardless of size
- UN Charter 2.1
Foreign Policy
- Assumes global anarchy
Domestic Policy
- Is within a state’s borders
Foreign Policy Analysis
- Look across different levels and decision makers within states
Hallmarks of FPA
- Actor-specific information
- Actor-specific theory
- Multi-level explanations
- Theory across social science
- FP decision making is as important as outputs
Goals of FPA
- Building a universal theory
- Building sector-specific, mid-range theory
- Providing sound advice to policymakers
Rosenau’s Five Factors
- International system
- Societal environment
- Government setting
- Bureaucratic roles of policymakers
- Individual characteristics of Fp elites
Levels of Analysis
- Hudson
- Cognitive processes and small group dynamics up to national attributes
Methodological Challenges and Policy Relevance
- Hard to observe and analyze from the outside
- Delays in accessing necessary information
FPA in Post-Cold War Era
- Fall of Berlin Wall and dissolution of the USSR
- Underlined limitations of system-level explanations
Realism Historically
- All about power and self-interest
- Thucydides and Machiavelli
Realism Core Assumptions
- International system is anarchic
- States are unitary and rational actors pursuing own interests
- Goals are security and state survival
- Power determines state relations
6 Principles of Political Realism
- Hans Morgenthau
1. Laws are rooted in human nature
2. Interest in terms of power
3. Interest in power is objective and universal
4. Aware of moral significance of political action
5. Moral aspirations of one state are not equated with moral laws
6. Autonomy of political sphere
Power, Morality, and FP
- Morgenthau, morality is important but must exist in tandem with politics
- CIA and the 1973 Coup in Chile
Chile Coup 1973
- CIA actively supported a military regime
- Turned a blind eye to human rights abuses
- Classical example of being unethical
Neo-Realism/Structural Realism
- Kenneth Waltz, updating realism to make it more scientific
- Focused on states as rational
- System-level analysis
Liberalism and Idealism in Early 20th Century
- Idealism failed and made realism
- Optimism and faith in institutions with LoN
- 20 years later WW2 proved it didn’t work
Liberalism in History
- Focused on domestic politics
- Institutions to uphold rights
- Positive sum games
- ‘Zone of peace’ with democracy and liberalization
Liberal Legacies
- Democratic peace-theory
- Dems still fight non-dems
- Complaisance towards threats
Democratic Peace Theory
- Immanuel Kant
- Social and economic interdependence
Liberalism and FPA
- Liberals are open to an ethical and moral approach
Morality and FP
- Libyan dictator is under threat during Arab Spring
- Threatens to kill thousands to keep power
- R2P invoked by the West
Realism
- Stresses prudence, self-interest, and rationality in FP
Liberalism
- Shared interests and prospects for cooperation
Rationalist IR
- R and L assume states are rational actors
- Rational choice theory
- Rational actors follow a logic of consequence
Rational Choice Theory
- States act to maximize expected unity based on cost-benefit calculations
Constructivism
- Ideas matter to help explain events in IR
- Interplay between material factors and ideas
- Agents and structures have potential for change
- Centrality of norms, culture, and identity
Constructivism and Change
- Social construction is ongoing
- Acting with structure reinforces it
- Structure can be changed if challenged
Constructivism and Norms, Culture, and Ideas
- Identity is how states see selves
- Cultural norms shape behaviour
- Norms are standards for judging appropriate behaviour
Logic of Appropriateness
- I should do this because it is right and expected
Logic of Consequences
- Strategic decisions about how to make other rational choices
Anarchy and Constructivism
- Anarchy doesn’t make states act a certain way, Wendt
- What states think anarchy means determines their behaviour
Constructivism and FP
- States and their interests are socially constructed
- Norms, culture, and identity shape FP
- Decisions based on LoA vs. LoC
- Bounded rationality
Bounded Rationality
- Cultures, norms, and rationality give you a zone to operate within
- So it might seem rational to act accordingly
Security Communities
- Invented in 1950s by Karl Deutch, reinvented by Con
- Some states form a special community with shared values
- E.g. NATO
Constructivism Critiques
- It says nothing about who to care about most or interest
- All depends
- Does not offer solutions to specific policy problems
Konstruk Politik
- Houghton in 2017 argued constructivism can guide policy makers
- 6 criteria
KP 1
- Actors are crucial, can reshape the system
KP 2
- Argument and language matter a lot
KP 3
- If you can’t change the physical, change the social
KP 4
- Don’t assume rationality
KP 5
- Try to initiate ‘norm cascades’
KP 6
- Encourage/discourage self-fulfilling beliefs
Anarchy vs. Hierarchy
- R and L start with anarchy
- Marxism and PDcolonial emphasize hierarchy
Empires, Exploitation, and State Sovereignty
- Taking sovereign states for granted limits analysis
- FPA does not examine how states were created
- Supposed to be three elements to state sovereignty, not true
- States aren’t real outside of FP
Scramble for Africa
- Berlin Conference 1884-1885, divided Africa up in Europe
- Informal imperialism with military influence and economic dominance turns into direct control and rule
King Leopold
- Claimed DRC as his personal property
- Massive human rights violations
Imperialism
- 1914, 90% of Africa was under European control
- Need to take this into account when talking about FP
Decolonization and State Sovereignty
- Many states are products of oppressive and exploitative colonial policies
- Decolonization in the 20th century
- Western states are still priviledged
20th Century Decolonization
- 70 states in 1945 to 190 in 2018
- Kept colonial borders often
- Colonizers reinforced ethnic divisions which continues the legacy
Non-Aligned Movement
- New states wanted to maintain independence during Cold War
- 120 countries went unaligned
Marxism, Capitalism, and FP
- History is all about class struggle
- Capitalism is private ownership with labour as a commodity
- State is instrument of class power, bourgeois
- Domestic but prone to expansion
Lenin’s Theory of Imperialism
- Advanced captialist states exploit own citizens and resources for products and expansion
- Imperialism distorts other processes
Economic Motivations for Colonial Expansion/Imperialism
- Quest for raw materials and natural resources
- Domestic market can only buy so much, so search for new markets and investments
Dependency Theory
- Ongoing exploitation despite formal, sovereign equality
- States are equal in theory but not in practice
Modernization Theory
- States all move through predictable stages of development
- Wrong because the system has built-in structural issues
World Systems Theory
- Immanuel Wallerstein, seeing the world as a whole
Core-Periphery
- Core is the West who profit from the periphery and semi-periphery
IMF ‘Structural Adjustment’ Policies
- Loans to countries in economic cries
- Countries were told to produce primary goods which resulted in price drops in exchange for help
- Good for Western consumers
Post-Colonial Theory in IR
- Take language and theory coming from West
- Repackage different ideas that challenge empire colonialism
Decolonial Theory in IR
- Stressing Indigenous and alternative forms of knowledge
P and D Theories in IR
- Stress inherent violence of colonization
- West is rooted in domination and exploitation
Neo-Colonialism
- Colonialism still explains a lot of IR
Neo-Colonialism and FP
- State is in theory independent, really its economic system and poli policy is from the outside
- Formal colonial power has a lot of influence
West and Central African CFA Franc
- West stopped having to deposit half of foreign exchange reserves in 2021
- Central still does
- Shows legacy of colonial powers
Common but Differentiated Responsibility
- Eco law principle
- Everyone needs to contribute
- Important to recognize difference in capacity to take action, why differences exist
Hard Power
- Military and economic
Soft Power
- Obtaining preferred outcomes by attraction rather than coercion
- Nye in the 1990s
Structural Power
- Ability to shape and determine global system structures
- E.g. norms and institutions
UN Security Council
- All three types of power
UN Security Council Members
- P5: US, UK, France, Russia, and China
- Hard and soft power to determine membersK
Linking Knowledge and Power
- Specialized knowledge and expertise are authority
- Use of language and specialized vocabulary to shape public perception
Feminism, Knowledge, and Power
- Canada is neoliberal, Sweden focuses on gender equality
- Efforts to advance gender equality and challenge structural sources of inequality
NATO in Afghanistan
- Post-9/11 military coalition by US to invade
- Justification then emerges about bringing gender equality to Afghanistan
Knowledge, Power, and Ethics in FP
- Tendency to treat power and ethics as separate, conflicting imperatives
- Determining true motivations is hard
Motives for Military Intervention
- Colin Powel US SoS said there was a need to prevent weapons of mass destruction
- Iraq invasion followed
Knowledge, Power, and Ethics in FPA
- Shape the questions we ask
- Privilege certain tops at expense of some theories
- Concepts have assumption about ethics built in
Democracy
- Form of government based on rule by the people
- Popular sovereignty
- Aligned with political liberalism
Political Liberalism
- Individual liberty and equality
Does Regime Type Matter
- Realists downplay significance
- Liberalists say it shapes FP via institutions
- Constructivists are attentive to norms
Realists and Regime Type
- Doesn’t matter
- States pursue power based on relative capabilities
Liberals and Regime Type
- Shapes FP via institutions, norms, and values
Constructivists and Regime Type
- Attentive to norm, culture, and identity
- Can or cannot be conducive to peace
- Different shapes in different places
FP Behvaiour of Democracies
- Shaped by liberal nnorms and values
Liberal Norms and Values of FP
- Diplomacy and multilateralism
- Economic interdependence
- Constraits on war invitations
- Concerned with human rights
Post-Cold War Democract Promotion
- Cold War ends, huge push to promote democracy
Democratic Peace Theory
- Democracies will war with non-democracies
- Three main explanations
- Three variant
DPT Three Explanations
- International constraints, checks and balances on decision making
- Normative constraints, dems are pro negotiation
- Economic interdependence, war is mutually damamging
Three Variants of DPT
- Monadic
- Dydadic
- Systemic
Monadic DPT
- Democracies alone are more peaceful than non-democracies
Dyadic DPT
- Democracies do not war with other demcracies
Systemic DPT
- More dem states in a system will make it more peaceful
O’Neal and Russett DPT Variables
- Democracy
- IO membership
- Economic interdependence
European Union
- State must be democratic to join
- EU then is IO for peaceful dispute resolution
FP of Non-Democracies
- Centralized decision-making leaders face fewer constraints
- Less transparency, more coersion
- Personalist alliances
Russia Invasion of Ukraine
- Force and coersion to solve differences
China and UN Peace Operations
- China has become more engaged in UN pecekeeping
- China and Russia want to cut back human rights work in peacekeeping
Unintended Consequences
- Börzel, democracy promotion can be destabilizing
Hybrid Regimes and FPA
- Combine democratic and autocratic characteristics
Skeptics
- Waltz etc. are wary of culture and identity as part of FP story
- Prefer material factors
Hans Morgenthau
- Leaves room for cultural factors in his original text
Identity and FPA
- Identity is linked to nationalism
- Katzenstein, norms are expectations for behaviour of actors
Culture and FPA
- Collective models of nation-state authority or identity carreid by custom of law (Katz)
Strategic Culture
- Persisten systems of ideas/practices about FP in sociopolitical community (Massie)
Cultures and Conflict
- Nationalism and ethnocentrism cause conflict
- Clash of Civilizations
Clash of Civilizations
- Huntington, the world is divided up into clashing civilizations
- Some countries are more prone to conflict because they are on fault lines
- Controversial
Soft Power
- Other states doing what you want because of attraction
- Culture and identity as sources
US and Israel
- Barnett reading
- Influence of domestic lobby groups needs an existing basis for cooperation
Identity and US-Israel Relations
- Shared identity
- Israel as a lib dem provides common ground
- Is subject to change
Russia, Ukraine, and National Identity
- 2013 Ukraine wanted to join EU
- Pulled back under pressure from Russia
Security Communities
- States within a pluralistic security community have similar core values
- Could have an iliberal secuirty community
NATO
- Can be seen as a secuirty community, countries join who share lib dem commitments
Canada’s FP
- Stairs argues it is rooted in domestic practices and political culture
San Francisco 1945 UN Negotiations
- Some states didn’t like permanent members
- Canada was ok because otherwise there is no UN