REVISION Flashcards
Example of country buying into US hegemony
Pushing Iraq out of Kuwait with a coalition
Neoconservatives
Believe in using military strength to depose authoritarian regimes. Spread democracy
Unilateralist hawks
Military power should be used pre-emptively before threat gets too great. Especially present post 9/11 in Bush administration
Pragmatic multilaterists
Use military power only when prospect of deals is over
Theoretic global neoliberalism
individuals pursuing their own interests in global competitive capitalist free markets, as the main principle of rational and just social organisation
Extending commodification
more and more aspects of life are governed by the capitalist free market: monetary transactions have become more important
Dahl definition of power
“A exercises power over B when she/he gets B to do something she/he would not otherwise do.
Dahl instances of power
For there to be an instance of power, there must be observational conflict. This isn’t really true.
What is positive liberty?
The ‘freedom to’. Being unfree in the positive sense is demonstrated through things that you ‘lack’, such as money, job opportunities.
What is negative liberty?
‘Freedom from’. The absence of barriers like torture, free speech etc.
Who invented positive and negative liberty?
Isiah Berlin
2 examples of conflict of liberties
Is passive smoke a restriction on my liberty to breathe or would banning smoking be a restriction on the smoker?
Property laws restrict liberty to roam but free trespassing would restrict right of property
3 waves of feminism described
Wave 1- Universal Suffrage, equal property rights (19th- mid 20th century)
Wave 2- Sexuality, family, workplace, sexist discrimination, reproductive rights, domestic violence including material rape, divorce law, armed forces etc.
Wave 3- Include non-white women, gender stereotypes, pornography, prostitution.
Three historical realist figures
Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau
When did great debate begin?
1940s. Inter-war idealists and realistsw
2 perspectives on who won great debate
1 - Prevailing view of realist victory
2 - Revisionists argue realists totally misrepresented the inter-war scholars’ views (Schmidt, 2012)
Machievalli Realism
The Prince. Principles are subordinate to policies. Leaders must accept and adapt to power configurations
Hobbes realism
Leviathan. Humans have a lust for power. State of nature is similar to world politics - constant fear of death.
Rousseau realism
State of War. It is not human nature but the anarchical system that fosters fear and insecurity.
Realism and morality
Sceptical of the idea universal morality exists and so self-interest shouldn’t be sacrificed for ethical conduct. Need for survival requires distancing from traditional notions of morality.
Reason d’etat
Reason of state. Realist view that health and strength must come above all else. State is the principal actor.
Dual moral standard, realism.
1 moral standard for citizens and another for the state in relation to other states. Argument goes that the state is still moral as its existence creates the possibility for an ethical domestic political community.
Machievelli, to be successful in politics.
One has to act on the basis of what human nature is really like, not how one wishes it to be.
Three core elements identified with realism
Statism, survival, self-help.
Three historical periods of realism
Classical Realism. Up to the 20th century, starting with Thucydides’ history of the Pelopennesian War.
Modern Realism. 1939-79. First Great Debate
Structural/neo realism. 1979 onwards. Started with Kenneth Waltz.
Key Neorealists and their papers
Waltz. 1979. Theory of International Politics
Mearsheimer. 2001. Tragedy of Great Power Politics
20th century classical realism key thinker
Morgenthau. 1948. Politics among nations
Neoclassical Realism key thinker
Zakaria. 1998. From Wealth to Power
Key idea of Waltz paper 1979
Anarchy leads to logic of self-help. States seek to maximise security. Balances of power then form.
Key idea of Mearsheimer 2001
Anarchical, self-help system compels states to maximise their relative power positions as they can never be sure of other states’ intentions.
Max Weber State Definition
Realists agree with this - “the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory”.
Hobbes tradeoff
We trade our liberty in return for a guarantee of safety.
Realist domestic assumption
The problems of order and security are largely solved
What is the period post WW1 refererred to as?
Idealism
What is the dominant theory of IR?
Realism
Doyle 1997 Liberalism definition (4 parts)
1 - All citizens possess certain rights and are juridicially equal.
2 - Legislative assembly of a state posesses only the authority invested in it by the people.
3 - Key part of liberty is the right to own property
4 - Most effective economyc system is market-driven
Difference in realist/liberal view of war causality.
Realists view anarchy as the cause of war.
Liberals attribute it to a number of different factors.
3 definitive articles of Kant’s perpetual peace
1 - Civil constitution of every state shall be republican (consent of citizens required - war less likely)
2 - Right of nations shall be based on a Federation of Free States. Basically a permanent peace treaty.
3 - Cosmopolitan right shall be limited to conditions of universal hospitality. Universal community means rights violations can be presented.
What is constructivism?
Social theory vs substantive theory
Social theory (e.g. constructivism, rational choice) concerned with conceptualising relationships between agents and strutctures.
Substantive theory (e.g. realism) offers specific claims and hypotheses about international patterns
Ruggie 1998 constructivism
“About human consciousness and its role in international life”
Hobbesian/Machievellian Tradition
International politics are understood from the state of nature. We don’t know each other or what others will do.
- no sociability before the contract
- any right is founded by the Leviathan
- war is always a possibility
Lockean/Kantian Tradition
Hobbes had a misconception. Instinctively man knows he cannot exist alone, we cooperate. People don’t fundamentally seek violence. Man is social, cooperates to survive.
Natural law is inseperable from the individual. E.g. a murderer knows they have broken another man’s rights even without law.
- NATURAL LAWS = rights to life, freedom, and property.
State is generated to protect rights that already existed.
Three Cultures of Anarchy and who made them
Wendt
Hobbesian Order
Lockean Order
Kantian Order
What is a Hobbesian Order?
Culture of anarchy in which norms are followed because they are ‘guaranteed’ by a credible enforcer.
What is Lockean Order?
Norms are internalised. Rivalry and cost-calculation
What is Kantian Order?
Deepest level of internalisation. Force or cost are not determinative. Logic of friendship
3 Lessons of Constructivism
1 - No predetermined outcomes
2 - We have agency and so we can shape political reality
3 - Existence is shaped by social interactions, norms, and rules… so agency has limits.
Institutional and Brute Facts
Institutional - Require human institutions to exist, like money.
Brute - Require no human institutions to exist, like mountains.
Who coined premise of international anarchy?
Dickinson, 1937
What is international anarchy?
Absence of common government
When did system of states begin?
1648 Treaty of Westphalia
Goal pluralism (Hobbes)
Individuals pursue different goals. What is good is subjective (“apparent good”) so you can never know with certainty what others desire.
What does Hobbes claim is the sole known?
Aversion to death
Hobbes Percieved Equality
Individuals who are equal try to gain a competitive advantage over the other.
Percieved Equality States
The greater the known power differential, the higher the degree of certainty about states’ situations.
