Terms Flashcards
What is a state?
A defined territory, a defined population and has internal and external sovreignty
Sovereignty
A state’s right to exercise independent authority within its borders (i.e. to govern itself)
Internal sovereignty
A state’s monopoly on the legitimate use of force within its own borders
External sovereignty
A state’s rights to perform its function without external interference from other states (i.e. autonomy) (Principle of Noninterference)
Empire
Had no defined territory or population
Dates of the 30 Years War
1618-1648
Date of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses
1517
Date of Peace of Westphalia
1648
Why was the state successful?
State-like entities were the most successful at waging war because of a taxation system and standing armies
Nationalism and states
In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was a common idea that evert nation should have their own state
Juridical statehood
How a state is recognized by the international community
Empirical statehood
How a state functions in reality (i.e. does it really have sovereignty)
Purpose of theory
Diagnosis: simplifying a complex world
Prediction: what to expect
Prescription: what action should be taken
Evaluation: was a policy successful
Theory
An explanation for why or how outcomes occur
Unifying Themes of Classical Liberalism
Optimism about human nature, faith in human reason, variable-sum game, belief in progress and cooperation
Sociological liberalism
Transnationalism and a sense of shared community fosters cooperation and peace
Interdependence liberalism
(commercial peace) Growing flows of trade and capitalism results in economic interdependence, increasing the costs of war
Institutional liberalism
International institution facilitate cooperation between states
Republican liberalism
(democratic peace) Shared values between democracies and the consent of the people to go to war means that democracies rarely go to war with each other
Blows to liberalism
WWI: interdependence hadn’t stopped the war (interdependence liberalism)
WWII: League of Nations didn’t stop the war (institutional liberalism)
Unifying themes of Classical Realism
Pessimism about human nature, people are naturally selfish and power seeking and states are the same, and the international system is anarchic
Anarchy
The absence of a higher authority with the ability to effectively regulate state behavior
Founders of realism
Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes
Thucydides
Ancient Greek historian who wrote the Melian Dialogue: Athens invaded Melos despite their appeal to morality so he concluded that global politics is about power
Machiavelli
States practice public morality, where following private morality rules may be unethical because it hurts the survival of the state
Hobbes
The state of nature is the state of war because there is no higher authority
Neorealism themes
International system is anarchic, great powers are the main actors, states are unitary and rational and so value security, there is a hierarchy of power, and the international system is uncertain
Unitary actor
Each state has one set of primary interests
Security dilemma
One country’s efforts to increase its own security can make other countries less secure
Self-help
Countries can only rely on themselves
Levels of Analysis
Individual: looking at leaders
State: looking at the state’s political system (democracy)
System: looking at the state’s place on the hierarchy of power
Offensive Realism
Mearsheimer: the only reliable path to power is to gain as much as possible; power maximization
Defensive Realism
Waltz: it is better to seek the appropriate amount of power to maintain a balance
Mearsheimer’s 5 assumptions
- international system is anarchic
- great powers possess offensive military capability
- there is uncertainty
- survival is the primary goal
- great powers are rational actors
Motivations for constructivism
Neorealism is too simple, empirical mismatches in history, advances in science, importance of ideology, culture, ideas, and human agency
Unifying themes of constructivism
Emphasizes social construct of reality, ideational rather than material view, emphasis on culture, ideology, and social interaction
IR theories on anarchy
Liberalist: believe in anarchy but believe we can mitigate it
Realist: anarchy is a given
Constructivist: anarchy is what people think it is
Systemic constructivism
the interaction between states influences each state’s identity and behavior
Domestic constructivism
Looking inside the state at histories, ideologies, culture, and ideas influences state identity and behavior
Wendt: cultures of anarchy
Hobbesian: states see each other as enemies
Lockean: states see each other as rivals
Kantian: states see each other as friends
Logic of Appropriateness
Finnemore: international system sets the norms that instruct states on how to behave to be accepted and civilized
Norm
a collective understanding of the proper behavior of actors
Measuring norms
Specificity: clarity
Durability: how long and how well its been enforced
Concordance: do all actors agree it’s a norm
State system
Politically organized human grouping which occupy distinct territories and exercise a measure of independence from each other (first seen in Hellas 500-100 BC)
State values
States exist to uphold these values: security, freedom, order, justice, welfare
