Unit 4 AOS 1 - Ethical Issues and Debates

Question 1

International Law

Answer 1

A wide range of rules that might be seen to govern the action of states in international relations such as treaties, declarations, bilateral and multilateral agreements and even decisions made by bodies such as the UN Security Council

Question 2

Treaty

Answer 2

A formally concluded and ratified agreement between states. Treaties are legally binding

Question 3

Declarations

Answer 3

A written public announcement of intentions or of the terms of an agreement

Question 4

Bilateral Agreement

Answer 4

An agreement between two states

Question 5

Multilateral Agreement

Answer 5

An agreement between three or more states

Question 6

Realism

Answer 6

An attitude or perspective that prioritises national interests to determine state policy, often over the needs of the international community

Question 7

Offensive Realism

Answer 7

Holds that the anarchic nature of the international system is responsible for the promotion of aggressive state behaviour in international politics

Question 8

Defensive Realism

Answer 8

Maintains that states seek to maximize security, preserve the existing distribution of power, are not inherently aggressive and avoid relative losses due to shifts in their relative position and ranking

Question 9

Cosmopolitanism

Answer 9

An attitude or perspective among global actors to work cooperatively to meet challenges that are presented to the global community and emphasises the necessity to uphold universal human rights

Question 10

Justice

Answer 10

A principle of moral rightness based on ethics, law, fairness or equity that also seeks punishment when ethics are breached. In global politics, the ICC seeks to uphold justice

Question 11

Ethics

Answer 11

Refers to addressing questions of morality. In international relations, global actors have underlying ideologies to their actions that have moral dimensions: realism and cosmopolitanism

Question 12

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

• Date
• Signatories
• Objectives
• Obligations
• Enforcement Mechanism

Answer 12

• Date: 1968
• Signatories: Every state including 5 nuclear states (except for India, Pakistan, Israel, South Sudan, North Korea)
• Objectives: To prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament
• Obligations: Non-Proliferation, No Enriched Uranium, No Nuclear Weapons Programs
• Enforcement Mechanism: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Question 13

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

• Cosmopolitan Response
• Realist Response

Answer 13

• Cosmopolitan Response: Russia - Removed 57% of nuclear stockpile since the treaty came into force
• Realist Response: USA - Obama declared they would destroy all nuclear weapons, yet continued to produce new nuclear warheads (B61-12s) at a cost of $348 billion

Question 14

Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF)

• Date
• Signatories
• Objectives
• Obligations
• Enforcement Mechanism

Answer 14

• Date: 1987
• Signatories: USA and Russia
• Objectives: To eliminate and permanently forswear all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5000 kms
• Obligations: To eliminate intermediate-range missiles and not build any more in the future
• Enforcement Mechanism: Self monitored by both party states

Question 15

Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF)

• Cosmopolitan Response
• Realist Response

Answer 15

• Cosmopolitan Response: Since its inception, the vast majority of these missiles have been destroyed. 2,700 had already been removed by 1991
• Realist Response: Russia - The US State Department alleged that Russia had violated its obligations by developing SSC-8 and 9M729 cruise missiles

Question 16

New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New-START)

• Date
• Signatories
• Objectives
• Obligations
• Enforcement Mechanism

Answer 16

• Date: 2011
• Signatories: USA and Russia
• Objectives: To half the number of US and Russia’s nuclear missile launchers (to 1,550 deployed warheads), including ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers
• Obligations: To half the number of US and Russia’s nuclear missile launchers (to 1,550 deployed warheads), including ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers
• Enforcement Mechanism: Russia and the USA allowed one another 18 on-site inspections annually to verify progress on the treaty

Question 17

New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New-START)

• Cosmopolitan Response
• Realist Response

Answer 17

• Cosmopolitan Response: Both states fulfilled their obligation of halving the number of nuclear missiles by 2018
• Realist Response: The treaty is expected to not be renewed (expires 2021), with Trump labelling it “one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration”

Question 18

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

• Date
• Signatories
• Objectives
• Obligations
• Enforcement Mechanism

Answer 18

• Date: 1997
• Signatories: Every state (except for Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan)
• Objectives: To ban the production, use and possession of chemical weapons
• Obligations: The CWC prohibits: using, producing or possessing chemical weapons; the trade of chemical weapons; assisting, encouraging or inducing other states to engage in CWC-prohibited activity
• Enforcement Mechanism: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

Question 19

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

• Cosmopolitan Response
• Realist Response

Answer 19

• Cosmopolitan Response: As of November 2018, 96.62% of the world’s declared chemical stockpile had been destroyed because of the CWC
• Realist Response: Syria - 2017 Khan Shaykhun attacks by the Syrian Government killed 89 people, the Ghouta Attacks (2014) also killed 1400 more people

Question 20

International Security vs State Security Debate

Answer 20

Overview: The debate of whether states prioritise themselves (state security) or the global safety (international security)

International Security

• Cosmopolitanism
• Nuclear Weapons are inherently destabilising “Get rid of all these things” (Ronald Reagan)
• US has prioritised the interests of the global community over its own, destroying 87% of its nuclear stockpile between 1970 and 2014

State Security

• Realism
• Nuclear Weapons are used as a deterrent, the possession of them ensures their non-use
• Israel has maintained possession of nuclear weapons to maintain their security, great power must “never subordinate [state] survival to any other goal” (Mearsheimer)

Question 21

Arms Control vs Disarmament Debate

Answer 21

Overview: The debate of whether states choose to control arms (arms control) or have the total removal or arms (disarmament).

Arms Control

• Realism
• The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is not yet in operation as it does not have the 50 signatories it requires to operate
• Russia hasn’t signed the TPNW, instead spending $8.5 billion on maintaining its nuclear program in 2019, remaining as the world’s largest nuclear state in order to defend ‘Mother Russia’

Disarmament

• Cosmopolitanism
• The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) prohibits the use, production or possession of using nuclear weapons
• Neither New Zealand nor Ireland have produced, aspired to produce or hosted nuclear weapons, they continue to denounce nuclear power even with the risks of climate change, they are both signatories of the TPNW

Question 22

Differing Approaches Regarding Non-State Proliferation

Answer 22

Overview: The debate of giving weapons to non-state actors such as terrorist groups.

Pro Proliferation

• Realism
• US has proliferated weapons to Kurdish forces (a non-state actor) fighting ISIS in Syria, providing them with “$1.4 billion toward equipment, supply, training and stipends [ranging from $100 to $400 per soldier per month]” (Melissa Dalton)
• “The US spent $28.5 billion on the overall fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq since 2014” (The Congressional Research Service)
• The motive behind non-state proliferation is national security using ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ approach

Anti Proliferation

• Cosmopolitanism
• Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015, offering sanction relief in return for the halting of its nuclear program, meaning they could no longer provide arms to Hezbollah (a non-state actor in Lebanon)
• Before the deal, Iran sent approximately $700 million to Hezbollah annually