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POL 240: Introduction to International Politics Theoretical Review 2010-10-26 Overview • Introduction: Levels of Analysis, Paradigms • Four Paradigms • Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, Feminism • Debates • Conditions for Cooperation • Balancing and Bandwagoning • Democratic Peace • Organizations Three Levels of Analysis:!Singer 1960 [Waltz 1959] • 1st Level: Individual • Nature of “Man” (“Man seeks Power,” “Men seek power”) • Individual Leaders (“George Bush seeks power”) • 2nd Level: State • State level • Nature of (some) States (“Democracies are less warlike”) • Individual States (“The US seeks power”) • Organization level • Nature of Organizations (“SOPs lead to errors”) • Individual Organizations (“The DOD seeks power”) • 3rd Level: State System • Interaction • Interaction among Units (“Democracies don’t attack each other”) • Relational Arguments (“Allies don’t attack each other”) • Structure • Distribution of Power/Threat/Interests (“Bipolar is more stable than multipolar”) • Positional Arguments (“Hegemons seek power”) Paradigms • Different Paradigms (realism, liberalism, constructivism, feminism) can be seen as: • Competing perspectives on the world • Explaining different phenomena • A division of labor between determining interests and outcomes • Empirical bets on the frequency of international phenomena Realism:!Origins • Thucydides 1972 [400 BC] • Premise: Justice only exists between equals • Prescription: • Strong do what they will, weak suffer what they must. • Hobbes 1909 [1651] • Premises: • Men are equal, which leads to diffidence (suspicion), which (along with competition and glory) leads to war • Prescription: • Submit to central authority • Without central authority, man is in a state of war (no peace) Classical Realism: !Morgenthau 1948 • Premises • Objectivity: World is separate, can be observed, relatively constant • National interest is defined as power • Analysis • 1st Level: Man desires power (control of man over man) as an end • 2nd Level: Some states better than others at balancing (not democracies) • 3rd Level: Consider the interests of others • Prescriptions • Minimize risks, maximize benefits, balance powerStructural Realism I (Neorealism): Waltz 1979 • Premises • Ordering principle: Anarchy (vs. Hierarchy) • Character of the Units: States treated as functionally identical, rational, seek survival • Distribution of capabilities: Material • Analysis (3rd level) • States will balance against each other • States will be concerned with relative power gains • Bipolar systems more stable than multipolar ones • Prescriptions • States try to maintain status-quo: Defensive Realism Structural Realism II (Neorealism): Mearsheimer 2001 • Premises • Anarchy • Effective Offense • Intentions are uncertain • Own Survival • Utilitarian Rationality • Analysis (3rd Level) • Fear: Other states are deadly enemies • Self-Help: No subordination of interests • Power Maximization: Only way to be secure (Means, not End) • Prescriptions • States are all revisionist except hegemon: Offensive Realism Liberalism:!Origins • Hobbes 1909 [1651] • Premises: State of Nature is War • Prescription: • Central Authority leads to commerce, internal peace • Locke 1824 [1689] • Premises: State of Nature is Peace, Violations cause War • Prescription: • Central Authority stops retribution cycle • Kant 1917 [1795] • Premises: State of Nature is War, Nations natural units • Prescription: • Republican (rule of law) Constitutions • Interstate Trade • International Organizations (Classical) Liberalism: !Doyle 1983 • Premises • Treat others as ethical objects, with freedoms, representation, and participation • This can be applied to the international system as well • Four institutions: Juridical equality, representative government, private property rights, economy shaped by supply and demand • Analysis • 1st Level: Regular rotation of office • 2nd Level: Individuals who rule the polity bear costs of wars; states act more rationally; commerce and trade pacifies. • 3rd Level: International law • Prescriptions • Promote trade, democratization, organizations Liberal Institutionalism (Neoliberalism)!Keohane 1998 • Premises • Cooperation is possible, but states need help • Depends on factors other than material power • Analysis (3rd Level) • Institutions Reduce: • Uncertainty of intentions • Transaction Costs • Institutions Increase: • Shadow of the future (multiple plays, value of the future) • Transparency • Prescriptions • More institutions!Constructivism:!Origins • Rousseau 1913 [1755] !(A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality) • Premises • State of Nature is peaceful and lacks morality • War is created through civilization • Prescriptions • Social reform, collective state with “General Will” (Structural) Constructivism:!Wendt 1992 • Premises • People act towards other actors on the basis of their understanding of those actors (collective meaning) • Actors acquire (relational) identities by participating in collective meanings • Identities are the basis of interests • An institution is a relatively stable set or structure of identities and interest • Self-help is such an institution • Analysis (3rd Level) • Anarchy is what states make of it: • Competitive (Hobbesian) • Individualistic (Lockean) • Cooperative (Kantian) • Prescriptions • States should act based on how their actions reinforce structures Feminism: !Tickner 1991 • Premises • Dynamic Objectivity: World is not separate, is affected by our lenses. • Language and values contain gendered assumptions • Analysis • 1st Level: Human nature doesn’t lead to will to power; power can be defined as collective empowerment. • 3rd Level: States in weak positions build coalitions rather than balance, achieve cooperative solutions. Common moral elements can de-escalate international conflict • Prescriptions • Band together to solve pressing collective world problems Conditions for Cooperation:! Jervis 1978 • Premises • Security dilemma (SD increase in my security decreases your security)


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REED POLITICAL SCIENCE 240 - Theoretical Review

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