PSC 124 1st Edition Lecture 4Outline of Last Lecture I. Global geographyII. Assessing the wealth of statesIII. A quick tour of 20th century historyOutline of Current Lecture I. Intro to theoryII. Realism and idealismIII. Power politics- theoristsIV. Understanding power- defining, estimating, identifying elementsV. Concepts re the international system- a realist perspectiveCurrent LectureI. Intro to theory - Theory: a system of ideas intended to explain something…based in general principlesindependent of the thing to be explained- Theories conceptualize IR; help to explain and predictII. Realism and idealism- Idealism: emphasizes international law, morality, and international organization rather than power alone1. Human nature is essentially good2. International system is one community and all states must cooperate to overcome mutual problems3. Morality*4. Looks at how the world should be- Realism(power politics, realpolitik): developed after failure of idealism; explains IR in terms of power1. What is, rather than what should be2. Humans are essentially and primarily self- interested3. States are the primary actors with power and security as their central concerns4. States are unitary, rational actors5. Foundation of realism is dominance6. Political power> morality, ideology and other social& economic aspects of life7. IR can best be explained by the choices of states operating as autonomous actorsrationally pursuing their own interests in an international system of sovereign states without a central authorityThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.III. Theorists of Power Politics- Thucydides1. Greek city states 420 BC2. Peloponnesian War3. “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”- Machiavelli1. The Prince2. Denied relevance of morality in political affairs3. Ends justify the means- Thomas Hobbes1. English philosopher2. Leviathan3. Life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”4. “war of all against all”5. Human can coexist only by creating government- Hans Morgenthau1. Politics Among Nations2. Politics governed by objective laws3. Interest is defined in terms of power4. Tension between morality and successful political action5. Interest and power serve as a check against “moral excess” and “political folly”IV. Understanding Power: - Power: the ability to get another actor to do what it would not otherwise- Capabilities are easier to measure than influence (size, levels of income, armed forces)- GDP is the best single measure of power- Power also depends on nonmaterial elements such as national will and diplomatic skill1. Power of ideas- the ability to maximize the influence of capabilities through a psychological process- Soft power: if a state’s own values become widely shared among other states, it will easily influence others- Relative power: the ratio of power that two states can bring to bear against each other- Economic strength is fungible (can be converted into another type of strength)- Geopolitics: use of geography as an element of powerV. The International System- Treaty of Westphalia (treaty that ended Thirty Years’ War) began notions of nation-state (sovereignty, territorial integrity, legal equality, nonintervention, political/religious self-determination) and the abilities of states or coalitions of statesto balance power against each other- Anarchy: lack of central government that can enforce rules1. Implications from realist perspective: danger, power is protection, self-help, alliances, capabilities- Sovereignty- a government has the right, in principle, to do whatever it wants within its own borders- Security dilemma: a situation in which states’ actions taken to ensure their own security1. Negative consequence of anarchy2. States ensure own security by building up defenses which threatens other states who in turn build up defenses as well- International norms1. Realist perspective on international norms: important but secondary to power2. Sovereignty-related normsA. Independence inside bordersB. Equal statusC. Non-interference 3. Diplomacy related normsA. EmbassiesB. Spying - Balance of power: general concept of one or more states power being used to balance that of another state or group of states1. Alliances play key role2. For weaker states, “bandwagoning” is often quicker and cheaper than building up their own capabilities- Neorealism (structural realism): explains patterns of international events in terms of the system structure- the international distribution of power- rather than in terms of the internal makeup of individual states- Polarity: the number of independent power centers in the system1. Multipolar: 5-6 centers of power 2. Unipolar: 1 power, hegemon3. Bipolar: 2 powers, most stable4. Tripolar: 3 powers, rare, results in two against 15. Power transition theory: the largest wars result from challenges to the top6. Hegemony: one state’s holding a preponderance of power in the international system, allowing it to single- handedly dominate the rules and arrangements by which international political and economic relations are conducted7. Hegemonic stability theory: hegemony provides some order similar to a central governmentA. Ambivalence about of non-hegemon states and within hegemon about its hegemonyB. Internationalist vs isolationist- should the US get involved in the affairs of other countriesC. Unilateralism vs multilateralism- should the US act alone or form alliances- Great powers1. Most powerful states- current UN security council plus Germany and