What do actors want Actor States Politicians Interests Security wealthy power ideology Re election retention of office ideology policy goals Wealthy profit Firms industries or business associations Classes or factors of production Bureaucracies International Organizations Nongovernment al organizations NGOs Material well being wealth Budget maximization influence policy preferences As composite of states they reflect the interests of member states according to their voting power As organizations they are assumed to be similar to domestic bureaucracies Normative ideological or policy goals human rights the environment religion Examples US Canada China Presidents Speaker of the house prime General Motors minister Sony the pharmaceutical industry Capital labor land human capital Department of defense Department of commerce National Security council UN International Postal Union Int l Monetary Fund Red Cross Amnesty International Green peace the Catholic Church Why can t actors always get what they want Interactions The ways in which the choices of two or more actors combine to produce political outcomes Strategic interactions each actor s strategy or plan of action depends on the anticipated strategy of others We assume that actors are purposive that they behave with the intention of producing a desired result Actors develop strategies that they believe are a best response to the anticipated strategies of others Sometimes the choices made by others leave actors facing a highly undesirable outcome Interactions can be grouped into Cooperation and bargaining Cooperation An interaction in which two or more actors adopt policies that makes at least one actor better off relative to the status quo without making others worse Positive sum game it makes at least one party better off than otherwise Bargaining An interaction in which actors must choose outcomes that make one better than off at the expense of another Bargaining is redistributive it involves allocating a fixed sum of value between different actors Zero sum game the gains for one side perfectly match the losses of the other Do institutions matter in world politics Tasks institutions emphasize 1 Setting standards of behavior Clear standards of behavior reduce ambiguity and enhance cooperation but clear standards cannot eliminate all disputes The following or not following of rules makes states judge compliance on other states Verifying compliance Institutions can also provide ways to acquire information on compliance In many int l institutions self reporting is a common practice countries are required to submit reports documenting their compliance this allows other parties to the agreement to inspect the self reporting of others assess those reports against their private knowledge of others compliance and publicize and criticize any inconsistencies At the other extreme some int l agreements permit on site inspections Finally institutions protect the ability of countries to verify compliance independently ambassadors on a foreign state Reducing the costs of Joint Decision Making Institutions make it easier for actors to make decisions collectively Societies establish institutions to routinize decision making avoid conflict and reduce the costs of joint decision making time voting cost of voting cost of incidents etc International institutions also facilitate cooperation by providing mechanisms for resolving disputes Usually international economic transactions By creating mechanisms to resolve disputes actors increase their expectations that others will uphold their commitments prevent retaliation from escalating resolve ambiguities in their agreements and allow mutually beneficial cooperation to occur However INTERNATIONAL institutions do not enforce cooperation except in RARE CASES Institutions are both the shapers of policies by facilitating cooperation and the products of political action What are the three core principles of International Relations Dominance Reciprocity Identity Given that war is costly why does it occur 1 Realism argues that war is the inevitable result of int l anarchy The absence of a central authority capable of policing interstate relations means that wars can happen because there is nothing to stop states from using force to get their way States fight wars either to increase their own power such as enlarging their own territory or to decrease the power of others such as destroying adversaries and their allies Preventive method the desire to fight in order to prevent an enemy from becoming relatively more powerful The main departure from realism is in recognizing that the use of military power imposes costs on states so even if it is useful to threaten force to get a better deal states are generally better off it they do not have to actually use force 2 The role of misperceptions or mistakes Decision makers inaccurately estimate their chances of winning or the costs that will have to be paid 3 A long tradition of scholarship argues that wars were fought no because they serve the interests of states but because they serve the interests of influential groups within the state such as cooperation arms merchants and the military Wars are fought despite the costs because those costs don t fall on the actors who call the shots Incomplete information and commitment problems can lead to war How can we make war less likely 1 Raising the costs of war One of the main disincentives for engaging in war is the abhorrent human economic material and psychological costs it imposes 2 2 Increasing transparency Reduces miscalculations Transparency means to peer into a state and learn about the factors that influence its decision making about war and peace 3 Providing outside enforcement of commitments outsiders may be able to help build credibility for the opposing states commitments not to exploit power or first strike advantages Third parties can play this role by monitoring and enforcing agreements by providing security guarantees to one or both sides and sometimes by interposing their forces directly between two potential combatants 4 Diving apparently indivisible goods a Joint or shared control b Compensate in order to get the good painting is indivisible so pay the country money to get it 5 Consistent trade between countries decreases war Do politicians fight wars abroad to satisfy narrow interests Leaders want to hold office The desire to stay in power means that leaders have to be responsive to the interests of those
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