International relations essay in 6 hrs [urgent] 1300 words
Neoliberalism
Scholarship in the early 1980s established
- Stable international cooperation in the 1970s despite substantial changes in the distribution of international economic power
- International organizations (the GATT, IMF, and the World Bank): prominent in the economic landscape
International organizations
- mitigate problems that threaten stable patterns of cooperation
Why do international organizations matter?
- provide information and a framework that shapes expectations
- reduce the effect of the anarchy
IOs became a foundation for international cooperation
- Managing interdependent relations may even include construction of sets of rules and procedures
International Regime
- A set of rules (principles, norms and decision-making procedure) voluntarily established by states to provide some degree of order in IR (Stephen Krasner)
- (Contrast with the realist theory of hegemonic stability!)
Robert Keohane
(After Hegemony)
- cooperation is possible without hegemony since international regimes make this cooperation possible
- differentiated hegemon's role in creation of international regimes from their maintenance
- non-hegemonic cooperation is difficult but not impossible
Why are states careful not to break the rules of int. regimes?
- fear of retaliation
- search for reputation
The assumption of rationality
- States calculate the costs and benefits of different course of action and choose the one that give them the highest net pay-off
States
- Avoid temptations to cheat by obtaining high-quality information about the actions and preferences of other states
- Coordinate their actions (e.g., agree on common technological and public-health standards).
International organizations (IOs)
- Monitoring: assurance that others are living up to the terms of their commitments
- Coordination: learning about the preferences and constraints of others
- Enforcement and dispute resolution (although actual enforcement powers typically remain in the realm of the member states)
The central ideas of neoliberalism
- International relations (IR) are institutionalized – IR consist of a set of rules and practices that prescribe behavioral roles, constrain activity, and shape expectations
- International regimes and international organizations (institutions) make an impact on states’ behavior
Emerging governance structures
- Economic and legal issues (EU, WTO, and ECJ, IMF)
- Security issues (NATO)
The role of IOs as agents
- Create a framework in which negotiators can agree on the specifics of politics
- Set up mechanisms to encourage states to live up to the terms of these agreements (e.g., conditionality)
The continuing relevance
of power
- Many political outcomes continue to be heavily influenced by power politics