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International Relations Third Canadian Edition

CHAPTER TEN

Trade

• Concern of International Political Economy (IPE) scholarship

– Emphasis on “high politics” and security

– Separation of “politics” and “economics”

• IPE scholars’ approaches

– Different actors, new issues and social forces

From Security to Political Economy

Theoretical Approaches

1. Economic liberalism

– Shared interests of economic exchanges

– Wealth through optimal efficiency

– Great gains through free trade

– Key actors – states, individual households and firms

– Politics should promote economic efficiency

Theoretical Approaches

2. Mercantilism

– Economics should serve politics

– Creation of wealth for economic power

– Importance of relative power

– Trade is desirable only when it serves your interest

– Terms of exchange determine power distribution

Theoretical Approaches

3. Critical approaches

– Trade and its impact on social groups

– Uneven distribution of wealth among people

– Trade and efficiency

• Unemployment or lower paid unskilled work

– Impact of overall wealth increase in society

Globalization

• Increasing integration of the world

• Widening and deepening of interconnectedness

• Three perspectives

– Globalization brings growth and prosperity

– Increased integration erodes state sovereignty

– North South gap increasing with globalization

Global Patterns of Trade

• International trade – 1/6 of global economic activity

• Annual trade - more than $19 trillion

• Trade is important for South and North

• Two contradictory trends of trade

– Integration of industrialized regions

– Competing trading blocs

Comparative Advantage

• Specialize in producing goods with comparative

advantage and trade them with others

• Low transaction cost of specialization

• Produce goods with lower cost

• Saudi Arabia’s and Japan’s comparative advantage

– Oil and cars

Comparative Advantage

• International trade increases the overall efficiency of

production

• Some drawbacks of trade

– Long-term benefits may incur short-term costs

– Uneven distribution of benefits and costs

– Protectionism

Prices and Markets

• Market economy

– Prices are determined by market competition

• Centrally planned economy

– Political authorities set prices and production quota

• Transitional economy

– Attempting to convert to market economy

Politics of Markets

• A free and efficient market requires

– Large number of buyers and sellers

– Complete knowledge about other participants and transactions

– Participants concentrate on price and quality considerations only

Politics of Markets

• International trade occurs in world market prices

– Market imperfections

• Monopoly – De Beers and diamond market

• Oligopoly – OPEC and the oil market

– Politics provides a legal framework for markets

– Political influence on markets – taxation and sanctions

Balance of Trade

• Value of a state’s imports and exports

• Positive balance of trade – trade surplus

• Negative balance of trade – trade deficit

• Mercantilists prefer a trade surplus

– Negative impact on standard of living

Interdependence

• Mutual dependence of states – economic gain

• Degree of dependence - asymmetrical

• Sensitivity and vulnerability of supply

• Interdependence arises from comparative advantage

• Loss of autonomy and sovereignty

• Multiple dimension of power

Trade Strategies

• Strategies to minimize vulnerability/dependence on others

• Autarky or self-reliance

– Avoid trading and produce everything needed

– Ineffective from comparative advantage perspective

– Example of Albania and China

Trade Strategies

• Protectionism

– Protect domestic industries from international competition

– Multiple motivation to protect industries

• Pressure from domestic industries

• Protection of an infant industry

• Protecting cultural/national security industries

• Defence against predatory practices - dumping

Trade Strategies

• Methods to limit imports

– Tariff/duties – duties imposed on imported goods

– Nontariff barriers – quota

– Providing subsidies/tax breaks to domestic industries

– Impose restrictions and regulations

– Economic nationalism

Trade Strategies

• Industries and interest groups

– Seek to influence foreign economic policies

– Lobbying, forming interest groups, paying bribes and even encouraging coups

– Example – Canadian softwood lumber

– Industrial policy – government working with industries

Trade Strategies

• Several industries important in trade negotiations

• Agriculture

• Intellectual property rights

• Opening trade in service sector

• Arms trade

• Industry of illicit trade

Trade Strategies

• Cooperation in trade

– Global free trade – a collective good

– Benefits of free trade – international cooperation

– Reciprocity for enforcement – vital for international trade

– Trade disputes and retaliatory measures are common

– Trade cooperation is easier to achieve under hegemony

Trade Regimes

• Common expectations held by governments on international trade

• International political agreements on trade

• Two major types

– Bilateral trade agreements

• Reciprocal arrangements between two states

• Goal – to lower barriers on trade

Trade Regimes

– Regional free-trade areas

• Agreement among few neighbouring states

• Goal to remove trade barriers

• Customs union and common market

• Free trade areas - Europe and North America

– Asian and Latin American attempts

• A global multilateral organization, 1995

• Promotes, monitors and adjudicates international trade

– Replaced an existing agreement on trade

• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),1947

– WTO governs goods, services and intellectual property

– 153 members in 2011

– Goal – liberalization of trade

The World Trade Organization (WTO)

• Basis of WTO – Reciprocity and nondiscrimination

– Most-favoured nation (MFN) concept

– Exception – Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)

• WTO – a negotiating forum for multilateral trade agreements

• Doha round of trade negotiations since 2001

Resistance to Trade

• Backlash to globalization and growing trade

– Growing nationalism and material dislocations

– Impact of free trade on labour • Movement to improve working conditions

– Opposition of environmental groups

– Impact on cultural industries

Resistance to Trade

• Protests against free trade

– Highlight the arguments against trade liberalization

– Growing awareness about the organization and its impact

– Global public opinion (poll in 2009)

• Concern about cultural and environmental impact

• Yet a majority favours free trade

– Costs and benefits of free trade

International Relations Third Canadian Edition

CHAPTER SIX

International Conflict

The Wars of the World

• Largest contemporary wars

– Iraq, Western Sudan (Darfur) and Afghanistan

• All in the global South

– Mostly in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East

• Most peace agreements are holding up

• War – a negative form of leverage

Types of War

• Hegemonic war

– War over control of the entire world order

• Total war

– One state against another state

– Goal: occupation/annexation of another state

• Last hegemonic and total war

– World War II

Types of War

• Limited war

–Includes military actions to fulfill some objectives

–Raids along the border

• Civil war

–War between factions within a state

–Control the entire state or part of it

Types of War

• Guerrilla war

– Warfare without front lines

– Purpose

• Harass and punish the enemy army

• Liberate territory from army’s control

– Counterinsurgency

Causes of War

• Two ways to approach the subject – Descriptive approaches

• Focus on specific direct causes

– Theoretical approaches • Focus on general explanations

• Broad generalizations are elusive

• Levels of analysis can be helpful

Causes of War

• Individual level

–Choice of individual leaders to wage war

–Rational calculations or deviations from it

• Domestic level

–Characteristics of states

–Less or more prone to use violence

Causes of War

• Interstate level

–Power relations among actors

•Power transition theory

–Deterrence by building more weapons

•Does it cause or prevent wars?

–No general formula has been discovered

Causes of War

• Global level

–Cyclical explanations

•50 or 100 year cycle

–Theory of linear long-term change

•War and military force are becoming obsolete

•Military technology is too powerful to use

–International norms against the use of force

Types of Conflicts

• Two broad categories of international conflict

–Conflicts of interest

•Territorial, governmental and economic (tangible interest)

–Conflicts of ideas

•Ethnic, religious and ideological (intangible elements)

• They are not mutually exclusive; they overlap considerably in practice

Conflicts of Interest

• Territorial disputes

–Means of controlling territory – primarily military

–Secession; ethnic cleansing

–Interstate borders; lingering disputes

–Territorial waters

–Airspace

Conflicts of Interest

• Control of governments

–Conflicts over the control of entire states

• Economic conflict

–Conflict over divergent economic interest

–Economic liberals vs. critical theorists

–Trafficking in resources/persons creates conflicts

Conflicts of Ideas

• Ethnic conflict

– Conflict based on ethnic identity of people

– Ethnic groups – large group with common identity

– Often form the basis for nationalist sentiments

– Aspiration of ethnic groups for statehood

– Lack of home state - Kurds

Conflicts of Ideas

• Ethnic conflict

–Create pressures to redraw borders by force

–Concern of outside states for “their people”

–Genocide – systematic extermination of a group

–Various causes of ethnic hostility

Conflicts of Ideas

• Religious conflict

– Conflict based on religious differences

– Differences make existing conflicts more intractable

– Fundamentalist movement vs. secular political organizations

– Violent conflicts in the name of religion

– Islamic fundamentalism and Western-oriented secular states

– Anti-Western sentiment in predominantly Islamic countries

Conflicts of Ideas

• Ideological conflict

–Ideological differences intensify conflicts between groups

–Ideologies can help mobilize people

–Democracy – spread of democracy as an ideology

–Conflict between democracies and nondemocracies

International Relations Third Canadian Edition

CHAPTER FOUR

Critical Approaches

Diversity and Power

• Critical Theory

–More heterogeneous than realism and liberalism

–Main questions they ask

• How did the world come about, and

• Whose interests does it serve?

–Presence of numerous actors and issues

–Focus on inequality, but disagree on its type

Diversity and Power

• Robert W. Cox’s suggestion

–Problem-solving theory

•Takes the world as is, and

•Institutions and relationships working within it

–Critical theory

•Asks how the prevailing world order came about

Understanding IR

• Domination of positivism in IR

–Philosophical assumptions of positivism

•Presence of knowable and separable objective world

•Utility of scientific method, theory and hypothesis

• Most critical theories reject positivism

• Theories are never neutral

Understanding IR

• Critical theorists favour post-positivism

–External world is tied to the theorist

–Interpretation and understanding based on existing knowledge

–Objectivity is impossible • Impact of prior assumptions and political commitments

• Understanding vs. objective explanation

Marxist Thought

• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – Central unit of analysis – class

– Unequal class relationship under capitalism

– Historical materialism – organization/transformation of societies

– Communist manifesto – expansion/destruction of capitalism

– Lenin and his contribution – imperialism and capitalism

– Criticism and its relevance

Gramscian IR

• Antonio Gramsci – an Italian Marxist

• Gramscian hegemony

– Coercion and consent required to rule

– Hegemony sustains through people’s consent

– Adapted by Robert Cox and others

• Hegemonic order and counter-hegemonic forces

Feminism

• Gender is important in understanding IR

• Reveal the existing assumptions about gender

– Male oriented

• Challenge the traditional concepts of gender

– Public private divide

• Several feminist approaches to IR

Feminism

• Standpoint feminism – Study IR from the standpoint of women

• Liberal feminism – Favours gender equality

• Post-positivist feminism – Combines feminist and post-modernist perspectives

– Uncovers the hidden influences of gender in IR

The Masculinity of Realism

• Standpoint feminist perspective re-examining realism

–Realist focus on separate/autonomous actors

–Psychological basis of this view

–Realist construction of IR as man’s world

–Feminist principles of IR

•Greater importance to interdependence of states

•Emphasis on human security and human rights

Gender in War and Peace

• War – a masculine pursuit/construction

–Primary combatants in warfare are males

–Male sex hormone connected to aggression

• Women as peacemakers has a long history

• Gender gap found in Western countries –Fewer women support military action

Women in IR

• Liberal feminists

– Skepticism toward standpoint feminists’ claim

– Support equal gender representation in IR

– Women and men have the same capabilities

– Behave the same way and produce the same results

– Integration of women into foreign policy-making and military

– Women handle power just like men do

Women in IR

• Skills/abilities of female politicians and soldiers

• Combat role of women

• Different impact of combat on women – More vulnerable to sexual assaults

• Effect of war on noncombatants

• No unique feminine assets/liabilities to foreign and military affairs

Insert Table 4.1 from pg. 121

Post-positivist Feminism

• Seeks to deconstruct realism and liberalism

• Goal – uncover the hidden influences of gender in IR

• Claim – gender roles are arbitrarily constructed

– No fixed inherent meaning of genders

– Open-ended study of how gender and power interact

• Criticism of liberal feminists

• Criticism of standpoint feminists

Post-positivist Feminism

• Challenge the archetypes of male and female

• Both genders – active participants in warfare

• Just war doctrine – too abstract

• Deconstruct the language of realism

– Issue of subtext or hidden meaning

– Power and potency

– Issue of state capability and male virility

Post-positivist Feminism

• Realism and liberalism

– Ignore all the sexual aspects of weaponry

– Desire of male politicians and soldiers

• Gender segregation in the military

– Based on series of myths

•Women maintain the homefront

•Soldiers “man” the battlefront

Postmodernism

• No single fixed reality exists

• Pays special attention to texts and to discourses

• Deconstructing realism

–Rejects realism’s entire framework and language

–Argument – multiple realities exist in IR

• Sometimes criticized for being “nihilistic”

• Raises concerns about state actions being inevitable

Postcolonialism

• Imperialism – the source of modern identities

• Explores the intersectionality of

–Race, class, gender and imperialism

• Colonial legacy of our thought

• IR itself is a part of the colonial project

• “Benign” actors carry out the project

International Relations Third Canadian Edition

CHAPTER THREE

Liberal Approaches

Alternatives to Realism

• Realism dominates the study of IR

– Most homogeneous of the three paradigms

• Liberal pluralists offer an alternative

• But are less homogeneous than realism

– Common terms used to identify them

• liberal, liberal pluralist, liberal internationalist, peace

researcher, economic liberal, and others

Liberal Pluralism

• Differs from realism in many respects

– Besides states, non-state actors also active

•Individuals, institutions, MNCs, NGOs and social movements

– Policy relevant advice to both actors

– Emphasis on cooperation, not conflict

Traditional Liberal Critiques

• Five major criticisms against realist assumptions

– Anarchy is only a partial truth

– States are not simple unitary actors

– Rationality for long term collective benefits

– Power – ability to accomplish desirable ends

– Nonmilitary leverage increasingly effective today

Immanuel Kant

• Liberal theories’ preoccupation with peace and cooperation

• Kant’s observation – foundation of liberal theories

– Internal character of governments important for peace

– Organizations and rules can facilitate cooperation

– Advocated universal or cosmopolitan rights

– Supported free trade

The Invisible Hand

• Liberal economic thought influences

liberal theory

– Adam Smith in the 18th century

• Individuals pursue self-interest via free market

– Invisible hand of supply and demand

– Richard Cobden in the 19th century

• Trade promotes peace among the states

Woodrow Wilson

• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson

– An early/strong advocate of collective effort

• Fourteen Points – general association of nations

• League of Nations, 1919

– Collective security

– Free trade and self determination

Neoliberal Institutionalism

• Also known as neoliberalism

– Stresses the importance of international institutions

– As unitary actors, states pursue self-interest;

cooperation in their self-interest

– Cooperation is possible in an anarchic world;

institutions promote cooperation and increase mutual

gains

– Reciprocity enhances international cooperation

• Prisoner’s dilemma game or tit-for-tat strategy

Collective Goods

• One key issue for many liberals

–Dilemma of collective vs. individual interest

• Promote collective interest and forgo individual interest

• Example: global warming and military alliance

–Overcome collective goods problem

• Collective benefit and free ride issue

Collective Goods

• Collective goods easier in small groups

– Greater impact of defection (free riding)

– Harder to conceal; easier to punish

– Example: G8 or G20 vs. WTO or World Bank

• But it occurs in all groups

– No enforcement authority to enforce contributions

International Regimes

• Set of rules, norms, and procedures

• Expectation of participants – fulfill common objectives through these rules

• Regimes help overcome collective goods problems by increasing transparency

• Regimes make cooperation possible even when international system is anarchic

• Regimes facilitate and empower states to achieve their goals

Hegemonic Stability Theory

• Hegemon – a predominant global actor

• Can enforce the rules/norms unilaterally

• Hegemonic interest to maintain global order/stability

• U.S. hegemony – global peace/prosperity after WWII

• Regimes persist even after hegemonic decline

–Example: UN, NATO, IMF

Collective Security

• Major actors’ coalition to jointly oppose

aggression by any actor

–Support by Kant and Woodrow Wilson

–Examples

• Global: League of Nations and UN

• Regional: OAS, Arab League, and AU

Collective Security

• Success of collective security depends on

–Commitment of members to the alliance

–Agreement on what constitutes aggression

• Two opposite examples

–Iraq in Kuwait (1990); U.S. in Iraq (2003)

• Broad meaning of the concept today

–Common security; human security

The Democratic Peace

• Preliminary assumption: Democracies are more peaceful than authoritarian regimes – Problem: Both fight equal number of wars

• Later assumption: Democratic Peace – Democracies almost never fight each other

• Spread of democracy – last two centuries – Acceleration of trend – last two decades

Constructivism

• A new approach in IR

• Focus – norms, identity, and social interaction

• Activities of IR – “world of our making” – Role of actors

• Broader social relations important for IR

• Many strands of constructivism

Peace Studies

• Challenges fundamental concepts behind realism

• Attempts to broaden the focus

– Study social relations through multiple levels

– Peace through social revolution and transnational communities

– Preference for peace: normative bias

Peace Studies

• Conflict resolution

– Development and implementation of peaceful

strategies for settling conflicts

• Mediation

• Citizen diplomacy

• Confidence-building

• Linkage

Peace Studies

• Militarism

–Glorification of war, military force and violence

–Structuring of society around war

–Emphasis on military force unnecessary and not universal – peace studies

Peace Studies

• Conceptualization of peace

–Positive peace • Elimination of structural violence

• Issue of world government

• Peace movements: tactics, targets and goals

• Non-violence – Pacifism and active nonviolence

Economic Liberalism

• Economic variant of liberal pluralism

• Advocates freedom of the market

• Institutions and regimes in IPE

–Examples: IMF, World Bank, WTO

• States and institutions should support free markets

• Interference in the market halts growth and efficiency

International Relations Third Canadian Edition

CHAPTER TWO

Realist

Approaches

Theoretical Approaches in IR

• Various theoretical perspectives/paradigms in IR

• Their utility for IR students

• Challenging task to identify scholars’ perspectives

• Three main perspectives or paradigms – Realist, liberal pluralist and critical

Realism

• One of the dominant theories in IR

• Explains IR in terms of power

• The exercise of power – realpolitik or power

politics

• A response to idealist tradition in IR

– Idealism prevalent between WWI and WWII

Realism

• Realist tradition

–Sun Tzu; Thucydides; Thomas Hobbes; Hans Morgenthau

• Realist assumptions

–States are the most important actors

–They are rational actors pursuing power

–They operate in an anarchic environment

Realism

• Neorealism – a scientific version of realism

• Also known as structural realism

• Developed by Kenneth Waltz

• Emphasis – structure of the international system – Anarchy and international distribution of power

• Structure shapes the behaviour of states

Realism

• Debate among the realist scholars

–Emphasis on economic over military capacity

–Offensive and defensive realism

–Role of institutions

–Specific policy options – use of force?

Power

• A central concept in IR and realism

• Ability or potential to influence others

• Ability measured by

– Tangible characteristics – material power

• Size, level of income, armed forces

– Intangible characteristics – soft power

• Power of ideas

Estimating Power

• The logic of power suggests

– Powerful state will generally prevail

– Relative power of state is important

– U.S. involvement in Iraq (2003-2011)

• Comparison with 1991 war

• Implications for Iraq and the US

Elements of Power

• State power – mix of many ingredients

• Long-term elements of power

• Capabilities that influence in the short term

• Tradeoffs among possible capabilities – Utility of military force in the short term

Elements of Power

• Relevance of morality

–Rhetoric of peaceful and defensive intentions

• Geopolitics

–Geography as an element of power

–Location and control of natural resources

Rationality

• Assumption of rationality among actors

– Identify and prioritize their interests

– Use power to advance national interest

– Perform cost benefit analysis

Game Theory

• A branch of mathematics used in IR

• Predicts bargaining outcomes – Zero-sum and non-zero-sum games

• Prisoner’s Dilemma – Rational players’ inability to cooperate

– Arms race between India and Pakistan

– Game of “Chicken” and Cuban Missile Crisis

The International System

• International system shaped by long-established “rules

of the game”

–Anarchy and sovereignty

–Balance of power

–Great powers and middle powers

–Power distribution

–Hegemony

Anarchy and Sovereignty

• Anarchy in the international system

– No global authority to enforce rules

– States rely on self-help

– Solution: world government or international organizations?

– Despite anarchy, respect for norms of behaviour

Anarchy and Sovereignty

• Sovereignty

– State’s ability to govern its own territory

– No interference in others’ internal affairs

• Exceptions – human rights, self-determination, electoral fraud

– Respect for territorial integrity

– Impact of information revolution and global trade

Anarchy and Sovereignty

• Recognition of sovereignty

• Norms of diplomacy to facilitate interaction

• Security dilemma • Example - arms race

– Negative consequence of anarchy

Balance of Power

• One or more states’ power balancing other/s

• Balance of power can refer to

–Any ratio of power capabilities between states/alliances

–A relatively equal ratio

–Process of repeatedly forming counterbalancing coalitions to prevent one state’s domination

Balance of Power

• Theory of balance of power

–Counterbalancing occurs regularly for stability

–Does not imply peace, but stability

–Alliances – a key component

•Shifting alliances for balance

•Smaller states jumping on the bandwagon

Great Powers and

Middle Powers

• The most powerful states exert the most

influence

• Great powers

– About half dozen most powerful states

– Ability to militarily defeat each other

– Strongest military and economy

– Today’s great powers

Insert Figure 2.1 from pg. 69

Great Powers and

Middle Powers

• Middle powers

–Some are large but not highly industrialized

–Others may be small with specialized capabilities

–Examples

•First tier and second tier

•Canada’s position?

Power Distribution

• Relevance of polarity

– Number of independent power centers

– Multipolar, unipolar (hegemony), bipolar, and tripolar

• Which one best preserves the peace?

– Multipolar or bipolar?

– Unipolar (power transition theory)?

Hegemony

• A system with a hegemon

–A state possessing an overwhelming power

–Singlehandedly dominates the system

• Hegemony of ideas – Antonio Gramsci

• Examples of hegemony

–Britain – 19th century; US after WWII

Hegemony

• Hegemonic stability theory

–Hegemony brings order in the international system

–Reduces anarchy

–Functions as a central government

• Chinese dislike for the term

• Considerable ambivalence about US hegemony

Strategy

• Used to pursue good outcomes in bargaining

• Statecraft – art of managing state affairs

– Power strategies to develop/deploy capabilities

– Key to maximize international influence

•Chinese strategies over Taiwan

Strategy

• Reciprocity

• Deterrence

• Compellence

• Arms race

The Economic Variant

of Realism

• Mercantilism, or economic nationalism

–Economy – subservient to politics

–Economic relations important

•If they contribute to nation’s wealth/power

–Increased interdependence – more vulnerabilities

–Self sufficiency over interdependence

International Relations Third Canadian Edition

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

The Study of IR …

• Concern of IR – People and cultures throughout the world

• Earlier focus – Relationships among the world’s governments

• Today’s focus – International organizations, multinational

corporations, social movements, NGOs, individuals and world’s governments

… and Daily Life

• Our actions shape IR

• IR affects our daily lives

• Globalization is internationalizing us

• We are internationalizing others through our actions

IR as a Field of Study

• IR – a relatively recent field of study

• Politics at the global level

• Two main subfields of IR

– International Security

– International Political Economy

• Although separate, close connections between the two

Theories of IR

• IR understood through descriptive and theoretical explanations

• Group of theories – perspectives/ “paradigms”/ lens

–Different views of the world

• Three broad theories or paradigms in IR

–Realist – conflict and power politics

–Liberal pluralist – cooperation and mutual benefit

–Critical approach – inequalities and injustice

Actors and Influences

• Presence of several actors who influence global politics

–State actors

•Independent sovereign states

•Recognized by international community

•Vary in size of population and economy

Actors and Influences

– Non-state actors

•Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

•Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

•Multinational corporations (MNCs)

•Global social movements

•International terrorist networks

•Substate actors

Levels of Analysis

• A tool to study events in IR

• Four broad levels of analysis – Individual, domestic, interstate and global

• Example – NATO’s war with Serbia in Kosovo, 1999

• No correct level for a given question

• Using multiple explanations to explain an event

The Power of Information

• Impact of information revolution on the capability and preference of actors

• New possibilities with technological development

• Role of telephone, radio, television and internet

Insert Figure 1.1 from pg. 16

The Power of Information

• Greater and free flow of information – double edged sword

– Can be an instrument of government power

• Information dissemination to influence audience

– Can also undermine their authority and power

• Protests in Tunisia and Egypt, 2011

Global Geography

• World divided into nine regions

• Global North-South gap

–North

• North America, Western Europe, Japan/Pacific, Russia and Eastern Europe

–South

• China, Middle East, Latin America, South Asia and Africa

• Division based on territory, population and economy

History of International System

• Importance of history in IR

• Current international system – a product of

Western civilization centered in Europe

– Europe conquered various world civilizations over

several centuries

– Created a single global international system

The Great-Power System:

1500-the Present

• Treaty of Westphalia, 1648

– Foundation of modern state systems

– Relevance of 16th century European state relations

• The great-power system

– Composed of about half a dozen states

– Rise and fall of their power

The Great-Power System:

1500-the Present

• The world order

–Role of wars, alliances and hegemons

• Most important wars

–Thirty Years’ War; Napoleonic War

–World War I and II

• Key hegemons

–Britain – 19th century; America – 20th century

Imperialism: 1500-the Present

• European imperialism since 1500 – Empires in Central America and Brazil

– Colonies in North America and the Caribbean

• Independence in Latin America – Shortly after the United States independence

• Independence in Africa, Asia and the Middle East – Few years after World War II

Nationalism: 1500-Present

• Nationalism – a strong force in IR

–Devotion to a nation with shared identity

• Historical development of nationalism since 1500

• Principle of self-determination

• Source of conflict

–Demands for statehood or border adjustment

The World Economy:

1750 to the Present

• Britain – most advanced global economy in 1750 – Industrialization and free trade

• United States – most advanced/largest economy today – Industrialization, territorial expansion, immigrant labour and

technological innovation

• Group of 8 and 20

• Single integrated global economy today

• Huge inequalities

The Two World Wars:

1900-1945

• Two World Wars – global or hegemonic conflicts

• WWI – an irrational and unnecessary war

–Treaty of Versailles, 1919

–League of Nations established after WWI

–Power vacuum after WWI • Filled by Germany and Japan in the 1930s

• Their aggressive expansionism led to WWII

The Two World Wars:

1900-1945

• WWII

–Hitler’s expansionist policy in Europe

•Attacked Poland, France and the Soviet Union

•Britain, France and the U.S. fight against Hitler

–Japan’s expansionist policy in Southeast Asia

•Attacked Pearl Harbor; U.S. response

–Hitler and Japan surrender to end the war

The Two World Wars:

1900-1945 • Two world wars offer contradictory lessons

• WWI – Failure of hard line policy

• WWII – Failure of appeasement policy

• Best policy to avoid war?

The Cold War: 1945-1990

• East West rivalry characterized by bipolar standoff

• Despite hostility, a stable relationship

• Main U.S. concern – Europe controlled by Russia

• U.S. response: Marshall Plan; Containment

• Sino-Soviet alliance and eventual split

• Various wars

The Cold War: 1945-1990

• Strategic parity in the 1970s

• Pro-democracy movement in China in 1989

• Gorbachev – Perestroika and Glasnost

• Break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991

• Disagreement on why Cold War ended

–U.S. military strength; Soviet internal stagnation

The Post-Cold War Era:

1990-2011 • Gulf War, 1990

• Collapse of Soviet Union – 15 different republics

• Western relations with Russia mixed since then

• Breakup of former Yugoslavia and Bosnia crisis

• Ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and NATO’s role

The Post-Cold War Era:

1990-2011

• Somalia, Rwanda and Haiti

• U.S. rift with China and Europe

• Support for the U.S. after September 11

• War on terrorism

• U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, 2003

• Tension between Muslim and Western countries

The Post-Cold War Era:

1990-2011

• Tension with North Korea and Iran

• Post-Cold War era more peaceful

• Warfare is diminishing

• Arab spring in the Middle East

• Era of globalization

• China as a rising major player