Intro International Relations
Global Organisation of Political Authority
Sources of Power
Material (temporary + frail)
Guns
Money
Legitimacy
perception of rightfulness, goodness, justness, appropriateness
Stable + cheap to sustain
constant yearning by political leaders
Putin's narrative
Zelensky's narrative
International Institutions
Accepted practices, rules, norms
Shape actors identity
Regulate behaviours of states
Authority depends on
Are sites of authority
Three levels
International regimes
Fundamental institutions
Constitutional institutions
fundamental
sovereignty
political authority distributed amongst sovereign states
basic practices used (by states) to cooperate + coexist
international law
diplomacy
ambassadors
fundamental framework
regulating state behaviours in issue areas
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Chemical Weapons Convention
International Trade agrements
WTO
Historical development
Sovereignty (Today)
Empire (1900)
Heteronomy (1200)
Territorially demarcated states
Multiple forms of political authority
Overlapping jurisdictions
Up to 5 systems
Merits
Captures
Political history
Dramatic transformations
Analytical
Why?
Normative
ethical questions
race
gender
class
Reflexive
understanding field
Realism
IR is struggle for power like all politics
why? consequences?
classical
structural/neo
Hans Morgenthau
humans are inherently domineering
within state, tendencies constrained by law + police + courts
international arena is anarchic (no state)
endemic conflict
order = balancing power
cooperation difficult
Kenneth Waltz
rejection of human nature assumption
structure of int. system
anarchic
absence of central authority
organising principles (sovereignty)
functional differentiation of states (like units)
states have same function, but use different resources do those functions
unequal distribution of capabilities
some have guns and money, some don't
English School & Liberalism
Similarities
IR fundamentally social
rationalist
actors/states are self-interested
not narcissistic
personal strong interests (e.g. end poverty)
humans can rank interests
states (rational actors) are strategic
pursue interests efficiently under environmental constraints
Heavy emphasis on institutions
English School
Liberals
fundamental institutions
issue-specific institutions/regimes
Differences
English School
Liberalism
Society possible between states
Agrees w/ Waltz's realism
international system anarchic
starting point
Hedley Bull
International system
International society
States have 'common interests in the elementary goals of social life'
sovereign states
enough interaction
need to take each other into account
billiard board
anarchical system
states with common values/interests
form society
bound by common rules/laws
share in working of common institutions
physical security
safety
respect for agreements
trust
stability of possession
property rights
not necessarily private, capitalist
to advance these interests
common rules
constitutional principle of world politics
rules of coexistence
restricting violence
obey treaties
non-intervention
regulating cooperation
pacta sunt servanda
self-defence
UN peace enforcement
to uphold rules
fundamental institutions
diplomacy
international law
management by great powers
war
1st Gulf War
removal of Saddam Hussein from Kuwait
legally protected means of communication
act responsibly to ensure rules upheld
balance of power
Old political theory
17th-19th century European origins
against absolute monarchical power
individuals as primary units
not states
individuals have inalienable rights that legit government protects
US independence
Hamilton
French monarchy
Government based on consent of citizens
law legit only if authored by those subject to it
Rousseau's "true freedom"
Translations to IR
Immanuel Kant
1795 Perpetual Peace
90s Western Policy
war will end if you spread democracies ("republics")
free trade
interdependence
less likely to war
state ruled by people
people suffer in war
people won't support war
Liberal principles of gov. transplanted into IR
law only legitimate if authored by states
rule of law
neoliberal institutionalism
Robert Keohane
Why is cooperation so common among states?
Concessions to realists
state-centrism
importance of anarchy
states are rational actors
cooperation under anarchy = hard
costly
lack of info
motives?
cheating
states create issue-specific institutions to overcome
lower transaction costs
increased info
increased diplomatic transparency
prevents cheating
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Marxism and Constructivism
Similar
Humans are products of social environment
Marxism
Constructivism
Key thinkers
Marx
Lenin
Gramsci
Mao
Wallerstein
Steps
- Marxism is scientific
- Humans are inherently social
humans distinguished by ability to form complex social relations
can only be an individual within society
- Most important part of social environment is 'mode of production'
for humans to survive, transform nature
way this is done = mode of production
- Modes of production vary
primitive
ancient
feudal
capitalist
socialist
agricultural
hunter-gatherer
slave-based agriculture
industrial
common ownership of means of production
relationshing between lords, serfs
- Different modes produce different 'relations of production'
inherent inequality
fuels conflict
- Relations of production are hierarchical + conflictual
- Ruling classes define political structures, institutions, and processes
Marxism + iR
- Capitalism is inherently expansionist
Imperialism is expression of capitalism
- Resulted in single world capitalist system
- Within this system, states exist to serve interests of capitalism
- World capitalism produces hierarchical social relations
core
periphery
semi-periphery
- Hierarchy determines nature of IR
Core ideas
ideational structures matter as much as material structures
identities inform interests
agents + structures shape each other
Variations
Systemic
Unit-level
Transnational
Holistic
structure of states system
under what circumstances do human right make a difference?
internal norms within states
how shape behaviour?
where did the system of sovereign states come from?
Feminism and Postcolonialism
Critical v Problem-solving
Critical
Subjects world as it is to critical scrutiny
Problem-solving
takes organisation as given, aims to make it more functional
Power
Material
Legitimate
Hierarchy
guns + money
realists
rightful authority
any relationship of subordination + superordination
gender, race, wealth, class
sustained by ideas + values
Feminism
IR is androcentric
critique of social demographic nature
Forms
Empiricism
Standpoint theory
Postmodernism
Documenting gender-based forms of inequality in IR
Cynthia Enloe
document place of women in global economic/political system
Nationalism
Diplomacy
Military bases
Agriculture
Industry
Conceptual + theoretical questions
Gendered nature of ideas we use to understand world
Ann Tickner
gendered dichotomies
objective/subjective
reason/emotion
etc
Reformulation of Morgenthau's 6 principles
anti-foundational
relativist
focus on relationship between knowledge & power
celebration of diversity
critique of empiricism + standpoint theory
focus on
power & knowledge
construction of identity
Postcolonialism
Before 1970s
1945-1970s
world organised into empire-states
Europe's and US's empires collapsed
Institution of empire collapsed
Theory
Most to say about shift to sovereignty
Expose & critique global imperial hierarchies
5 dimensions
Emphasise reality & importance of Imperial past
Challenge idea that hierarchical world of empires replaced by equal world of sovereign states
legal equality hides inequality of states
Hierarchies are material but racial
global colour line
Challenge Eurocentric narratives of history & IR
Decolonise the IR curriculum