Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Snyder, "One World, Rival Theories", Foreign Policy no 145, p.…
Snyder, "One World, Rival Theories", Foreign Policy no 145, p. 52-62
International relations theory shapes public discourse and policy analysis. p. 53. They are subtle and multifaceted. p. 55. Act as a power check on each other. p. 55.
Realism: Shifting distribution of power between states. p. 53 "struggle for power between self-interested states. p. 55.
appreciation of power, but warns of overreach p. 55.
-
Developed post-WW2 by European emigrees who felt that the road to war was paved by the naïve belief that international organizations can prevent war / preserve peace. p. 55.
China's current foreign policy is grounded in realism that dates back millennia. p. 55. Develop its military slowly while its economic power grow, but avoiding conflict with the US. p. 55.
Succeeds at explaining post-9/11 military response by the US... harder to explain why the most powerful state declared war against a non-state (Al Queda) p. 55
Non-state actors are a challenge to their assumptions that states are the most important players in foreign policy. p. 55... but there are realist arguments to be made for non-state actors. p. 56.
Thucydides, Hobbes, Machiavelli
Fails to explain the post-9/11 world there is not a legitimate counter to US dominance from smaller powers. p. 56. Where is the balancing instinct that is key to realist theory? Is the US a stabliizing force for smaller nation states? Benign intentions? Are rival nation states working to undermine US moral legitimacy rather than military might? p. 56.
Base your position on real strength, not bravado or false illusions of the way things should be. p. 56.
Liberalism: Focuses on the rise of democracies and the turbulence of democratic transitions. p. 53-4.
the ideal is mature democracies working together in international organization... it takes a lot to reach that maturity and new democracies often suffer from violent ethnic turmoil. p. 55.
-
As trade and finance forge deeper ties and democratic ideals spread between nation states, there is less drive to achieve military superiority p. 56.
Liberalism is believed to be self-evident from Neocons to Human Rights activists... it just makes sense? p. 57.
Theory can be used to support polar opposite positions (i.e. supporters and critics of Bush 2 administration). p. 57.
Iron Law of Social Science: Democracies never fight each other? P. 57. Maybe, but they have a very consistent tendency to launch "messianic fights" against warlike authoritarian regimes. p. 57-8.
Powerful rhetoric to be found in spreading democratic ideals... interestingly Bush was in favor of spreading democratic ideals but did not support the associated international institutions. p. 57.
Weak spot is that fledgling democracies often fall prey to ethnic unrest (drive to self-determine in new democracy). p. 58. Democratic regimes are an attractive target for terrorist violence because they are accountable to their electorate. p. 58.
In small regions with natural resources who successfully build economic ties with established democracies... creates a conflict between wealthy and poor regions within one state. p. 58.
Following victory, even the most powerful hegemonic victors need to gain the support of the vanquished in order to have the best chance of creating a working democracy. p. 58.
States can act in defiance of the incentives established by their position in the international system, but they will suffer the consequences and likely correct the course. p. 59.
Idealism (Constructivism): focuses on changing norms (sovereignty, human rights, international justice, religion. p. 54.
-
Foreign policy should be guided by ethical and legal standards. p. 59... "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail" - Henry Stimson, p. 59.
Constructivism: social reality is created through debate about values. p. 69; emphasizes the role of idealogies, identities, persuasion and transnational networks. p. 60.
-
Debates about ideals are the fundamental building blocks of international life. p. 60. International change results from "name and shame" work of activist organizations. p. 60.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Overlap between constructivism and Liberalism, but Constructivism believes this theory goes deeper and explains the origins of the forces that drive those competing theories. p. 60.
Constructivism identified motives of progressive movements but also explains illeberal transformations (Arab nationalism and Islamist extremism) p. 60.
-