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Prof - Tyler Attwood...

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Pol 2103 – Introduction to IR Lecture 1 (Chapter 1 – Global Politics Matters) September 15, 2020 Why global politics matters Global politics includes a variety of issues tht affect financial health, physical environment you live in, & personal security. 

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Economic impacts are more acutely felt – sometimes specific events are more economically costly o Ex; after hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rican gov estim. $139bill costs to make full recovery (repairing destroyed property, restoring basic soc services, etc) o Global economic issues also impact national affairs – (2015 CA election, 2016 Brexit vote, 2016 US pres. Election, 2018 election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil were all centered on national economic challenges caused by international processes/global institutions.  Intermestic – symbolizes intersection of international/domestic concerns (bc national/global affairs so interconnected Global politics impacts physical environ – quality of air, quality of drinking water, how food and clothing is obtained, etc. o Global environmental challenge; climate change – impacts cities, people, states, etc. as sea levels rise and national disasters become more common  Ex; 2018 report from UN intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) shows tht warming half-a-degree in Celsius can expose tens of millions of ppl to life-threatening heat waves, water shortages, & coastal flooding o Global environmental challenge – increasing world pop. & pressure on resources – threatens quality of life  Ex; took 100,000 yrs for pop to get to $1bill, now 200 yrs l8er, we are at 7.7 bill.  1750-1900 – steady increase in pop to a bit less than 2 bill.  1900-1950 – more steep increase to approx. 2.25 bill  1950 – pres – steepest increase to reach almost 12 bill by 2100 Global politics impacts personal security – disease, potential for violence are two threats & although unlikely to affect personally, they rep. high value, low-probability problems o High value, low probability problems – problems not v likely to occur but extremely serious if they do  Low probability problems become more urgent if policy-makers don’t deal w/them  Ex; 2015 nuclear Iran deal – under the agreement, the UK, France, Russia, China, Germany, US, & Iran agreed to limit many nuclear activities and allow international inspectors to access to ensure complicity in return for lifting of economic sanctions against Iran

Grappling with Global Complexity 

Global Politics – multi-faceted and complicated o Domestic politics is polarized, complex, and stalemated but global politics is even more complex

The Study of Global Politics Modern study of IR can be seen as originating in response to horrors of WWI w/establishment of first chair in the field of IR at University of Wales in 1919 

Since then, interest in cause of war & conditions necessary for peace evolves & grows into a academic field

IR closely connected to field of PoliSci, but they r distinct. 

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IR informed by studies of diplomatic history, how culture impacts international interactions. How leaders think about/perceive situations they confront, how economic forces constrain actions of countries in the world, how social structures around gender, class, & race reinforce patterns/trends of IR o So any student of IR must understand tht multiple academic disciplines inform understanding of the world  Ex; in the International Studies Association (ISA), a forum on study of global affairs helps ppl find/study sections on diplomatic studies, feminist theory, global health, history, tech, comms, law, sociology, econ, demography, geography, religion, etc. Nowadays, International Relations, as a term is seen as anachronistic and inaccurate for studying the world today bc now world affairs no longer only consists of interactions between nations, but also multiple other things so then the word global is more fitting o Global is more inclusive of types of interactions tht take place and where interactions take place  Globalizations – increasing integrations of econ, comms, & culture across national boundaries o So global is more used unless there is reason not to

Global Actors Most actors involved in global politics are often times, organizations rather than individuals but we need to recognize tht organizations are groups of ppl w/established practices of interaction tht condition impact of individuals 

States are primary actors – global community consists of almost 200 states but some are more involved in global politics than others o Factors such as power, history, & geographic location indicates level of involvement o Regardless of power and position relative to others, states’ central organizing principle is Sovereignty – authority of state to govern self autonomously & based on recognition by other states and nonstate actors. – Even tho sovereignty is not enjoyed equally, sovereign status separates states from other actors

Also means no world gov controls actions of states in way tht fed gov controls lower gov units within borders – lack of central gov authority is known as Anarchy  Anarchy has varying consequences for state interactions  Although states r seen as legally equal, some states participate in global system in diff/asymmetric ways  Ex; USA is one of few tht holds position of privilege & power, having significant influence over global interactions. – countries like Andorra, Vanuatu, Gambia have less power and influence over global interactions (sometimes even over own affairs)  Overall, state sovereignty is seen as eroding bc of sociopolitical forces like the internet, social media, & global financial markets International organizations (groups of actors tht often center around specific issue) are becoming increasingly significant in contemporary global politics – most prominent are 300+ intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) (comprised almost entirely of states). Some being global such as the UN & WTO. Others are regional like EU, African Union, or Organization of American States Transnational actors (Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Oxfam) – reach across and go past states – o NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) – formal legal entities separate from state, often operating not-for-profit, and are usually consisting of individuals. – many NGOs exist today and concerns touch every aspect of international politics  Ex; from AIDS crisis (International AIDS society) to zero pop growth (Population Connections) to human rights (Amnesty International) Multinational Corporations (MNCs) – private enterprises tht have production subsidiaries & branches in more than one country (such as ExxonMobil & Amazon). – Annual earnings of these corps usually rival economic output of midsize states. In unregulated world econ where money = power, MNCs are important players to look @ Individual actors are also important – they can exercise influence on gp as decision-makers, protestors, voters, etc. Sometimes they also have roles tht can go past national & other institutional boundaries o Ex; Irish rock star Bono made significant waves in crusading more various causes tht are important to global affairs (debt relief for developing countries, HIV/AIDS crisis, etc) – known as Celebrity Diplomacy 

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Global History in Context Peace of Westphalia of 1648 is key moment in history – ended thirty years war. 

Recognized as birth of modern nation-state system – granted sovereignty to almost all states in Europe -> ending rule of holy roman empire or any higher authority like the Church o Monarchs able to determine own policies, such as which sect of Christianity they would practice – this system had consequences for the growing global system.  Ex; States become primary actors in post-westphalian int. system & remain dominant (even though they are increasing challenged today)

Sovereignty in IR today is central as to why realism (an IR theory) is dominant lens to analyze it   

Realism focuses on state as primary actor in world affairs and on state’s monopoly of power -> allows theory to provide powerful/logical explanations for many things we see in the news today Using realism, often explain int. system in terms of polarity (number of predominantly powerful actors in global system at any given point in time) or concentrations of state power Dominance of realism started to break down w/emergence of new thinking about future of diplomacy/IR in 20th century – focused on rise of economic issues in global affairs/growing role of nonstate actors in the system

Historical dominance of the state is being increasingly challenged nowadays as the number and power of non-western states grow 

Colonial empires established by the west collapsed after WWII with over 100 new countries gaining independence in the years to follow o Majority of these countries are located in the Global South (term used to note tht most former colonies/now developing countries are located south of countries in industrialized north) – some (like China) have gained enough power to command global attention/challenge US for global leadership  Even smaller global south countries gained stronger voice through membership in international organizations/institutions  Ex; global south countries command majority of UN general assembly where all 193 countries have one vote no matter wealth, pop., or geographical size  Global North-Global South divide is still relevant in understanding politics, economics, & culture

Increasing numbers of non-state actors is also affecting the IR system nowadays – processes for globalization/blurring of national boundaries opened up new spaces for non-state actors to grow, connect, & make difference in global society 

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Non-state actors range from humanitarian orgs/churches to foundations/businesses to terrorist networks/human smuggling rings. o Important to note tht non-state actors can operate in official and illicit ways and to consider them along with those who they say they represent and how much power they hold Globalization empowered non-state actors in positive and negative ways (sometimes both at the same time)  Things like the internet, innovations in tech, transportation, & finance make states seem like they have less control over citizens than twenty years ago

Intepreting global politics Global politics has transformed over the years on how the world is organized and how global politics proceeds

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Originally, global politics tended to be violent, & centering on the independent/self-interested countries using their powers to compete against other countries where in a system where there is no authority to set/enforce any rules and resolve disputes o This is still a central characteristic of global politics, there are new trends and forms of interactions being created – so it is important to study which states are reinforcing which trends  Ex: according to 2017 report from Global Peace Index, world is getting more peaceful w/93 countries seeing improvement – data took into account everything from wards to level of gov weapons purchases to homicide rates, incarceration rates, political repression, etc. saw that 63 countries are getting worse (includes USA & Middle East) Some differences tht distinguish original concepts of political politics from evolving trajectories are in table 1.1 Evolving trajectories shows in table 1.1 indicate increasing complexity in the global system o First, evolving trajectories in global politics shows how we interact as individuals within own countries – pursue own interests in domestic systems w/considerable freedom to do so & partly rely on ourselves for safety/welfare  In domestic pol systems, ppl can recognized rules/norms & are accountable for obeying them, & have sense of common identity/shared responsibility to reach common good/help those struggling in the society o Second, traditional concepts are still essential to way we analyze global politics but they are not as dominant  Ex; if century ago professor written book of global politics predicting world organization w/193 countries as members (UN), legal community of 28 European countries (soon 27 w/Brexit) etc. that book would have been put in the fiction section of the library

Thinking Theoretically: tools for studying global politics Organizing thinking about world events allows us to make sense of what is going on in the world – so we must put them in a historical and theoretical concept which means to meld current events with theoretical lenses and historical context 

Ex; Brexit – UK historically has had a conflicted relationship w/ the European Project since the 1950s onwards, as well as struggle between state sovereignty and evolving supranationalism among EU countries

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Theory – interconnected set of ideas/concepts to tht seek to explain way things happen/how events & trends relate to each other. Allow us to predict the occurrence of various phenomena o Helps us distinguish which facts are important, what questions we should be asking, & who really counts  Ex; theories allows some analysts to argue that speak of Zika is evidence of lax health standards in many developing countries and lack of effective global health institutions – some argue that the spread is artifact of problematic immigrations/travel medicine standards o Thinking helps us build knowledge – if we treat every event as unique then our lives are just a jumble of random events but by thinking theoretically, ppl look for patterns to help understand more clearly whats occurred & sometimes even predict whats gonna happen  Ex; examining the debate over whether democracies in global north should work towards promoting democratization throughout the global south. – if the democratic peace theory (idea that democratic states seldom, if went to war with each other) is correct then world peace may be through democratization of the world – would make promoting democracy not an altruistic ideal but an important contribution to global security o Thinking theoretically makes us think more critically about own biases/assumptions as we examine the world – “thinking about how we think” helps us ask new questions & open minds to alternative perspectives

five theoretical perspectives 

Realism & liberalism are most dominant schools of thought in IR – world systems, feminism, & constructivism give thought-provoking challenges to realism/liberalism but before any theories are understood in detail, there are multiple warning signs to put in place o 1 – none of the theories that are going to be discussed are truly complete – some scholars say that even realism and liberalism are best described as paradigms rather than full theories o 2 – each theoretical perspective have multiple variations because “if you put four IR theorists in a room you will easily get 10 different ways of organizing theory, and there will also be disagreement about which theories are relevant in the first place” (Jackson & Sorenson, 2003)  Ex; there are classical realists, neoclassical realists, offensive realists, defensive realists, and other kinds of realists o 3 – don’t be fooled by the connotations of realism and liberalism. Many realists do not necessarily see things as they “really” are. Don’t think that liberal always means left-ofcenter politics. In the theoretical context, liberalism is closely tied to the writings of political philosopher like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, & Thomas Hobbes than to US politics/policy implementation o 4 – understand that the theories are the result of years of concept development, rigorous critique, and empirical testing by scholars and practitioners. – bc of this, every time a theory is used by an analyst it is refined both conceptually & empirically.

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One reason why there are so many variations to one approach – community of scholar-analysts undertakes theory development to advance knowledge/understanding to improve the world around us. So theory doesn’t emerge out of one’s imagination or opinion, but it is the product of engagement in the field of study & long-term observation of actors, processes and issues (as well as interactions)

Lecture 2 – Theory is Everywhere (Sept 22, 2020)

Theoretical Perspectives: Diverse Views on Global Politics 

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Theories have empirical (factual) and normative (value-based) aspects o Empirically a good theory provides insightful description/explanation – theory should help interpret past/current events in way tht tells “of what is this an instance of”  More difficult of empirical worth – how well it enables accurate prediction  Predictive power of theory been central to debates in socsci about value of theory for decades Prescription is attribute of many theories – involves policy advocacy, arguing what policy should be on basis of set of theoretical principles about how things work. o Takes analytical strength of theory and uses it to advance predictions about behaviour and offer reccs about best responses to cope/manage w/behaviour o Prescriptive use of theory is to answer question “why does theory matter” – also reveals challenges and problems  Ex; recurring policy challenges posed by North Korean nuclear crisis are product of shortcomings of theory – w/out theoretical lends tht can predict behaviour of NK regime, decision makers from Clinton to Bush to Obama to Trump often left to make educated guesses about intentions/assumptions/interests of Kim JongUn or predecessor Kim Jong-Il, - see utility of theory in application as guidepost for effective policy-making Use prescriptive aspect of theory to organize views about your country’s foreign policy & future course of world politics should be

Realist Theory 

Realism based on view tht competitive self-interest, given preeminent goal of survival drives gp – emerged as result of idealists?? – pessimistic view so it looks at what can be done to limit any damages that may be done to state on global level o Realists believe decisive dynamic among countries is struggle for power to preserve or improve its own military security and econ. Welfare in competition w/other countries  Competition is among all states (big/small, rich/poor) to improve absolute & relative security in environ where there is uncertainty of others’ intentions – result is IR prone to/rifle w/conflict and war (arms race, competing alliance structures, espionage and intelligence gathering, economic nationalism)

Realist see struggle for power as zero-sum game – one where gain for country is loss for others. – see humanity as inherently divided by loyalty to countries or other source of political identity (religion, ethnicity, or culture)  Bc identities best protected/realized thru gov, realists focus on states as primate is not only legitimate actors in IR Rational Choice theory specifically concerned w/ explain decision-making as microfoundation of all global political behaviour. – assumes tht every decision made is informed by instrumental rationality o Instrument rationality – process of rank-ordering one’s preferences and seeking outcomes tht provide for greatest marginal utility (gain in well-being) – some will achieve such outcomes and others will not (zero-sum games) 

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Realism: An emphasis on power 

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Realists say struggles between status to secure conflicting national interests are main motivation for foreign policy actions so countries base foreign policy on existence of what is seen as a Darwinian world where power is key to national survival of fittest & those who ignore these realist principles will not survive Father of modern realism, Hans Morgenthau, saids that its not reasonable for a state to follow policy based on principles likes justice and morality o “While the individual has a moral right to sacrifice himself” “the state has no tight to l...