3313 - Intro Intnl Relations - Exam 2

State's ability to coerce by utilizing military and economic tools

State's ability to persuade other actors through culture, ideology, institutions, identity, and appealing narratives

It operates through the distribution of material power among great powers in an anarchic international system, creating unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar systems

States use material resources to influence other states through economic and military means (economic assistance vs sanctions, military assurance vs punishment)

Through norms of appropriateness that shape what states consider acceptable behavior

Political manipulation

One dominant power enforces agenda and other states can try to balance against it

Two roughly equal power create competing spheres of influence (most stable)

Three or more great powers increase the chance of conflict

Arms races, deterrence, trade wars

US = leader of the free world, democracy
China = alternative to Western influence, propsperity and respect for sovereignty

Complete separation between the economic and political sphere

The political sphere should dictate behavior in the economic sphere

The economic sphere should dictate behavior in the political sphere

Both explain how states can use resources and production to improve economic efficiency and benefit from trade

Ability to compete successfully by developing resources, capabilities, and productive strengths

Ability to produce a good/service at a lower opportunity cost than another producer

States use markets to generate wealth --> strengthen military power --> protect economic interests and increase wealth

Capitalism divides society between the bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (only own their labor) --> Wealth inequality grows because borgeoisie receieve majority of profit --> Borgeoisie uses wealth to influence government to push for policy to perpetuate class inequalities

Global capitalist system allows core states to dominate the economy while periphery states supply cheap labor and raw materials

Allowing the market to operate independently --> greatest amount of overall efficiency
Comparative and competitive advantage

logic of appropriateness

Powerful states can influence international moral standards

unipolar and bipolar

Governments may use moral principles to guide foreign policy and domestic decisions

Individuals/organizations can promote ethical standards, advocate for human rights, expose violations

Morals of most dominant actors dominate all others

Whether or not ethics matters falls on the distinction between system vs society
States must form an international society that shares rules and values rather than merely acting as part of an international system

Promote cooperation through international rules and institutions
Priorities may reflect powerful states' interests

They frame issues as moral concerns, advocate for particular values, and pressire governments to address human rights issues

They may pursue moral goals in response to pressure while prioritizing stability and profit

Bargaining: Determines which moral values gain influence
Institutions: Encourage behavior through coordination, transparency, rules

States interact and have cultural diffusion --> spread of morals/ethics
Currently has little effect on system (importance of sovereignty/order)

Individuals/organizations spread human rights norms --> pressure governments to comply --> norms spread through norm cascade --> governments may change policies to meet international expectations

The process through which a norm spreads rapidly among states, encouraging more governments to adopt and follow it

To gain international legitimacy, avoid criticism, meet international expectations, and align its identity with human rights values

International conflict was likely to happen because states believed that military power would increase their wealth and security.

Military victory and territorial conquest do not necessarily create lasting wealth. Economic prosperity depends more on peaceful cooperation and economic interdependence

Changes in the distribution of power --> unstable multipolar system
States who preferred the status quo were threatened by revisionist states (Germany, Italy, Russia) who thought that the distribution of benefits reflected an antiquated distribution of power.

Elites in Europe were influenced by a set of beliefs that encouraged war: the cult of the offensive --> shaped how people assessed information about the costs and benefits of war

War would be quick
War would not be very destructive
Victory would come to the state that struck first
There is some inherent good to the act of war

nationalism and social darwinism

Economic interdependence (global market)
Systemic instability (distribution of power in flux)
Rise of nationalism

The enormous human and economic costs incurred by all countries in WWI led many to believe that peace and cooperation would follow

The international economic system lacked a powerful leader willing and able to maintain stability. Britain had weakened while the US was unwilling to assume Britain's leadership role.

A stable international economic system requires a dominant power willing and able to provide leadership and support the system

Failure to maintain open markets, to provide international lending, to act as a lender of last resort

Woodrow wilson promoted collective security and peace without victory, while British/French leaders favored punishment and retribution against Germany --> competing beliefs shaped treaty's harsh terms

National identities reinforced divisions between countries. American isolatinoism, German and Italian fascism, and Soviet communist opposition to Western imperialism deepened ideological conflict.

Lack of hegemonic leadership
Weak international institutions

Combination of rising revisionist states and power vacuums in Europe and Southeast Asia

Incompatable ideologies and state identities

Countries restricted trade to protect domestic economies --> worsened international economic tension and weakening cooperation --> instability and conflict

Bipolarity, ideological rivalry, competing alliances, nuclear arms race, space race, competition for markets and allies, proxy wars without direct war between the two

US = capitalism and democracy
Soviet Union = socialism and authoritarianism

Bipolar distribution of power --> two competing sets of alliances
US-led = NATO, US-Japan, SEATO
Soviet-led = Warsaw Treaty Organization

Competing identities, ideologies, and worldviews

Realism emphasizes bipolarity, material power, ans security competition
Constructivism emphasizes ideology, identity, and interaction

Governmental integration through international institutions
Economic integration through trade and investment
Social integration through shared ideas and norms

Air travel
Satellites
Computers
Internet

Cold war competition helped drive technological innovation

Both are tools that states use to influence other states' behavior and achieve their foreign policy goals