Alternatives to Power Politics

CHAPTER THREE

Dr. Clayton ThynePS 235-001: World Politics

Spring 2010

Goldstein & Pevehouse, International Relations, 8/e

Student notes version

The Waning of War• In recent years, a strong trend toward _____________ has become

evident.– For the world as a whole, the current period is one of the least warlike

ever, with fewer and smaller wars than in the past.– World wars killed tens of millions and left whole continents in ruin.– Cold War – proxy wars killed millions and the world feared a nuclear war

that could have wiped out our species.– Iraq and Sudan and wars like these kill hundreds of thousands.

The Waning of War

• Events in the post-Cold War era continue this long-term trend toward smaller wars.

• Today’s most serious conflicts consist mainly of skirmishing rather than all-out battles.

• In 2006, wars in Darfur (Sudan), Iraq, and Afghanistan all worsened, a brief Israeli-Lebanese war left lasting wounds, and Sri Lanka resumed a civil war…but progress continued elsewhere.– Congo, Uganda, Nepal

010

2030

4050

1940 1960 1980 2000 2020year

interstate war civil wars

No. of Wars Per Year: By Type

Liberal Theories

• Realism offers mostly ____________________to the collective goods problems of IR.

• Alternative theoretical approaches that draw mostly on the _______________ or ______________principles are called liberal theories.

• These approaches are generally more optimistic than realism about the prospects for peace.

The “Kantian Triangle”

Peace

• What explains this positive trend toward peace?• Kant gave 3 answers over 200 years ago:

Neoliberal Institutionalism• Neoliberal approach differs from earlier liberal approaches in that it

concedes to realism several important assumptions:1. States are unitary actors rationally pursuing their self-interests, but they

say states cooperate because it is in their self-interest.2. Mutual gains better (more rational) than cheating or taking advantage

of each other.

A’s power

B’s power

.1

.2

.3

.4

.1 .2 .3 .4 .5

Neoliberal Institutionalism• International regimes facilitate _________________________• International regimes (def):

• Regimes can help solve collective goods problems by…1.

2.

• Main point:

Neoliberal Institutionalism

• Relation with the Prisoner’s Dilemma:

A’s decision

Cooperate Defect

B’s decision

Cooperate A=3 ; B=3 A=1 ; B=4

Defect A=4 ; B=1 A=2 ; B=2

Without international regimes / reciprocity norm…

A’s decision

Cooperate Defect

B’s decision

Cooperate A=4 ; B=4 A=1 ; B=3

Defect A=3 ; B=1 A=2 ; B=2

With international regimes / reciprocity norm…

Collective Security

• Concept grows out of liberal institutionalism.• Collective security (def): The formation of a broad

alliance of most major actors in an international system for the purpose of jointly opposing aggression by any actor.– Kantian triangle– League of Nations

• Failed because:– –

– Many collective security IOs today:• Organization of America States, Arab League, and the African

Union

Collective Security• Success of collective security depends on two points:

1. 2.

• Positive example:

• Negative example:

• World’s collective security system is “creaky” and not always effective, but bypassing it to take military action also holds dangers.

• Concept of collective security has broadened in recent years.–

–

The Democratic Peace Theory (DPT)

• IR scholars have linked democracy with a kind of foreign policy fundamentally different from that of authoritarianism.

– “Monadic” DPT Theory:

– “Dyadic” DPT:

– Trend is toward _______________________ in most of the world’s regions.

Social Theories

• Several distinct approaches in IR theory may be grouped together as social theories.

• They rely on social interaction to explain individuals’ and states’ preferences.

• These theories contrast with realism’s assumption of fixed, timeless preferences (states want more power).

Constructivism

• An approach that focuses on…

• Focus:

• Constructivism puts IR in the context of…

• Norms construct identities, they don’t just affect how states interact

Postmodernism• A broad approach to scholarship that pays special

attention to texts and to discourses (how people talk and write about their subjects)

• Central idea:

• Postmodernists seek to “deconstruct” such constructions as states, the international system, and the associated stories and arguments with which realists portray the nature of international relations.

Marxism• Holds that IR and domestic politics arise from unequal

relationships between economic classes.

• Branch of socialism, a theory that holds that the more powerful classes oppress and exploit the less powerful by denying them their fair share of the surplus they create.

Peace Studies

• Challenges fundamental concepts behind ________________ and __________________.

• Seeks to shift the focus of IR away from the interstate level of analysis and toward a broad conception of social relations at the individual, domestic, and global levels of analysis.

• Connects war and peace with individual responsibility, economic inequality, gender relations, cross-cultural understanding, and other aspects of social relationships.

Peace Studies

• Criticism:

• Conflict resolution:

–

–

–

–

Peace Studies• Role of militarism

• Conceptualization of peace– Positive peace:

– Structural violence:

• Peace movements– Only pressure from individuals/groups will force leaders to chose peace– Nonviolence:

•

•

Why Gender Matters

• Feminist scholarship seeks to uncover hidden assumptions about gender in how we study a subject.– Core assumptions of realism reflect the ways in which

males tend to interact and to see the world.– Beyond a basic agreement that gender is important,

there is no such thing as a “feminist approach” to IR• Difference feminism:

• Liberal feminism:

• Postmodern feminism:

The Masculinity of Realism• Difference feminism provides a perspective from which

to reexamine realism.

• An international system based on feminine principles might giver greater importance to the interdependence of states than to their autonomy.

Gender in War and Peace

• Difference feminists find plenty of evidence to support the idea of war as a masculine pursuit.

• Bridging other disciplines:– Anthropology:

– Biology:

– Psychology:

Women in IR

• Liberal feminists are skeptical of difference feminists’ critiques of realism.

• Liberal feminism focuses on…– Evidence:

– In U.S. difficult to compare voting records of men and women on foreign policy:

– Women as soldiers

• In sum…

Difference Feminism versus Liberal Feminism?

• Are the two totally at odds?– Difference feminists argue that…

– Liberal feminists think that…

• How can these two positions be reconciled?

Figure 3.1

Postmodern Feminism

• Line of criticism directed at realism that combines feminism and postmodernism.

• Seeks to deconstruct realism with the specific aim of uncovering the pervasive hidden influences of gender in IR while showing how arbitrary the construction of gender roles is.

• Archetypes:– Power and potency: – Realism and liberalism…

• Impact of feminist theory