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INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-

• What is it?

• Lasswell’s Who gets what, how, why.

• Nation-state taken as unit of description, not always unit of analysis.

• Concerned with the interaction of both states and other actors based in separate states.

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AREAS OF CONCERN

• Everything that concerns how states and national leaders interact.

• conflict and cooperation, treaties, alliances, security dilemmas, interdependency, war, and trade.

• Decisions and behaviors of state and international actors.

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POLITICAL SCIENCE

• Politics are used to resolve collective action problems.

• The study of polities that create policies. Outputs, motivations and behaviors.• Field used to focus primarily on behaviors of organized polities.

• Now borrows from a number of different fields, sociology (social groups, norm forming, etc), psychology (individual level, perceptions, motivations, behavior under stress or uncertainty),Economics (individual, macro, systemic levels, rat choice, inductive models)

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GOALS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

• To understand observed phenomenon

• Predict behavior, based on minimum of observable inputs (independent variables).

• Explain phenomenon, understand motivations, perceptions, expectations of actors.

• Positive theory: Explains behavior through observation- objective scientific theory possible.

• Normative theory: Explains what should be in terms of norms and values that guide behavior.

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WHY USE THEORIES

• Theories are methods of organizing information in order to lead to understanding of observed phenomenon.

• Must be testable and falsifiable.

• Must explain and prediction of behaviors.

• Work until they don’t!

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CONCEPTS TO KNOW

• Actors: Can be nation-state, IGO’s, NGO, MNC, domestic pressure groups, political leaders, etc.• Level of analysis: Global, interstate,domestic,individual• State Sovereignty• Power• International System: interactions between states, structured by

patterns, rules and norms• International Anarchy

ACTORS

• Nation-states• Sub-national organizations• Bureaucracies

• International Organizations• Intra-governmental organization (really only 1)• Individuals• Private organizations- corporations• Religions• Networks• religious• technical• Ideological communities• others

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LEVELS OF ANALYSIS-

• Locate your phenomenon...

• Like finding the edge pieces of a puzzle.

• Recognizing the actors in a problem helps identify the most appropriate level of analysis.

• Recognizing the environment that conditions actor behavior refines selection of level or levels.

• Guides determination of appropriate theoretical tools.

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LEVELS OF ANALYSIS: NOT FIXED• Goldstein 4-levels• Mingst ID’s 3 levels• International System• Interstate level

• State• Society Character, Economic Conditions, Bureaucratic etc..

• Individual• Kinsella et al. 6 levels• World Systems• IR- interstate• Society Character/Conditions • National Government structure and type• Bureaucracies, roles of decision makers• Individual decision maker

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LEVELS OF ANALYSIS-GLOBAL LEVEL: WORLD SYSTEMS

• Regional phenomenon• Environmental issues• Terrorism, organized crime• Imperial systems and legacies, Polarity• Cross border cultural phenomenon, world religions• Epistemic communities• Science, business, economics

• Knowledge change• Science, organizations, education, communication

• International Institutions, norms-- International Laws, conventions.

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LEVELS OF ANALYSIS: INTER-STATE LEVEL

• States as actors

• Power rivalries

• Treaties

• IGO

• Wars

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LOA: NATION-STATE

• Domestic level

• Domestic political systems

• Interest groups

• Civil society organization

• Ethnic/national motivations

• Political culture

• Domestic competition, corporations, organizations, political groups

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INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

• Decision making among leaders

• Leader psychology

• Groupthink

• Learning of leaders etc…

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ORGANIZATIONS LEVEL

• Can be between individual and domestic, or other organizations

• Analyze the culture, structure, networks, communication, knowledge and power of organizations.

• Organizations structure the information, objectives and authority of individual decision makers

EXAMPLE: TURKISH ACCESSION TO EU.

Global

Regional/Organization

National/ France

Nation

al/ Germany

Nat

iona

l/ Gre

ece

Turkey

United States

Accession

LOCATE PHENOMENON

ACTORS- LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

Turkey

Courts

Parties

Media

Business Associations

Religious Orders

Political Culture

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EXAMPLE: CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

• Inter-state level analysis

• Rational policy

• Security threat posed by missiles, undermines US deterrent.

• Attack conventional forces

• Do nothing

• Blockade, act of war escalation?

• Blockade with side-deal

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NARCHY IN THE IR

• Anarchy is the absence of authority above the state.

• Security dilemma is the notion that under anarchy, the pursuit of security (Arms, treasure, power) by one state is automatically a threat to its neighbors.

• Security dilemma is caused by Anarchy, there is no recourse to self-help

• The structural level of analysis of realists/neo-realists is based in the idea of the security dilemma.

WHAT DOES ANARCHY MEAN?

• Does it mean disorder?

• For state actions?

• For recourse to justice?

• To define justice?

• Where do individuals fit in an Anarchic system?

• What about those without Nation/State representation?

•

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WHAT DOES SECURITY DILEMMA MEAN TO STATES?

• All states can be analyzed in terms of the security dilemma and their behavior can be seen as efforts to mitigate the problem faced with finite power.

• Either by becoming the strongest state, or adopting strategies that will provide a second best solution. Explains possible behaviors such as arms races, band-wagoning and balancing.

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ANARCHY TO REALISM

• Assumes the “state of nature” is a state of war, kept at bay by balances of power or dominance.

• Might makes right.

• Where do international institutions fit? Do they?