IR and Power in the context of Peace and War: Global Perspective

IR 1, 2 and 3

Bantarto BandoroPresident University

21 Feb 2012

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Situation and level in which national power is used

-------------------------- Time 1.Peace time2.War time

Level1.National2.Global

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Who says about power ? Ray S. Cline: “ the study of national power , in the

final analysis , is a study of the capacity to wage war” Hans J. Morgenthau: “as a means to that end” Thomas Hobbes: “individual man and men

aggregated into states seek to maintain or to increase power”

Clauswitz : “everything . . . is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.”

Obama: “use national power to keep american save”

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Contextuality of national power National power is contextual in that it can be

evaluated only in terms of all the power elements and only in relation to another player or players and the situation in which power is being exercised.

A nation may appear powerful because it possesses many military assets, but the assets may be inadequate against those of a potential enemy or inappropriate to the nature of the conflict. The question should always be: power over whom, and with respect to what?

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Multidimensional Interrelationship

• Historical perspective linked with military capacity, a natural relationship since war in the international arena is the ultima ratio of power .

• One element of power alone cannot determine national power

• Morgenthau : the “Fallacy of the Single Factor.”

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. Relations and Dynamics

• Is National power relative or absolute ?. • Simply put, a nation does not have abstract

power in and of itself, but only power in relation to another actor or actors in the international arena.

• In reality the superior power of a nation is derived not only from its own qualities, but from that of other actors compared with its own

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Relations and Dynamics, cont• Is national power dynamic or permanent ?

• What do you think ? Give us an exmple

• Is particular power factor or relationship immune to change ?

• Power, as Hobbes long ago pointed out, “is what people believe it is until it is exercised”.

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Situational / contextualaspect of national power

Why situational ? When the powerfull is powerless ! Evidences ? This aspect of the contextual nature of national

power introduces even more complications when the diversity of actors in the international arena is taken into account.

In an increasingly multicentric world, nation-states will increasingly deal with transnational actors in the exercise of national power.

National power, then, is contextual not only in its application to other states, but to other global actors as well.

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The Elements of National Power Two determinants:1. Natural determinants (geography, resources,

and population) are concerned with the number of people in a nation and with their physical environmen

2. Social determinants (economic, political, military, psychological, and, more recently, informational) concern the ways in which the people of a nation organize themselves and the manner in which they alter their environment

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The Elements of National PowerNatural Determinants of PowerThey are :

1.Geography2.Population

3.Natural ResourcesSocial Determinants of Power:

1.Economic2.Military3.Political

4.Psychological5.Informational.

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WAR – POWER - PEACE

PEACE

POWER WAR

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Types of Interaction: Harmony

Harmony is when actors' interests coincide. Independent pursuit of own interests returns

maximum output.

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Types of Interaction: Coordination

Actors more interested in choosing the same strategy than in choosing any given strategy.

Two possibilities1. Pure coordination – easier2. Coordination after investment - harder

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Types of Interaction: Cooperation

Cooperation is mutual adjustment of policy. Benefits both actors, but not always equally.

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Types of Interaction: Conflict

1. Results from mutually incompatible preferences.2. Not always violent.3. Example – ??

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Power in the SystemPower is the ability of A to get B to do what A wants B

to do.1. Inherently relational2. Sources of power

Land Natural Resources

3. PopulationMilitary power4. Market power5. Cultural power6. Social political power

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Defining the System by Power

• Great Power – state that can project power across the system

• System defined by number of great powers:–many, two, or one

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Multipolarity• Three or more Great Powers• Example – Europe at the beginning of the 20th

century

• Attempts to balance power make system war-prone

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Bipolarity• Two great powers• Examples– Athens and Sparta in Ancient Greece– USA and USSR during Cold War

• Relatively stable

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UnipolarityOne great powerExample – the US right now

May encourage other states to align against the superpower

Militarity ExpendituresUnited StatesRussia* China* United Kingdom Japan France Germany Saudi Arabia India Italy South Korea Australia Turkey* Israel* Canada Spain* Brazil Netherlands Taiwan Greece* Indonesia* 

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Class Discussion