The Globalization of

International RelationsCHAPTER ONE

Dr. Clayton ThynePS 235-001: World Politics

Spring 2010

Goldstein & Pevehouse, International Relations, 8/e

Student notes version

The Study of International Relations

• International relations concerns…

• Narrowly defined:

– Many other actors exist – …

– Relationships cannot be understood...

– Central trend in IR today:

IR and Daily Life

• IR profoundly affects your life as well as that of other citizens.

• War is among the most pervasive international influences in daily life, even in peacetime.

• World is shrinking year by year.

Core Principles

• IR revolves around one key problem:

• How can a group – such as two or more nations – serve its ________________ when doing so requires its members to forego their ________________ interests?

• Example:

• 3 solutions…the next 3 slides (see Table 1.1 on p. 6)

CA solution #1: Dominance• Solves the collective goods problem by…

• Advantage(s):

• Disadvantage(s):

• Nuke example:

CA solution #2: Reciprocity• Solves the collective goods problem by…

• Advantage(s):

• Disadvantage(s):

• Nuke example:

CA solution #3: Identity• Solves the collective goods problem by…

• Advantage(s):

• Disadvantage(s):

• Nuke example:

IR as a Field of Study• IR is about international politics, but the field is _________________

• Practical discipline

• IR is 1 of 4 subfields in political science. The others are…– _______________________

– _______________________

– _______________________

• General focus of IR:

State Actors• Most important actors in IR are __________________.

• State:– State government exercises ___________________over its territory.– Recognized as ____________________ by other states– Seat of government with a leader

• State definition versus:- Nation:- Country:- Nation-state:

• Some “quasi-states”:

State Actors

• International system– Def:

– Modern international system has existed for less than _____________________ years.

– Great variation on a number of key variables, including…[see next 6 slides].

The World Today: Major Powers

State % of powerFRN .022824UKG .024668GMY .029424JPN .051258RUS .052549CHN .128823USA .149792

The World Today: Concentration of Power

020

4060

80%

of s

tate

s

0 .05 .1 .15Capability

010

2030

40F

requ

ency

-10 -5 0 5 10Polity Scale

Distribution of Democracy

The World Today: Democracy

0.2

.4.6

Pro

port

ion

Dem

s

1800 1850 1900 1950 2000Year

Proportion of Democracies in the System

Figure 1.1

very low (87)low (5)moderate (46)high (45)

Economic Output

very poor (45)poor (44)medium (45)wealthy (44)No data (5)

GDP/capita

very low (46)low (46)medium (46)high (45)

population

very repressive (41)non-democracies (37)moderate democracies (45)strong democracies (32)No data (28)

Democracy

very low (46)low (44)moderate (45)high (45)No data (3)

Military Expenditures

050

0010

000

1500

0#

of M

ilita

ry P

erso

nnel

1920 1940 1960 1980 2000Year

US Military Personnel Military Personnel-Global Average

US vs World Mean Military Personnel

A Closer Look at the US

01.

00e+

082.

00e+

083.

00e+

08M

ilita

ry E

xpen

ditu

res

1920 1940 1960 1980 2000Year

US Military Expenditures Military Exp-Global Avg.

US vs World Mean Military Expenditures

A Closer Look at the US

Nonstate Actors• Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

• Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

• Multinational corporations

• Substate actors

• Individuals

Levels of Analysis• Many actors involved in IR

• Response:

Levels of Analysis• Levels of analysis help…

• No correct level for a given “why” question

• Example: War in Iraq

– Individual:

– Domestic:

– Interstate:

– Global:

Globalization• Many trends:

• Globalization: Three conceptions of this process compete.

1. Liberal economic principles/global marketplace:

2. Skepticism:

3. Middle ground:

• Globalization is changing both international security and IPE, but ________________ more quickly and profoundly.

The Evolving International System

• The basic structures and principles of international relations are deeply rooted in historical developments.

• WWI and WWII occupied only ten years of the 20th century, but shaped the character of the century.

• We’ll briefly look at key events of the 20th century, focusing on the post Cold War era (1990+), including…– WWI (1914-18)– WWII (1939-45)– Cold War (1946-90)

WWI (1914-18)• WWI (the war to end all wars):

• WWI was not short or decisive:

• 2 main outcomes:1. Ended w/ __________________________

2. Led to the ____________________________________

WWII (1939-45)• U.S. ___________________

between WWI and WWII, declining _______________ power, and a _________________ crippled by its own revolution left a power vacuum in the world.

• In the ____________, Germany and Japan stepped into the vacuum w/ aggressive expansionism.

• Policies of _________________ allowed Hitler to occupy almost all of Europe

WWI & WWII: contradictory lessons

• Lesson from WWI:

• Lesson from WWII:

• IR scholars have not discovered a simple formula for choosing______________________.

The Cold War, 1945-1990• U.S. and Soviet Union – two superpowers of the post-WWII era:

• Central concern of the West:

• Sino-Soviet alliance:

• Scholars do not agree on why the Cold War ended:

0.1

.2.3

.4%

of w

orld

's p

ow

er

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

US strength USSR strength

The Cold War, 1945-1990

• Key events:– Korean War– Vietnam War– Afghanistan War– Many other proxy wars…

•Greek Civil War, 1946-1949 •Malaysian Emergency, 1948-1960 •Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948-Present •Korean War, 1950-1953 •Cuban Revolution, 1953-1959 •Tibetan insurgency, 1954-1973 •Vietnam War, 1957-1975 •Guatemalan Civil War, 1960-1996

•Congo Crisis, 1960-1965 •Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961 •Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 •Angolan Civil War, 1974-2002 •Ogaden War,1977-1978 •Afghan-Soviet War, 1979-1989 •Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979 •Iran-Iraq war, 1980-1988 •Invasion of Grenada, 1983

The Post-Cold War Era, 1990-2007

• Many key events…– Iraq invades Kuwait, 1990 Gulf War

– Collapse of Soviet Union

• Declaration of republics as sovereign states

• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

• Western relations with Russia mixed since the 1990s– Little external aid for Russia during the harsh economic transition

– Break-up of the former Yugoslavia– Rwanda genocide– US “go it alone” policies– 9/11 attacks– War on Terrorism: Iraq and Afghanistan– Nuke problems w/ Iran and N. Korea