Theories in International Relations: Neo-Liberalism

Keohane, After HegemonyAxelrod and Keohane, Achieving

Cooperation under Anarchy: Strategies and Institutions

Conceptualization of the international system

‘International regimes’ concept Foreign policy formulation

Conceptualization of the international system Assumptions: - International environment is anarchical- States are the most significant actors in the

international system and the non-state actors are subordinated to them

Problem: how to initiate and maintain cooperation under conditions of anarchy

International regimes/ international institutions thesis: Neo-Liberalism accounts for the process of achieving sustained patterns of cooperation under anarchy

Why do states choose to set up regimes - reduce transaction cost - increase security

‘International regimes’ concept Definition: set of rules, norms and procedures around

which expectations converge; these apply to a concrete issue area; vary in terms of scope and depth

How do the regimes mitigate anarchy: - alter the payoff structures facing actors; lengthen the

shadow of the future; N-person games are broken down into games with smaller number of actors (Axelrod and Keohane, 1985)

- reducing the political market failures in terms of information, enforcement (making defection from norms easier to punish) and monitoring (Ruggie, 1998)

Typology of the international and transnational organizations

- membership: universal and regional; intergovernmental, supranational and transnational

- Goals: specific and general

Foreign policy formulation National preferences and interests: - domestic politics - process of learning International institutions and

bargaining