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34 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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James D. Fearon, "Rationalist Explanations for War", International Organization
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Fearon wishes to provide an answer to the puzzle of war: it is costly, yet states fight. Tries to explain this answer:
--even rational leaders who are aware of the costs may fight nonetheless Fearon examines five rationalist explanations of war: 1) anarchy, 2) expected benefits outweigh expected outcomes, 3) rational preventive war, 4) rational miscalculation due to lack of information, and 5) rational miscalculation or disagreement about relative power. These do not fully explain why leaders would not choose to negotiate instead. 3 more explanations: 1) Absence of negotiation may be due to the fact that there is private information or to the fact that there is an incentive to misrepresent information about state power 2) A settlement may not arise due to commitment problems (i.e. situations in which states would have incentives to renege on the terms) 3) No agreement because of "issue indivisibilities" (issues that do not admit compromise). |
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Roger Altman, The great crash, 2008: a geopolitical setback for the West
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Altman argues that the financial crisis that began in the fall of 2008 has significantly weakened the United States and its allies and has thereby opened the path for China to significantly increase its influence on the world stage.
-not only have U.S., European, and Japanese markets plunged, but U.S.-style capitalism in general is viewed as having failed. -with the industrialized countries hobbled economically and focused more on domestic issues, China will have the opportunity to invest in natural resources and provide aid to other countries when the West cannot. |
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Robert Wade, Globalization and its Limits
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-based on the idea that all nations have become so interdependent, that national economic independence is an impossibility.
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Stephen Biddle et al, “How to Leave a Stable Iraq,”
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Main Objective- Outline the current circumstances in Iraq and outline a plan that will enable the United States to start leaving a stable Iraq
by 2010 through building a pattern of positive change within the nation. -reduction of violence critical -- both ethno-sectorial and against US -upcoming elections provide opportunity to increase competence in govn. -Sons of Iraq must be integrated into the Iraqi govn -refugees and displaced peple must be given a home -In handling Iran, Iraqis must not exclude them from the rebuilding process |
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Walter Wriston, "Bits, Bytes, and Diplomacy
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1) when the lever was used to make a plow, revolutionizing agriculture,
2) industrial revolution 3)Now the world is in the Information Age in which computers and telecommunications are demolishing time and distance -marked by inventions that make information accessible to the general public. Three main effects: 1)Sovereignty, or a state’s ability to control independently its own internal affairs, is eroding because ideas are able to cross national borders with unprecedented ease. 2)World economies are being further integrated as data is being transmitted in real time across markets. 3)Military strategy has become more virtual and more centralized. |
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Bush and Foreign Aid: Steven Radelet
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Millenium Challenge Account
-MCA selects recipients countries based on 16 quantitative including areas such as budget deficits, trade policy, immunization rates, primary-school completion rates, control of corruption, and the protection of civil liberties -four key motives: 1)aid can play a direct role in the war on terror by supporting both frontline countries and weak states where terrorism might breed. 2)Second, foreign aid allows the United States to project "soft power" to accompany, and sometimes offset, its use of military power 3)Third, there is the growing recognition that global poverty and inequality threaten U.S. security and national interests. 3), poverty and inequality around the world simply run counter to the values of many Americans who believe that the widening income gap and high levels of absolute poverty in poor countries are morally unacceptable. |
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Communist Bloc Expansion in the Early Cold War by Douglas MacDonald
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reexamines the reasons behind the Cold War and whether or not American policy makers had misinterpreted the intentions of the Soviet Union.
-Sides with traditional view that SU was very structured, unified, expansionist country driven by communism seeking to gain more influence and territory. -Revisionist (altnv) theory: -Blames US, about communism in america, used for poitical motives -post-revisionist theory: -strikes balance between traditional and revisionist theories by foreign policy of Europe and policy of Third World |
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Michael Doyle, "Liberalism and World Politics,
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argues that although the three liberalistic beliefs—liberal pacifism, liberal imperialism, and liberal internationalism—have its own self-contradictions and do not seemingly come together, they do have similarities.
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Why Africa’s Weak States Persist, Robert H. Jackson and Carl G. Rosberg
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international organizations and structures have, instead of helping the states, instead frozen them in their existing forms, preventing improvement and self-determination after decolonization
-juridical definitions of statehood are more important than empirical definitions for explaining why weak African states still exist |
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Fearon, James D. and David D. Laitin, Neotrusteeship and the Problem of Weak States
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the United States is now drawn toward “a form of international governance that may be described as neotrusteeship, or more provocatively, postmodern imperialism
describes four major problems in current system for organizing interventions for international peacekeeping: recruitment, coordination, accountability, and exit -the Bush administration's brand of realism has collided with post-Cold War realities that shaped the Clinton administration's foreign policy as well. |
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Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, International Norm Dynamics and Political Change
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Three main points:
1)political theory is once again starting to focus on the importance of norms to explain international behavior 2)development of norms -- norm emergence, norm cascades, internalization 3) rationality and norms are intricately connected, |
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George Kennan’s “The Source of Soviet Conduct”
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-portrays the Soviet rulers as strongly motivated by the Marxist-Leninist ideology, convinced they are following the correct path,
-Classical Realism -summarizes Communism’s main beliefs as 1) the production and exchange of material goods is the central factor in life, 2) the capitalist system is nefarious and exploits the working class, 3) capitalism will self-destruct and result in power transferring to the working class, and 4) imperialism will lead to war as the final phase of capitalism. -U.S. cannot enjoy political intimacy with the Soviet regime, and must regard the Soviet Union as a rival which will have policies which persist in disrupting and weakening U.S. influence and power. |
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The Bureaucratic Politics Paradigm and the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia By Jiri Valenta
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Why did Soviet Union invade Czechoslovakia?
-Bureaucratic tug-of-war -information managed/filtered -coalition politics (getting peeps on your side, alliances) -Wimpy secretary General Breznev - Politburo -- conflicts between different commitees and their interests -personal and domestic pressure, |
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Kenneth Waltz, The Spread of Nuclear Weapons
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-argues that the spread of nuclear weapons to other states will not lead to a global catastrophe.
-any attempts to prevent a state from gaining nuclear weapons is essentially futile if the state is determined to develop those weapons -fear that a radical leader will willingly use a nuclear weapon aggressively is absurd. costs of using nuclear weapons are so high that there is no incentive to use them aggressively. |
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Francis Fukuyama, State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century
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-expansion of the scope of the powers of the state
-greater emphasis on the development of stronger institutions in developing states. -no optimal set of institutions due to the many competing goals in a state -stresses the need to build local institutions |
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Escape for the State of Nature: Authority and Hierarchy in World Politics By David A. Lake
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-describes the importance of International Hierarchy when analyzing world politics
-international hierarchy is actually a driving force that affects different nations’ and institutions’ decisions in regards to security and economic relations. -hierarchical relationships= less money spent on defense relative to GDP |
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Democratic Transitions, Institutional Strength, and War: Mansfield and Snyder
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-states undergoing democrative transitions more likely to engage in external warfare
-Three phases Autocracy Incomplete Democracy Complete Democracy -Likelihood is enhanced by weak institutions and diffuse power -Theoretical context: domestic structures |
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Samuel Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations"
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-international relations will enter a new phase in which a “clash of civilizations” precipitates future conflicts.
-West must develop an understanding that there will be no “universal civilization” and must learn to tolerate other cultures, for they will likely acquire greater military power and weapons power while asserting their traditional values in the future. |
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Francis Fukuyama, "The End of History"
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-is no longer any viable competing system that challenges liberalism since the death of Soviet Union communism as a political-economic structure
-view the collapse of communism manifests the final step in human consciousness towards liberal values -does not mean the end of conflict |
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Market Civilization and Its Clash with Terror by MIchael Mousseau
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the increasing number of terrorist acts against countries that have an economy that follows a system of market values as opposed to one that follows clientalist values.
-that in order to secure American safety from terrorism we must 1) Strive not to eliminate the individuals responsible for terrorist acts, but also changing the values of those people who believe in the terrorist groups, and 2) that these values are not purely cultural (Islam or some other religious reason) but are primarily due to what type of economy a country uses. |
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Graham Allison, "Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis,"
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-claims the most important thing in analyzing a source that deals with the cuban missle crisis, is analyzing the author
-Rational Policy Model A reasonable act from the point of view of the Soviets given other options Important events have important causes Organizational Process Model Functioning according certain regular behaivior patterns Bureaucratic Politics Model Outcomes of various bargaining games |
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The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism ~Robert A. Pape
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1. ST is strategic and usually not a random attack
2. The strategic logic of ST is specifically designed to coerce modern democracies to make significant concessions to national self-determination. 3. During the past 20 years, suicide terrorism has been steadily rising because STs have learned that it pays. 4. Although moderate ST has led to moderate concessions, these more ambitious ST campaigns are not likely to achieve still greater gains and may well fail completely. 5. The most promising way to contain ST is to reduce terrorist’s confidence in their ability to carry out such attacks on the target society. |
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Tanisha M. Fazal, "State Death in the International System,"
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-Fazal argues that the actual geographic position of the state is more determinative of that states survival than the actual behavior or policies of the state in question. Specifically, Fazal points to buffer states, states that are located between two rival antagonistic powers, as specifically vulnerable to state death, dissolution, and foreign invasion.
- power did not significantly affect the probability of violent state death, while it did affect that of non-violent state death. |
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Russett and Oneal, The Kantian Peace: The Pacific Benefits of Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations,
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-seek to address why much of the world has been at peace since World War II, what the causes of this peace are and what its prospects are.
-one accepted explanation is the democratic peace theory, which holds that democracies do not go to war with one another and rarely threaten the use of force against one another. -perpetual peace based on (1) “republican constitutions” (i.e. democratic domestic institutions), (2) international trade (i.e. economic interdependence) and (3) a “federation of interdependent republics” -economic interdependence, democracy, and participation in international organizations did significantly reduce interstate conflict |
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Scott Sagan, “1914 Revisited: Allies, Offense and Instability,”
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-seeks to understand why the powers of World War I adopted offensive strategies when the war was fought using primarily defensive technologies
-fundamental causes of the offensive doctrines were the political objectives and alliance commitments of the great powers. |
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James Rosenau. Turbulence in World Politics
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-the realm of world politics and international relations is in the process of transitioning/ has transitioned into what he calls a post-international politics stage.
-primarily defined by increased global turbulence. - identifies seven main sources as the driving force behind the changing international politics paradigm: 1)technology 2)prevalent existence of transnational issues 3)reduced ability of states to definitively resolve major issues 4)density of the world political environment 5)high dynamism in the political environment 6)subgroupism 7) increased capacity and skills of each nation |
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Jack Snyder, "Civil Military Relations and the Cult of the Offensive, l9l4 and l984."
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-focuses mainly on a historical overview of the different versions of offensive military strategy prevalent in the early 20th century which led to the outbreak of World War I
- emphasizes folly of World War I’s “cult of the offensive” and advocating a non-threatening, defense-oriented plan for the United States’ dealing with Russia’s nuclear threat. -pressured one another into war. |
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Minxin Pei, “Lessons of the Past,”
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aims to both explain why the US has failed in a majority of its past nation building efforts while advising on how the US should proceed with its occupation and nation building in Iraq.
-unilateralism is mainly to blame for past nation building failures and that the key variable in establishing long-term democratic regimes is the interim regimes established immediately after occupation. -suggests that the US assume a multilateral stance and make nation building in Iraq a joint effort with the UN, allowing costs and responsibility to be spread while protecting the US’s reputation. |
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What Terrorists Really Want: Terrorist Motives and Counterterrorism Strategy
By Max Abrahms |
-Strategic Model currently used to rationalize terrorist behavior is flawed, and therefore the counterterrorism strategies that are based on the strategic model and its assumptions are ineffective.
-The Strategic Model posits that terrorists are 1) rational actors who attack civilians for political ends, 2) terrorists are political utility maximizers who evaluate the expected political payoffs of their available options, and 3) terrorists adopt terrorism when the expected political return is superior to alternative options. -that law enforcement should pay greater attention to the socially marginalized and divest the social utility of terrorism by driving a wedge between organization members, reduce the demand for at-risk populations to turn to terrorist organizations in the first place and to improve their track record by cracking down on bigotry. |
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From Great Game to Grand Bargain: Ending Chaos in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Barnett R. Rubin and Ahmed Rashid
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-seeks to confront the issues surrounding Afghanistan and Pakistan and the US and international involvement in the Middle East as a whole.
-stresses the idea that a foreign policy cannot consider Afghanistan without considering Pakistan as well. The article also states that sending military aid is not enough – there must be state building initiatives if the region is ever going to be able to emerge from its current state of violence and instability. |
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Stephen Krasner, Think Again: Sovereignty
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-world soverignty means that states are autonomous and independent from each other with their own boundaries
-The idea of states as autonomous, independent entities is collapsing under the combined onslaught of monetary unions, CNN, the Internet, and non- governmental organizations. But those who proclaim the death of sovereignty misread history. The nation-state has a keen instinct for survival and has so far adapted to new challenges even the challenge of globalization |
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Stephan Krasner, “State Power and the Structure of International Trade,
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-an analysis of the structure of international trade -- degree of openness for moving goods as opposed to capital
-structure can be explained by the interest and power of states acting to maximize national goals -supremacy leads to a more open trading structure. |
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Christopher Jones “Soviet Hegemony in Eastern Europe”
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-Jones sets out to show why the certain East European Communist regimes have been able to become independent of the Soviet Union while others have not.
-not ideological differences that caused these conflicts. The conflicts were caused by the Soviet desire to control the local Communist Parties of East European states. -Muscovites were in power in nearly all Communist regimes, and it was difficult for domestic factions to gain power |
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“The Political Roots of Poverty”
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-seeks to find if connection between poverty and terrorism and if general fears of global class warfare are justified.
-more developed countries create resentment in less developed countries because of the desire for power and wealth to meet its people’s needs, which provokes violence that may be admirable. -the amount of economic aid does not directly correlate with the progress of the country because some governments will avoid reform because autocrats in these poor countries would most likely respond to the needs of their supporters and still leave the vast majority of their people in poverty. -direct correlation between poverty and terrorism |
