Chapter 2: Theories of World Politics Concepts • Paradigm: Dominant way of looking at a particular subject; structured patterns of inquiry and interpretation • Theory: Set.
Download ReportTranscript Chapter 2: Theories of World Politics Concepts • Paradigm: Dominant way of looking at a particular subject; structured patterns of inquiry and interpretation • Theory: Set.
Slide 1
Chapter 2: Theories
of World Politics
Slide 2
Concepts
• Paradigm: Dominant way of
looking at a particular subject;
structured patterns of inquiry and
interpretation
• Theory: Set of hypotheses
postulating relationships between
variables; used to describe, explain,
and predict; must be falsifiable and
stand the test of time
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
2
Slide 3
Nuclear Showdown:
North Korea Crackdown
Click the icon to open the movie
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
3
Slide 4
Questions
1. In your opinion, are sanctions the most
effective way to handle a rogue state?
2. Will North Korea be more secure if it
obtains a useable weapons arsenal?
3. Consider the dilemma: if North Korea does
not build weapons it might be attacked, or
threatened, by more powerful states. But
if it does, it might face additional hostile
powers and increase US incentives to
attack. Is there any way out of this
dilemma?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
4
Slide 5
The Philosophical
Underpinnings of Realism
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War
(5th Century BC)
“The strong do what they can and the weak suffer
what they must.”
“Of gods we trust and of men we know, it is in their
nature to rule whenever they can.”
“What made war inevitable was the growth of the
Athenian power and the fear that this caused
in Sparta.”
“So far as right and wrong are concerned…there is no
difference between the two…”
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
5
Slide 6
Thomas Hobbes
(Classical) Liberalism
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
• Leviathan (1651)
– State of Nature:
» Humans live in a perfect state of liberty
» Humans live in a perfect state of equality
» Humans are essentially self-interested
» Humans, therefore, are born into a natural state of war
with one another…..chaos and conflict
» The only law of nature is that of survival of the fittest,
each
person striving after that which will maximize his/her
own
chances at survival
» The only real public good that can be conceived of is
order….
and so individuals will give their consent to be governed
by a force
with ultimate and sovereign power: an absolute monarch
Slide 7
Central Assumptions
of Realism
•
•
•
•
•
Anarchy
States as the main actors
States as unitary actors
States as rational actors
“Realpolitik”—states should be
prepared for war in order to
preserve peace
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
7
Slide 8
Realism’s Tenets
(1 of 2)
• People are selfish and ethically flawed and
compete for self-advantage
• People have an instinctive lust for power
• Eradicating this instinct is not possible
• International politics is a “a war of all
against all”
• The prime obligation of the state is
promoting the national interest
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
8
Slide 9
Realism’s Tenets
(2 of 2)
• Anarchical international system requires
states to acquire military power
• Military power is more important than
economics
• Do not trust allies
• Resist international efforts to control state
protection and institute global governance
• Seek flexible alliances to maintain a
balance of power
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
9
Slide 10
The Security Dilemma
• Insecurity leads states to arm, but
arms create more insecurity.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
10
Slide 11
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
• Defect
• Cooperate
• What are the payoffs?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
11
Slide 12
The Evolution of
Realist Thought
• World War II
• East–West rivalry of the Cold War
• Structural realism or “neo-realism”
Used global level of analysis
Focus on anarchy
Kenneth Waltz “Defensive Realism”
• International Anarchy vs. Human Nature
John Mearsheimer “Offensive Realism”:
States seek to maximize their own security by
maximizing their power
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
12
Slide 13
Variants of Realism
• Balance of Power Theory
• Hegemonic Stability Theory
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
13
Slide 14
Criticism of Realism
• Could not explain increased cooperation
after World War II
• Many of its propositions not easily
testable: criticized by behavioral scientists
• Lacks precision in defining key terms
• Disregards ethical principals
• Focuses on military might at economic
and social expense of states
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
14
Slide 15
Other Criticisms: Defining Power in a
Meaningful Way is Difficult (1 of 2)
What factors make a state powerful? The three tables above list
the top 10 states (including the EU as a single state) in three
different categories that might be used to assess power.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
15
Slide 16
Other Criticisms: Defining Power in a
Meaningful Way is Difficult (2 of 2)
The Venn diagram shows
which states are in the top
ten in one, two and three
categories. What does this
kind of analysis show us?
What does it obscure? What
other categories might be
used to assess power? Are
the different categories of
equal importance? All these
questions complicate efforts
to assess the role of power in
international politics.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
16
Slide 17
Political Ideologies
Liberalism (cont.)
Jonathan Locke
Second Treatise on Government (1689)
– State of Nature:
» Humans are born into a natural state of liberty
» Humans are born into a natural state of equality
» Humans are self-interested and struggle to maximize
their chances for survival
» Humans must acquire (through their own labor) personal
property in order to survive; therefore, the right to
personal property is an immutable law of nature, as are
the rights to life, liberty and health.
» All humans are born with the capacity to reason, and
therefore, have the capacity to conceive of the law of
nature (they will acknowledge every individual’s right to
property based on labor)
» Any who would violate the law of nature enter into an
unnatural state of war with other individuals in society
» Peace and order are maintained by a government that
enjoys the consent of the governed so long as it upholds
the law of nature and respects the natural rights of its
citizens
Slide 18
Liberalism
• Holds that reason and ethics can overcome
international anarchy to create a more orderly and
cooperative world
• Optimistic about the prospects of cooperation
• Emphasizes establishing stable democracies as a
way to reduce conflict
• Politics is not seen as zero-sum
• Emphasizes free trade because it helps prevent
disputes from escalating into war
• Stresses the importance of international
institutions
• Also called “idealism”
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
18
Slide 19
Three Strands of Liberal Theory
Variant of Liberalism
Level of Analysis
Liberal Institutionalism
System. Retains basic
assumption of balance
of power theory.
Departure from Realism
Anarchy does not
necessarily lead to
conflict. Cooperation is
possible.
Complex
Sub-state, but not
States are not the only
Interdependence Theory exclusively. Focuses on important actors. Actors
individuals, firms,
have diverse interests in
NGOs, and
international politics.
organizations within
Much of IR has little to
governments as key
do with military
actors.
security.
Democratic Peace
State. Focuses on what States are not all
Theory
kind of government the essentially the same.
state has.
Liberal (democratic)
states can solve disputes
Copyright © 2009 Cengagewithout
Learning. All rights
reserved.
19
war.
Slide 20
The Evolution of
Liberal Thought
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
World War I
Collective security
International law
Disarmament
Complex interdependence
International regimes
Neoliberalism
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
20
Slide 21
The Limitations
of Liberalism
• Realists argue that institutions
actually exert minimal influence on
state behavior.
• The prospects for cooperation are
more likely in issues of low politics
than of high politics.
• Realists also argue that liberals tend
to turn foreign policy into a moral
crusade.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
21
Slide 22
Neorealism
• Accepts much of realism
• States’ behavior determined by
differences in relative power
• All states have same objectives, but
different capacities to realize them
• Distribution of capacities determines
structure of the international system
• Global level of analysis
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
22
Slide 23
Neoliberalism
• Developed by critics of
realism/neorealism
• Focuses on how IGOs and other
nonstate actors promote cooperation
and peace
• Examines how states cooperate with
each other and de-emphasize conflict
• Points to regional integration,
especially the European Union
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
23
Slide 24
Economic Structuralism
• Also known as Marxism
• Focuses on the distribution of wealth
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
24
Slide 25
Assumptions of
Economic Structuralism
• Economic determinism
• Class system (bourgeoisie and
the proletariat)
• Surplus value
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
25
Slide 26
Constructivism
• Focus on the impact of ideas
• World politics is socially constructed
• Focus on the role of norms as
constitutive, constraining, or enabling
• Power in international relations
revolves around actors’ ability to
persuade others to accept their ideas
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
26
Slide 27
Important
Constructivist Terms
• Identity
• Norms
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
27
Slide 28
The Limitations
of Constructivism
• Inability to explain why and how
ideas change over time
• Privileging of structures over agents
in understanding international events
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
28
Slide 29
The Radical Critique
• Socialists focus on class conflict
• Dependency theory: Poverty in the Third
World stemmed from the exploitative
structure of the capitalist world economy
• World-system theory: Views the world
capitalist system as consisting of a core,
periphery and semi-periphery; the core
shifts over time from one area to another
• Radical critiques tend to overemphasize
economic interpretations of international
events
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
29
Slide 30
The Feminist Critique
• Examines the exclusion of women in discussions
about international affairs and the injustice and
unequal treatment of women this prejudice caused
• Explores how gender identity shapes foreign
policy decision making and how gendered
hierarchies reinforced practices that perpetuated
inequalities between men and women
• Feminists differ in the importance they place on
the inherent differences between men and women
• Need to focus on the role of women as a whole,
not just female leaders
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
30
Slide 31
Schools of Thought in
Feminist Theory
• Feminist Empiricism
• Feminist Standpoint Theory
• Feminist Postmodernism
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
31
Slide 32
Lost Girls—The New Slave
Trade… Prostitution
Click the icon to open the movie
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
32
Slide 33
Questions
1. What factors have contributed to the
increase in sex trafficking in Albania?
2. Explain how each of the three schools of
feminist theory (feminist empiricism,
feminist standpoint theory, and feminist
postmodernism) would approach the
problem of sex trafficking and prostitution
as described in the video.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
33
Slide 34
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
34
Slide 35
Theorizing about Theory
• Deconstructivism
• Epistemology
• Behavioralism
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
35
Slide 36
Questions for
Critical Thinking
(1 of 2)
1. What are the strong and weak aspects of
realism?
2. In the liberal paradigm, how does anarchy
create incentives to cooperate?
3. How does neoliberalism differ from
liberalism?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
36
Slide 37
Questions for
Critical Thinking
(2 of 2)
4. Which theory has the best explanatory and
predictive power regarding the 2003
confrontation between the United States
and Iraq?
5. Which theory has the best explanatory and
predictive power for world politics in
general?
6. Does the nature of the international
system change over time?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
37
Slide 38
Web Links
• Contemporary Philosophy, Critical
Theory, and Postmodern Thought
• Data on the Net
• Feminist Theory Website
• Niccolò Machiavelli
• President Woodrow Wilson’s
Fourteen Points
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
38
Chapter 2: Theories
of World Politics
Slide 2
Concepts
• Paradigm: Dominant way of
looking at a particular subject;
structured patterns of inquiry and
interpretation
• Theory: Set of hypotheses
postulating relationships between
variables; used to describe, explain,
and predict; must be falsifiable and
stand the test of time
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
2
Slide 3
Nuclear Showdown:
North Korea Crackdown
Click the icon to open the movie
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
3
Slide 4
Questions
1. In your opinion, are sanctions the most
effective way to handle a rogue state?
2. Will North Korea be more secure if it
obtains a useable weapons arsenal?
3. Consider the dilemma: if North Korea does
not build weapons it might be attacked, or
threatened, by more powerful states. But
if it does, it might face additional hostile
powers and increase US incentives to
attack. Is there any way out of this
dilemma?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
4
Slide 5
The Philosophical
Underpinnings of Realism
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War
(5th Century BC)
“The strong do what they can and the weak suffer
what they must.”
“Of gods we trust and of men we know, it is in their
nature to rule whenever they can.”
“What made war inevitable was the growth of the
Athenian power and the fear that this caused
in Sparta.”
“So far as right and wrong are concerned…there is no
difference between the two…”
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
5
Slide 6
Thomas Hobbes
(Classical) Liberalism
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
• Leviathan (1651)
– State of Nature:
» Humans live in a perfect state of liberty
» Humans live in a perfect state of equality
» Humans are essentially self-interested
» Humans, therefore, are born into a natural state of war
with one another…..chaos and conflict
» The only law of nature is that of survival of the fittest,
each
person striving after that which will maximize his/her
own
chances at survival
» The only real public good that can be conceived of is
order….
and so individuals will give their consent to be governed
by a force
with ultimate and sovereign power: an absolute monarch
Slide 7
Central Assumptions
of Realism
•
•
•
•
•
Anarchy
States as the main actors
States as unitary actors
States as rational actors
“Realpolitik”—states should be
prepared for war in order to
preserve peace
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
7
Slide 8
Realism’s Tenets
(1 of 2)
• People are selfish and ethically flawed and
compete for self-advantage
• People have an instinctive lust for power
• Eradicating this instinct is not possible
• International politics is a “a war of all
against all”
• The prime obligation of the state is
promoting the national interest
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
8
Slide 9
Realism’s Tenets
(2 of 2)
• Anarchical international system requires
states to acquire military power
• Military power is more important than
economics
• Do not trust allies
• Resist international efforts to control state
protection and institute global governance
• Seek flexible alliances to maintain a
balance of power
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
9
Slide 10
The Security Dilemma
• Insecurity leads states to arm, but
arms create more insecurity.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
10
Slide 11
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
• Defect
• Cooperate
• What are the payoffs?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
11
Slide 12
The Evolution of
Realist Thought
• World War II
• East–West rivalry of the Cold War
• Structural realism or “neo-realism”
Used global level of analysis
Focus on anarchy
Kenneth Waltz “Defensive Realism”
• International Anarchy vs. Human Nature
John Mearsheimer “Offensive Realism”:
States seek to maximize their own security by
maximizing their power
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
12
Slide 13
Variants of Realism
• Balance of Power Theory
• Hegemonic Stability Theory
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
13
Slide 14
Criticism of Realism
• Could not explain increased cooperation
after World War II
• Many of its propositions not easily
testable: criticized by behavioral scientists
• Lacks precision in defining key terms
• Disregards ethical principals
• Focuses on military might at economic
and social expense of states
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
14
Slide 15
Other Criticisms: Defining Power in a
Meaningful Way is Difficult (1 of 2)
What factors make a state powerful? The three tables above list
the top 10 states (including the EU as a single state) in three
different categories that might be used to assess power.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
15
Slide 16
Other Criticisms: Defining Power in a
Meaningful Way is Difficult (2 of 2)
The Venn diagram shows
which states are in the top
ten in one, two and three
categories. What does this
kind of analysis show us?
What does it obscure? What
other categories might be
used to assess power? Are
the different categories of
equal importance? All these
questions complicate efforts
to assess the role of power in
international politics.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
16
Slide 17
Political Ideologies
Liberalism (cont.)
Jonathan Locke
Second Treatise on Government (1689)
– State of Nature:
» Humans are born into a natural state of liberty
» Humans are born into a natural state of equality
» Humans are self-interested and struggle to maximize
their chances for survival
» Humans must acquire (through their own labor) personal
property in order to survive; therefore, the right to
personal property is an immutable law of nature, as are
the rights to life, liberty and health.
» All humans are born with the capacity to reason, and
therefore, have the capacity to conceive of the law of
nature (they will acknowledge every individual’s right to
property based on labor)
» Any who would violate the law of nature enter into an
unnatural state of war with other individuals in society
» Peace and order are maintained by a government that
enjoys the consent of the governed so long as it upholds
the law of nature and respects the natural rights of its
citizens
Slide 18
Liberalism
• Holds that reason and ethics can overcome
international anarchy to create a more orderly and
cooperative world
• Optimistic about the prospects of cooperation
• Emphasizes establishing stable democracies as a
way to reduce conflict
• Politics is not seen as zero-sum
• Emphasizes free trade because it helps prevent
disputes from escalating into war
• Stresses the importance of international
institutions
• Also called “idealism”
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
18
Slide 19
Three Strands of Liberal Theory
Variant of Liberalism
Level of Analysis
Liberal Institutionalism
System. Retains basic
assumption of balance
of power theory.
Departure from Realism
Anarchy does not
necessarily lead to
conflict. Cooperation is
possible.
Complex
Sub-state, but not
States are not the only
Interdependence Theory exclusively. Focuses on important actors. Actors
individuals, firms,
have diverse interests in
NGOs, and
international politics.
organizations within
Much of IR has little to
governments as key
do with military
actors.
security.
Democratic Peace
State. Focuses on what States are not all
Theory
kind of government the essentially the same.
state has.
Liberal (democratic)
states can solve disputes
Copyright © 2009 Cengagewithout
Learning. All rights
reserved.
19
war.
Slide 20
The Evolution of
Liberal Thought
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
World War I
Collective security
International law
Disarmament
Complex interdependence
International regimes
Neoliberalism
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
20
Slide 21
The Limitations
of Liberalism
• Realists argue that institutions
actually exert minimal influence on
state behavior.
• The prospects for cooperation are
more likely in issues of low politics
than of high politics.
• Realists also argue that liberals tend
to turn foreign policy into a moral
crusade.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
21
Slide 22
Neorealism
• Accepts much of realism
• States’ behavior determined by
differences in relative power
• All states have same objectives, but
different capacities to realize them
• Distribution of capacities determines
structure of the international system
• Global level of analysis
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
22
Slide 23
Neoliberalism
• Developed by critics of
realism/neorealism
• Focuses on how IGOs and other
nonstate actors promote cooperation
and peace
• Examines how states cooperate with
each other and de-emphasize conflict
• Points to regional integration,
especially the European Union
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
23
Slide 24
Economic Structuralism
• Also known as Marxism
• Focuses on the distribution of wealth
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
24
Slide 25
Assumptions of
Economic Structuralism
• Economic determinism
• Class system (bourgeoisie and
the proletariat)
• Surplus value
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
25
Slide 26
Constructivism
• Focus on the impact of ideas
• World politics is socially constructed
• Focus on the role of norms as
constitutive, constraining, or enabling
• Power in international relations
revolves around actors’ ability to
persuade others to accept their ideas
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
26
Slide 27
Important
Constructivist Terms
• Identity
• Norms
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
27
Slide 28
The Limitations
of Constructivism
• Inability to explain why and how
ideas change over time
• Privileging of structures over agents
in understanding international events
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
28
Slide 29
The Radical Critique
• Socialists focus on class conflict
• Dependency theory: Poverty in the Third
World stemmed from the exploitative
structure of the capitalist world economy
• World-system theory: Views the world
capitalist system as consisting of a core,
periphery and semi-periphery; the core
shifts over time from one area to another
• Radical critiques tend to overemphasize
economic interpretations of international
events
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
29
Slide 30
The Feminist Critique
• Examines the exclusion of women in discussions
about international affairs and the injustice and
unequal treatment of women this prejudice caused
• Explores how gender identity shapes foreign
policy decision making and how gendered
hierarchies reinforced practices that perpetuated
inequalities between men and women
• Feminists differ in the importance they place on
the inherent differences between men and women
• Need to focus on the role of women as a whole,
not just female leaders
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
30
Slide 31
Schools of Thought in
Feminist Theory
• Feminist Empiricism
• Feminist Standpoint Theory
• Feminist Postmodernism
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
31
Slide 32
Lost Girls—The New Slave
Trade… Prostitution
Click the icon to open the movie
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
32
Slide 33
Questions
1. What factors have contributed to the
increase in sex trafficking in Albania?
2. Explain how each of the three schools of
feminist theory (feminist empiricism,
feminist standpoint theory, and feminist
postmodernism) would approach the
problem of sex trafficking and prostitution
as described in the video.
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
33
Slide 34
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
34
Slide 35
Theorizing about Theory
• Deconstructivism
• Epistemology
• Behavioralism
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
35
Slide 36
Questions for
Critical Thinking
(1 of 2)
1. What are the strong and weak aspects of
realism?
2. In the liberal paradigm, how does anarchy
create incentives to cooperate?
3. How does neoliberalism differ from
liberalism?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
36
Slide 37
Questions for
Critical Thinking
(2 of 2)
4. Which theory has the best explanatory and
predictive power regarding the 2003
confrontation between the United States
and Iraq?
5. Which theory has the best explanatory and
predictive power for world politics in
general?
6. Does the nature of the international
system change over time?
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
37
Slide 38
Web Links
• Contemporary Philosophy, Critical
Theory, and Postmodern Thought
• Data on the Net
• Feminist Theory Website
• Niccolò Machiavelli
• President Woodrow Wilson’s
Fourteen Points
Copyright © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
38