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Alternatives to Power Politics

Alternatives to Power Politics. CHAPTER THREE. Dr. Clayton Thyne PS 235-001: World Politics Spring 2009 Goldstein & Pevehouse, International Relations , 8/e Student notes version. The Waning of War. In recent years, a strong trend toward _____________ has become evident.

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Alternatives to Power Politics

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  1. Alternatives to Power Politics CHAPTER THREE Dr. Clayton Thyne PS 235-001: World Politics Spring 2009 Goldstein & Pevehouse, International Relations, 8/e Student notes version

  2. The Waning of War • In recent years, a strong trend toward _____________ has become evident. • For the world as a whole, the current period is one of the least warlike ever, with fewer and smaller wars than in the past. • World wars killed tens of millions and left whole continents in ruin. • Cold War – proxy wars killed millions and the world feared a nuclear war that could have wiped out our species. • Iraq and Sudan and wars like these kill hundreds of thousands.

  3. The Waning of War • Events in the post-Cold War era continue this long-term trend toward smaller wars. • Today’s most serious conflicts consist mainly of skirmishing rather than all-out battles. • In 2006, wars in Darfur (Sudan), Iraq, and Afghanistan all worsened, a brief Israeli-Lebanese war left lasting wounds, and Sri Lanka resumed a civil war…but progress continued elsewhere. • Congo, Uganda, Nepal

  4. Liberal Theories • Realism offers mostly ____________________to the collective goods problems of IR. • Alternative theoretical approaches that draw mostly on the _______________ or ______________principles are called liberal theories. • These approaches are generally more optimistic than realism about the prospects for peace.

  5. The “Kantian Triangle” • What explains this positive trend toward peace? • Kant gave 3 answers over 200 years ago: Peace

  6. Neoliberal Institutionalism • Neoliberal approach differs from earlier liberal approaches in that it concedes to realism several important assumptions: • States are unitary actors rationally pursuing their self-interests, but they say states cooperate because it is in their self-interest. • Mutual gains better (more rational) than cheating or taking advantage of each other. .4 .3 A’s power .2 .1 .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 B’s power

  7. Neoliberal Institutionalism • International regimes facilitate _________________________ • International regimes (def): • Regimes can help solve collective goods problems by… • Main point:

  8. Neoliberal Institutionalism • Relation with the Prisoner’s Dilemma: Without international regimes / reciprocity norm… With international regimes / reciprocity norm…

  9. Collective Security • Concept grows out of liberal institutionalism. • Collective security (def): The formation of a broad alliance of most major actors in an international system for the purpose of jointly opposing aggression by any actor. • Kantian triangle • League of Nations • Failed because: • Many collective security IOs today: • Organization of America States, Arab League, and the African Union

  10. Collective Security • Success of collective security depends on two points: • Positive example: • Negative example: • World’s collective security system is “creaky” and not always effective, but bypassing it to take military action also holds dangers. • Concept of collective security has broadened in recent years.

  11. The Democratic Peace Theory (DPT) • IR scholars have linked democracy with a kind of foreign policy fundamentally different from that of authoritarianism. • “Monadic” DPT Theory: • “Dyadic” DPT: • Trend is toward _______________________ in most of the world’s regions.

  12. Social Theories • Several distinct approaches in IR theory may be grouped together as social theories. • They rely on social interaction to explain individuals’ and states’ preferences. • These theories contrast with realism’s assumption of fixed, timeless preferences (states want more power).

  13. Constructivism • An approach that focuses on… • Focus: • Constructivism puts IR in the context of… • Norms construct identities, they don’t just affect how states interact

  14. Postmodernism • A broad approach to scholarship that pays special attention to texts and to discourses (how people talk and write about their subjects) • Central idea: • Postmodernists seek to “deconstruct” such constructions as states, the international system, and the associated stories and arguments with which realists portray the nature of international relations.

  15. Marxism • Holds that IR and domestic politics arise from unequal relationships between economic classes. • Branch of socialism, a theory that holds that the more powerful classes oppress and exploit the less powerful by denying them their fair share of the surplus they create.

  16. Peace Studies • Challenges fundamental concepts behind ________________ and __________________. • Seeks to shift the focus of IR away from the interstate level of analysis and toward a broad conception of social relations at the individual, domestic, and global levels of analysis. • Connects war and peace with individual responsibility, economic inequality, gender relations, cross-cultural understanding, and other aspects of social relationships.

  17. Peace Studies • Criticism: • Conflict resolution:

  18. Peace Studies • Role of militarism • Conceptualization of peace • Positive peace: • Structural violence: • Peace movements • Only pressure from individuals/groups will force leaders to chose peace • Nonviolence:

  19. Why Gender Matters • Feminist scholarship seeks to uncover hidden assumptions about gender in how we study a subject. • Core assumptions of realism reflect the ways in which males tend to interact and to see the world. • Beyond a basic agreement that gender is important, there is no such thing as a “feminist approach” to IR • Difference feminism: • Liberal feminism: • Postmodern feminism:

  20. The Masculinity of Realism • Difference feminism provides a perspective from which to reexamine realism. • An international system based on feminine principles might giver greater importance to the interdependence of states than to their autonomy.

  21. Gender in War and Peace • Difference feminists find plenty of evidence to support the idea of war as a masculine pursuit. • Bridging other disciplines: • Anthropology: • Biology: • Psychology:

  22. Women in IR • Liberal feminists are skeptical of difference feminists’ critiques of realism. • Liberal feminism focuses on… • Evidence: • In U.S. difficult to compare voting records of men and women on foreign policy: • Women as soldiers • In sum…

  23. Difference Feminism versus Liberal Feminism? • Are the two totally at odds? • Difference feminists argue that… • Liberal feminists think that… • How can these two positions be reconciled?

  24. Figure 3.1

  25. Postmodern Feminism • Line of criticism directed at realism that combines feminism and postmodernism. • Seeks to deconstruct realism with the specific aim of uncovering the pervasive hidden influences of gender in IR while showing how arbitrary the construction of gender roles is. • Archetypes: • Power and potency: • Realism and liberalism… • Impact of feminist theory

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