1. Introduction to International Relations

2. The Study of International Relations International relations pertains to the study of state and non-state actors and their relationship to each other in the international system. Narrowly defined: The field of IR concerns the relationships among states (or governments). International system: –A patterned set of interactions among the major political actors on the international stage.

3. IR and Daily Life IR profoundly affects your life as well as that of other citizens. –Prospects for getting jobs Global economy International economic competition –Jobs entail international travel, sales, or communication. –Rules of the world-trading system affect what you may consume. War is among the most pervasive international influences in daily life, even in peacetime. World is shrinking year by year.

4. OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION Information Revolution: Growing accumulation of human knowledge; and the accessibility of new knowledge through rapidly spreading technologies Increasing Global Productivity: efficiency of economic output is enhanced through the introduction, spread, and improvement of computer-based technologies, spread of MNCs (economic enterprises with operations in two or more countries), and the mobility of global capital Rapid Rise of Newly Emerging Global Economies: China, India, Brazil; augers the potential for reduction in global poverty Development of Renewable Energy Sources: new research and technology investment in energy sources of sun, wind, and biomass etc. Global Spread of Democracy: unprecedented adoption of democratic ideas and institutions around the world

5. OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION Continued Growth of Authoritative Global and Regional Institutions: WTO, WHO, EU, OPEC—these coordinate national policies with regional and even global norms and practices Proliferation and Networking of NGOs: Growth of global civil society through people organizing across borders to address global threats, humanitarian crisis and aid, technical information, cultural, political, and social cooperation. Growth of international regimes: formal and informal coordination and collaboration in certain issue areas to maximize global security and prosperity Decline of interstate Warfare Rapid Proliferation of International Law protecting the individual: codification of human rights, spreading norms or racial and gender equality

6. POSSIBILITIES FOR CONFLICT Global Environmental Degradation: these global threats include 1. global warming, the thinning of the protective ozone layer of the atmosphere accompanied by rising rates of skin cancer; 2.destruction of the world’s rain forests (global lungs) and denuding of other forested areas; 3.rapid urbanization owing to peasant flight to megacities in countries like China and India with accompanying pollution and urban poverty; 4.Spread of deserts into formerly fertile regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; 5.The elimination of species of plants and animals and reduction in biodiversity; 6.Accumulation of radioactive debris and nuclear waste

7. POSSIBILITIES FOR CONFLICT Overpopulation: in developing world may contribute to famine, spread of disease (AIDS), land hunger, political unrest, and large- scale migration to rich states with aging and shrinking population Resource Depletion: energy demands outstrip known reserves of petroleum and natural gas as growing populations and economic development places ever greater stress on finite sources of fresh water and fertile land Proliferation of Religious and Ethnic Extremism: identity construction in the age of globalization prompts fragmentation, the questioning of authoritative governmental and social structures from below; target often innocent civilians Global Proliferation of WMD: spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to countries divided by profound political differences, f.ex. Pakistan and India

8. POSSIBILITIES FOR CONFLICT WMD may spread into rogue states (Iran, North Korea) and non- state actors, such as global terrorist networks Collapse of states: spread of socio-political disorder in selected regions Global spread of disease: rapid spread of pathogens that threaten humans, livestock, and plant life and the threat of new pandemics such as the avian influenza Growing North-South wealth discrepancies: rising disparities in wealth between winners and losers in the course of globalization Threats to the LIEO: established by the West after WWII, responsible for much of western wealth and prosperity, by increasing trade demands from poorer countries Resistance by the U.S. to work with international and multilateral organizations: global threats cannot be managed unilaterally

9. Core Principles IR revolves around one key problem: –How can a group – such as two or more states – serve its collective interests when doing so requires its members to forego their national interests? Example: Problem of global warning. Solving it can only be achieved by many countries acting together. –Collective goods problem The problem of how to provide something that benefits all members of a group regardless of what each member contributes to it

10. Core Principles In general, collective goods are easier to provide in small groups than large ones. –Small group: defection (free riding) is harder to conceal and has a greater impact on the overall collective good, and is easier to punish. Collective goods problem occurs in all groups and societies but within a state, gov’ts provide public or collective goods. –Particularly acute in international affairs No central authority such as a world government to enforce on individual nations the necessary measures to provide for the common good

11. Core Principles Three basic principles offer possible solutions for this core problem of getting individuals to cooperate for the common good without a central authority to make them do so. –Dominance –Reciprocity –Identity

12. Table 1.1

13. Dominance Solves the collective goods problem by establishing a power hierarchy in which those at the top control those below –Status hierarchy Symbolic acts of submission and dominance reinforce the hierarchy. Hegemon The advantage of the dominance solution –Forces members of a group to contribute to the common good –Minimizes open conflict within the group Disadvantage of the dominance solution –Stability comes at a cost of constant oppression of, and resentment by, the lower-ranking members of the status hierarchy. –Conflicts over position can sometimes harm the group’s stability and well-being.

14. Reciprocity Solves the collective goods problem by rewarding behavior that contributes to the group and punishing behavior that pursues self- interest at the cost of the group –Easy to understand and can be “enforced” without any central authority –Positive and negative reciprocity –Disadvantage: It can lead to a downward spiral as each side punishes what it believes to be the negative acts of the other. Generally people overestimate their own good intentions and underestimate those of opponents or rivals.

15. Identity Identity principle does not rely on self-interest. Members of an identity community care about the interests of others in the community enough to sacrifice their own interests to benefit others. –Family, extended family, kinship group roots, clan, nation, religious and ethnic groups In IR, identity communities play important roles in overcoming difficult collective goods problems; while at times identity construction can intensify the collective goods problem –Nonstate actors also rely on identity politics.

16. IR as a Field of Study Practical discipline Theoretical debates are fundamental IR is about international politics, but the field is interdisciplinary: economics, history, sociology, anthropology, geography etc. –Usually taught within discipline of political science –Domestic politics of foreign countries, although overlapping with IR, generally make up the separate field of comparative politics. Issue areas: political, economic, environmental, social Conflict and Cooperation Subfields –International security –International political economy

17. Actors and Influences Principal actors in IR are states IR scholars traditionally study the decisions and acts of those governments, in relation to other governments. Individual actors: Leaders and citizens, bureaucratic agencies in foreign ministries, multinational corporations, and terrorist groups

18. State Actors Most important actors in IR are states. State: A territorial entity controlled by a government and inhabited by a population. Theoretical assumptions: –State government exercises sovereignty over its territory. –Recognized as sovereign by other states –Population forms a civil society; group identity –Seat of government with a leader – head of government or head of state

19. State Actors International system –Set of relationships among the world’s states, structured according to certain rules and patterns of interaction. –Modern international system has existed for less than 500 years. –Origin in Treaty of Westphalia 1648 –Nation-states –Major source of conflict: Frequent mismatch between perceived nations and actual borders. –Populations vary dramatically. –Great variation in terms of the size of states’ total annual economic activity Gross Domestic Product (GDP) –Great powers Most powerful of these states are called superpowers

20. Figure 1.2

21. Figure 1.1

22. Table 1.4