Chapter 1

Introduction: Into a New Century Canadian economy heavily dependent on the U.S., it is the destination for about 85% of its exports High Politics: Concern state security, grand strategies, and the use of military force Low Politics: Concern trade, investment, culture, environmental problems Omnicide: Introduction of nuclear weapons, which have the ability to destroy all life on earth

Globalization: Process of interaction and integration among the people, companies and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investments. Multilateralism: A state pursues its interests and goals beyond it`s national borders, not alone, but in cooperation and coalitions with other states. Unilateralism: A policy in which a state relies on its own strengths, whether based ion a strong economy, a high technological standard, or armed forces with sophisticated weapons.

The Interdisciplinary, Yet Divided, Discipline Subfields of International Relations International Relations Theory – Body of literature that seeks to explain the nature of the international system and the behaviour of the actorswithin it International Security – Traditionally involved the study of conflict and war and attempts to prevent or control it, recently includes examining ethnic and religious conflicts, the proliferation of weapons and the link between environment and security. International Political Economy – Grew in 1960’s and 70’s as issues such as trade, finance, foreign debt, and underdevelopment became prominent in international affairs. International Organization – Focuses on means of cooperation such as the establishment of regimes or agreements among states, groups, or individuals, including international law.

Three Main Levels of Analysis Individual Level – Decisions of individuals, and the perceptions, values, and experiences that motivate those decisions. State or Group Level – Focuses on the behaviour of individual states, which is often attributed to the form of government one finds at a particular time. Systemic Level – The actions of states are seen as the result of external influences and pressures on them in relation to their attributes or position in world politics.

Hard Power – Refers t the obvious military hardware, technological capabilities, and economic size. Soft Power – Refers to role of ideas, persuasion, culture, and innovation, which posses less tangible qualities.

Idealism Political Idealism : Theory of international politics that provided an explanation for all wars and offered directions and policies for preventing them in future. Idealist perspective assumes the best of human nature: we are essentially cooperative political animals who are occasionally led astray by evil influences into war and conflict, and we have a natural affinity toward the communal good. To varying degrees idealists assumed the following Human nature is essentially good – assistance and cooperation are possible and natural, motivated by the human qualities of altruism, philanthropy, and humanitarianism. Evil is not innate to humanity – Evil activity or harmful behaviour is a result of bad institutions, states and structures Social progress is possible – Human society has developed and improved and will continue to do so. The main problem in international relations is war – International society must reform itself with the aim of preventing future wars. War can be prevented – Eliminating bad institutions, states, and structures will eliminate the root causes of war International cooperation will promote peace – International organizations and international law will help prevent war.

Proposed the Collective Security System : all states would agree that in the case of aggression by any state against any other state in the system, all other states would respond to defend the attacked state. As a result any potential aggressor faced with the prospect of having so many enemies would not engage in the first place. Today political idealism lives in the principals that form the foundation for arms control, international organizations, and international law.

Realism - Classical People are viewed as nasty self – serving creatures, and political power merely corrupts them further. States seek their national interest at all times. People are essentially selfish and acquisitive by nature The desire for power is instinctive to all individuals and cannot be eliminated As a result, international politics is a struggle for power The international system is anarchic in nature as no central authority or world government exists that is capable of enforcing rules. States must ultimately rely on their own efforts to ensure their own security Military power and preparedness is the most important factor in determining state power and security. Alliances can increase the security of a state but loyalty should always be questioned International organizations and law cannot be relied on to guarantee security as state actions are not bound by enforceable rules Order can be achieved only by the balance of power system

Realism - Structural This vision of realism focuses on the systemic level of analysis, structure determine behaviour: the structure of the international system is anarchic, lacking a central political authority that can constrain individual states.

Anarchy and the Security dilema States take unilateral measures to ensure their own security, such as increasing the capabilities of their military forces, neighbouring states feel threatened and take countermeasures, this provoked insecurities in other states. Crisis could easily lead to misunderstanding, miscalculation and war.

Liberalism Liberalism suggests people can rationally cooperate in the name of self interest Liberals emphasize the importance of private property, law, free markets, democracy and justice, great importance is placed on economic growth Three variants – complex interdependence, liberal institutionalism, and liberal democratic peace theory Complex interdependence – argues that economic factors are fast becoming as important as military matters, and that non state actors such as multinational corporations and nongovernmental organizations play important role alongside states.

Neo-Marxism, Dependency Theory, and Neo-Gramscian Perspectives Assumes that economic classes are the primary united of analysis in world affairs and that the economic growth experienced by the rich Northern world has come at the cost of others, namly those in the poor Southern world Dependency theory – Southern states have become trapped in a system of exploitation, one that forces them to dependent on the north The most important actors are dominant economic interests or socioeconomic classes Both the state and war are largely instruments of the ruling economic classes States are bound into a hierarchical structural relationship characterized by patterns of dominance and dependence.

Feminism The primary focus of feminism is gender inequality and the critique of patriarchal systems that perpetuate it. Liberal feminists argue that women`s participation in world affairs had been too silent or marginalized and that this situation must be corrected. Feminists who are more radical argue this correction would be insufficient and that deeper changes are necessary.

Postmodernists Concerned with how people interpret the world around them and the act on this understanding Rejects the idea that realists, liberals, or Marxists can ever really know anything concrete about global politics or built objective knowledge about the world Strand of postmodernism: deconstructionists emphasize the importance of breaking down popular texts or discourses to understand the power relations they perpetuate. Feminists postmodernists look for gender bias in traditional discourse

Constructivists Like to argue that there is much more room for actors to effect change in global politics.

Environmentalism Advocates reconceptualising capitalism or redefining human relations Constructivism stresses the impact of intersubjective understandings among political actors on constituting their own identities.