Neo-realism and Neo-liberalism Introduction to International Relations IF Gao Xiaolei I34020

Contents  Major Points of Neo-Neo Debate Different consequence of anarchy Gains and cheating in cooperation Effects of institutions  Personal View on The Debate

Different Consequence of Anarchy Common Point: World system is anarchic, lacking of common power or central authority to enforce rules to maintain order in international system. Disagree on the consequence of anarchy  Neo-realism States struggle for survival; world is full of danger and conflicts; self-help; cannot depend on others for security  Neo-liberalism Emphasize on interdependence and cooperation; Anarchy can be mitigated by international regimes and institutions Cooperation is easy where states have mutual interests

Gains and Cheating in Cooperation  Neo-realism Difficult to cooperate because of two barriers: relative gain and cheating Reasons: Prisoners’ Dilemma: relative gains of cheating are much bigger than absolute gains States would not like to cooperate for fear of others cheating

Gains and Cheating in Cooperation  Neo-liberalism Cooperation is easy to achieve where states have mutual interests Reasons: If states have mutual interests, cooperation can maximize absolute gains If potential absolute gains are substantial, relative gains will have little impact In terms of Prisoners’ Dilemma, the result can be different if the game is infinite or it is linked to a wide variety of other games with the same players.

Effects of Institutions  Neo-realism Institutions have little effect on states behavior. Institutions reflect the distribution of international power To keep the order in international system, super power states would tolerate free riders to some extent and provide public goods to reduce the against behavior of other states.

Effects of Institutions  Neo-liberalism Institutions can independently change states behavior Reasons: Institutions can make hard cooperation among states become possible by offering not only one mechanism for cooperation Institutions can mitigate fears of cheating in cooperation by providing enough information to show that interest is evenly distributed

Personal View  Neo-realism Vietnam War Occurred during Cold War period in The U.S. government viewed American involvement in the war as a way to prevent a Communist takeover of South Vietnam. If one state went Communist, other states in the region would follow. Then US would lose its dominant position in Cold War. So US spent a lot into Vietnam War. Korea also benefited from this war because US covered nearly 1 billion dollars of Korea’s cost in the war.

Reference Robert O. Keohane; Lisa L. Martin, “The Promise of Institutionalist Theory” Vol. 20, No. 1. (Summer, 1995) John. J Mearsheimer, False Promise of International Institutions, Vol.19, No.3 Charles Lipson, “International Cooperation in Economic and Security Affairs,” World Politics, Vol. 37 (October 1984) Kenneth N. Waltz, Theory of International Politics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979) Duncan Snidal, "Relative Gains and'the Pattern of International Cooperation," American Political Science Review, Vol. 85, No. 3 (September 1991)