1. University of Colorado – Denver
Notes
Windham E. Loopesko
INTB 3000 Fall 2013
University of Colorado – Denver
October 14-17, 2013
Achieving peace
10/14-10/

2. Week 9.1 – Realism and the balance of power
The realist approach to maintaining peace
Requirements to maintain a balance of power
Stay vigilant
Seek allies when you can’t match adversaries’ arms
Alliances are flexible – not a marriage
Oppose any state seeking hegemony
Be moderate in victory
Looking back on course years from now, quaint -- typewriters and punch cards
Equally valid viewpoints – best run companies have both, American strength
Achieving peace
10/14-10/

3. Week 9.1 – Problems with the balance of power
“Bandwagoning” vs. opposing hegemons
Getting accurate and current information (shifting alliances)
The need to maintain parity = arms race
States aren’t always risk averse or rational
Perceptions more important than realities
Balance of power hasn’t always worked
Achieving peace
10/14-10/

4. Week 9.1 – A great-power concert?
At times, the great powers may come together to bring order to the international system
The record is mixed
Success – the Congress of Vienna
Failure – the Treaty of Versailles
Are China and the US in the process of trying something similar?
Such concerts are fragile and easily eroded
Achieving peace
10/14-10/

5. Week 9.2 – The liberal approach to achieving peace
The liberal approach – international agreements (e.g., arms control) and joint action
Arms control – agreements to limit arms levels by controlling growth or restricting use
Disarmament (much rarer) – reducing or eliminating weapons
Achieving peace
10/14-10/

6. Week 9.2 – US/Russia arms control agreements
The US/Russia – 25 arms control agreements
As a result, no direct clashes but proxy wars
Major agreements -- SALT (1972 and 1979); START (1991, 1993, 2010); SORT (2002)
These agreement substantially reduced number of nuclear weapons and created trust – with the hope of other, wider peace-keeping arrangements
Achieving peace
10/14-10/

7. Week 9.2 – Agreements against weapons of mass destruction
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has 189 signers – but it has not kept India, Pakistan and North Korea from going nuclear (and Israel widely suspected of nuclear arms)
The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention has even wider reach, but . . .
US has refused to accept enforcement measures
Syria shows the problems of preventing use
Achieving peace
10/14-10/

8. Week 9.2 – Obstacles to arms control and disarmament
Such agreements tend to fight the last war
Controls of one system can prompt development in others (“whack-a-mole”)
Failure to control most dangerous weapons (e.g., land mines) discredits whole movement
Innovation means new systems are constantly emerging
But arms control alternatives are even worse
Achieving peace
10/14-10/