1. DEBATING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Training Session 25.11.2015

2. PLAN FOR TODAY Types of IR motions How to approach IR debates Arguing for rights of states A bit about interventions Role of facts Language to uses Good practice in international relations debates

3. TYPES OF IR DEBATES 1.Path to economic prosperity -global economy and trade -foreign aid and its conditions -developing countries and their interactions with developed countries -resouces extraction/management

4. TYPES OF IR DEBATES 2. Changing the behaviour of a certain actor (incentive/intervention debates) -country, group, specific subgroup -incentives – sanctions, boycotts, political pressure -interventions -diplomacy- deals (have they worked)

5. TYPES OF IR DEBATES 3. International justice/ War Ethics -just war theory (when is intervention justifiable?) -what rights/obligations do states/the international community have -what actions are permitted in war -who are the actors affected by war

6. TYPES OF IR DEBATES 4. International Institutions/Supranational Forms of Organisation -International Criminal Court -NATO -UN -European Union/African Union/BRICS

7. ARGUING FOR STATES’ RIGHTS The rights of the states’ citizents The need for international order International law (and general force in the future) Domestic order (maintained even by less friendly regimes) Compensation rights

8. INTERVENTIONS Factors that might influence the success/viability of an intervention Interests and motives- past behaviour, ideologies, current situation Perceptions and beliefs Costs and benefits of certain courses of action Capabilities (military, economic, political capital) Internal Political Processes ! You also need to work out what the motion does to the elements above in the FUTURE

9. DEBATING ABOUT INVASIONS / ASSASSINATIONS ETC PROP Establish Imperative Identify a tipping point (why we can’t wait) Last Resort (all other options have been tried) Provide clear mechanism Outline a military strategy that will work Initial conflict Continuing conflict (insurgency?) Include amnesty option for combatants / suggest won’t fight Show path to a better future Reconstruction efforts? Who will take power afterwards? Creates important positive precedents OPP Throw mess around War is never clean or simple Civilians & Soldiers will die Responsibility on our hands Show how will mobilise opposition EVEN IF invasion works Show most likely scenario will be at best sub- optimal and most likely even worse than to start Undermines precedents of international law

10. THINGS TO NOTE REGARDING INTERVENTIONS Asymmetric Warfare -agents that intervene often more powerful than their counterparts  Guerilla wars  Longer conflict (possibly more civilian casualties) The CNN Factor/The Body Bag Syndrome -decisions about the continuation/initiation of intervention are filtered through domestic public opinion -this in turn is affected by media/distanced from conflict The Side Effects of Interventions -disruption to economy, civilian deaths, infrastructure destruction, instability to neighbouring state

11. ROLE OF FACTS Don’t play facts tennis –might be tempting if you know a lot about a certain topic. Always use them in relation to arguments Cases when facts are useful 1.Expected to be known by an average informed citizen 2.Superficially plausible but explained in great detail 3.To illustrate, NOT prove a speaker’s meaning 4.Superficially plausible and only used to add extra credibility 5.When it is explicitly accepted by both sides of the debate (and it is not widely known that the fact is completely false)

12. LANGUAGE Language is particularly important in IR debates Clarity Plausibility rather than certainty Easier to make generalisations Easier to make assumptions Not ‘destroy’ but: ‘ erode, corode over time ‘ Not ‘solve’ but: ‘substantially improve’

13. GOOD PRACTICE IN IR DEBATES Drop names -this in itself is not that powerful, but being able to name state leaders, capitals, names of troups etc. certainly makes your argument more persuasive Set clear limitations to your policy -IR debates are generally very complicated and involve multiple agents/incentives/power structures. It important that you set out limitations on what you are trying to achieve (take a moderate line) Explain examples -important to explain the choice of examples -important to make LINK between arguments and examples