The Practice and the Study of IR Has Changed Dramatically Since the End of the Cold War

Jan 12, 2011

The practice and the study of IR has changed dramatically since the end of the cold war.

during the cold war some fairly simple realities dominated IR. there were five simple realities of the study and practice of IR:

- East-West confrontations dominated IR during the cold war. It was not direct confrontation which is why we call it the cold war. The two superpowers would fight each other through local and regional conflicts. This is where we get the term proxy war. The civil war in China was the first example of a proxy war followed by Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and many conflicts in Central America. Proxy wars quickly became ideological they were proxy wars b/w the principles of communism and democracy.

Egypt is an example of a proxy war where a nation changed it’s backing. up to the 1950’s Egypt was supported by the USSR but with the rise of power of Nasir Egypt changed “sides” to get their support from the USA. This change is allegiances lead to the Camp David Peace Accords b/w Egypt and Israel.

- The Cold War was dominated by Westphalia states. Sovereign states and principles of sovereignty were the most important actors in IR business and NGO came secondary. States dominated international institutions (UN, NATO, WARSAW). This meant that the study of IR was simply the study of states. It was a limited focus. This limited focus of IR wasn’t a new reality for the cold war, IR has always been state-centric.

- Was dominated by some very intense rhetoric. Both the east and the west used propaganda, slogans and inflammatory language to attack each other and defend themselves. They also did this to socialize the populations. It was an attempt to convince the people that their enemy was evil b/c then they would support all the money being spent to fight the enemy and go and fight the enemy as well. Again rhetoric wasn’t new in the cold war it has been used in virtually every major conflict.

- It was an extremely bipolar system w/ a strong emphasis on perception and relative gains. it was bipolar b/c there were two superpower. B/c it was a bipolar system both the USSR and the USA focused on relative gains rather than absolute gains. Relative gains means that you are focused on the states power relative to other states and powers in the international system. Absolute gains means that a state is focusing on how the international community can gain together. Cold war was dominated by relative gains, b/c of this perception was extremely important. Neither power wanted to be perceived as weak. Both the USSR and USA were obsessed with being perceived as strong.

- It was dominated by a specific conception of security, with a focus on military security. Both the practice and the study of IR was focused on military security. In the immediate post WW2 era this wasn’t the reality, most of the focus of the practice of IR was economic reconstruction. the US military significantly demobilized. Then came Korea. North Korea was funded and assisted by China and it is the Korean war that kicks off the arms race and military security of the cold war.

Korea was different b/c the Korean war was UN sanctioned with many countries involved in the fighting. This is the only time that the UN was involved in the proxy war.

in the 1950’s as a result of relative gains and perceptions and a by product of the Korean was the USSR and the USA entered into a massive arms race

the first phase of the arms race focused on a massive buildup of conventional weapons.

Eisenhower warned the people of this massive buildup and that the defence contractors and arms company were becoming to powerful and rich and would eventually play an important part of the US’s foreign policy. He invented the term Military Industrial Complex.

the second phase of the arms race also begins in the 1950’s and it focused on WMD and specifically nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons come to dominate and define the arms race of the cold war.

the focus of the nuclear weapons arms race was on the delivery of nuclear weapons, not until later in the cold war did nations start thinking about building a bigger and better bomb.

this is why the space race was so important. Sputnik was alarming to the US because it proved that the USSR had the delivery system that could launch a missile from the USSR and hit the USA.

the USSR collapsed from 1990-1991 because they were bankrupt, largely because of trying to copy the US SDI program.

Jan 17 2011

Post Cold War International Relations

USSR collapses in 1990 and there are 7 new realities that affect both the practice and study of IR

1) Security - during cold war there was only military security. Post-cold war three other types of security arise. Military security is still important it is just no longer the only type of security

Environmental Security - environmental problems are not limited to state boarders and yet they can still challenge state sovereignty. Chernobyl was the wakening bell to environmental security in the international communities. Acid Rain is another environmental security concern. Pollution from the mid-west states was coming down in the form of rain on Ont. and Quebec. water pollution, global warming, climate change are all examples of environmental security.

Human Security - integrity of the person - do humans have the basic materials for survival (food, clothing, shelter, water). Floods, famines, and warfare all contribute to refugee creation which is a main concern of Human Security. During the Rwandan genocide 30,000 people an hour were entering into Zaire. Sudan, Bangladesh, Somalia are examples of of nations with huge human security issues.

all of these issues can happen within states as well (pakistan floods)

Child soldiers are another issue of Human Security

Economic Security - economic transactions and economic exchange are increasingly becoming more difficult for states to regulate and control.

Re-emergence of local and regional conflicts. After the USSR collapsed regional and regional conflicts such as civil wars in Europe started up again. When the USSR was still around they would simply move in with their army and crushed both sides of the conflict (Hungary in 56). Local and regional dissent was heavy handedly controlled.

The conflicts that emerge after the collapse of the USSR are not new, they are centuries old it’s just that now there was no “big brother” to make them stop fighting. Yugoslavia is the case study for this. It was the first and most violent post cold war conflict.

Nature of warfare changed. During the cold war nature of war was straight forward. There were professional and distinguishable armies, it was easy to identify your enemy. Also there was MAD.

Now primary combatants have changed. There are still modern armies but there are now many non-professional armies. Terrorists, guerilla’s, pirates - they aren’t new but they now have the capacity to destabilize the international system.

Many of these combatants are successful even though they aren’t using modern technology. In Rwanda 800,000 people were killed with machetes. IED are very crude land mines that continue to kill NATO soldiers.

IR now focuses more on the importance of domestic politics. During the cold war IR ignored domestic politics. Now we study domestic politics in IR more. it is now understood that there are now two different levels of analysis. Both the domestic and the international and the relationship b/w the two. Both domestic and international politics affect each other.

Traditional powers of the Cold War are in Decline. The USSR doesn’t exist and while Russia is a major power it isn’t a super power. The USA is also in sharp decline especially it’s economic power. This has been happening since the ending of the gold standard in 1971.

Instead we have seen the emergence of new powers. Germany has emerged as the dominant European power. China, Japan, and South Korea are emerging powers in the East

The actors and participants in IR have changed dramatically. Think the corporation. Transnational and Multinational Corporations - Coke, Apple, Siemens. These actors have significant power in the international system. Banks, Automobile, Financial services (insurance) Oil, and Telecommunications are 5 industries that are in many cases more powerful than nation states.

It’s not just states anymore that are driving the global economy. This has lead to a change in the practice and study of IR.

Technology Changes have lead to drastic changes in the practice and study of IR

in the economic sector, in the military and security sectors, and many others the sophistication of technology has massively changed practice and study of IR.

the level of information available to citizens has also changed the practice and study of IR.

AN ESSAY QUESTION ON MIDTERM - COMPARE AND CONTRAST COLD WAR VS POST COLD WAR PRACTICE AND STUDY OF IR

Jan 19, 2011

Classifying International Systems

Independent State System - a key concept to the independent state system is autonomy. Autonomy is the complete control over all International and Domestic Affairs.

It is virtually impossible for a nation today to have full autonomy. Most nations have degrees of autonomy.

Hegemonic System - a system dominated by great powers. Unipolar is a system driven by one great power, Bipolar is driven by two and Multipolar driven by three or more.

Hegemonic systems often see great powers ally themselves with lesser powers but the Great Powers run the system and make the decisions. These alliances allow for great peace and stability.

Imperial or Suzerain System - A system of empires and large imperial nations. There is often peaceful interactions w/i empires and b/w empires but not always. Suzerain Almost always there is one empire that is dominant.

Empires become involved in the domestic politics of conquered territories, or the territories they control. They appoint officials, conscript citizens directly into their armies, collect taxes, and provide positive involvements like services that benefit the territory as well (roads, irrigation, education and other infrastructure projects)

Suzerain system will be on MIDTERM give definition and compare with Hegemonic system

Feudal System - pre-dates the modern state system. This system was unique to western europe in the medieval period.

Shared authority is a main feature of the feudal system. Territory is controlled by the nobility and elites of a territory and there are levels of control.

The economics of the feudal system were driven by merchant banks.

Labour was controlled by guilds for skilled labour/artisans. Guilds were very powerful and wealthy and were socially relevant.

Church - the most stable and dominant source of authority. The church was the single most entity in the peasantry’s lives.

History of the State

Starts with the Greeks in the 5th and 6th C BCE.

the Greek system there are a number of very small territorial units (City States). The City State itself was the Polis and the surrounding area was called the Metro.

There was tension b/w these units. the Greek system swung b/w empire and hegemony. There were both internal (b/w city states) and external tensions.

Primarily a Dual Hegemony b/w Athens and Sparta. Athens was much more expansionist but Sparta was more isolationist and concerned with its domestic affairs. Both had strong militaries.

Sparta was an unstable city states with many revolts and thats why they were isolationist.

By the late 5th C BCE we see the first external threats to the greek system from Persia. This threat brings some unity to the Greek system w/ Athens and Sparta coming together to fight the Persians. It was an extremely violent conflict. By 480-490 the Persians are defeated and the unity w/i Greece collapses return to a unipolar hegemonic system where Athens is a dominant power.

Athens starts to become an Empire. Lasts for about 40 years and they form the Delian League. It is one of the first recorded alliance and almost 200 city states are part of the alliance. Tension erupts w/i the Delian League as other city states become more powerful (Thebes, Corinth, Argos). As the league collapses there are a series of anti-hegemonic alliances.

Leads to a very violent period of Greek history. By 400 BCE the greek city state system has fallen

The Greeks established a number of principles for the practice of IR such as diplomacy. The Greeks are the first to send envoys and ambassadors to other city states. We also see negotiated agreements b/w city states for peace, security, and trade. the Greeks are first international system to form alliances on a large scale as well.

The Greeks are the first to engage the concept of Balance of Power b/w city states. They were conscious and aware that there needed to be a balance of power to avoid violence.

The greeks gave us the classification system that we use to classify states.

Another reason Greece is important is b/c the first IR theorists come out of ancient greece. The observations that came out of Greece at this time are the foundation for the study and theory of IR that we use today.

The school of realism comes out of Greece and realism is the most dominant modern theory today. Thucydidies is the father of realism.

Jan 21, 2011

Paper Stuff

paper need an argument that gives both sides of the story. Not a descriptive paper.

when writing a thesis statement it is important to ask questions. The questions should be how and why questions. Avoid what questions. Only one or two questions in the paper.

One question should be around the basic question around the case study and the other question should be about which international relations theory applies, Liberalism or realism.

After you have asked the questions you need to answer them. One sentence answer for each question asked.

tell the reader what points to touch on to substantiate the argument. Be very explicit. do it in 1-2 sentences. “To substantiate this argument this paper will examine blah blah blah blah.”

Endnotes and Footnotes - Use Chicago

ibid., p. 159

last name, abbreviated title, p.#

use summary citations (citing a whole chapter)

The Greek hegemonic system is replaced by the Macedonian Empire. Philip and his son Alexander the Great are the leaders. it’s short 355-323 bce.

because they were part of the greek system the macedonians follow the greek practice of IR

following the collapse of the macedonian empire there was about 100 years where there was no hegemony or empire. It is the closest thing to an independent state system until the modern era.

Clans and tribes are no longer the foundation of organization as the City state is now becoming the driving force of IR

The Roman empire comes next at about 250 bce. There were many stages to the empire

the first stage has considerable conflict b/w the Roman and Phoenicians (Carthaginians). This comes to head in the Punic Wars, the Romans win and the empire starts to grow.

stage 2 - very rapid expansion of the empire. This leads to instability b/c Rome doesn’t have the military and administrative resources to rule the territories they have conquered. Rome is almost on the brink of imploding.

Julius Caesar and Pompey restore stability to the empire through strong autocratic military actions. The stability doesn’t last long as he is assassinated and the empire folds into civil war

two emperors establish the golden age of the Roman Empire Octavius and his son Augustus. The golden age is shaped by the chaos that came before it.

These two men want to build an empire based on the idea of universal citizenship. provide stability for all members of the empire. wanted all areas of the empire to have basic services and stability.

they built roads and viaducts, they introduced a universal system of weights and measurements to help with trade. They codified systems of law and transfered them to the entire empire.

they provided food and housing for areas of the empire as well as security.

At its hight the empire stretched north to Britain, east to the middle east and south to North Africa.

the romans are important to the practice of IR b/c

they create a system of gov’t based on a set of common laws. first system of international law

ongoing practices of diplomacy.

Romans begin to offer philosophical concepts of organizations, the most important of these was the concept of sovereignty

to the theory of IR