World Politics

Introduction 11/02/2014 13:50World Politics

Objectives: To understand how the people and countries of the world get along.

Theory:A logically consistent set of statements that explains a phenomenon of interest.

The decisions of individuals and groups are influenced by innumerable factors that cannot be listed, and much less predicted.

A probabilistic claim is an argument about the factors that increase or decrease the likelihood that some outcome will occur.

Interests:What actors want to achieve through political action; their preferences over the outcomes that might result from their political choices.

Interactions:The ways in which the choices of two or more actors combine to produce political outcomes.

Institution:A set of rules, known and shared by the community, that structure political interactions in particular ways.

Bargaining:An interaction in which actors must choose outcomes that make one better off at the expense of another. Bargaining is redistributive; it involves allocating a fixed sum of value between different actors.

Cooperation:An interaction in which two or more actors adopt policies that make at least one actor better off relative to the status quo without making the others worse off.

Realism: Interests:

o The state is the dominant actor.o States seek security and/or power.o States’ interest are generally in conflict.

Interactions:o International politics is primarily about bargaining, in which

coercion always remains a possibility. Institutions:

o The international system is anarchic and institutions exert little independent effect.

o International institutions reflect the interests of powerful states.

Liberalism: Interests:

o Many types if actors are important, and no single interest dominates.

o Wealth is a common goal for many actors.o Actors often have common interests, which can serve as the

basis for cooperation. Interactions:

o International politics has an extensive scope for cooperation.

o Conflict is not inevitable but occurs when actors fail to recognize or act upon common interests.

Institutions:o International institutions facilitate cooperation by setting out

rules, providing information, and creating procedures for collective decision-making.

o Democratic political institutions increase the scope for international politics to reflect the common interests of individuals.

Constructivism: Interests:

o Many types of actors are important.o Actors’ interests are influenced by culture, identity, and

prevailing ideas.o Actors’ choices often reflect norms of appropriate behavior,

rather than interests. Interactions:

o Interactions socialize actors to hold particular interests, but transformations can occur, caused by alternative understandings of those interests.

Institutions:o International institutions define identities and shape action

through norms od just and appropriate behavior.

Anarchy:The absence of a central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws that bind all actors.

Chapter 1 11/02/2014 13:50‘The world as a meaningful political and economic unit only emerged after 1500.’

Mercantilism:An economic doctrine based on a belief that military power and economic influence were complements; applied especially to colonial empires in the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Mercantilist policies favored the mother country over its colonies and over its competitors.

Peace of Westphalia:The settlement that ended the Thirty Years’ War in 1648; often said to have created the modern state system because it included a general recognition of the principles of sovereignty and nonintervention.

Sovereignty:The expectation that states have legal and political supremacy – or ultimate authority - within their territorial boundaries.

Hegemony:The predominance of one nation-state over others.

Pax Britannica:‘British Peace’, a century-long period beginning with Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815 and ending with the outbreak of WWI in 1914 during which Britain’s economic and diplomatic influence contributed to economic openness and relative peace.

Gold standard:The monetary system that prevailed between about 1870 and 1914, in which countries tied their currencies to gold a legally fixed price.

Treaty of Versailles:

The peace treaty between the Allies and Germany that formally ended WWI on June 28, 1919.

League of Nations:A permanent international security organization formed in the aftermath of WWI, which was supplanted by the United Nations after WWII and was dissolved in 1946.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO):A military alliance created in 1949 to bring together many Western European nations, the United States, and Canada, forming the foundation of the American-led military bloc during the Cold War. Today, NATO’s role includes handling regional problems and developing a rapid reaction force.

Bretton Woods System:The economic order negotiated among allied nations at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944, which led to a series of cooperative arrangements involving a commitment to relatively low barriers to international trade and investment.

Warsaw Pact:A military alliance formed in 1955 to bring together the Soviet Union and its Cold War allies in Eastern Europe and elsewhere; dissolved on March 31, 1991, as the Cold War ended.

Decolonization:The process of shedding colonial possessions, especially the rapid end of the European empires in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean between the 1940’s and the 1960’s.

Chapter 2 11/02/2014 13:50Actors:The basic unit for the analysis of international politics; can be individuals or groups of people with common interests.

State:A central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws, rules, and decisions within a specified territory.

Sovereignty:The expectation that states have legal and political supremacy – or ultimate authority – within their territorial boundaries.

National interests:Interest attributed to the state itself, usually security and power.

Key Categories of Actors and Interests in World Politics

Actor Commonly ascribed interests

Examples

States Security, power, wealth, ideology

United States, Canada, China, Switzerland, India, Uruguay

Politicians Re-election/retention of office, ideology, policy goals

Presidents of the USA, Primer Minister of GB, Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives

Firms, Industries, or business associations

Wealth, profit General Motors, Sony, the pharmaceutical industry, National Association of Manufacturers, Business Roundtable

Classes or factors of production

Material well-being, wealth

Capital, labor, land, human capital

Bureaucracies Budget maximization, influence, policy preferences; often summarized by the adage of “ where you stand depends on where you sit.”

Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, National Security Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

International organizations

As composites of states, they reflect the interests of member states according to their voting power. As organizations, they are assumed to be similar to domestic bureaucracies.

United Nations, International Monetary Fund, International Postal Union, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),

Normative, ideological, or policy goals; human

Red Cross, Amnesty International,

often transnational or international in scope and membership

rights, the environment, religion

Greenpeace, the Catholic Church.

Cooperation: see definition in the introduction tab. Further info in Chapter 2.

Bargaining: same as above.

Coordination: A type of cooperative interaction in which actors benefit from all making the same choices and subsequently have no incentive to not comply.

Collaboration:A type of cooperative interaction in which actors gain from working together but nonetheless have incentives to not comply with any agreement.

Public goods:Individually and socially desirable goods that are non-excludable and non-rival in consumption, such as national defense.

Collective action problems:Obstacles to cooperation that occur when actors have incentives to collaborate but each acts in anticipation that others will pay the costs of cooperation.

Free ride:To fail to contribute to a public good while benefiting from the contribution of others.

Iteration:Repeated interactions with the same partners.

Linkage:The linking of cooperation on one issue to interactions on a second issue.

Power:

The ability of Actor A to get Actor B to do something that B would otherwise not do; the ability to get the other side to make concessions and to avoid having to make concessions oneself.

Coercion:The threat or imposition of costs on other actors in order to change their behavior. Means of international coercion include military force and economic sanctions.

Outside options:The alternatives to bargaining with a specific actor.

Agenda-setting power:A ‘first-mover’ advantage that helps an actor to secure a more favorable bargain.

Game theory:The prisoner’s dilemma, Chicken, Stag Hunt

Chapter 3 11/02/2014 13:50War:An event involving the organized use of military force by at least two parties that satisfies some minimum threshold of severity.

Interstate war:A war in which the main participants are states.

Civil war:A war in which the main participants are within the same state, such as the government and a rebel group.

Crisis bargaining:A bargaining interaction in which at least one actor threatens to use force in the event that its demands are not met.

Coercive diplomacy:The use of threats to influence the outcome of a bargaining interaction.

Bargaining range: See chart on page 90.The set of deals that both parties in a bargaining interaction prefer to the reversion outcome. When the reversion outcome is war, the bargaining range is the set of deals that both sides prefer to war.

Bargaining and status quo chart on page 92.

Compellence:

An effort to change the status quo through the threat of force.

Deterrence:An effort to preserve the status quo though the threat of force.

Incomplete information:A situation in which parties in a strategic interaction lack information about other parties’ interests and/or capabilities.

Resolve:The willingness of an actor to endure costs in order to acquire some good.

Risk-return trade-off:In crisis bargaining, the trade-off between trying to get a better deal and truing to avoid a war.

Credibility:Believability. A credible threat is a threat that the recipient believes will be carried out. A credible commitment is a commitment or promise that the recipient believes will be honored.

Brinkmanship:A strategy in which adversaries take actions that increase the risk of accidental war, with the hope that the other will ‘blink’, or lose its nerve, first and make concessions.

Audience costs:

Negative repercussions for failing to follow through on a threat or to honor a commitment.

Bargaining and shifting power chart on page 111.

Preventive war:A war fought with the intention of preventing an adversary from becoming stronger in the future. Preventive wars arise because states whose power is increasing cannot commit not to exploit that power in future bargaining interactions.

First-strike advantage:The situation that arises when military technology, military strategies, and/or geography give a significant advantage to whichever state attacks first in a war.

Preemptive war:A war fought with the anticipation that an attack by the other side is imminent.

Indivisible good:A good that cannot be divided without diminishing its value.

Chapter 4 11/02/2014 13:50Bureaucracy:The collection of organizations – including the military, the diplomatic corps, and the intelligence agencies – that carry out most tasks of governance within the state.

Interest groups:Groups of individuals with common interests that organize to influence public policy in a manner than benefits their members.

Rally effect:The tendency for people to become more supportive of their country’s government in response to dramatic international events, such as crises or wars.

Diversionary incentive:The incentive that state leaders have to start international crises in order to rally public support at home.

Rally effects and the bargaining range chart on page 140.

Military-industrial complex:An alliance between military leaders and the industries that benefit from international conflict, such as arms manufacturers.

Domestic Interests and International bargaining chart on page 153.

Democratic peace:The observation that there are few, if any, clear cases of war between mature democratic states.

Democracy:A political system in which candidates compete for political office through frequent, fair elections in which a sizable portion of the adult population can vote.

Accountability:The ability to punish or reward leaders for the decisions they make, as when frequent fair elections enable voters to hold elected officials responsible for their actions by granting or withholding access to political office.

Chapter 5 11/02/2014 13:50Alliances:Institutions that help their members cooperate militarily in the event of a war.

Balance of power:A situation in which the military capabilities of two states or groups of states are roughly equal.

Bandwagoning:A strategy in which states join forces with the stronger side in a conflict.

Alignments, Alliances, and Interstate Bargaining chart on page 177.

League of Nations:A collective security organization founded in 1919 after WWI. The League ended in 1946 and was replaced by the United Nations.

United Nations (UN):A collective security organization founded in 1945 after WWII. With over 190 members, the UN includes all recognized states.

Collective security organizations:Broad-based institutions that promote peace and security among their members. Examples include the League of Nations and the United Nations.

Genocide:

International and systematic killing aimed at eliminating and identifiable group of people, such as an ethnic or religious group.

Humanitarian interventions:Interventions designed to relieve humanitarian crises stemming from civil conflicts or large-scale human rights abuses, including genocide.

Security Council:The main governing body of the United Nations, which has the authority to identify threats to international peace and security and to prescribe the organization’s response, including military and/or economic sanctions.

Permanent five (P5):The five permanent members of the UN Security Council: the USA, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union (now Russia), and China.

Veto power:The ability to prevent the passage of a measure through a unilateral act, such as a single negative vote.

Peace-enforcement operation:A military operation in which force is used to make and/or enforce peace among warring parties that have not agreed to end their fighting.

Peacekeeping operation:An operation in which troops and observers are deployed to monitor a ceasefire or peace agreement.

Chapter 6 11/02/2014 13:50Separatism:The desire to create an independent state on territory carved from an existing state.

Irredentism:The desire to detach a region from one country and attach it to another, usually because of shared ethnic or religious ties.

Proxy war:A conflict in which two opposing states ‘fight’ by supporting opposite sides in war, such as the government and rebels in a third state.

Insurgency:A military strategy in which small, often lightly armed units engage in hit-and-run attacks against military, government, and civilian targets.

Terrorism:The use or threatened use of violence against noncombatant targets by individuals or non-state groups for political ends.

Extremists:Actor whose interests are not widely shared by others; individually or groups that are politically weak relative to the demands they make.

Asymmetric warfare:Armed conflict between actors with highly unequal military capabilities, such as when terrorists or rebel groups fight strong states.

Coercion:A strategy that induces policy change by imposing or threatening to impose costs, usually pain or other harm, on the target.

Provocation:A strategy of terrorist attacks intended to provoke the target government into making a disproportionate response that alienates moderates in the terrorists’ home society or in other sympathetic audiences.

Spoiling:A strategy of terrorist attacks intended to sabotage a prospective peace between the target and moderate leadership from the terrorists’ home society.

Outbidding:A strategy of terrorist attacks designed to demonstrate a capability for leadership and commitment relative to another, similar terrorist groups.

Chapter 7 11/02/2014 13:50Comparative advantage:The ability of a country or firm to produce a particular good or services, such that its resources are most efficiently employed in this activity. The comparison is to the efficiency of other economic activities the actor might undertake, not to the efficiency of other countries or firms.

Absolute advantage:The ability of a country or firm to produce more of a particular good or service than other countries or firms using the same amount of effort and resources.

Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory:The theory that a country will export goods that make intensive use of the factors of production in which it is well endowed. Thus, a labor-rich country will export goods that make intensive use of labor.

Protectionism:The imposition of barriers to restrict imports. Commonly used protectionist devices include tariffs, quantitative restrictions (quotas), and other nontariff barriers.

Trade barriers:Any government limitation on the international exchange of goods. Examples include tariffs, quantitative restrictions (quotas), import licenses, requirements that governments only buy domestically produced goods, and health and safety standards that discriminate against foreign goods.

Tariff:A tax imposed on imports; this raises the domestic price of the imported good and may be applied for the purpose of protecting domestic producers from foreign competition.

Quantitative restriction (quota):Quantitative limit placed on the import of particular goods.

Non-tariff barriers to trade:Obstacles to imports other than tariffs (trade taxes). Examples include restrictions on the number of products that can be imported (quantitative restrictions, or quotas); regulations that favor domestic over imported products; and other measures that discriminate against foreign goods or services.

Stolper-Samuelson theorem:The theory that protection benefits the scarce factor of production. This view flows from the Heckscher-Ohlin approach; if a country imports goods that make intensive use of its scarce factor, then limiting imports will help that factor. So in a labor-scarce country, labor benefits from protection and loses from trade liberalization.

Ricardo-Viner (specific-factors) model:A model of trade relations that emphasizes the sector in which factors of production are employed rather than the nature of the factor itself. This differentiates it from the Heckscher-Ohlin approach, for which the nature of the factor – labor, land, capital – is the principal consideration.

Reciprocity:In international trade relations, a mutual agreement to lower tariffs and other barriers to trade. Reciprocity involves an implicit or explicit arrangement for one government to exchange trade policy concessions with another.

Most favored nation (MFN) status:A status established by most modern trade agreements guaranteeing that the signatories will extend to each other any favorable trading terms offered in agreements with third parties.

World Trade Organization (WTO):An institution crated in 1995 to succeed GATT and to govern international trade relations. The WTO encourages and polices the multilateral reduction of barriers to trade, and it oversees the resolution of trade disputes.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT):

An international institution created in 1947 in which member countries committed to reduce barriers to trade and to provide similar trading conditions to all other members. In 1995, the GATT was replaced by the WTO.

Regional trade agreements (RTAs):Agreements among three or more countries in a region to reduce barriers to trade among themselves. (Page 297)

Chapter 8 11/02/2014 13:50Portfolio investments:

Investments in a foreign country via the purchase of stocks (equities), bonds, or other financial instruments. Portfolio investors do not exercise managerial control of the foreign operation.

Sovereign lending:Loans from private financial institutions in one country to sovereign governments in other countries.

Foreign direct investment (FDI):Investment in a foreign country via the acquisition of a local facility or the establishment of a new facility. Direct investors maintain managerial control of the foreign operation.

World bank:An important international institution that provides loans at below-market interest rates to developing countries, typically to enable them to carry out development projects.

Recession:A sharp slowdown in the rate of economic growth and economic activity.

Depression:A severe downturn in the business cycle, typically associated with a major decline in economic activity, production, and investment; a severe contraction of credit; and sustained high unemployment.

Default:To fail to make payments on a debt.

Austerity:The application of policies to reduce consumption, typically by cutting government spending, raising taxes, and restricting wages.

Bank for International Settlements (BIS):One of the oldest international financial organizations, created in 1930, its members include the world’s principal central banks, and under its auspices they attempt to cooperate in the financial realm.

International Monetary Fund (IMF):A major international economic institution that was established in 1944 to manage international monetary relations and that has gradually reoriented itself to focus on the international financial system, especially debt and currency crises.

Multinational corporation (MNC):An enterprise that operates in a number of countries, with production or service facilities outside its country of origin.

Bilateral investment treaty (BIT):An agreement between two countries about the conditions for private investment across borders. Most BITs include provisions to protect an investment from government discrimination or expropriation without compensation, as well as establishing mechanisms to resolve disputes.

Chapter 9 11/02/2014 13:50Exchange rate:The price at which one currency is exchanged for another.

Appreciate:In terms of a currency, to increase in value in terms of other currencies.

Depreciate:In terms of a currency, to decrease in value in terms of other currencies.

Devalue:To reduce the value of one currency in terms of other currencies.

Monetary policy:An important tool of national governments to influence broad macroeconomic conditions such as unemployment, inflation, and economic growth. Typically, governments alter their monetary policies by changing national interest rates or exchange rates.

Central bank:The institution that regulates monetary conditions in an economy, typically by affecting interest rates and the quantity of money in circulation.

Fixed exchange rate:An exchange rate policy under which a government commits itself to keep its currency at or around a specific value in terms of another currency or a commodity, such as gold.

Floating exchange rate:An exchange rate policy under which a government permits its currency to be traded on the open market without direct government control or intervention.

Bretton Woods monetary system:The monetary order negotiated among the WWII allies in 1944, which lasted until the 1970s and which was based on a U.S. dollar tied to gold. Other currencies were fixed to the dollar but were permitted to adjust their exchange rates.

Adjustable peg:A monetary system of fixed but adjustable rates. Governments are expected to keep their currencies fixed for extensive periods but are permitted to adjust the exchange rate form time to time as economic conditions change.

International monetary regime:A formal or informal arrangement among governments to govern relations among their currencies; the agreement is shared by most countries in the world economy.

Chapter 10 11/02/2014 13:50Less developed countries (LDCs):Countries at a relatively low level of economic development.

Infrastructure:Basic structures necessary for social activity, such as transportation and telecommunications networks, and power and water supply.

Primary products:Raw materials and agricultural products, typically unprocessed or only slightly processed. The primary sectors are distinguished from secondary sectors (industry) and tertiary sectors (services).

Oligopolistic:Characterizing an industry whose markets are dominated by a few firms.

Terms of trade:The relationship between a country’s export prices and its import prices.

Import substituting industrialization:A set of policies, pursued by most developing countries from the 1930s through the 1980s, to reduce imports and encourage domestic manufacturing, often through trade barriers, subsidies to manufacturing, and state ownership of basic industries.

Export-oriented industrialization (EOI):A set of policies, originally pursued starting in the late 1960s by several East Asian countries, to spur manufacturing for export, often through subsidies and incentives for export production.

Washington Consensus:An array of policy recommendations generally advocated by developed-country economists and policy makers starting in the 1980s, including trade liberalization, privatization, openness to foreign investment, and restrictive monetary and fiscal policies.

Group of 77:A coalition of developing countries in the United Nations, formed in 1964 with 77 members; it has grown to over 130 members but maintains the original name.

New International Economic Order:A reorganization of the management of the international economy demanded by LDCs in the 1970s in order to make it more favorable to developing nations.

Commodity cartels:Associations of producers of commodities (raw materials and agricultural products) that restrict world supply and thereby cause the price of the goods to rise.

Chapter 11 11/02/2014 13:50International law:A body of rules that binds states and other agents in world politics and is considered to have the status of law.

Customary international law:International law that usually develops slowly, over time, as states recognize practices as appropriate and correct.

Obligation:The degree to which states are legally bound by an international rule. High-obligation rules must be performed in good faith and, if breeched, require reparations to the injured party.

Precision:The degree to which international legal obligations are fully specified. More precise rules narrow the scope for reasonable interpretation.

Delegation:The degree to which third parties, such as courts, arbitrators, or mediators, are given authority to implement, interpret, and apply international legal rules, to resolve disputes over the rules, or to make additional rules.

Norms:Standards of behavior for actors with a given identity; norms define what actions are ‘right’ or appropriate under particular circumstances.

Norms entrepreneurs:Individuals and groups who seek to advance principled standards of behavior for states and other actors.

Transnational advocacy network (TAN):A set of individuals and nongovernmental organizations acting in pursuit of a normative objective.

Norms life cycle:A three-stage model of how norms diffuse within a population and achieve a ‘taken-for-granted’ status.

Boomerang model: chart on page 445A process through which NGOs in one state are able to activate transnational linkages to bring pressure form other states on their own governments.

Chapter 12 11/02/2014 13:50Human rights:The rights possessed by all individuals by virtue of being human, regardless of their status as citizens of particular states or members of a group or organization.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):Adopted by the United General Assembly in 1948, this declaration defines a ‘common standard of achievement for all peoples’ and forms the foundation of modern human rights law.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):The agreement completed in 1966 and in force from 1976 that details the basic civil and political rights of individuals and nations.

International Covenant on economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR):The agreement completed in 1966 and in force from 1976 that specifies the basic economic, social, and cultural rights of individuals and nations.

International Bill of Rights:Refers collectively to the UDHR, the ICCPR, and the ICESCR. Together, these three agreements form the core of the international human rights regime.

United Nations Human rights Agreements chart on page 460

Nonderogable rights:Rights that cannot be suspended for any reason, including at times of public emergency.

Prisoners of conscience (POCs):

A label coined and used by the human rights organization Amnesty International to refer to individuals imprisoned solely because of the peaceful expression of their beliefs.

Individual petition:A right that permits individuals to petition appropriate international legal bodies directly if they believe a state has violated their rights.

International Criminal Court (ICC):A court of last resort for human rights cases that possesses jurisdiction only if the accused is a national of a state party, the crime took place on the territory of a state party, or the UNSC has referred the case to the prosecutor.

Chapter 13 11/02/2014 13:50Externalities:Costs or benefits for stakeholders other than the actor undertaking an action. When an externality exists. The decision maker does not bear all the costs or reap all the gains from his or her action.

Non-excludable:Characterizing a public good: if the good is available to one actor to consume, then other actors cannot be prevented from consuming it as well.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs):Chemical compounds used in aerosols, insulating materials, refrigerator and air conditioner coolants, and other products. CFCs are widely banned today owing to their damaging effect on the ozone layer.

Ozone layer:Part of the lower stratosphere, approximately six to 30 miles above the earth, with relatively high concentrations of ozone (O3), which blocks harmful UV radiation.

Global climate change:Human-induced change in the environment, especially from the emissions of greenhouse gases, leading to higher temperatures around the globe.

Non-rival in consumption:Characterizing a public good: one actor’s consumption of the good does not diminish the quantity available for others to consume as well.

Kyoto Protocol:An amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005, that establishes specific targets for reducing emissions of CO2, and five other greenhouse gases.

Common pool resources:Goods that are available to everyone, such as open ocean fisheries; it is difficult to exclude anyone from using the common pool, but one user’s consumption reduces the amount available for others.

Overexploitation:Consumption of a good at a rate that is collectively undesirable, even if it is efficient from the view of any single actor.

Vienna Convention:A framework convention adopted in 1985 to regulate activities, especially emissions of CFCs, that damage the ozone layer.

Montreal Protocol:An international treaty, signed in 1989, that is designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of CFCs and other chemical compounds.

Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC):An international agreement enacted in 1992, and entered into force in 1994, which provided an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts on climate change.

Chapter 14 11/02/2014 13:50Changes in technology, distribution of resources have potential to create winners and losers.

Economic growth and acquisition of deadly military technologies can make states and actors more powerful and threatening to others.

Globalization has generated wealth for some and insecurity to others.