The Globalization of
International RelationsCHAPTER ONE
Dr. Clayton ThynePS 235-001: World Politics
Spring 2008
Goldstein & Pevehouse, International Relations, 8/e
Student notes version
The Study of International Relations
• International relations concerns…
• Narrowly defined:
– Many other actors exist – …
– Relationships cannot be understood...
– Central trend in IR today:
IR and Daily Life• IR profoundly affects your life as well as that of other
citizens.
• War is among the most pervasive international influences in daily life, even in peacetime.
• World is shrinking year by year.
Core Principles• IR revolves around one key problem:
• How can a group – such as two or more nations – serve its ________________ when doing so requires its members to forego their ________________ interests?
• Example:
• 3 solutions…the next 3 slides (see Table 1.1 on p. 6)
CA solution #1: Dominance• Solves the collective goods problem by…
• Advantage(s):
• Disadvantage(s):
• Nuke example:
CA solution #2: Reciprocity• Solves the collective goods problem by…
• Advantage(s):
• Disadvantage(s):
• Nuke example:
CA solution #3: Identity• Solves the collective goods problem by…
• Advantage(s):
• Disadvantage(s):
• Nuke example:
IR as a Field of Study• IR is about international politics, but the field is _________________
• Practical discipline
• IR is 1 of 4 subfields in political science. The others are…– _______________________
– _______________________
– _______________________
• General focus of IR:
State Actors• Most important actors in IR are __________________.
• State:– State government exercises ___________________over its territory.– Recognized as ____________________ by other states– Seat of government with a leader
• State definition versus:- Nation:- Country:- Nation-state:
• Some “quasi-states”:
State Actors• International system
– Def:
– Modern international system has existed for less than _____________________ years.
– Great variation on a number of key variables, including…[see next 6 slides].
The World Today: Major Powers
State % of powerFRN .022824UKG .024668GMY .029424JPN .051258RUS .052549CHN .128823USA .149792
The World Today: Concentration of Power
020
4060
80%
of s
tate
s
0 .05 .1 .15Capability
010
2030
40Fr
eque
ncy
-10 -5 0 5 10Polity Scale
Distribution of Democracy
The World Today: Democracy
0.2
.4.6
Pro
porti
on D
ems
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000Year
Proportion of Democracies in the System
Figure 1.1
very low (87)low (5)moderate (46)high (45)
Economic Output
very poor (45)poor (44)medium (45)wealthy (44)No data (5)
GDP/capita
very low (46)low (46)medium (46)high (45)
population
very repressive (41)non-democracies (37)moderate democracies (45)strong democracies (32)No data (28)
Democracy
very low (46)low (44)moderate (45)high (45)No data (3)
Military Expenditures
050
0010
000
1500
0#
of M
ilita
ry P
erso
nnel
1920 1940 1960 1980 2000Year
US Military Personnel Military Personnel-Global Average
US vs World Mean Military Personnel
A Closer Look at the US
01.
00e+
082.
00e+
083.
00e+
08M
ilita
ry E
xpen
ditu
res
1920 1940 1960 1980 2000Year
US Military Expenditures Military Exp-Global Avg.
US vs World Mean Military Expenditures
A Closer Look at the US
Nonstate Actors• Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)
• Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
• Multinational corporations
• Substate actors
• Individuals
Levels of Analysis• Many actors involved in IR
• Response:
Levels of Analysis• Levels of analysis help…
• No correct level for a given “why” question
• Example: War in Iraq
– Individual:
– Domestic:
– Interstate:
– Global:
Globalization• Many trends:
• Globalization: Three conceptions of this process compete.
1. Liberal economic principles/global marketplace:
2. Skepticism:
3. Middle ground:
• Globalization is changing both international security and IPE, but ________________ more quickly and profoundly.
The Evolving International System
• The basic structures and principles of international relations are deeply rooted in historical developments.
• WWI and WWII occupied only ten years of the 20th century, but shaped the character of the century.
• We’ll briefly look at key events of the 20th century, focusing on the post Cold War era (1990+), including…– WWI (1914-18)– WWII (1939-45)– Cold War (1946-90)
WWI (1914-18)• WWI (the war to end all wars):
• WWI was not short or decisive:
• 2 main outcomes:1. Ended w/ __________________________
2. Led to the ____________________________________
WWII (1939-45)• U.S. ___________________
between WWI and WWII, declining _______________ power, and a _________________ crippled by its own revolution left a power vacuum in the world.
• In the ____________, Germany and Japan stepped into the vacuum w/ aggressive expansionism.
• Policies of _________________ allowed Hitler to occupy almost all of Europe
WWI & WWII: contradictory lessons
• Lesson from WWI:
• Lesson from WWII:
• IR scholars have not discovered a simple formula for choosing______________________.
The Cold War, 1945-1990• U.S. and Soviet Union – two superpowers of the post-WWII era:
• Central concern of the West:
• Sino-Soviet alliance:
• Scholars do not agree on why the Cold War ended:
0.1
.2.3
.4%
of w
orld
's p
ower
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
US strength USSR strength
The Cold War, 1945-1990• Key events:
– Korean War– Vietnam War– Afghanistan War– Many other proxy wars…
•Greek Civil War, 1946-1949 •Malaysian Emergency, 1948-1960 •Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948-Present •Korean War, 1950-1953 •Cuban Revolution, 1953-1959 •Tibetan insurgency, 1954-1973 •Vietnam War, 1957-1975 •Guatemalan Civil War, 1960-1996
•Congo Crisis, 1960-1965 •Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961 •Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 •Angolan Civil War, 1974-2002 •Ogaden War,1977-1978 •Afghan-Soviet War, 1979-1989 •Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979 •Iran-Iraq war, 1980-1988 •Invasion of Grenada, 1983
The Post-Cold War Era, 1990-2007
• Many key events…– Iraq invades Kuwait, 1990 Gulf War– Collapse of Soviet Union
• Declaration of republics as sovereign states• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)• Western relations with Russia mixed since the 1990s
– Little external aid for Russia during the harsh economic transition– Break-up of the former Yugoslavia– Rwanda genocide– US “go it alone” policies– 9/11 attacks– War on Terrorism: Iraq and Afghanistan– Nuke problems w/ Iran and N. Korea