All-encapsulating summary of the prescribed lectures for AIR in bullet point format. Seeing as the summary is roughly 70 pages, it is advised to read on the cases case per case. Caused me to get a 8.5 for the exam, ask the class of 2023 ;).
International system
“a set of actors and organizations operating across national borders whose
interactions are structured in particular ways”
o Why study the international system
It has effects that cannot be attributed to the interests and choices of actors
and organizations themselves
o Four concepts
Anarchy
Society
Distinction community and society (Weber and Tönnies)
o Community (see below)
Gemeinschaft
Intimate relationships based on shared identities,
values and beliefs
Actors are motivated by sentiment, attitudes, and
emotions
o society
Gesellschaft
Functional relationships based on formal
institutions, roles, rules, and obligations
Actors are motivated by rational calculations
International society
o Kaczmarska
o Relations among states are shaped by formal norms, rules,
and institutions
Opposed to International Anarchy, where
relations among states are shaped by fear of
agression and thus by security dilemmas
Non-state actors are important as well
o Bull
Anarchy can co-exist with a society of states
World politics is characterised by
cooperation among sovereign states in a
society without a government
o No leviathan or hegemon, but a
society binding them
“an international society exists when a goup
of states, conscious of certain common
interests and values, conceive themselves to
be bound by a common set of rules in their
relations with one another, and share in the
working of common institutions”
Pillars of international society
Shared goals of states
o Restriction of violence
o Respect for agreements
o Stabilization of possessions
, Fundamental institutions
Ensure the achievement of
the shared goals
o Balance of power
See lower
o International law
o Diplomacy
o War
See lower
o Great power management
o More may be in place then Bull
thought of
International society combines competition
and rules
o Are rules shared?
If not, you're back at
anarchy
o War
Waltz: a behaviour of states, always possible
because of anarchy
Bull: a institution of international society, involving
shared understandings and practices to limit
violence
Ius ad bellum
o Self-defense vs. Agression
o Preemptive vs. Preventative attacks
Preemptive legitimate
Preventative illegitimate
Ius in bello
o Proportionality
o Treatment of civilians vs. Enemy
combatitants vs. Unlawful
combatants vs. Prisoners of war
o War crimes
o Balance of power
Waltz: a distribution of capabilities among states,
important because of anarchy
Bull: an institution of international society, involving
shared undertandings and practices to limit
aggression
o Globalisation of international society
Bull and Watson: international society emerged in
Europe and spread worldwide
Pre-modern
o Relations between European states
International society
, o Relations between European states
and others
International anarchy
Modern
o End of colonialism and the creation
of the UN caused all states to join
international society
Critique on Bull and Watson
In pre-modern times, relations between
non-European states themselves and with
European states were not lacking in
fundamental rules
Thus too Eurocentric view
o Instead, the European empires and
colonialism broke those rules, and
then replaced them
o See Crawford below
o Crawford (continuation)
Research on the Hodenosaunee nations (Iroquois
peoples)
Pre 1450: lots of war among Hodenosaunee
nations
1450-1777: creation of the Iroquois
Confederacy
Set rules
Reduced conflict
Elimination of war
o Made by the Indians themselves
o Not very different from the post-
1815 Concert of Europe
Hierarchy
Conventional wisdom in IR theory:
o No hierarchy in the international system
Realism
o there's no world government able
to protect states or ensure rule
compliance, so all seek to survive
o States differ in their power
resources, but no state has special
rights or functions
Liberalism
o States differ in internal
structure/values/culture
Shapes their external
interests and behaviour
o No state has special rights or
functions
, Institutionalism
o States adopt international
institutions to achieve their joint
interests
All are equal in rights and
functions
Key to the domestic-international comparison
Waltz
o In defining structures, the first
question to answer is: “what is the
principle by which the parts are
arranged”
o Domestic systems are centralized
and hierarchic
o Vs.
o International systems are
decentralized and anarchic
Modern
o What is international hierarchy?
Lake
“variations in authority exerted by a
dominant state over a subordinate party”
Zarakol
“any system through which actors are
organised into vertical relations of super-
and subordination”
o Concepts of international hierarchy
As a reflection of power differentials
Very narrow conception
o States have different roles
depending on their relative power
Powerful states are
expected to lead
Weaker states are expected
to follow
Emphasizes power and coercion
o Less-powerful states accept
differentiation of roles because they
have no choice
Behavioural effects
o State action is shaped by
differentiated roles, regardless of
their actual interests or preferences
Realpolitik hierarchy of power in IR
Nuclear weapon possession
changes this system a bit
o Dominant power
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