International Relations Theory

Nemzetközi Politika Elmélet - 2008. szeptember 16.A mai modern államrendszer kialakulásaGyörgy László

egyetemi tanársegédBME GTK, Pénzügyek Tanszék, Gazdaságpolitika és Gazdaságtörténet Szakcsoport

1. Why study IR?2. What is IR all about?3. Brief historical sketch of the state system.4. Characteristics of statehood5. Do states survive?

1. Why study IR?2. What is IR all about?3. Brief historical sketch of the state system4. Characteristics of statehood5. Do states survive?

1. Why study IR?2. What is IR all about?3. Brief historical sketch of the state system4. Characteristics of statehood5. Do states survive?

What is a THEORY?

Karl Popper: what shall we expect from a theory?

1.Describe the empirical world2.Explain3.Prognose4.Advise decision maker to political action

+1. Only that can be true that is confutable. (Karl Popper)

What if it is not confutable?Then it is not a theory it is an ideology.

Why Not Only One Theory?

Politics is about ensuring and prioritizing social values that we (citizens) think importantSecurityFreedomOrder JusticeWelfare

Policy: contentPolitics: processPolity: rules of political action

Because of politics... because of the human factor...

Politics as the art of power

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2

3

Definition

Sovereignity/sovereign state: As applied to a state, sovereignty includes both ultimate internal authority and external recognition. Internally, a state is sovereign when it exercises supreme authority over the affairs and people within its territory; Externally, a state is sovereign when it is recognized as such by the international community, i.e., its territorial integrity and internal sovereignty are respected and upheld. Presently, the greatest threat to sovereignty is the rise in prominence of IGOs, NGOs and the global economy (and globalization in general), all of which increase state interdependence and accountability.

What is IR All About?

State A

Society A

State B

Society B

International Organizations

CitizensNGOsCompanies etc.

UN, WTO, IMF, World Bank, EU, NATO, ASEAN, NGOs etc.

State

State

What is IR All About?

Government

Society

MNC, TNC

International organization, NGO

How Would You Prioritize These Values?

FOCUS

Security

Freedom

Order and justice

Welfare, socioeconomic justice

FOCUS

Security (‘security dilemma’, national security)power politics, conflict and warFreedomcooperation, peace and progress

Order and justiceshared interests, rules and institutions

Welfarewealth, poverty and equality, management of domestic and international economy

IR Values and Theories

THEORIES

Realism

Liberalism

International Society

IPE theories (structuralism)

Definition

Security dilemma: An important paradox inherent in the state system. A fundamental reason for the existence of states is to provide their citizens with security from internal and external threats; however, the existence of these armed states threatens the very security they are expected to maintain.

Definition

National security: The policies employed and the actions undertaken by a state to counter real or potential internal and external threats and to ensure the safety of its citizens. This is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the state to its people, and the fundamental state responsibility according to the Realist view of IR. Before the advent of the state and the state system, security was provided by family, clan, warlord or another locally-based entity; this responsibility, among others, was gradually transferred to the state.

Historical Turning Points, Challenges and Preferences

Turning point Challenge and/or value

World War I peace (international system based on values)

Great Depression welfare

Word War II peace (international system based on values and backed by

force)The Cuban missile crisis (1962) national security

The anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa (‘50s, ‘60s) and the secessionist movements in the former Soviet Union

freedom, sovereignity, political independence, self-determination

The global inflation of the ‘70s and ‘80s interconnectedness of the global economy and welfare

Conflicts in the Balkans (1992-5, 1999) international order and human rights

Attacks on NYC (2001) security and terrorism

Views of the State

Traditional view Alternative view

States are valuable institutions: they provide security, freedom, order, justice and welfarePeople benefit from state systemThe standards of values have steadily increased and are now higher than ever due to the well-functioning state system

States and the state system create more problem that they solveThe majority of the world’s people suffer more than they benefit from the state system(sub-Saharan Africa etc.)

1. Why study IR?2. What is IR all about?3. Brief historical sketch of the state system.4. Characteristics of statehood5. Do states survive?

Brief Historical Sketch of the State System

States are not permanent featuresState is a historical institution and a social organization with ever changing advantages and disadvantagesThere where no clearly recognizable sovereign states before the sixteenth century and in the future the world may not be organized into a state system eitherThe era of sovereign state coincides with the modern age of expanding power, prosperity, knowledge, science, technology, literacy, urbanization, citizenship, freedom, equality, rights and so on (the causality in the correlation is not so clear)

Starting Point

First territory-based political communities: 5000 years agoNo frontiers, but so called zone of political proximity which caused group contact that involved from the one hand rivalry from the other mutual respect and cooperationDiplomacy’s ancient roots:

First recorded formal agreements: 1390 BCQuasi-diplomatic activity: 653 BC

Preliminary definition of state system: relations between politically organized human groupings which occupy distinctive territories, are not under any higher authority or power, and enjoy and exercise a measure of independence from each other

City-states and Empires

500 BC - 100 BC Greek city-states Based on shared language and common religion*

200 BC - AD 500 Roman Empire Subordinating occupied political communities

500 - 1500 Catolic Christendom: the Pope in Rome

Two politico-reigious empiresMedieval Christian

world

Orthodox Christendom:

Byzantine Empire, Constantinople

Other historical empires Persia, India, China Islamic civilization and the oldest empire: China

Middle Ages: an era of empires and their relations and conflictsIntermittent contact: slow communication, transportation

The Christian Commonwealth of Medieval Europe

RELIGIOUS HIERARCHY POLITICAL HIERARCHYPope Emperor

Archbishops, bishopsand other leading clergy

Kings and other semi-independent national rulers

Priests and othercommon clergy

Ordinary christians

Barons and other semi-independent local rulers

Common people of numerous local communities

Medieval and Modern AuthorityDispersed medieval authority

(no sovereignity)Centralized modern authorithy

(sovereignity)

Pope Emperor

King

Baron

Knight

People

Priest

Bishop

Archbishop

Government

People

SecurityFreedomOrderJusticeWelfare

Security

Security

Freedom (of feudal rulers and their followers)

Order (limited capacity to enforce)

Justice (highly unequal)

Welfare (is connected to security“we protect you...”)

Sovereignity/Sovereign State (central term of IR)

Ultimate internal authoritySupreme authority over the affairs and people within a territory

External recognitionBy other states and/or international organizations

Monopoly of the means of warfare

The Thirty Years War (1618-48) and the Peace of Vestphalia

Richelieu and the raison d’etat Establishment of the state system1. Adjoining states whose legitimacy and

independence was mutually recognized2. Recognition of states did not extend outside of the

European state system3. The relations of European states were subject to

international law and diplomatic practices4. Balance of power to prevent hegemony

Definition

Hegemony: in IR a concept referring to a state’s power relative to that of other states. A state may be considered a hegemon if it is so powerful economically and militarily that it is a dominant influence on the domestic and foreign policies of other states. Depending on its level of power, a state may be a regional hegemon (e.g., Germany immediately prior to and during World War II) or a global hegemon (e.g., many agree, the United States in the late 20th and early 21st centuries).

Balance of Power in Practice

Hegemonic attempts Balance of power counteractions

Habsburg Empire (1618-48) France and Sweden

King Louis XIV (1661-1714) England and Holland

Napoleon (1795-1815) Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria

1815-1914 The Concert of Europe based on the Vienna Congress

Germany (1939-45) USA, Soviet Union and Britain

United States (1990-) ?

Imperialism

1.Expedient alliances with non-European political systems

2.Conquered and subordinated the non-European political systems where they could

3.Colonies became a basic source of the wealth and power of the European states for several centuries...

4.“Settler states” became a member of the state system5.There were no interest to incorporate non-European

political systems into the European state system based on equal sovereignity

Global Expansion of the State System

1600s Europe (European system)

1700s + North America (Western System)

1800s + South America, Japan (globalizing system)

1900s + Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Pacific (global system)

End of 1900s End of the Cold War, dissolution of the Soviet Union

UN enlargement21st century: a global system that has never been so diverse before

1. Why study IR?2. What is IR all about?3. Brief historical sketch of the state system4. Characteristics of statehood5. Do states survive?

How to Describe State?

The state is a multifaceted and somewhat confusing entityEach theoretical approach emphasizes different featuresInternal aspect and external aspect of statehood

Internal and External Aspect of State

Internal aspect (state as government)

External aspect(state as country)

State-society relations:how the government rules the domestic society*the means of its power and the sources of its legitimacy**how it deals with the demands and concerns of individuals and groups which compose the domestic society***how it manages the national economy****what its domestic policies are

Interstate relations:how the governments and societies of states relate to each other*what the basis of those interstate relations are**what the foreign policies of particular states arewhat the international organizations of the states arehow people from different states interact with each other and engage in transactions with each other

External Dimension of StatehoodState as a country

Territory, government, societyLegal, juridical statehood

Recognition by othersConstitutional independence

Actual empirical statehood Political institutions, economic basis,

national unity

Definition

Empirical statehood: Part of the external basis of a state's sovereignty; the extent to which a state fulfills its role as a substantial political-economic organization. A successful state in terms of empirical statehood has developed efficient political institutions, a solid economic basis, and a substantial degree of national unity (internal popular support for the state).

State Types in the Global State System

Legal, juridical statehood?

Actual empirical

statehood?

Strong states: US, Denmark, Japan, France,

etc.

Taiwan, Chechyna,

Quebec, etc.

Quasi-states: Somalia, Liberia,

Sudan, etc.

Definition

Quasi-state: A state that possesses juridical statehood but is severely deficient in empirical statehood. A large number of states in the Third World can be defined this way: they are recognized as states and participate in the state system, but they have weak or corrupt political institutions, underdeveloped economies, and little or no national unity (E.g. Somalia, Liberia, Sudan)

Power/strongness Matrix

STRONG POWER WEAK POWER

STRONG STATE USA, France, UK, Japan Denmark, Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore

WEAK STATE Russia, Pakistan, India Somalia, Liberia, Chad

The Global State System

5 great powers: US, Russia, China, Britain, France

Approx. 30 highly substantial states: Europe, N. America, Japan

Approx. 75 moderately substantial states: Europe, Asia and Latin America

Approx. 90 less substantial quasi-states: Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Pacific

Numerous unrecognized territorial political systems submerged in exsisting states

How Do Scolars View the State System?

Realist Focus on major powers, great powers

LiberalFocus on the adverse conditions of quasi-states as a serious problem which raises issues of international

order, freedom and justiceInternational Society

IPE (Structuralist)

Focus on the international linkages between the poverty of the Third World and the enrichment of America and

EuropeUnequal relations between the centre and the periphery

Does it Make Difference Being a Colony or a Weak State?

Previous state system Present state system

Small core of insiders, all strong statesMany outsiders: colonies, dependencies, etc.

Virtually all states are recognized insiders, possessing formal or juridicial statehoodBig differences between insiders: some strong states, some weak quasi-states

Future of the State System

Pros Contras

State system survived through:Scientific revolution of 17th centuryEnlightenmentencounter of Western and non-Western civilizationsimperialism, colonialismIndustrial Revolutionrise and spread of nationalismdecolonizationmass public educationgrowth of welfare state

State system is facing the following challenges:ever increasing international trade and investmentexpanding multinational business activitycontinuous downsizing of governmentsincreased privatizationNGOs activitiesincreasing communications (growth of Internet)cumulative environmental pollutionregional integrationscience and technology development