Week 2 Handout

PS 140 Handout for Week 2 Week of September 9th, 2024 Lectures 2 & 3 Chapters 1.1-1.4.2 & Kareem, Lukacs, Palmer, Drezner, Poast Key terms and concepts Globalization • Definition: The increasing integration of the world in terms of communications, culture, and economics; may also refer to changing subjective experiences of space and time accompanying this process. • Example & other details: Collective goods problem or Collective action problem • Definition: The problem of how to provide something that benefits all members of a group regardless of what each member contributes to it. • Example & other details: Public goods • Definition: • Example & other details: Dominance (power in lecture) • Definition: Combats collective goods problem by establishing a power hierarchy in which those at the top control those below. • Example & other details: Reciprocity (institutions in lecture) • Definition: Combats collective goods problem by rewarding behavior that contributes to the group and punishing behavior that pursues self-interest at the expense of the group. • Example & other details: Identity (socialization/ideas in lecture) • Definition: Combats collective goods problem by changing participants’ preferences based on their shared sense of belonging to a community. • Example & other details: States • Definition: An inhabited territorial entity controlled by a government that exercises sovereignty over its territory. • Example & other details: Nations Non-state actors • Definition: Actors other than state government that operate either below the level of the state (that is, within states) or across state borders. • Example & other details: Sovereignty • Definition: • Example & other details: Levels of analysis • Definition: • Example & other details: GDP • • Definition: The size of a state’s total annual economic activity. Example & other details: North-South Gap • Definition: The disparity in resources (income, wealth, and power) between the industrialized, relatively rich countries of the west (and the former east) and the poorer countries of Africa, the middle east, and must of Asia and Latin America. • Example & other details: Cult of the offensive • Definition: • Example & other details: League of Nations • Definition: An organization established after World War I and a forerunner of today’s United Nations; it achieved certain humanitarian and other successes but was weakened by the absence of U.S. membership and by its own lack of effectiveness in ensuring collective security. • Example & other details: Discussion, extension, and policy relevance 1. “States are the most important actors in world politics.” Do you agree with this statement? If states are not the most important actors, what other actors matter and why? Yes, I agree that states are the most important actors in regard to world politics because often times, interactions that involve more than just one entity involve other ones throughout the globe. While non-state actors can play significant roles too, ultimately, history has shown that the major wars and treaties occur between states. 2. Collective action problems can be understood as games, for example the Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Battle of the Sexes. What is the basic logic of each game? Prisoner’s Dilemma: “Do we cooperate and trust each other to put the collective need above individual needs, or do we act in self-preservation?” Battle of the Sexes: “How do we go about cooperation? How do we compromise to get to a desired outcome for all members?” 3. Take an example of a public good in international politics that interests you (e.g. climate stability). How might we think of this issue as a Collective Action Problem? What solutions have been proposed to address the issue? Do these solutions represent dominance, reciprocity, or identity principles? Climate change mitigation: States have an incentive to delay or avoid action because they anticipate that others will act, allowing them to benefit from global reductions in carbon emissions without bearing the costs. Essentially, everybody is hoping someone else will do the work so they can reap the benefits without having to do anything to contribute. Solutions: 1. Paris Agreement: International treaty where states committed to reducing their carbon emissions – Reciprocity (Countries made conditional promises to reduce emissions only if others do the same) 2. Climate Finance: Wealthier nations provide financial aid to developing countries to support sustainable development – Reciprocity and Identity (wealthier countries may seem morally obligated to help the global community) 3. International Sanctions or Incentives: Proposals for using economic sanctions against countries who do not meet their climate commitments or providing financial incentives to those who do – Dominance and Reciprocity (uses power-based mechanisms to make countries comply while utilizing the incentive technique as well) 4. In what ways does Mohammad Kareem’s piece on the prospects for an independent Kurdistan challenge the concept of the nation-state and state-centric views of world politics? According to Kareem, what are some explanations for the failure to create an independent Kurdistan? At which levels of analysis do these explanations operate? Kareem’s piece illustrates how stateless nations, such as the Kurds, do not fit neatly into the traditional model of a nation-state, where a single nation is expected to align with a defined territorial state. In this example, the Kurdish people have a distinct national identity, yet are not confined to a singular nation-state as they were never given sovereignty. This example defies the conventional notion that sovereignty and identity must coincide within one state. Systemic Level: International opposition, specifically from global powers (US) as these entities have vested interests in maintaining the territorial integrity of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria – Granting the Kurdish independence may lead to regional instability. State Level: The governments of the states where the Kurds reside oppose Kurdish independence as they could lose resources (oil-rich lands) and national cohesion. Individual Level: Leadership among Kurdish groups is fragmented, with differing views on how to run their government. This fragmentation has weakened their overall push for statehood. 5. According to John Lukacs, what factors led to World War II? How do they relate to the three types of explanations offered in lecture to explain the coming of WWI? Lukacs attributes World War II to nationalism, the rise of ideological extremisms (like Nazism), and the failure of democratic powers to counter Hitler’s ambitions. His focus on Hitler’s uniqie role as a revolutionary leader closely aligns with the individual-level explanations of World War II, while the rise of fascism and failed diplomacy mirror systematic and domestic explanations used for WWII. 6. What’s wrong with using Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War to guide policy on current issues like US-China relations, per Palmer? Which parts of Palmer’s argument does Drezner support, and which parts does he take issue with? More broadly, drawing on examples from lecture, Lukacs, Poast, Drezner, Kareem, and/or Palmer, what lessons do you think current IR scholars learn from studying major historical events? Current IR scholars learn to identify patterns in power dynamics, the role of ideology, and the impact of individual leaders from historical events. Figures like Lukacs, Poast, and Drezner remind scholars of the risks of power transitions, the importance of diplomacy, and the complexify of human nature in shaping conflicts.