Key concepts in international relations: state and non-state actors, the international
system, power, security, and the “levels of analysis problem”
Levels of Analysis in IR (all levels are both structure and agent)
- The individual (ultimately all international relations are inter-individual relations)
- Leaders
- Mass publics (public opinion)
- The state
- Political structures and institutional makeup (i.e. facism an aggressive political
system that feeds into how it interacts w other states)
- Social and cultural characteristics (theories that religious tactics like islam and
christianity are more likely to be violent than eastern religions)
- Economic factors
- The international system (neorealism*; to understand international system all you need to
understand is that states exist in an environment of international anarchy)
- E.g. international anarchy (absence of an overarching unit of authority able to
wield coercive control over individuals)
- Other social units (religions, civilizations, ethnic groups, other economic actors besides
states, NGOs, etc.)
- Norms and ideas
Classical Realism
Realism
- Idealists versus realists
- After end of WWII, reform international system thru league of nations, able to end war
through international system→ idealists argued way to end war is to make war illegal
- Other end of debate argued idealist notion that war can be outlawed is unrealistic
to the extent that it doesn't provide for the creation of a body to end war between
states, that can enforce it maybe thru use of weapons/force → idealism
stigmatization can be drawn back to this
Key assumptions
- States are the central actors in international politics
- States are unitary actors
- States operate in an environment of international anarchy--this leads to a self-help
system
- States are formally sovereign and equal, but their actual capabilities differ. What
counts most are relative rather than absolute capabilities
- Legally speak all states are equal in terms of rights and obligations but in
de facto sense they’re not
- States have different interests and goals in their foreign policy but survival is
uppermost
, - Power is important (but is it a means or an end in itself?)
- Power can be measured in different ways, and different kinds of power are often
“exchangeable”
- economic, military, etc. (econ power can be converted into military power
and vice versa)
- Basic question for realists: why war, and why peace?
Why war?
- Anarchy leading to security dilemma
- Anarchical environment leads to uncertainty bec there's no actor willing to use
coercion to enforce security or rules
- State has a legal monopoly of force
- Security dilemma; if two states are in anarchy then one can violate the rights of
the other so the logical move is for them to arm themselves bec 1) you can never
know someone’s intentions and 2) even if you can trust history is a very long
period how do you know who will be in power in future in 50 years etc.
- Human nature (e.g. “thirst for power”)
- Creating latent predatory intent into international system
- Mistrust and misunderstanding
- Lots of cultures, languages, histories, perspectives, etc. → it’s inevitable that
some degree of misunderstandings will happen and those will turn into violence
- Domestic conditions (e.g. nature of dominant ideology such as Fascism)
Why peace?
- Balance of power
- Hegemony (if one country becomes so powerful it can control what other countries do,
anarchy has temporarily disappeared) (problem is that it is never eternal, they move up
and down) (hegemony can turn into a conflict if its not respected but if it is it can have a
pacifying effect)
Neorealism refers to all three levels of international relations
- Peace as the absence of war
- Criticism is that this is not parsimonious explanation bec it does not identify the crucial
factors
Neorealism (Structural Realism)
- Neolism is the most currently influential in IR
- Goes back to Kenneth Waltz as foundation of contemporary neorealism
- What it is trying to explain?
- Why does the international system seem to reproduce itself
- Why is war a regular (tho not a frequent) reality of international life
- Why does foreign policy of many states display basic continuity across periods
and ideologies
system, power, security, and the “levels of analysis problem”
Levels of Analysis in IR (all levels are both structure and agent)
- The individual (ultimately all international relations are inter-individual relations)
- Leaders
- Mass publics (public opinion)
- The state
- Political structures and institutional makeup (i.e. facism an aggressive political
system that feeds into how it interacts w other states)
- Social and cultural characteristics (theories that religious tactics like islam and
christianity are more likely to be violent than eastern religions)
- Economic factors
- The international system (neorealism*; to understand international system all you need to
understand is that states exist in an environment of international anarchy)
- E.g. international anarchy (absence of an overarching unit of authority able to
wield coercive control over individuals)
- Other social units (religions, civilizations, ethnic groups, other economic actors besides
states, NGOs, etc.)
- Norms and ideas
Classical Realism
Realism
- Idealists versus realists
- After end of WWII, reform international system thru league of nations, able to end war
through international system→ idealists argued way to end war is to make war illegal
- Other end of debate argued idealist notion that war can be outlawed is unrealistic
to the extent that it doesn't provide for the creation of a body to end war between
states, that can enforce it maybe thru use of weapons/force → idealism
stigmatization can be drawn back to this
Key assumptions
- States are the central actors in international politics
- States are unitary actors
- States operate in an environment of international anarchy--this leads to a self-help
system
- States are formally sovereign and equal, but their actual capabilities differ. What
counts most are relative rather than absolute capabilities
- Legally speak all states are equal in terms of rights and obligations but in
de facto sense they’re not
- States have different interests and goals in their foreign policy but survival is
uppermost
, - Power is important (but is it a means or an end in itself?)
- Power can be measured in different ways, and different kinds of power are often
“exchangeable”
- economic, military, etc. (econ power can be converted into military power
and vice versa)
- Basic question for realists: why war, and why peace?
Why war?
- Anarchy leading to security dilemma
- Anarchical environment leads to uncertainty bec there's no actor willing to use
coercion to enforce security or rules
- State has a legal monopoly of force
- Security dilemma; if two states are in anarchy then one can violate the rights of
the other so the logical move is for them to arm themselves bec 1) you can never
know someone’s intentions and 2) even if you can trust history is a very long
period how do you know who will be in power in future in 50 years etc.
- Human nature (e.g. “thirst for power”)
- Creating latent predatory intent into international system
- Mistrust and misunderstanding
- Lots of cultures, languages, histories, perspectives, etc. → it’s inevitable that
some degree of misunderstandings will happen and those will turn into violence
- Domestic conditions (e.g. nature of dominant ideology such as Fascism)
Why peace?
- Balance of power
- Hegemony (if one country becomes so powerful it can control what other countries do,
anarchy has temporarily disappeared) (problem is that it is never eternal, they move up
and down) (hegemony can turn into a conflict if its not respected but if it is it can have a
pacifying effect)
Neorealism refers to all three levels of international relations
- Peace as the absence of war
- Criticism is that this is not parsimonious explanation bec it does not identify the crucial
factors
Neorealism (Structural Realism)
- Neolism is the most currently influential in IR
- Goes back to Kenneth Waltz as foundation of contemporary neorealism
- What it is trying to explain?
- Why does the international system seem to reproduce itself
- Why is war a regular (tho not a frequent) reality of international life
- Why does foreign policy of many states display basic continuity across periods
and ideologies
