ARTS1810 Lecture Notes Week 4

The Discipline: The house of IR and the Great Debates

Current Affairs
Turkey shot down Syrian plane that went into their airspace development in
civil war in Syria interstate conflict between other states
Beirut Lebanon, between supports and opponents of Syrian regime
PM of Turkey banned Twitter
Michelle Obama, speech in China re Internet should be a universal right
Ebola outbreak in Guinea, West Africa 59 dead, WHO involved
Latest UN climate change report leaked scientists predict increasing
temperature across globe, wiping out ecosystems

3 Great Debates
1920s-40s: Realism vs. Liberalism
1960s Method: Neorealism vs. neoliberalism
1980s/90s Epistemology: positivist vs. post positivist, critical vs.
mainstream theories.

FI RST DEBATE

Realism vs. liberalism
Realism hard headed, rational, masculinized pragmatic re IR.
Liberalism cooperation and peace - too idealistic re IR.


LIBARALISM

Classical Liberalism: History
Birth of IR coincided with end of WWI and liberal intellectual climate.
Key aim: discover causes of war and work towards prevention
Liberals result of bad politics and diplomacy, not human nature
Woodrow Wilson, US President 1913-21 (WWI), League of Nations spread
of liberal democratic values. Devised speech to US congress called 14 Points
for Peace (policy recommendations to end WWI)
Liberalism in political theory founded on liberty of individual freedom,
rights, democracy, free trade
Established against monarchy, divine right of kings and religious authority

Classical Liberalism: Principles
Positive view of human nature
Human nature has positive potential
States, like people have ability to be altruistic and reasonable
Belief in progress and human rationality
Belief in democracy and free trade - belief in equality, democracy, all have
rational thought can put forward own opinions on politics.
Belief in peace and collective security even achievable when states are
pursuing own state-interest
o Collective security: each state in international system accepts the
security of one state is a concern for all states. Any state that presents
a challenge to that security will be dealt with in a collective manner.
Self-interest isnt necessarily antagonistic and cooperation is possible
Commitment to internationalism: regimes, norms, institutions e.g. UN
Dont argue conflict never occurs, but rather, it does but humans can work
together to prevent it.

Important Political Philosophers
From Enlighenment ideas widely accepted as best way to be (common
sense)
Immanuel Kant (1924-1804) through rationality and progress, we can
achieve emancipation.
John Locke (1632-1704) 2 treaties of Government how a population
agrees to be governed and enters contract with the state where you trade some
freedom for security.
o E.g. Post 9/11 US Patriot Act downgraded civil liberties of citizens
to fight terrorist threat.
Adam Smith (1723-1790) and David Ricardo (1772-1823) liberalizing
economic practises and extending freedoms of humans to markets. Ideas more
influential in neo-liberalism.

Idealist Liberalism
Or idealism, utopianism
Belief: the world can achieve international peace through institutionalizing
cooperation e.g. League of Nations, UN
Popular post WWI
Key people: Woodrow Wilson, Norman Angell, International lawyers
Purpose: explains WWI by lack of democracy, military logic and overarching
international institutions
Quote: making the world safe for democracy (Wilson)
According to conventional IR, lost out to realism in WWII.
o New variant emerged in 1950s, challenging account sociological
liberalism

Sociological Liberalism
Also pluralism
Rebirth of liberalism in 1950s, drawing on interwar years
Key people: Karl Deutsch (security communities), John Burton (cobweb
model), David Mitrany (functionalism)
Focus on transnational relations with increasing interdependence, cooperation
through interaction mostly in functional spheres.
Reluctant to give up on liberalism despite LON failure. UN founded in 1948
(post WWII), offering some evidence for liberal vision of the world.
Scaled back idealist liberal vision states can cooperate in different arenas for
different functions, to serve different interests in IR. And some areas in IR are
more conducive to cooperation than others e.g. trade.
Saw plurality of actors and avenues in IR states, institutions etc.
Despite anarchic international system, actors could achieve a measure of
security through international institutions and agreements.

Republican Liberalism
Also democratic peace theory
Highly influential today
Key figures: Michael Doyle, Bruce Russett
Derived from Kant suggested peace only achievable if all states were liberal
democratic
Argue if all states are democracies, they wont fight. Issue no agreement
over what is a democracy or peace.
Foreign policy behaviour is dependent on constitutional characteristics
(democratic peace)

Liberalism Recently
Post cold war victory of liberal democracy and capitalism
The end of History (1989) former US State Department Official
o Argue liberal capitalism defeated socialism with end of cold war
o Saw neo-liberal market as inevitable, and spread of Western
democracy
o Ideological conflict between socialism and capitalism over state
conflict was over.
George Bush Snr (1991 President) New World Order at end of Cold War.
Based on peaceful settlement of disputes, solidarity against aggression, just
treatment of people optimistic, liberal vision of the world.
Liberal rhetoric but realist policy liberal concepts become necessary rhetoric
for Western political leaders, even if actions are inconsistent.
o E.g. democracy promotion pillar of US foreign policy.
o War on Terror, George W. Bush pursued this globally
o Western democracy through barrel of a gun how democratic?
Now: neo-liberal hegemony and democracy promotion

Realism

Classical Realism: History
Dominated thinking since 1930s/40s
Realists argued for allies to mobilize at countervailing power rather than
pursue negotiations and diplomacy w/ Hitlers Germany, Mussolini etc.
Post WWII continued critique of liberal theories after horror
Politics Among Nations (1948) famous critique
IR theory and research should concerned with human nature as it actually is,
and with the historic processes they actually take place direct challenge to
liberalism. Liberals were investigating IR as they hoped it to be.
State sovereignty and security are paramount states as only legitimate power
Realpolitik heritage

Key Figures
Thomas Hobbes in absence of common power to keep us in awe (i.e.
without state or higher sovereign authority), human kind was destined to live
in continual fear and danger of violent death (i.e. chaos would ensue).
Jean Jacques Rousseaus parable of the stag hunt given opportunity, people
will fend for their own, not wider community. Realist states will always take
care of their own rather than cooperate.
Machiavelli morality has no place in politics. End justifies means whether
moral or not. States can pursue immoral policies if their state survival is
ensured and state interest is achieved.
Thucydides the strong do what they like, and the weak do what they must.
Those with power set the agenda.

Morgenthaus 6 Principles of Political Realism (1948)
Politics and states governed by human nature
No national interest is higher than the pursuit of power
Power as domination/control
Moral judgment has no place in politics e.g. foreign aid as a realist practise to
attain greater power
State morality isnt universal morality
Politics is separate from all other spheres morality, religion, economics etc.
are separate to politics.

Classical Realism: principles
Opposite to classical liberal assumptions
Pessimistic views of human nature inclined towards competition, war and
conflict
Statism: no higher authority than the sovereign state
o Main actor in global politics
o International institutions, international law etc. cant be trusted to
preserve peace.
Anarchy and conflict are natural rather than a harmony of interests
Importance of state/self-interests, not morality
o Controversy despite dismissal or morality in IR, realists do offer a
moral defence of the state. Within the state, they think morality can
exist, but not outside it (contradictory)
Co-operation is not a likely or lasting state of affairs
Stability in international system only attainable through balance of power
politics states alone or through alliances check the power of other states.
Achieving a balance can mean achieving a level of common security.

3 x Ss: Statism, Survival and Self-Help of Realism
Statism states as most important actors. Statist ontology.
State survival states must protect their territory and accumulate power to
ensure survival.
Self-help all states are sovereign, no higher power anarchy reigns.
Status-quo/self fulfilling prophecy
Polar vs. multi-distribution of power (today unipolar to US)
All states will always want more power spiral of insecurity
The security dilemma stems from fundamental social constellation, where
groups live alongside each other without being organised into a higher unity.
Since none can ever feel entirely secure in such a world, power competition
ensues and the vicious circle of security and power accumulation is on (Herz
1950: 157)

What is left out of Realism?
Myth: realists are realistic
Too top heavy focus only on top politics and security. No exploration of
grassroots (civil society, NGOs, etc.)
Hierarchy (not anarchy) in the state system critical theorists challenge if
state sovereignty is what it supposedly is. Some states able to realize their
sovereignty over others hierarchy.
Social world neglected in realism society, culture, community. Trapped by
obsession with sovereignty and security.
Narrow definition of power states do or dont have it. No examination of
how power in constituted, produced, or role of history, ideology, culture and
coercion in state power
Neglects issues of inequality within the state e.g. class, race, gender. States
institutionalise inequality by defining citizenship, work, political etc. in
exclusionary ways.

Models
Cobweb Model - Liberal vision of the world sees IR through cobweb model
interdependence, cooperation and some times collective security. Different
size circles can indicate different actors in IR (states, NGOs, global
governance institutions).
Billiard Ball Model - Realist vision of the world looks like pool table.
Cooperation is only ever a short affair. Arrows dont touch, because theyre
out for their own.

SECOND DEBATE

Neoliberalism vs. neorealism
1960s, second half of Cold War
Neoliberalism response to critical challenges realism offered liberalism,
particularly idealist liberalism.
Neorealism result of desire of discipline to be taken seriously as a social
science. Hybrid of realism and economic theory. Borrows heavily from
economic logic, and engages in pseudo-economistic modelling something
quantifiable.
2
nd
debate largely a positivist one quantifying and predicting state
behaviour, as a result of context (Cold War). IR dominated by North
American scholars wanted to determine what states would fall to
Communism.

Comparison
Realism
Provides state-centric analysis looks inside state to predict state behaviour.
States define anarchy
Balance of power result of alliance building and diplomacy
Power as dominance power over

Neorealism
Provides system-level analysis (structural realism) Shift from inside the
state, to the anarchic international system in shaping state behaviour.
Anarchy defines states
Balance of power result of anarchic system
Power as capability power to implement your own agenda
Anarchic system encourages states to maximize power (guns, etc. power
over others and power to do what they want)
Finite amount of power in international system - Unipolarity, bipolarity,
multipolarity
o Bipolar most stable e.g. Cold War Soviet Union and US held back
other states from entering conflict stability for int. system.
o Multipolar less stable because more competition and more states
vying for power, resources and weapons.
Or more stable even though Cold War SU and US didnt have
conflict, there were still many proxy wars. Therefore bipolar
distribution was more stable for some, not others.

Waltzs 3 Levels of Analysis
Important actors in IR and how different theories analyse how actors impact
global politics
Neo-realism/neo-liberalism focus on how system shapes state behaviour
Classical realism/liberalism interest in state/nation
o Classical liberalism also instiutions at system level, but they are run
by states.

Neoliberalism

Used in 2 senses
o Theory of revised version of classical liberalism (international
institutions play an important role in facilitating cooperation between
states, so much so it can normalise cooperation between states)
o Free market economics

Comparison
Liberalism
Human nature has a positive potential
Humans can be rational and this is good
Self-interest isnt necessarily antagonistic, and cooperation is possible
Human rights are universal
Individual freedom and equality need to be ensured
Progress is possible and is good.

Neoliberalism
Response to failures of liberalism
Persuaded of liberalism core ideas, incorporating challenges offered by realists
in first Great Debate
Recognized different actors emerging in IR in different issues
Interest in economic stability possible to identify empirically long term
examples of economic cooperation between states.
How international institutions facilitated cooperation over trade and
economics, and how they managed power. Theyre important agenda-setters,
induce coalition-formation and cooperation.
Explored different ideas of power not just power as dominance (realist), or
military.
Cooperation can be a rational policy instrument
Cooperation would become the default modus of operandi of states over time
develops trust between state actors.

Neoliberalism: role of institutions
Argue international institutions exist to facilitate cooperation and mediate
common problems, reduce security dilemma
Reduce transaction costs
Reduce vulnerability
Agenda-setting, coalition building
Access for non-state actors
Enshrine bargains
Provide information
Interdependence
All cooperation facilitated by institutions leads to interconnectedness and
interdependence between states.

Liberalism and Interdependence
Interdependence is key concept in neoliberal theories of IR some states are
pursuing the same national interests because their national interests have
become combined.
o E.g. Mexico and US wont go to war against each other because their
economic systems are too interdependent (neoliberal POV)
Interdependence the mutual dependence developed among states by using
new technologies and through the growth of international cross-border
commerce, communication and travel.
Complex interdependence interdependence between states, and other actors
e.g. TNCs/MNCs, NGOs, international institutions etc.

The Nature of the Neo-Neo Debate
Main disagreement over absolute vs. relative gains.
Neorealists argue states are concerned with maximising capability and power
relative to other states
o Emphasise relative gains: who will gain more?
o Even though you might get some advantage, the other party gets more,
and you dont want that
o If State A has an advantage over State B, state B loses completely
Neoliberals concerned with maximising own capability in absolute terms
o States motivated by absolute gains
o In any situation, all states will cooperate with others if they get
something out of it, even if others do too.
o Emphasise absolute gains: what will gain me the most?

Narrowness of the Debate
Despite disagreement, both agree on:
o States as rational actors
o Existence of material interests
o Anarchical international system
o Scientific model of enquiry to answer questions in global politics
Only debate over whether states prioritise relative or absolute gains
Led to the neo-neo synthesis found common existence in the house of IR


THI RD DEBATE

Critical theories challenged all the neo-neo debate agreed on.
Challenged partiality of the narrative of the 3 great debates.
Highlighted how Anglo-American IR didnt represent the priorities of the rest
of the world. And the IR discipline doesnt represent perspectives of most of
worlds people who dont benefit form the way the world is organized
according to IR theories.
Concerned more with global politics than IR shift from state-centric
ontology to people-centred ontology
Marxists hierarchy in international state system, not anarchy
o Sovereign equality is a myth
o Accorded some respect in the house of IR
Feminism, postmodernism, post structuralism etc.
o Not as respected

Tearing Down the House of IR
Former mainstream theories of IR agree on more than they disagree


In Less Abstract Terms
Human and global security rather than national security
Social consequences of war rather than how to defeat enemies
How to lift people out of poverty
How to end violence
How to come together to address global climate change and other threats
How to ensure freedom and autonomy for people suffering under oppressive
regimes.