PARADIGM

A dominant way of looking at a particular subject, such as International Relations. When it emerges, it influences judgments regarding which characteristics of the subject are most important, what puzzles need to be solved, and what analytic criteria should govern investigations. Paradigms are fundamental assumptions scholars make about the world they are studying

THEORY
A set of hypotheses postulating the relationship between variables or conditions, advanced to describe, explain, or predict phenomena and make prescriptions about how positive changes ought to be engineered to realize particular goals and ethical principles A statement attempting to account for general phenomena or patterns rather than explaining unique or individual circumstances

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
MAINSTREAM Liberalism Realism Neorealism Neoliberalism RADICAL Modernization Structuralism
Marxism Dependency World Systems

LIBERALISM

Liberalism
DEFINITION A paradigm predicted on the hope that: The application of reason and universal ethics to international relations can lead to a more orderly, peaceful, just and cooperative world International anarchy and war can be policed by institutional reforms that empower international organizations and law

Liberalism- Advocates
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) John Locke (16321704) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Alfred Zimmerman Norman Angell Woodrow Wilson in the post-WWI era (1856-1924) President (1913-1921 Great Philosophers

Rousseau

John Locke

Immanuel Kant

Woodrow Wilson

LIBERALISM - ASSUMPTIONS
Emphasize the impact ideas have on behavior, the equality, liberty and dignity of the individual, and the need to protect people from excessive state regulation Liberalism views the individual as the seat of moral value and virtue People should be treated as ends rather than means

Liberalism - Assumptions
Emphasizes ethical principles over the pursuit of power and institutions over military capabilities as forces shaping interstate relations Human nature is perfectible through good institutions Defines politics at the international level more as a struggle for consensus than a struggle for power and prestige Prospects for the elimination of war lay with a preference for democracy over aristocracy, free trade over autarky and collective security over the balance of power system

Liberalism - Assumptions
The liberals or idealists argued that war was not a product of human nature but a result of misunderstandings by politicians who had lost control of events leading up to hostilities in 1914 Emphasized the notion of cooperative anarchy. States do not have to be in conflict since they operate under cooperative anarchy. That is, states work together even without a world government

Liberalism-Assumptions
Liberals do not believe that you develop power for your group thorough the states. Military and economic power alone does not matter There are other sources of influence. International organizations can ameliorate the problems of world conflict. They can create the social structure that mitigate the problems of anarchy Ideas matter because they shape the institutions of the state and impact on foreign policy. Eg. if you believe in human rights, democracy will be part of your goal

Liberalism- Assumptions
Power is not so important since states do not have to steal nor destroy one another to satisfy their needs. Through cooperation therell be enough to share around the world Secret diplomacy would be replaced by public consent in the affairs of the state. Self-determination and statehood would be available to all national groups Because power is less important, states matter less (than in realism) since there is no need to develop in-group resources

Liberalism - Assumptions
The use of the power of ideas through education to arouse world public opinion against warfare The promotion of free international trade in place of states economic competition The replacement of secret diplomacy by a system of open covenants, openly arrived at The termination of interlocking bilateral alliances and the power balance they sought to achieve Some liberal reformers promoted the ideal of selfdetermination giving nationalities the right through voting to become independent states This is related to a call for more domestic democratic institutions making the world safe for democracybecause democracies are less likely to go to war with each other Democratic Peace Theory.

Realism
A paradigm based on the premise that world politics is essentially and unchangeably a struggle among selfinterested states for power and position under anarchy, with each competing state pursuing its own national interests For realists, the world is characterized by conflict not cooperation Focuses on how the world is, not on how it ought to be Dominant theory in IR

REALISM

Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679

Realism

Realism
Advocates E.H. Carr (1939) (The First Great Debate) (18921982) George F. Kennan (1951, 1954), (1904-2005) Hans J. Morgenthau (1948) (1904-1980) Reinhold Niebuhr (1947) (1892-1971) Kenneth Thompson (1960). These were influenced by the early writings of Thucydides (431-404 B.C.E.) Kautilya (>2000 yrs ago) Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Niccolo Machiavelli (17th century) (1469-1527)

The possibility of eradicating the instinct for power is hopeless utopian aspiration International Politics is as Thomas Hobbes put it a struggle for power, a war of all against all (Leviathan, 1651). The primary obligation of every state the goal to which all other national objectives should be subordinated is to promote its national interest and to acquire power for this purpose

Realism
E.H. Carr (Twenty Years Crisis (1939) and Hans Morgenthau (Politics Among Nations (1948) are considered the fathers of classical realism A pessimistic approach to analyzing world politics

Realism
The state is the most important actor on the world stage and the state should answer to no higher authority Conflicts of interests among states are inevitable The anarchical nature of the int. system dictates the choices that foreign policy makers should make as rational problem solvers who must calculate their interests in terms of power The principle of self-help is important- the principle that in anarchy actors must rely on themselves

Realism
Summary Emphasis should be on how the world is, not how it ought to be Pessimistic about how the extent to which the int. political system can be made more peaceful and just The int. system was/is characterized by conflict, competition and suspicion based on an assessment of human nature

NEOREALISM

NEOREALISM
Two strands: Structural (systemic) realism (Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State and War, 1979) -Focuses on a system of interacting units (states) Post-Classical (state-centered) realism (Fareed Zakaria, From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role, 1998) looks inside the states and focuses on foreign policy. Statesmen, not states make foreign policy. Decision-makers and state apparatus (executive, judiciary, bureaucracy, congress, legislature, even elites are important)

Neorealism
ASSUMPTIONS Int system is anarchic (not chaotic or driven by disorder but involves a system comprised of states with no central authority or world govt States inherently possess some offensive military capability which gives them the wherewithal to hurt and possibly destroy each other States are potentially dangerous to each other

Neorealism
States seek to maximize their relative power positions over other states States seek relative gains. Attempts to cut down the attempts of other states to maximize their capabilities because it means less gains for them

Neorealism
States can never be certain about the intentions of other states. States are mistrustful The most basic motive driving states is survival cause states want to maintain their sovereignty States in the int. system fear each other Each sate in the int. system operates in a self-help system aiming to guarantee its own survival

ASSUMPTIONS
States are key actors in the int. system but not the only actors States are rational or instrumental actors always seeking to maximize their interests in all issue areas States seek to maximize absolute gains through cooperation Rational behaviour leads states to see value in cooperation States are less concerned with gains or advantages achieved by other states in cooperative arrangements

NEOLIBERALISM

ASSUMPTIONS (CONT)
The nature and consequences of anarchy: Unlike neorealists who argue that anarchy does not matter much, for neoliberals, it is a big problem that can be reformed through the creation of strong global institutions. The role of institutions is crucial to world politics International Cooperation: Cooperation can be expected because it produces rewards that reduce the temptation to selfishly compete Absolute Gains: Rather than get ahead of their competitors through relative gains states do not try to thwart the attempts of other states to maximize their capabilities since they are motivated by the search for cooperation through which all states can benefit

ASSUMPTIONS (CONT)
Economic Welfare Unlike neorealists who stress security, neoliberals give priority to economic welfare States intentions - seen as most influential in determining their behavior (as well as interests, information and ideals) instead of the distribution of states capabilities as the neorealists argue Institutions and Regimes For neoliberals international regimes create norms that are binding on their members and can change patterns of international politics. Neorealists see these institutions as arenas where states carry out their traditional competition and political rivalry for dominance

NEOLIBERALISM Complex Interdependence International Regimes

Neoliberalism
1. Complex Interdependence (Keohane and Nye, Power & Interdependence 1977, 2001): States increasing dependence, sensitivity and mutual vulnerability to one another in ways that were eroding their sovereign control and independence. 1970s New perspective called transnational interdependence emerged challenging realist view that states are the only important actors in the international system

COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE
Increasing linkages among states and nonstate actors A new agenda of international issues with no distinction between low and high politics A recognition of multiple channels for interaction among actors across national boundaries The decline of the efficacy of military force as a tool of statecraft Globalization represents and increase in linkages and channels for interactions as well as in the number of interconnectedness

2. INTERNATIONAL REGIMES
Regimes are a set of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures around which actors expectations converge in a given area of international relations such as the environment or human rights (Krasner, International regimes,1983) A governing arrangement regulated by a variety of treaties, trade agreements, scientific and research protocols, market protocols, and the interests of producers, consumers, and distributors (such as those which controls the production of coffee, sugar, etc. climate, aviation, time)

Neoliberalism
Regimes emphasize the ways in which norms influence states to behave according to more global than national interests. Eg. Global trade and monetary rules established after WWII to facilitate the free flow of goods and services eg. the GATT (now WTO), IMF and World Bank: www.wto.org, www.imf.org, www.worldbank.org

Strengths of Realism/Neorealism
It gained credibility from the prevailing patterns of state behavior (at the time) which threatened the international system through: Incessant competition unceasing attention to preserving peace (through focus on power politics showing that military security was the essence of world politics Explains why prospects for cooperation remains so dim (anarchical system compels states to be sensitive to their relative position)

Strengths of Realism/Neorealism
It suits the needs of the times. It describes a pessimistic age -1940s (WWII) 1950s, Cold War thereby confirming The inevitability of conflict The poor prospects for cooperation The divergence of national interest among selfish, power-seeking state Much of the world continues to think about world politics in terms of global tension

Weaknesses of Realism/Neorealism
Contradictions in the use of terms like power, national interest and balance of power Only considers big powers when there are a majority of smaller states in the system Many of its assumptions are not testable No methodology for resolving competing claims Does not account for significant new developments in world politics end of Cold War, social change, int. cooperation (UN), globalization Disregards ethical principles and social costs to military expenditure

Strengths of Liberalism/Neoliberalism
Offers a moralistic and optimistic image of international affairs through cooperation Promotes ideas of free trade, democracy and open covenants Attempts to avoid war by promoting democracy Democracies do not fight each other Considers changes in the system end of Cold War, information revolution, technology Considers social changes -issues of low politics and their increasing significance in the system

Weaknesses of Liberalism/Neoliberalism
Neglects the realities of power politics Fails to explain conflict in the system (Iraq war) Does not take into account competition within institutions such as EU and UN Does not represent a cohesive intellectual movement or school of thought Different theorists have different focus free trade, human rights, democracy, globalization, interdependence

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