1.
Sitting Exam (70%): 70% on review questions, 30% on lectures.
2.
Research Paper (30%): Week 9.
Choose 1 topic in a list of 14. Group of 5.
3.
Class participation (bonus): maximum 20% of research paper
Requirement
▪ 2500 – 3000 words
▪ Constructive and Respectful
▪ Plausible Analysis and Argument
▪ Logical Structure
▪ Good Content from Reliable Sources
Evaluation Criteria (100%)
• Idea: 20%
• Analysis + argument: 40%
• Evidence: 40%
TOPICS
1.
Covid-19 and Global Inequality
2.
Smart cities: inclusive growth or
social inequality
8. Renewable energy sources: the
good, the bad and the ugly truth
9. Transboundary water management
3.
Digital transformation and the
fourth industrial revolution
10. Is “free trade” fair?
4.
Russia – Ukraine War
11. Motives of International Aids and
Humanitarian Interventions
5.
BRI and China’s motives
6.
MNCs and international system
7.
Market openness, M&A and
developing countries
12. Intellectual Property and global
development
13. Globalization and Anti-globalization
14. Immigration and Anti-immigration
WARM-UP
▪ What is international political economy (IPE)?
▪ Why is IPE necessary for IR students?
▪ What do you expect to learn in this class?
▪ What can you do to learn IPE effectively? (How)
relations across boundaries of nation-states
The four main subfields of political science:
Political
Science
Political Theory
• Deals with
normative and
theoretical
questions
Comparative
Politics
Public Policy
International
Relations
• Deals with
empirical
questions and
interactions within
political systems
• Deals with
policy issues
and the
procedures of
policy making
• Deals with
interactions
across
boundaries of
nation-states
▪ International Political Economy (IPE) is a social science that attempts to
understand international and global problems using interdisciplinary tools and
theoretical perspectives.
▪ IPE is the study of a problématique, or set of related problems. The traditional
IPE problématique includes the political economy of international trade,
international finance, North-South relations, transnational enterprises, and
hegemony.
▪ David Lake: “IPE is the study of the interplay of economics and politics in the
world arena”
▪ Robert Gilpin: “IPE is the study of the Problems and Questions arising from the
Parallel Existence and Dynamic Interaction of State and Market.”
→ The relationship between politics and economy at the global level
▪ International Political Economy (IPE) emerged as one of the most important
sub-disciplines of International Relations after global economic
developments in the 1970s.
▪ Conflict/cooperation replaces war and peace
▪ International institutions, regimes are norms, NOT places
▪ Domestic politics/comparative politics matter
▪ The tragedy of the commons at the international scale.
▪ Homogenization or Americanization?
▪ Winners and losers of global economic exchange.
▪ Economic globalization describes the international political economy
of the 21st century.
▪ Goods and services are produced and traded globally.
▪ A global “virtual” world ties us together through new technology.
▪ New technologies and economic ties also lead to the decreasing
territorialization of daily life.
CASE STUDY: The United States, China and the MFN Issue
WASHINGTON, May 26-President Clinton’s decision to renew China’s trade benefits was the
culmination of a titanic clash between America’s global economic interests and its self-image as the
world’s leading advocate of human rights. In the end, economic interests won the day.
The New York Times, Friday 27 May 1994
▪ The issue is complex but clearly important.
▪ President Clinton had to choose between two conflicting national interests. The economic interests of both the
US and China would be best served by granting Chinese goods favorable entry into the US market, a condition
termed most favorable nation or MFN status. China, however, had a record of violating human rights as they are
defined by western culture. It was a long-standing US policy to deny MFN status to countries that violate human
rights standards.
▪ President Clinton’s dilemma was an example of the tension between economics and politics, two spheres of
human life that often intersect.
▪ In making his choice, President Clinton had to take into account many types of interactions between China and
the US, and the impacts they have on other nations. He also had to weigh historical factors and deep cultural
differences.
▪ In the end, he chose to extend MFN status to China, satisfying some economic and political interests despite
China’s lack of progress on human rights.
IPE: Framing focus questions
▪ Tensions and Supportive relationship between states and markets?
▪ How are the global economy and trade governed?
▪ What is globalization and how far has it progressed?
▪ What is the proper role of government in economic activity?
▪ Is global economic governance keeping up with the pace of globalization?
If not, what are the consequences?
▪ What roles do multinational corporations and the major international
economic institutions play in the international political economy?
1. The Production and Trade : who produces what, for whom and on what terms
lies at the heart of the IPE.
2. Money and Finance: who has access to money and on what terms, and how
certain resources are distributed between nations.
3. Security: safety from threats and actions of other states and non-state actors
4. Knowledge and Technology: sources of wealth and powers
Each structure (foundation) contains a number of state and nonstate institutions,
organizations, and other actors who determine the rules and processes that govern
access to trade, finance, security, and knowledge
Actor behavior
▪ Levels of analysis (David N.
Balaam): 4
1.
Global level: global factors like
changes in technologies,
commodity prices, and climate.
2.
International level (interstate
level)
3.
State level
4.
Individual level
• The era from the
late Middle Ages to
the end of the 18th
century:
➢Age of Discovery:
new frontiers in the
Americas, Asia, and
Africa.
➢The exchange of
good and people tied
the colonies and the
home states together.
Mercantilism (statism):
➢The common practice of many governments and a dominant economic doctrine
for more than three centuries (16th - 18th).
➢Mostly associated with the colonization era.
➢Goal: build economic wealth to build the power of the state.
➢Economic nationalism: boost exports by backing a powerful state protecting
domestic monopolies (I.e. British East India Company).
o Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1617-83): states should accumulate gold and silver as
well as build a strong central government.
o Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) made similar arguments in the United States.
▪ (Economic) Liberalism
Adam Smith wrote of the
idea that human are rational
and self-interested.
➢To Smith, markets develop
through individual, rational
action.
➢Markets need to be free
from government action to
function properly.
From 19th century to WW I:
➢ Colonialism expanded greatly
➢ European states industrialized
▪ Radicalism (Marxists) emerged as a
response to the excesses and
inequalities of the time.
➢ Society was conflictual.
➢ Competition between classes/groups.
➢ Owners of wealth versus workers
➔ Tensions and seeds of the destruction
of the system as a whole.
▪ The “Pax Britanica”
(1815 – 1914)
➢ Britain: a global
hegemon to promote a
more peaceful world
order.
➢ Hegemonic stability
theory.
➢ International Trade +
Royal Navy
➢Provide Collective
goods to the global
system (Rules + Peace
along marine routes)
▪ The 1930s: the spread of
“beggar thy neighbor” policies
(protectionism, zero-sum)
➢ shut off international trade and
caused crisis
▪ WWII
▪ At the end of World War II, the
goal was to create a new system
that could prevent the disaster of
the 1930s – Bretton Woods.
▪ The post-World War II system sought to
promote the following:
➢Open trade
➢Free flow of capital
➢Stable exchange rates
▪ These three goals are the foundation of
globalization in the post-World War II
period
▪ The stability of the International System requires a single dominant state to articulate
and enforce the rules of interaction among the most important members of the system.
▪ Hegemon: the dominant state
➢The Capability to create and enforce the rules of the system; based on its political,
economic, and security preferences (Wallerstein, 2004).
➢The Will to do so;
➢A Commitment to a system which is perceived as mutually beneficial to the major states
▪ The hegemon establishes regimes that are favorable to its own interests.
➢Has to bear the costs of hegemony by providing public goods to the global system.
▪ Hegemony often arises as a result of a global war (Britain, Waterloo 1815; US, WWII)
▪ Occurred gradually during the period between
WW1 and WW2
▪ US reluctant to assume burden of leadership
▪ Outcome of WW2 led to British decline and full
leadership for US
▪ A set of norms, rules, procedures and institutions which constrains the behavior of the
members of the regime.
e.g., the World Trade
Organization in Geneva,
Switzerland.
▪ Next week, we learn about theoretical approaches that help
provide insights into how the global economy generates winners
and losers, and how the policies that governments adopt affect
the evolution of the global economy.
Quy cách chấm điểm cho lễ hội ôn tập:
2 cột điểm
- 1 cột điểm cho câu dễ, 0.1/câu, cap/max 0.8 điểm/người (vì sẽ làm
tròn), tối đa 8 ng sớm nhất (2 lớp) trong chatbox cho mỗi câu. Các
bạn trên 4 điểm cộng không được tham gia. Trong quá trình trả lời
thì ai cap 1 điểm không được tham gia tiếp.
-1 cột điểm cho câu khó, 0.5/câu, không cap, hình thức giơ tay.
Mọi ng tìm đáp án trước ở nhà, vì hiện câu hỏi xong là trong vòng 13s là check đáp án và qua câu khác.
Which country played a fundamental role in the
establishment of the liberal trading system after WWII?
a. The Soviet Union
b. China
c. The United States
d. Germany
Economists define an "efficient" choice as one that
a) costs the least, regardless of benefits.
b) gives you the most benefit with the least cost.
c) uses all your available resources with none left over.
d) gives you the most benefit, regardless of cost.
▪ International political economy can be defined as
a.
the international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank that direct international investments
b. the comparative advantage industrialized nations have over agriculturally-
based nations
c.
the mutual relationship between the international politics and national
economy
d. the domestic fiscal and monetary policies developed by sovereign states
What, according to Classical economic theory, was the purpose
of Mercantilism in the 18th century?
A. A means by which to strengthen the sovereign state, and
inherently linked to international conflict.
B. A means by which to promote societal security for the
populations of states.
C. A route to increasing imports and transnational trade.
D. Not a significant economic theory until after the 18th century.
▪ Mercantilism
a) sees one state’s gain as the other state’s loss
b) aims to maximize sources of wealth within one’s borders
c) is the economic doctrine of the strong
d) a and b are both correct
▪ Which of the following statements would a mercantilist NOT agree with?
a) Imports are desirable
b) Trade is a zero-sum activity.
c) The purpose of trade is to amass revenues from exports.
d) Policies should promote exports and discourage imports.
▪ Alexander Hamilton, the United States’ first secretary of
treasury, advocated protectionist policies to achieve what
objective?
A. protect American farmers
B. protect American jobs
C. prevent unfair competition with China
D. protect the new nation’s manufacturers
E. prevent offshoring to Mexico
Which country was NOT included in the construction of the
postwar liberal economic order after 1945?
a. Canada
b. France
c. Soviet Union
d. West Germany
Which of the following is referred to as a predecessor to WTO?
a. IMF
b. World Bank
c. GATT
d. OPEC
Which of the following is NOT among the three theoretical
approaches to IPE?
a. social democracy
b. economic liberalism
c. mercantilism, economic nationalism
d. Marxism
▪ Thank you very much!
▪ Email: thanhcong@hcmussh.edu.vn