READING OUTLINE CHAPTER 3
I.
Liberal Theories
A.
The Waning of War
1. Liberal theorists see the rules of IR as slowly evolving through time and
potentially becoming more peaceful
2. Evolution results primarily from the gradual build-up of international
organization and mutual cooperation (reciprocity) and secondarily from
changes in norms and public opinion (identity)
3. Current period is one of the least warlike ever, fewer killed in wars
B.
C.
Kant and Peace
1. Liberal theories of IR try to explain how peace and cooperation are
possible
2. German philosopher Immanuel Kant – gave three answers 200 years ago
a.
First, based on reciprocity – states could develop the
organizations and rules to facilitate cooperation, specifically by
forming a world federation resembling today’s United Nations
b.
Second, operating at a lower level of analysis – peace depends
on the internal character of governments, specifically the
republics, with a legislative branch that can hold a monarch in
check, will be more peaceful than autocracies – relies more on
identity principle
c.
Trade promote peace – relies on the presumption that trade
increases wealth, cooperation, and global well-being – conflict
less likely since governments will not want to disrupt any
process that adds to the wealth of their state
Liberal Institutionalism
1. Kant’s first answer – ability of states to develop and follow mutually
advantageous rules, with international institutions to monitor and
enforce them
2. Rational actors capable of forgoing short-term individual interests in
order to further long-term well-being of community to which they
belong
3. States, although autonomous, could join a worldwide federation like
today’s UN
4. International cooperation a more rational option for states than resorting
to war
5. Neoliberal approach
a.
Concedes to realism several important assumptions
i.
States are unitary actors
ii.
States rationally pursue self-interests
iii.
Anarchic international system
b.
But states achieve cooperation fairly often because it is in their
interest to do so
Reciprocity helps international cooperation emerge – norms
and rules are enforced without central authority
d.
Reciprocity also contains danger of runaway hostility – tit-fortat punishments – but norms mediate states’ interactions
International Regimes
1. Set of rules, norms, and procedures around which the expectations of
actors converge in a certain issue area
2. Can help solve collective goods problems by increasing transparency
3. Intervening variables between basic causal forces at work in IR
4. Embedded in international institutions
c.
D.
E.
F.
II.
Collective Security
1. Grows out of liberal institutionalism
2. Formation of a broad alliance of most major actors in an international
system for the purpose of jointly opposing aggression by any actor
3. League of Nations
4. United Nations
5. Regional IGOs – OAS, Arab League, African Union
6. Success of collective security
7. Issue of failed states
Democratic Peace
1. Kant’s second answer – the character of governments
2. Democracies almost never fight each other
3. Democracy more widespread as a form of government
4. Period of transition to democracy may be more prone to war than either
a stable democracy or a stable authoritarian government
Domestic Politics
A.
Bureaucracies
1. Diplomats – political appointees vs. career diplomats
2. Interagency tensions
a.
Tension between different agencies with different
constituencies
b.
Tension within agencies among units with different
responsibilities or constituencies
c.
Where you stand depends on where you sit
B.
Interest groups
1. Coalitions with common interest who attempt to shape decision
outcomes
2. Lobbying
C.
Military-industrial complex
1. Interlocking network of governmental agencies, industrial corporations,
and research institutes, working together to supply a state’s military
forces
2. Eisenhower’s concern about “unwarranted influence”
D.
E.
3. Revolving door
Public opinion
1. Democracies vs. authoritarian governments
2. Propaganda
3. Journalists
4. Levels of public—“mass,” attentive, elite
5. Rally ’round the flag syndrome
6. Diversionary foreign policy
Legislatures
1. Relationship with executive – presidential vs. parliamentary systems
2. Power of the purse
III.
Making Foreign Policy
A.
Foreign policy – strategies used by governments to guide their actions in the
international arena
B.
Various organizational structures and functional relationships to create and to
carry out foreign policies
C.
Comparative foreign policy
D.
Foreign policy outcomes result from multiple forces at various levels of
analysis
IV.
Decision-Making Models
A.
Rational model
1. Clarify goals
2. Prioritize goals
3. List alternative policies
4. Investigate the consequences of policy implementation
5. Select policy
B.
Alternatives to rational model
1. Organizational process model – standard operating procedures –
“management by muddling through”
2. Government bargaining (bureaucratic politics) model – foreign policy
decisions result from the bargaining process among various government
agencies with somewhat divergent interests in the outcome
V.
Role of the Individual
A.
Decision makers are individuals
B.
To what extent are national leaders able to make rational decisions in the
national interest?
C.
Individual decision makers have differing values and beliefs, unique
personalities
D.
Systematic ways in which individual decision making diverges from rational
models
1. Misperceptions/selective perceptions—information screens
2. Affective bias – emotions of decision makers – strong feelings about
person or state toward which a decision is directed
3. Cognitive bias – cognitive balance vs. cognitive dissonance
a.
Justification of effort
b.
Wishful thinking
c.
Hardened image of the enemy
d.
Mirror-image
e.
Projection of feelings
f.
Historical analogies
E.
Impact of individual—led to two modifications to the rational model
1. Bounded rationality
a.
Optimizing
b.
Satisficing
2. Prospect theory
a.
Editing phase
b.
Evaluation phase – role of reference point
VI.
Group Psychology
A.
Positive and negative effects
1. Good—can promote rationality
2. Bad—can introduce new sources of irrationality
B.
Psychological dynamics that occur within groups—groupthink
C.
Structure of decision-making process
1. Rules for who is involved in making decisions, what voting procedures
are
2. Control of decision rules
3. Control of agenda
4. Informal groups
VII.
Crisis Management
A.
Crises – outcomes are critical and time frames are compressed
B.
Groupthink, psychological stress, sleep deprivation