INTERNATIONAL RELATION CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATION

The study of International relations

·         International relations is the study of relationships and interactions between countries, including the activities and policies of:

 – national governments,

– international organizations (IGOs),

– Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and

– multinational corporations (MNCs).

• Aspects of international relations, and in particular war and diplomacy, have been scrutinized and remarked upon at least since the time of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, but IR only became a proper academic discipline in the early twentieth century.

IR as a field of Study :

·         Contemporary IR is concerned not only with political relations between states but also with a host of other subjects:

 – economic interdependence,

– human rights,

– transnational corporations,

– international organizations,

 – the environment,

 – gender inequalities, (男女平等)

– economic development,

 – terrorism,

• Practical discipline

• Theoretical debates

 • Subfields

 – International security studies

 – International political economy (IPE)

Why Study IR?

• The main reason why we should study IR is the fact that the entire population of the world is divided into separate political communities (the being of all mankind was profoundly differs), or independent states, which profoundly affect the way people live. • States form an international state system that is global in extent.

 • Everybody on earth not only lives in one of those states but is also a citizen of one of them;  (you stay in the earth instead of only in Malaysia)

• So virtually every man, woman, and child on earth is connected to a particular state, and via that state to the state system which affects their lives; • States are independent of each other, at least legally: they have sovereignty. But that does not mean they are isolated or insulated from each other.

 • States adjoin each other and affect each other and must therefore somehow find ways to coexist and to deal with each other.

The Birth of IR in 1919, Why? (Because the War was unleash, the scholar took serious to this topic )

• The decisive (critical) push to set up a separate academic subject of IR was occasioned (caused) by the First World War (1914–18), which produced millions of casualties (injuries and deaths); • It was driven by a widely felt determination never to allow human suffering on such a scale to happen again.

 • Why was it that the war began in the first place? And why did the world’s major powers persist (cling, uphold) in waging war in the face of such slaughter (major kill) and with diminishing (to less ) chances of gaining anything of real value from the conflict? • The first dominant academic theory of IR was shaped by the search for answers to them.

The Birth of IR in 1919, Why?

• The answers that the new discipline of IR came up with were profoundly influenced by liberal ideas. • Liberal thinkers, attributed （belongs /rebound）the war to the egoistic and shortsighted calculations and miscalculations of autocratic leaders (the fault of dictator) in the heavily militarized countries involved, especially Germany and Austria.

• Why was early academic IR influenced by liberalism? – Woodrow Wislon’s idea that international institutions can promote peaceful cooperation among states – The notion of a relationship between liberal democracy and peace. • Wilson’s liberal is clearly reminiscent of the thought of the  most famous classical liberal IR theorist: Immanuel Kant (1795).

Core Principles

• IR revolves around one key problem: – How can a group – such as two or more nations – serve its collective interests when doing so requires its members to sacrifice their individual interests? • Example: Problem of global warming.  Solving it can only be achieved by many countries acting together. – Collective goods problem • The problem of how to provide something that benefits all members of a group regardless of what each member contributes to it

Core Principles

• In general, collective goods are easier to provide in small groups than large ones. – Small group: defection (free riding) is harder to conceal and has a greater impact on the overall collective good, and is easier to punish. • Collective goods problem occurs in all groups and societies – Particularly acute in international affairs • No central authority such as a world government to enforce on individual nations the necessary measures to provide for the common good

Core Principles

• Three basic principles offer possible solutions for this core problem of getting individuals to cooperate for the common good without a central authority to make them do so. – Dominance – Reciprocity – Identity

Dominance

• Solves the collective goods problem by rewarding behavior by establishing a power hierarchy in which those at the top control those below. （I solve the problem so I’ll be the leader ）• In IR, the principle of dominance underlies the great power system in which a handful of countries dictate the rules for all other – The UN Security Council where five world’s strongest military powers hold a veto (have the rights to refuse any suggestion) reflecting the dominance principle • Advantages – It work like a government, it forces members of group to contribute to common goods – It minimizes open conflict within the group • Disadvantages – The stability comes at a cost of constant oppression (pressing) and resentment (quarrel) by the lower-ranking members in the status hierarchy

Reciprocity (exchanging the privileges)

• Solves the collective goods problem by rewarding behavior that contributes to the group and punishing  behavior that pursues self-interest at the cost of the group – Easy to understand and can be “enforced” without any central authority • Advantages – It operates in both positive and negative realms • You scratch my back and I will scratch your back • An eye for an eye , a tooth for tooth  • Disadvantage – It can lead to a downward spiral as each side punishes what it believes to be the negative acts of the other. – Generally people overestimate their own good intentions and underestimate those of opponents or rivals.

Identity

• This principle lies in the identities of participants as members of a community. • In contrast to the dominance and reciprocity principles which act on the idea of achieving self-interest, identity principle does not rely on self-interest. • In IR identity communities play important roles in overcoming difficult collective goods problems, including the issue of who contributes to: • development assistance, world health (Scandinavian countries) • UN peacekeeping missions (Canada)