POLS 1301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Counterargument, Liberal Internationalism, Andre Gunder Frank
22 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
States are the only actors in international relations that matter. A policymaker"s primary responsibility is to create and maintain national power. No legitimate central authority stands above the state. Without central government the life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short (hobbes, leviathan) Statism the state has sovereignty, which is the supreme authority to make and enforce laws. Hobbes: we trade personal liberty for a guarantee of security and civil society. States compete for power and security in an anarchic world. World is a zero-sum game: one state gains, another loses realism assumes problems of domestic order and security are solved. Relative concept: a has more power than b. Military and industrial capability, natural resources, population. Often calculations of power resources are used to suggest intent to take an action. A has a large army, therefore it wants to attack b. Precondition to obtaining goal of power and security.
