POLS 3000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Conflict Resolution, Nonviolence, Rationality
10 Oct 2018
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Realists: anarchy, continuity, power, rationality, survival. Realists or skeptics tend to focus on issues of power. Conflict is a consequence of the absence of power, otherwise known as anarchy (no central government). According to realists/skeptics, belligerents act rationally and concern themselves with their survival: conflict resolution for realists means re-establishing authority or letting parties fight it out until a victor emerges. Liberals or believers see nothing inevitable about conflict, provided that smart preventative choices are made. Instead of focusing on power, liberals tend to focus on peaceful solutions such as communication, democracy and trade all-important mechanisms for conflict resolutions: conflict resolution for believers usually involves democratization and market economies. What are some of the sources of war: economic explanations, identity and ethnicity, religious violence and terror, (cid:862)ne(cid:449)(cid:863) (cid:449)ars. Conflicts have less to do with insecurity, it has to do with many other things. More to do with the material benefits that can be derived from war.
