PSC 116G Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Demographic Transition, Asthma, Tecmar
Exam #3
4/9
International Cooperation – Overcoming the Prisoner’s Dilemma
Other explanations for Int’l Cooperation
• Liberalism:
o States driven by concerns for absolute gains
o Clearly established norms, rules, and principles promote cooperation: self-enforcing
o Converging interests: states create will often create organizations our of a functional need
(EU)
o Converging interests: transnational communities with specialized knowledge create
institutions
▪ Ex: the global telecommunications system
o International organizations extend the shadow of the future
Norms
• International norms entail a collective evaluation of behavior by members of the state system in
terms f what ought to be, as well as a collective expectation as to what behavior will be
o Shared expectations of behavior
• The important question is how do norms emerge if states (according to realists) always rationally
act in their self-interest?
Which political theory emphasizes the importance of international institutions in the global politics as
arenas for communication, diplomatic bargaining, and an alternative to conflict? Liberalism
Norms
• Norms may seem illogical according to realism, but plenty of examples of common norms in the
international system exist
o Sovereignty: originally established in the Peace of Westphalia (1648)
▪ Consistently reinforced by other states throughout the modern state system
(Napoleonic Wars: France; WW1 & WW2: Germany)
▪ Today controversy over Crimea and Kosovo center on sovereignty
• Opposition to slavery: one of the first ‘human rights’ norm in the international system
o based on morality (not self-interest): British navy’s suppression of international slave
trade in the 1800s
o Very recent development given that slavery was a part of civilization for thousands of
years
International Regimes
• Regimes are a collection of norms that have been institutionalized through organizations and
international laws
o Formalized arrangements between states, international organizations, non-governmental
organizations, and international law designed to reinforce a single norm or a set of norms
• Regimes emerge from consistent cooperation
o Does NOT matter if the cooperation is a result of strategic calculations or national
interest
o What matters is if, over time, the principles of appropriate behavior is recognized by
sufficient number of important states
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Which of the following is an international norm? opposition to slavery, sovereignty, and human rights
International Law
• Realism: int’l law is not important – no enforcement mechanism
o States abide by int’l law only if it is in their interest
• Liberalism: Int’l law is important – creates incentives and punishment dependent on cooperation
• Reality: the effectiveness of int’l law is somewhere between these two perspectives
What is the difference between an international norm and an international regime? Degree of
initialization
International Law
• Sources of international law according to the International Court of Justice
o Internal treaties
o International custom (general practices of states – acting as if a law’s in place)
o Recognized principles of law
o Previous judicial citizens
o Writings of respected legal scholars
• Two most important (and recognized) sources of law are: treaties and customs
• How effective is International Law? It depends
o Filled with many loopholes and ambiguity
▪ Hard to constrain behavior
o Requires a strong convergence of interest (Ex: Laws of the Sea)
• International law often collides with the powerful norm of state sovereignty
o Currently, sovereignty still remains supreme
• In the end, international law is often broken. However, most states abide by international
law even in instances where it threatens their state’s interest.
Which of the following are the two most important sources of int’l law? Treaties and customs
International Organizations
• International Organizations (IOs) are ways states institutional diplomacy and collective
efforts for peace
o Permanent structures, membership, and formal procedures
• 1st IOs formed as a way for states to organize for international security
o Congress of Vienna, Concert of Europe
o Focus on collective security
• Current IOs have moved well beyond those early, simple attempts and have many different
functions in the international system
International Organizations (continued)
• The most prominent international organization is the United Nations
o Established after WW2, successor to the League of Nations
o Intended to promote collective security but evolved into a much bigger organization
o Primary purpose is to: promote peace throughout the world through the use of
collective action
▪ Peacekeeping, state-building, humanitarian missions
United Nations
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• Organizations of the UN
o General Assembly
o The Secretariat
▪ Secretary-general; agencies
o Security Council
▪ U.S., Russia, China, France, United Kingdom (permanent)
• Veto power
▪ 15-member council – 10 nonpermanent members elected to two-year terms
o Specialized Agencies
▪ International Court of Justice, Economic and Social Council
4/11
International Political Economy – Developed Countries
International Political Economy
• The two-way relationship between int’l politics and int’l economies
o Also known as IPE
• Link between politics and economics run in both directions
o Int’l economic events = political consequences
o Political decisions = economic consequences
• IPE: examines questions concerning the movement of goods, money, people, and ideas across
borders
o State control over these processes is declining
o Trade = powerful incentives for cooperation
Globalization
• Amount of cross-border movement continues to rapidly increase
• Globalization is a process in which (3 of them):
o 1. Int’l trade relative to domestic trade
o 2. The time it takes for goods, people, information, and money to flow across border and
the cost of moving them is
o 3. The world is increasingly defined by single markets rather than by many separate
markets
International Political Economy
• Key Questions of IPE:
o 1. Why trade?
o 2. Who gets the benefits of trade?
• IPE is divided into two different approaches to answer these questions
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Document Summary
International organizations extend the shadow of the future. Which of the following is an international norm? opposition to slavery, sovereignty, and human rights. International law: sources of international law according to the international court of justice. It depends: filled with many loopholes and ambiguity, hard to constrain behavior, requires a strong convergence of interest (ex: laws of the sea) International law often collides with the powerful norm of state sovereignty: currently, sovereignty still remains supreme. In the end, international law is often broken. However, most states abide by international law even in instances where it threatens their state"s interest. International organizations (continued: the most prominent international organization is the united nations, established after ww2, successor to the league of nations, primary purpose is to: promote peace throughout the world through the use of. Intended to promote collective security but evolved into a much bigger organization collective action: peacekeeping, state-building, humanitarian missions.
