POLI 150 Exam 1
United Nations and important charter articles
"Institutionalized" balance of power because any state that tries to assume dominance will be met with resistance by a coalition of states Article 2(4)- use of force -Prohibits using force illegally; creates legal justification for action by UN membership Article 51- self-defense -Only exception to article 2(4); but if someone attacks you, you can defend yourself Article 2(7)- sovereignty -Does not give UN right to intervene in domestic affairs of UN members (UN members can govern themselves)
collective security
"all states would join forces to prevent one of their number from using coercion to gain advantage"; an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all members and so everyone comes "to the rescue"; The agreement to assist others on the condition that they do the same for oneself This in the UN is kind of a way in which institutions do not really work. Very hard to achieve collective security
Problems with collective security
- it's costly for those who support it - most nations have already defined their friends and enemies and thus see no reason to take part in collective security -the problem of power--if a member is attacked by a nation with nuclear weapons then other members getting involved will have more problems they could avoid by just not participating
Security Council
-15 members - 9 affirmative votes + 0 no votes from permanent members -Not so much representation of population, more representation of power -10 members are elected to 2-year terms; bring regional representation
benefits of institutions
set standards for behavior (rules), verify compliance (provide ways to acquire information on compliance), reduce the cost of joint decision-making, resolve disputes (can base off prior agreements, courts provide unbiased decider)
institutions
sets of rules, known and shared by the community, that structure political interactions in specific ways; international system must rely on self-enforcement to ensure cooperation within an institution like the WTO
Bandwagoning:
smaller and less powerful states will fall under the umbrella of the hegemon
UN charter
spells out the UN's role in maintaining peace and security among nations
Actors include
states, politicians, firms/industries, bureaucracies, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (often transnational or international in scope and membership)
14 points
1. Restructure international politics with International Organization 2. National Self-Determination -An early commitment to unravel empires that had been established over the preceding hundreds of years and replace them with independent states -Early commitment to democracy 3. Non-discriminatory international trade (Open Colonial markets and Colonial Raw materials to all nations on equal basis) -Push towards free trade -All states have equal access to all markets everywhere -Get rid of economical dimensions of British and French markets 4. Freedom of the Seas
Cooperation in prisoner's dilemma emerge when...
1. iteration 2. "governments must use reciprocity strategies to enforce the liberalize/liberalize outcome" o tit-for-tat strategy: "each government plays the strategy that its partner played in the previous round of the game 3. "governments must care about the payoffs they will receive in future rounds of the game"
Institutions benefit
the more powerful states; example: allies in WWII created the UN
Coercion:
the threat or imposition of costs on other actors in order to change their behavior; means of international coercion include military force, economic sanctions, and embargoes
Coordination
type of cooperative interaction in which actors benefit from all making the same choices and having no incentive not to comply (example: It's easier for all airline pilots to speak a universal language and more efficient too)
Game Theory:
type of strategic decision making Prisoner Dilemma an example of this
Free rider:
uses the public good without contributing to its cost
Anarchy:
absence of government/international order • No world government/higher order, just a bunch of states doing their own thing
Outside Options:
actors can get a better deal when they have attractive outside options; alternatives to reaching a bargain with a particular partner that are more attractive than the status quo (status quo meaning reality...what's already happening); actors with attractive outside options or alternatives can walk away from bargains easier than those with none
WTO escape clauses
allow nations to temporarily break rules of WTO as a result of crisis (war, economic collapse, etc)
Bargaining:
an interaction in which actors must choose outcomes that make one better off at the expense of another; no actor's gains exceed the losses of the other actor • Bargaining is also called the "zero-sum game" because the games for one side perfectly match the losses of the other • Purely redistributive: involves allocating a fixed sum of value between different actors (one's gain is another's loss)
IAEA (international Atomic Energy Agency)
an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons; accounting, surveillance and inspection • Check what countries are doing with their nuclear material, monitor what they're doing and make sure they're not developing nuclear weapons
Nash equilibrium:
an outcome to prisoner's dilemma; both defect; neither player has an incentive to change strategies unilaterally
Balance of power:
anarchy as organizing principle, counterbalancing coalitions as restraint, equilibrium power as source of stability; multi-polar world; powerful countries dominate their area, but balance each other out; not one main player or one rule system; multiple powerful players balance each other out
Why does the WTO exist?
because it enables societies to cooperate and capture the welfare gains that trade offers
Three basic ways actors can shift reverse outcome in their favor:
coercion, outside options, and agenda-setting power
Collaboration
cooperative interaction in which actors gain from working together but nonetheless have incentives to not comply with any agreement (prisoner's dilemma)
World Bank
development institution; loans or grants to developing nations for things like building hospitals; more US dominated
World Trade Organization
Rules that: Constrain the use of trade policy instruments Determine how governments make new rules A legislative process through which states make rules An enforcement mechanism to ensure governments comply with rules The Logic of WTO Rules: -Rules that establish trade obligations -Tariff rates, services, TRIPs, etc. -Rules that establish escape clauses -Rules that limit the use of escape clauses -Examples: --Shrimp-Turtle Dispute --GMOs --Mad Cow Disease --Tuna-Dolphin --Safeguards for domestic industries
strategic interaction
Situation in which two or more actors are engaged in some form of collective choice or decision making and the outcome they arrive at depends not only on their actions but also upon the actions of others. One actors actions may depend on what they think the other actors are likely to do. Ex: sidewalk dance How do we solve these problems: we invent rules rules evolve out of past interactions
WTO national treatment clause
When a good is in the market you have to place the same rates** on domestic and international goods
Agenda-Setting Power:
a "first mover" advantage that helps an actor to secure a more favorable bargain; while coercion and outside options are exercised after a reverse outcome is reached, agenda-setting power is exercised beforehand -Microsoft was the first to set the agenda for the entire personal computer industry, so it has a dominance in the industry
Entrapment:
a state enters into a treaty/alliance with another state and is obligated to go to war with a third state that the second state goes to war with as a result
Society of States (International Society):
group of states with common values/interests form a society in which they are bound by a set of rules regarding their interactions with one another and share in the working of common institutions
System of States (International System):
group of states with sufficient contact and impact on each other's decision to cause them to behave as parts of a whole
State:
has a monopoly over the use of coercive force in their own territory
Varieties of order
hegemonic, constitutional, balance of power
How the WTO influences prisoner's dilemma
helps iterate the game by creating expectations of repeated interaction; provides information that governments need to use reciprocity strategies, so governments can use the tit-for-tat strategy effectively; provides clear standards against which trade policies are evaluated
Hegemonic:
hierarchy, no restraints on concentrated power, preponderance of power as source of stability; "based on the distribution of power among states, but it operates according to a very different logic: the relations of power and authority are defined by the organizing principle of hierarchy"
Abandonment:
if a state is under the protection of another state and the state protecting them abandons them if they go to war with a third state
Nuclear deterrence:
if one state has nuclear weapons, others won't want to attack them
Extended deterrence:
if you have nuclear weapons, you extend the protection and use of those for the protection of another country • If someone attacks Germany, the US reserves the right to defend Germany with US nuclear weapons
Pareto suboptimal:
it is possible for at least one individual to realize a welfare improvement without making anyone else in society worse off (both actors are better off if they build nuclear weapons than if they don't)
Reverse Outcome:
no bargaining outcome is reached; status quo is sometimes the same, or sometimes the reversed outcome is worse than the status quo; actor is willing to give up more so an agreement is reached
Pareto optimal
no single actor can be made better off without at the same time making another actor worse off
Collective Action Problem:
obstacles to cooperation that occur when actors have incentives to collaborate but each acts in anticipation that others will pay the costs of cooperation -Ex: everyone wants national security, but not everyone wants to pay taxes for it
Cooperation:
occurs when two or more actors adopt policies that make at least one actor better off than it otherwise would be without making the others worse off • Examples of international cooperation: states defending one another, free trade, uphold human rights, etc.
WTO most favored nation clause
All states must treat all other members of this organization as well as they treat their most favored trade partner
Pareto Frontier
Bargaining, cooperation, cooperation/bargaining graphs
Privileged group:
Contains at least one individual whose benefit from the public good are greater than the cost of its production. Hegemon as a privileged group Hegemons supply order; order undersupplied in absence of hegemon. (Mandelbaum; not better governance, but less governance.) Problem: if everyone equally benefits even if they do not help with it then it lessens motivation to help supply public goods Mandelbaum: Assumption that international order is a public good
WTO exceptions to non-discrimination rules
FTAs (article XXIV) - Free Trade Agreements (eg. NAFTA, EU) GSP (GATT Part IV)
Collective action Theory:
Public Goods will be undersupplied because of free riding Order thus likely to be undersupplied because states free ride
Constitutional:
rule of law, binding institutions as restraint, limits on return to power as source of stability; "political orders organized around agreed-upon legal and political institutions that operate to allocate rights and limit the exercise of power"
Coalition building:
• Coalition: temporary alliance or partnering of groups to achieve a common purpose or engage in a joint activity • Coalition building: parties (individuals, organizations or nations) come together as groups with similar values, interests, and goals • Allows members to combine resources and become more powerful together than alone
Define a public good
• Everyone in a society has access to it (non-excludable) • Can be consumed by anyone and it is not diminished for others (non-rivalrous) • Examples: lighthouse, road, public park
Why is international order a public good?
• Order and security is often provided by a few powerful, economically strong states and everyone benefits from it, even though they don't contribute to providing it • Even though everyone utilizes it, order is not diminished for other states
How does Hedley Bull define order?
• Social order: pattern of human activity that sustains elementary, primary or universal goals o Elementary: if these were not accomplished, it could hardly be called a society at all o Primary: any other goals a society may set come second cannot be accomplished until these goals are met o Universal: all actual societies take account of them • All societies have three basic goals: o Security against violence (life) o Security of promises (truth) o Security of possessions (property) • International order: a pattern of activity that sustains the elementary or primary goals of the society of states, or international society o Goals are: • Preservation of the system and society of states • Security of government from external interference (sovereignty) • Absence of war among member states of international society, breached under special circumstances (peace) • Limitation of violence, keeping of promises, stabilization of property
Prisoners' Dilemma
• Strategic interaction: o Depends on the choices of all relevant actors • Dominant strategy: makes sense for an actor to make the same choice regardless of what their opponent does • Equilibrium: outcome that arises when each side plays their best response strategy o Stable because actors have no incentive to alter their choices since they cannot do any better
Mandelbaum reading
• US is a benign hegemony o Don't usually interfere, just try to help other countries • Other countries like to complain about the US as a hegemon, but do nothing to change it because they prefer to free ride
