1:31 PM
Week 1 Page 3
Thursday
Thursday, October 9, 2014
1:40 PM
Week 1 Page 6
Tuesday
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
1:36 PM
Week 2 Page 8
Thursday
Thursday, October 16, 2014
1:30 PM
Week 2 Page 9
Thursday
Thursday, October 23, 2014
1:46 PM
Anarchy
International system is a system of anarchy
But we can have cooperation despite anarchy
Why do states cooperate on security when they do not have to?
Specifically, why do states form and trust alliances with other states?
Alliances
Commitments by states to cooperate on security policy
Institutions created between states that facilitate cooperation to influence outcomes
of conflicts with states not part of the institutions
Can be bilateral (between two states) or among several states
An attack on one is considered an attack on all
Not the same thing as a collective security organization
Some are asymmetrical
Not all states are equal in power, commitments are made based on that
Offensive or defensive
Offensive: teaming up to attack an outside state
Defensive: teaming up to pledge defense, attack on one is an attack on all
Costly
Commitment to use force
Putting your own soldiers/population at risk, expensive
Reputation
Hard to back down because of a risk of harm to reputation
Limits freedom
Consultation required with other allies before acting
Emboldened allies are a liability
What motivates states to form alliances?
Weak states gain protection
Can signal resolve of a strong state
Combining resources for better defense
Formalize a sphere of influence
Balance of power
A situation in which the military capabilities of two states or groups of states are
roughly equal
An alliance can help achieve this
Does not explain all alliance formation
Bandwagoning, ideology/cultural/religion
Alliances as signals
If A allies with C it signals to B a threat
This can lead to credibility problems
Tradeoff between credibility and control
Taiwan
We want to defer China from using force
But we don't want Taiwan to go and declare independence - we want them to
exercise restraint
Limit commitment through strategic ambiguity
When do alliances work best?
Strong common interests
Fighting war is preferable to abandoning alliance
Week 3 Page 10
Week 3 Page 12
Tuesday
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
1:45 PM
Civil wars
War in which main participants are within the same state
Government/rebel group
Can include non-state actors
No one-sided massacres
1000 battle related deaths or more
Consequences of civil wars
Possible state failure - government loses monopoly on legitimate use of force
Maybe the state is breaking down
Human welfare cost - civilians tend to suffer the most
Financial expense, like rebuilding infrastructure
Basic characteristics of civil war
Fragmented authority
State is losing monopoly on force
Rise of militias, black markets, child soldiers, paramilitary groups
High civilian casualties
Insurgencies
What is an insurgency?
Military strategy in which small lightly armed units engage in hit and run attacks
Can be used to further many different kinds of political agendas
Why these tactics?
Small, weak groups vs larger, stronger adversary
Seek to undermine confidence in the government
Also try to provoke government forces into attacking civilians
Hope that gov will mistakenly kill civilians so they come to insurgent's side
Comparative politics vs. IR
Why study civil wars in world politics (international relations), not just in comparative
politics?
We use tools of analysis used for interstate war
Role of external actors
They play a significant role in civil wars
Supply of arms, money, training, political sanctuary
Spillover across borders
Refugees, etc
Why some groups rebel
Disputes over territory, governance, policy
Or, ethnic/religious divisions
But these things themselves do not cause civil war
Especially important to note: ethnic and religious divisions alone do not cause civil war
Degree of ethnic diversity does not affect rate of civil war
Options
Leave the state
Separatism
Creating an independent state on territory of an existing state
Most of the time does not work
Irredentism
Desire to detach a region from one country and attach it to another, usually
because of shared ethnic and religious ties
Week 4 Page 13
Week 4 Page 15
Thursday
Thursday, October 30, 2014
1:33 PM
Week 4 Page 18