History of IR (lecture 3 + 4) Flashcards
international order
- regularized practices of exchange between political units
- stable, structured pattern of relationships among states
e.g. pattern of economic interactions, systems of infrastructure/transport/communication
political multiplicity
multiple political units in the international environment are forced to coexist in the absence of an overarching authority
Benchmark dates for IR
debated
most important:
1648 peace of Westphalia
(1555 peace of Augsburg)
Myth of Westphalia
7
- problem with the ‘‘big bang’’ account: the peace of Westphalia wasn’t one big change, it’s effects came gradually + there was a 400 year process leading to ‘‘Westphalian principles’’
- Nation-states aren’t the only successors to the medieval system (empires, city-states, kingdoms, duchies, urban leagues, confederations, papal states, merchant and bank companies, mercenaries)
- Linear boundaries and territorialization of sovereignty are gradual processes
- Nation-state is also a 19th century development
- wasn’t European-wide, let alone global
- gains of Westphalia were relatively slight (e.g. royalty remained powerful)
- peace of Westphalia undermines the 1555 peace of Augsburg: retracting the right of polities to choose their own religion (states were to keep the religion states held on 1 january 1624)
out of what treaties does the peace of Westphalia exist?
treaty of Munster and Osnabrück
Peace of Westphalia
5
1648
important peace converence: outcome of the 30 years’ wars
changes the international system: defines how ir will be managed/treated
historical origins of the modern sovereign state: break with the medieval system + distinction domestic and international
! didn’t end the Holy Roman Empire, may have even prolonged its life
Treaty of Augsburg
1555
sovereignty of religion:
internal affairs of a state get respected
Westphalian state system
states as the central actors in international relations/politics
Bellicist argument
4
- Tilly: War made the state and the state made war
- evolutionary argument to explain that states compete for population, territory and survival
explanation for the emergence of states:
1. threat of war: rulers forced to defend borders
2. larger, more centralized states, increased tax collection and military recruitment
3. expand representative rule and bureaucracy
4. strong states survive, weak states perish
Alternatives to the Westphalian argument
3
Bellicist arguments on the development of states
social contract arguments
! don’t limit yourself to Westphalia: there are other types of political units, other regional and international orders
Euro-centric narrative of Westphalia
2 examples
'’state’’ formation in East Asia 1000 years before Europe
Korea and Japan emerged as ‘states’ between the 5th and 9th centuries (centralized bureaucratic control)
legacies of the long 19th century
2
- rise of the West and the great divergence betwen the West and the rest of the world (what happens in the 19th century is building on earlier growing interconnectedness, it builds on earlier built networks of Europe)
- emergence of an unified international order (interdependence, first (technical) IOs)
Why does the long 19th century matter today?
- it shows early stages of globalization and inequalities
- exploitation and inequality at the global level
- hierarchy of power and influence
- racism and discrimination
- 1905: rise of the rest
Edward Hallett Carr
One of the founding father of IR
connected to the realist school
- debate about the causes of ww1
- structured the realism-liberalism debate
Cold war: hot again?
- popular in pop culture (perhaps out of fear it will happen again with China)
- sometimes insinuated that the situation between China and the US is a cold war
implications of the cold war on IR
6
- decolonization to cold-war rivalries
- bipolar world
- formation of long term alliances
- non-alignment movement
- nuclear revolution (-> long peace or still ungoing?
- emergence of institutionalized international order we know
origins Non-Alignment movement
Bandung conference 1955
First international order
might be ancient Sumer (sedentary communities specialized and cooperated)
Peace of Westphalia v. Peace of Augsburg
religious sovereignty of states -> principle of sovereign territoriality
Peace of Westphalia undermines the 1555 peace of Augsburg: retracting the right of polities to choose their own religion (states were to keep the religion states held on 1 january 1624)
19th century Great Divergence between the West and the rest
6
- industrialization
- emergence of rational states
- imperialism
- capitalism
- ideas of the European Enlightenment
- technological and tactical advances due to high frequency of European inter-state wars
*until the great divergence there was little difference in living standards between the most developed parts of the world)
Rational state
state organized less through interpersonal relations and family ties, and more by abstract bureaucracies such as civil serice and a nationally organized military
leads to more control over the use of force
forms of imperialism
direct-rule colonies
settler colonies
protectorates
bases
treaty ports
spheres of influence
shrinking of the planet
industrialization led to more communication and transport + distinction between industrial core and producing periphery
(before the industrial revolution international order were limited in scale)
What did the global transformation lead to?
shrinking of the planet + emergency of IOs and NGOs + unequal international order