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Blair Peterson

Trevor Cook: International relations theories - an introductory guide - 5 views

trevorcook.typepad.com/...tional-relations-theories.html

International Relations theories theory

shared by Blair Peterson on 07 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Theories of international relations seek to explain what states try to achieve in the external realm and when they try to achieve it.
  • Realism 
  • key assumptions: states are the primary actors, anarchy is the international condition, states behave rationally, states seek to keep the system in balance (against capability, threat)
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  • neoclassical realists assume that states respond to the uncertainties of international anarchy by seeking to control and shape their external environment.
  • argues that pragmatism about power can yield a more peaceful world
  • highlights the cooperative potential of mature democracies, especially when working together through effective institutions
  • theory of democratic peace holds that democracies never fight wars against each other.
Blair Peterson

A Brief Introduction to Theories on International Relations and Foreign Policy - 4 views

www.people.vcu.edu/...468theory.htm

International Relations theories theory

shared by Blair Peterson on 07 Oct 14 - Cached
  • System level analysis examines state behavior by looking at the international system. 
  • State level analysis examines the foreign policy behavior of states in terms of state characteristics.
  • Organizational level analysis examines the way in which organizations within a state function to influence foreign policy behavior. 
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  • Individual level analysis focuses on people.  People make decisions within nation states and therefore people make foreign policy. 
  • Classical realism is a state level theory that argues that all states seek power.
  • However, it sees the cause of all the power struggles and rivalries not as a function of the nature of states, but as a function of the nature of the international system.
  • States don’t just seek power and they don’t just fear other powerful states, there are reasons that states seek power and there are reasons that states fear other states.
  • Liberalism adds values into the equation.  It is often called idealism. It is a state level theory which argues that there is a lot of cooperation in the world, not just rivalry. 
  • Neo-liberals might focus on the role of the United Nations or World Trade Organization in shaping the foreign policy behavior of states.  Neo-liberals might look at the cold war and suggest ways to fix the UN to make it more effective.
  • Constructivism is a theory that examines state behavior in the context of state characteristics.  All states are unique and have a set of defining political, cultural, economic, social, or religious characteristics that influence its foreign policy. 
  • Each author is developing a theory to explain the behavior of all states, not just one state.
  • Can you find universal patterns of activity, universal rules that can used to explain how any state behaves?
  • So you use historical data to test your theories. That’s what you’re examining in your papers.  An author has developed a theory or tested two theories.  How well does the author’s argument hold up when tested against the historical data?
  • The US has always had an idealist streak in its foreign policy (some disagree with this) and sees “bad guys” out there in the international system. 
  • How did these organizations create US foreign policy would be the key question at this level of analysis.
  • People are greedy, insecure, and aggressive, so the states they govern will have those same characteristics.
  • The world is anarchy and states do what they can get away with to gain power and they do what they must to protect themselves.
  • States try to build a more just world order.
  • It is a system level version of liberalism and focuses on the way in which institutions can influence the behavior of states by spreading values or creating rule-based behavior.
Blair Peterson

The Challenges of Global Health Governance - Council on Foreign Relations - 2 views

www.cfr.org/...p22202

Public Health Ebola International Relations challenges

shared by Blair Peterson on 07 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • The outbreak of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) found countries scrambling for access to vaccines, an unseemly process that led the World Health Organization to call for a new "global framework" on equitable influenza vaccine access.
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