POLS 2331 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Rationality, Qwerty
2 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Mearshimer - the false promise of international institutions . The west has claimed that institutions are crucial for world peace: realists are more cynical about institutions, institutionalists believes that institutions can alter states" preferences and behavior. Institutionalism falls more in line with american values, but it does not accurately describe the world; reliance on institutionalism will result in failure. 5 realist assumptions: anarchy, o ensive military capabilities, uncertainty, states seek survival, rationality. International organizations are intervening variables: cooperation is rare, re ect balance of power, do not a ect war or peace. Absolute gains - institutionalist theory (1/2 of the big pie: relative gains - realist theory; states care about how well they"re doing compared to other states; makes cooperation di cult (2/3 of the small pie) Nato cannot remain as it was during the cold war (14). Koremenos - the rational design of international institutions . Institutions are designed to solve speci c problems.
