ECH 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Mutual Assured Destruction, Proxy War, American Imperialism

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Conflict Studies and Human Rights
• Course: ECH 1100
• Professor: Jean- Francois Ratelle

Document Summary

Ech 1100 the post-cold war international system. Post cold-war int"l system: from bipolarity to unipolarity. Polarity of the int"l system changed; moved from bipolar to unipolar: the number of great powers (can project power; among main economic powers; lot of people in pop"ltn; usually defined by military power); geography (e. g. India not a great power just b/c of high pop"ltn. Usa brought military to iraq and waged war. World biolpar b/c 2 powers (usa and ussr) during cold war. Cold war: bipolarity (2 powers: mutually assured destruction (mad, proxy wars. 1990: one role (ussr) collapses; the system becomes unipolar. Unipolarty started around 1990, happens by default b/c only one power left: happened b/c 1 power fell, and 1 left = by default world became unipolar. Main ft. of cold war was bipolarity: smtg. Inherently stable about bipolarity: in some ways bipolarity system is stable if us and ussr went to war, earth would be toast -