POL208Y5 Lecture 3: lecture 3 blackboard reading notes
Document Summary
We tend to move away from notions implying much national autonomy & independence of choice & toward a more deterministic orientation. Permits significant differentiation among our actors in the int"l system: disadv: May lead to marked exaggeration of the diffs among our sub-systemic actors. Leads to a sort of ethnocentrism" where the observer is prone to attribute many of what he conceives to be virtues of his own nation and the vices of others, especially the adversaries of the moment. Is only applicable w/i its particular framework: discussion of whether nat"l behaviour is purposive or not. Whether those who act on behalf of the nation in formulating & executing foreign policy consciously pursue rather concrete goals. Fourth point concerns the very nature of the nation as an actor in ir: who or what is it that we study, is the nation a unit or an agglomeration of inds, institutions, customs, and procedures, conclusion.
