POL380Y1 Lecture Notes - Security Dilemma, Bandwagoning, Status Quo
8 Aug 2013
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Document Summary
I international politics, one state"s gain in security often inadvertently threatens others. International system is anarchy, how we look at this anarchic system is debated. Many of the means by which a state tries to increase its security decrease the security of others. Built into relative gain assumption (realist); if one states makes gain over another, then that is assumed to be a threat/security risk to others. Walts; security is an objective reality, specific. How do states respond to threats: balancing. Join alliances in order to avoid domination by stronger powers/principle source of threat. States more secure because aggressors face combined opposition. Status quo states eschew threatening foreign policies; powerful states will try to maintain the way of the international system that benefits them. Balancing and bandwagonign framed solely in terms of power. Balancing is alignment with the weaker side; bandwagoning means to choose the stronger. Distinguishes between power and threats, with the latter being the motivation for balancing.
