PSC 2442 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Democratic Peace Theory
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August 30th 2017: Why Create IOs?
● Realism: are IOs a good thing?
○ John Bolton very against IOs. Realists see IOs as useless and dangerous
○ Origins of thought: Thucydides, who wrote the Helian Dialogue which proposed
the idea that strength rules politics. The exchange lays out basic ideas of realism.
■ International politics dangerous, self help system, no justice morality rule
of law, power rules, can’t trust allies
● Basic Principles of Realism
○ Anarchy, states have offensive capabilities, uncertainties about intentions, states
worry about survival, power zero sum
○ Policy implication: amass power and guard it carefully, be prudent, be careful
who you trust, concentrated power is a good thing
● Implications for IOs
○ Not always opposed, some even consider them useful as tools for the powerful.
However, others feel IOs are dangerous and lull states into a false sense of
security violating realist tenants
● Problems with Realism
○ Too many IOs, more than any realist would expect
○ Not all states can or will hurt each other, how uncertain are we of others
intentions, most politics not about survival, power is not always zero sum
● Amassing power not the only/best way to survive
○ Conquering other states is not always profitable or reasonable
○ Power of other states not always a threat, not all kinds of power are threatening
(i.e. economic power), states tolerate neutrals now
● Power is not always a zero sum
○ States often want absolute, not relative gains
○ Win-win situations are possible and common
● Implications for IOs
○ Can use IOs to make you better off
○ Lots of IOs doing big jobs with the support of states
○ IOs can help states get what they want
● How IOs can help states
○ Provide neutral forum for disputes
■ Ex) “Support for States Interactions) in A and S reading
○ Managing joint activity
■ Ex) “managing substantive operations” like bailing Greece out of debt,
states don’t want the job but IOs can do it and be neutral
○ Collect information, create transparency like IAEA reporting on nuclear activity
○ Clarify rules and what constitutes compliance
● Trust is possible, especially among democracies
○ Democratic peace theory, more trust, more willingness to cooperate → More IOs
and more willingness to give bigger jobs to IOs
Many IOs look to create more democracies