PSC 116 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Carl Von Clausewitz, Appeasement, Militarized Interstate Dispute
Document Summary
Historical analogies: belief that a current situation is like a past situation. This belief forms the policy alternatives for dealing with a present situation: usually a poor guide for effective policy as situations are similar but never the same, those differences have big consequences, common analogies: munich(appeasement), vietnam (quagmire). Selective perception: individual sees what they want to see. International relations study both conflict and cooperation but has traditionally been concerned with conflict and its consequences. Since 3600 b. c. , only 292 years without war: since 1816, each decade averages 22 wars, since 3000 b. c. , an estimated 150,000,000 war-related deaths, since 1990, over 2,000,000 of war related deaths. War is the continuation of politics by other means . War is a political act for political goals. Standard criteria for interstate war: a militarized conflict between 2 or more states that results in over 1000 battle deaths (total on both sides: identified over 80 interstates war since 1816.
