PSCI 2601 Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - International Law, United Nations, Cold War
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSCI 2601
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Lecture 1 (May 1, 2017)
How do we understand International Relations?
o People disagree on the very name of the subject-matter. Some refer to it as
international relations, international politics, global politics, and world politics
o Globalization (different meaning depending on who is studying and discussing it-
women’s studies)
International relations
o The term refers to patterns of interactions among states
o We’re looking at these discrete entities called states
o RRPB (Regularly Repeated Patterns of Behaviour)
▪ Realists: Interested in war: inter-state and intra-state (WWII; Syrian war)
o Also, International Relations is the academic discipline that studies international
politics
“The starting point of international relations is the existence of states, or independent
political communities, each of which possess a govt. and asserts sovereignty in relation to
particular segment of the human population” (Hedley Bull, 1977)
The discipline of International Relations was created in 1919. The significance of this
year is that it was the year WWI ended. Essentially, it is said that there is a relationship
between the end of WWI and the establishment of International Relations. The first
school of this discipline was established in Whales.
Treaty of Versailles ended WWI. Treaty of Westphalia introduced the league of nations
which attempted to maintain peace by providing a forum for resolving international
disputes
Idealists (1919-1939)- institutions can make the world a better place. It was a term used
by the realists to describe the period of 1919 to 1939
Realism (1950s)- it is known as the first great debate which was between realists and
idealists where realists won. This was the dominant theory of internationalism.
Behavioralism (1960s)- It argues that we need to make the social sciences more scientific
as we are losing ground to the heart of the sciences and what we need is the appropriate
method to look at the material that we’re looking at (either human beings, states or other
entities). If we have the right method, we too could be scienced like the hard sciences. It
criticized realism. Unlike the realists, behavioralists say that it’s very hard to have a
science of international politics that’s less than human nature and it’s very hard to have
quantified what human nature is actually about and hard to get a consensus on what
human nature is (a debate about what is human nature?)
A lot of the post-WWII realism was called human nature realism which argued that the
world is the way it is because humans are not very good and politics is a struggle for
power because human beings are selfish entities only seeking to gain power over others.
Essentially, human nature explained through a realist perspective is very negative.
Pluralism (1960s-1970s)- coexistence of realists, liberals, and the scientific wing
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Kenneth Waltz (1979)
o A realist who wrote one of the most influential books called Theory of the
International Politics
o He helped establish a new perspective called neorealism (this theory is saying that
it has nothing to do with human nature. We can get rid of human nature and still
understand international politics Instead, he thinks understanding international
politics is the structure. The structure of International Politics shapes a lot of the
theory of international politics. There is something about the nature of the
structure of international politics that explains why we have RRPBs) there is no
central government in international politics- anarchy was a distinguishing
characteristic of international politics)
o Anarchy is the absence of centralized authority
o Also, discussed the bipolar world where power was essentially distributed
between the two very different superpowers (United States and USSR)
After the 1990s which was the end of the Cold War, many critics of realism emerge. In
the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a reemergence of liberalism, and soon after, the
emergence of globalism, and constructivism. In short, “ideas matter”.
The authors of our book, refer to what we’re studying as World Politics
o The term is more inclusive than other terms
o Authors’ interest is in the politics and political patterns in the world and not only
those between nation-states
o Relations between institutions and organizations that may or may not be states
o A broad conception of politics
WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction)- it refers to chemical, biological and nuclear
weapons- we must try to eliminate the access of the wrong people (terrorist groups) to
these weapons
Globalization and Global Politics
o The politics of global social relations in which the pursuit of power, interests,
order, and justice transcend regions and continents
o Distinction between domestic and international dissolves
o Global governance (giving up sovereignty)
o A broad agenda of global politics
The Need for IR Theory
o Theory is a kind of simplifying device that allows you to decide which facts
matter and which do not
o Without theory, it would be impossible to study world politics
o The facts don’t actually speak for themselves
▪ 9 states have nuclear weapons but what does that actually mean?
o None of us could understand the world we live in or make intelligent choices
without theories
o When we view the world, we’re looking at it from a particular lens and recognize
that there are different perspectives
o Different theories lead to different questions
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
How do we understand international relations: people disagree on the very name of the subject-matter. Some refer to it as international relations, international politics, global politics, and world politics: globalization (different meaning depending on who is studying and discussing it- women"s studies) The starting point of international relations is the existence of states, or independent political communities, each of which possess a govt. and asserts sovereignty in relation to particular segment of the human population (hedley bull, 1977) The discipline of international relations was created in 1919. The significance of this year is that it was the year wwi ended. Essentially, it is said that there is a relationship between the end of wwi and the establishment of international relations. The first school of this discipline was established in whales. Treaty of westphalia introduced the league of nations which attempted to maintain peace by providing a forum for resolving international disputes.
