INTST101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Nuclear Technology, September 11 Attacks, Port Angeles, Washington
26 Jun 2018
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INTST101 Chapter 7 Security
- Government must ensure the security of its citizens from outside threats
oIf they fail, faces risk of external takeover & loss of legitimacy among its people
- How people define security is defined by the historical and national context
- The key US security threat is terrorism there is no peer military competitor that could
challenge the nation by conventional means
- What people fear determines how they define security
Security from the Emergence of the Nation-State to Realism
- Security represents basic international issue
- Greek historian Thucydides argues that the war began because of the rising power of Athens
shaped Western interpretations of international relations for 2400 years
- Renaissance tries to understand the origins of the state its most fundamental reason for
existence was to provide security for its citizens from outside threats
- People came together & gave up freedoms to have security from internal threats (criminals) and
external threats (invasion)
- Political boundaries did not align with ethnic groups
oAuthority was frequently fractured or divided
oFeudal system a powerful leader could be bound to more than one overlord
oPeople owed political allegiance to their king & religious authority was on pope
oChivalry – bond of knighthood is more important than language or homeland
- 1948 Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War & gave rise to modern nation-state
- Nation-state is a successful construct
- Former empires waned after WW1 but freed regions adopted nation-state system
oSecurity was defined in terms of the nation state & its ability to maintain its sovereignty
oInternal conflicts received little attention as security issues – did not threaten state
- Security was perceived through lens of the Great Power competitions, focus on armed conflict
- Cold war Power shifted to US and Soviet Union
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oTwo parties viewed security in terms of their contest
- Security is thought of as a question defined by relationships b/w states
oScholarship in the field was dominated by a theory called realism – remains the
dominant paradigm in the field
Realism
- Complex and rich theoretical perspective that traces its roots back to the work of Thucydides,
Machiavelli and Hobbes
- 20th century (E.H. Carr) first articulated the theory as he sought to explain why Europe was
sliding into a world war
- Realism as a worldview generally has certain characteristics – its proponents typically view
security as the key issue in international affairs
oShare pessimistic view to both human nature and the inevitability of war
oThe factor in international politics of the state & one of the axioms of realism is that the
international system is anarchic in the sense that there is no superior power to which an
aggrieved nation can appeal
oRealists doubt the power of international law or the international community to limit
conflict – nationals cloak actions in moral rhetoric, they act based on national interests
oStates have no choice but to engage in the strategies of realpolitik (alliance formation
and power balance)
- Doctrine was challenged by other theories such as liberalism (stresses the importance of
international institutions and international law in shaping behaviour)
- Organizations such as UN could create a new global framework & avoid devastating warfare
- Constructivists argue that the international order is defined by identities that result from history
& experience
oOrder is historically contingent and can change
- Both theories are more complex, seek to mount change to realism – argue realism focuses on
conflict and oversimplifies a complex reality
- Critique of realism:
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oActors other than states are important in international affairs, nations are
interdependent in complex ways & military force is not always the key factor in
international relations
- During cold war, policy makers drew on realism b/c its emphasis on the great power politics
(balance of power, alliances and military strategy) accorded with an era of global tension
oThen the Soviet Union collapsed
- In an era of globalization, the meaning of security needs to be rethought – maybe realism has
been superseded as a doctrine
The End of the Cold War
- Reagan administration had warned that the US and its allies were falling behind in military
competition with the Soviets & vast resources were needed to keep up
- Collapse of Soviet Union brought euphoria to the West
oThe end of the war would eliminate the risk of nuclear annihilation & many conflicts
between client states
- Wave of democratization – military regimes collapsed through Latin America (b/c United States
no longer bolstered thoritarian governments based on their anti-Communism)
- South Africa ended apartheid & Eastern Europe adopted democracy as did the Philippines
- Rise of EU and ^ created a sense of optimism
- The endpoint of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal
democracy as the final form of human government
- There was no theoretical framework to shape how policy makers interpreted this new era
oIsolationism washed over the US, Canada & Europe
oGlobal South slid into anarchy – little concern in rich countries about this as it appeared
that Western nations had the security to disengage from the poor regions of the world,
which may be chaotic/dangerous
oSeemed that world might divide into two parts in the future – zones of peace and zones
of turmoil
Zones were defined by their wealth
Developed world – few ideological questions divided the great powers & ties of
democracy mitigated conflict
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Government must ensure the security of its citizens from outside threats: if they fail, faces risk of external takeover & loss of legitimacy among its people. How people define security is defined by the historical and national context. The key us security threat is terrorism there is no peer military competitor that could challenge the nation by conventional means. What people fear determines how they define security. Security from the emergence of the nation-state to realism. Greek historian thucydides argues that the war began because of the rising power of athens shaped western interpretations of international relations for 2400 years. Renaissance tries to understand the origins of the state its most fundamental reason for existence was to provide security for its citizens from outside threats. People came together & gave up freedoms to have security from internal threats (criminals) and external threats (invasion) 1948 peace of westphalia ended the thirty years war & gave rise to modern nation-state.
