POLS 1600 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Collective Security, Security Dilemma, Bush Doctrine
21 Jun 2018
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CHAPTER 13 (Week 4) – The Realist Road to Security through Alliances,
Arms Control and the Balance of Power
Security dilemma – the propensity of armaments amassed by one state for apparently defensive
purposes to be perceived by others as threatening, which drives the alarmed competitors to
undertake as a countermeasure a military build-up, with the result that the arming states’
insecurities increase
Response of states:
- Arm themselves
- Form (or sever) alliances with other countries
- Negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements to reduce the threat of adversaries’
weapons
Realist Picture of the Global Environment (fig. 13.1):
Primary global condition:
Anarchy, or the absence of authoritative governing
institutions
Probability of system change/reform:
Low, except in response to extraordinary events (ex. 9/11)
Prime actors:
States, and especially great powers
Principal actor goals:
Power over others, self-preservation and physical security
Predominant pattern of actor
interaction:
Competition and conflict
Pervasive concern:
National security
Prevalent state priorities:
Acquiring military capabilities
Popular state practice:
Use of armed force for coercive diplomacy
Realist policies:
- Prepare for war – if you want peace, prepare for war
- Remain vigilant – no state is to be trusted further that its national interest
- Avoid moralism – standard of right an wrong apply to individuals and not states; in world
affairs amoral actions are sometimes necessary for security
- Remain involved and actively intervene – isolationism is not an alternative to active
global involvement
- Protect with arms – strive to increase military capabilities, and fight rather that to submit
to subordination
- Preserve the balance of power – do not let nay state or coalition of states become
predominant
- Prevent arms races from resulting in military inferiority with rivals – negotiate
agreements with competitors to maintain favourable military balance
The Impact of Alliances on National and Global Security
Alliances – coalitions that form when two or more states combine their military capabilities and
promise to coordinate their policies to increase mutual security
- When faced with a common threat, provides them with the means of reducing probability
of being attacked (deterrence), obtaining greater strength in vase of attack (defence),
while precluding their allies from alliance with the enemy
- Greatest risk: they bind a state to commitment that may later become disadvantageous
- Better to have alliance just to deal with immediate threats
Deterrence – a preventative strategy designed to dissuade an adversary from doing what it
otherwise might prefer to do, such as initiating a military attack
Self-help – reliance only on one’s own state for defence because under anarchy no state can
depend on others – even allies – to come to its defence if attacked
Rational choice – a decision made by careful definition of the situation, weighing of goals,
consideration of all alternatives, and selection of the options most likely to achieve the highest
goals
Five fundamental flaws of alliances (according to realists):
1. Alliance enable aggressive states to combine military capabilities for war
2. Alliances threaten enemies and provoke the creation of counter-alliances, which reduces
the security of both coalitions
3. Alliance formations may draw otherwise neutral parties into opposed coalitions
4. Once states join forces, they must control the behaviour of their own allies to discourage
each member form reckless aggression against its enemies, which would undermine the
security of the alliance’s other members
5. The possibility always exists that today’s ally might become tomorrow’s enemy
Collective security – a global or regional security regime agreed to by the great powers setting
rules for keeping peace, guided by the principles that an act of aggression by any state
automatically will be met by a combines military response from the rest
Realpolitik Assumptions of Balance-of-Power Theory
Balance of power – the theory that peace and stability are most likely to be maintained when
military power is distributed to prevent a single hegemon or bloc from controlling the world (no
one state is strong enough to dominate others)
- Supporters: an equilibrating process that maintains peace by counterbalancing any state
that seeks military superiority, distributing global power evenly through alignments or
shifts by nonaligned states to one or the other opposed coalitions
- Alignments – the acceptance by a neutral state threatened by foreign enemies
of special relationship short of formal alliance with a stronger power able to
protect it from attack
- Critics: deny its effectiveness, believe it breeds jealousy, intrigue and antagonism
Drive for expanded power guides every state’s actions, therefore all countries are potential
adversaries and that each must strengthen its military capability to protect itself ! rationalizes
the quest for military superiority, because others pursue it as well ! balance of power
Security regime – norms and rules for interaction accepted by a set of states to cooperatively
increase their mutual security
- Stops the temptation of any great power to imperialistically attempt to conquer others;
aggression would appear unattractive and would be averted, because as alliances combine
power, neither would have a clear advantage
Document Summary
Chapter 13 (week 4) the realist road to security through alliances, Form (or sever) alliances with other countries. Negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements to reduce the threat of adversaries" weapons. Anarchy, or the absence of authoritative governing institutions. Probability of system change/reform: low, except in response to extraordinary events (ex. Prepare for war if you want peace, prepare for war. Remain vigilant no state is to be trusted further that its national interest. Avoid moralism standard of right an wrong apply to individuals and not states; in world affairs amoral actions are sometimes necessary for security. Remain involved and actively intervene isolationism is not an alternative to active global involvement. Protect with arms strive to increase military capabilities, and fight rather that to submit to subordination. Preserve the balance of power do not let nay state or coalition of states become predominant.
