IP NOTES 11/28

#23 FWC (II)

I Competing Realist & Liberal Narratives
Back to the Future
fuck
New Order of the Ages
fuck, diagrams. oops
II FWC: Anatomy
Security Co-binding
Liberal democratic states have gone beyond democratic peace
-they actually significantly pool their military capacities (NATO is prime example)
-goes beyond a traditional alliance, it's an International Organization (IO)
-after the Cold War, NATO not only continues to exist, but also expand
cobinding is shown in opposition to balancing
In 1950s, being in NATO was extremely dangerous, but they brought Germany into NATO anyways
-this was only a decade after WWII ended
-the argument was that the cobinding here would TIE DOWN germany
Penetrated Hegemony
essentially that the world is hegemonic on some levels
cold war-
-bipolar world, but within their respective empires each pole is hegemonic
-liberals refute this by saying that the US systematically takes into account foreign policies and needs
-it's not the US running, but leading

Semi-Sovereignty
US impinges on other states constitutions/sovereignty
-example, Japan, Germany have PEACE constitutions
Economic Openness
economic openness increases wealth for ALL
-however, it also massively increases economic interdependence
-this is a realist anomaly
-realists- self-reliance
-states are reluctant to enter into arrangements which dont produce relative gains... WRONG!
Civic Identity
when people identify themselves with the polity rather than race or ethnicity, conflict goes way way down
diversity/freedom goes up
integration goes WAY up
III Unexpected Unipolarity: Realist Divisions
Waltzian NeoR
unipolarity was characterized as an unstable and untenable state
-book written by a Waltz student (Taming American Power)
-main argument- states will see american hegemony as a threat to their security and balance
-as of now, since there are no real military counterbalances, states are using SOFT balancing
-states balance against power + threat
Gilpin HST
self-subversion
HST- hegemony stability theory
as a hegemony grows, it becomes even more susceptible to self-subversion
hegemons overextend themselves, manifested in deficits of various sorts
this overextension leads to a challenger (in gilpin's narrative, China)
Wohlforth: Durability Hypothesis
US Unipolarity is NOT a 'moment'
1) unipolar
US position today is far superior to any other hegemon's position
realize, however, that US has only ~5% of world population and ~23% of world GDP
american hegemony is highly dependent on the fact that the rest of the world is highly fragmented
if EU ever actually decides to bind together, then we're fucked
2) uni -> peaceful
as long as US is essentially peaceful, there's no reason to actually challenge it
as long as US is a status quo power, our unipolarity is good
notice that US essentially spends as much on military as the REST OF THE WORLD
-and US still isnt running at capacity. hoooooly shit
bottom line->
3) US Unipolarity is DURABLE
IV IR Theory & IL/IO/Regimes
NeoR (Waltz & Mearsheimer)
wtf
NeoR (Gilpin & Ikenberry)
IL and IO are seen as a valuable expression of power
-they can also CONSERVE power
-when problems arise, you can call for help from allies
-hegemonic state legitimizes itself by helping its allies
Society of States
order increases
respecting of the great powers
NeoCon
variant of wilsonian liberals
they want to convert hierarchy into democratic republics
international order and law decreases
they want to use American power and might to impose said change on other countries
Liberal Globalist Internationalism
idea-
there are problems
organizations solve the problem
very simple, very pragmatic
underlying this is the notion that interdependence is rising

Republican Internationalism
VI leads to increase in hierarchy
-essentially an extension of the state system of 'hierarchy'
V Whither AM Internationalism & FWC
American Unilateralism
multilateralism is on the DECLILNE
american arms control is also on the decline, for some reason
there is a 'new multilateralism'
-old system- escape clauses
-new system- nice try
-old system- one country one vote
-new system- weighted voting
we still support effective, beneficial to us systems such as the WTO
The New Sovereigntists
John Bolton is prime example of a new sovereigntist
international organization and law is VS democracy
-they argue that democracy is ONLY POSSIBLE WITHIN the nation-state
-anything outside the nation-state is a challenge to democracy
J. Rabkin's Law Without Nations is the pretty version of this
The EU-US Divide & American Exceptionalism