Power and International Relations

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Session 11

• Power and International Relations

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Examination

• We will do a one hour exam.
• You must answer three questions only
• Enjoy!
• I will then ask you to fill out the assessment
  forms. Payback time!
• The form for presentations is out there.

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Introduction

• There is much discussion about how technology and
  globalisation have affected the exercise of power
  if at all.
• It is argued that technology has the potential to
  increase the power of the state over individuals
  by invading their privacy. I suggest that this is
  relative. In a small society it is fairly easy
  for the dictators soldiers to find someone and
  kill them.
• Technology and the exercise of power in
  international relations is also a controversial
  topic e.g. do nuclear weapons change things?

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Basics

• We have considered many relevant aspects of power
  in international relations under earlier
  headings. Here, I want to pull some of these
  together and address the question directly.
• Power in international relations has its
  traditional aspects but there is much current
  debate about transnational power and
  globalisation. It is argued that states, or at
  least some states, no longer have complete
  control over their internal affairs because of
  the economic power of international businesses
  and other factors.
• The points we discussed when looking at the media
  are also relevant here where it is hard for
  countries to control what information comes in -
  although DPRK does ?

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Warfare

• There is an enormous literature on power
  relations amongst states and we can only scratch
  the surface here. I will not go into all the
  theories but focus on the exercise of power and
  the question of what is different now from in the
  past.
• We need not dwell on the simple exercise of power
  like the invasion of a weaker power by a stronger
  one. Power there depends on military prowess and
  increasingly that means technology and industrial
  capacity. Germany and Japan were not defeated in
  WWII because their military skills were inferior
  but because they lacked the industrial capacity
  and the manpower to replace losses.
• Today, technology is most important e.g. Israel.

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Victory Peace

• One thing that has not basically changed is that
  battlefield victories do not last unless you have
  boots on the ground in the defeated country and
  can keep the population down.
• It used to be common to kill all the men and sell
  the women into slavery which was generally
  effective but today this has gone out of fashion.
  However, as Iraq has shown, quick battlefield
  victories do not necessarily bring peace.
• The exercise of power over a defeated enemy is a
  complex and difficult task.

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Peacekeeping

• Is peacekeeping an exercise in power?
• Peacekeepers usually go in with a UN mandate and
  often with the permission of all or some of the
  parties involved.
• A UN resolution establishing a peacekeeping force
  or blessing an existing one provides a kind of
  international legitimation for intervention.
• The Korean War was a UN sponsored effort to roll
  back an invasion as was the first Gulf War. A
  problem the coalition of the willing faces is
  that it failed to get UN backing for its invasion
  which means it is constantly looking for
  legitimation.

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International Relations

• Traditional international relations theory and
  practice is all about power relations between
  states. Countries are referred to as powers,
  some of them, Great Powers.
• But there are many states which contain many
  communities whose members may not even see
  themselves as members of the state, let alone
  give it their first loyalty.
• There are also communities which transcend
  national boundaries. The affinity may be vague
  like Muslims since the fall of the Caliphate or
  more structured like Roman Catholics.

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Basic Approaches

• This is not the place to discuss theories of
  international relations but there are two basic
  approaches.
• The realists ignore morals and focus on things
  like the balance of power what others do
  internally is there business.
• The others say there is a moral dimension and
  focus on things like international organisations
  and human rights.

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Weak States

• Weak or failed states do not have a strong sense
  of community loyalty does not lie with a central
  government. Thus, power is diffused and confused.
• The international system is, however, based on
  nation states. Only states can be a member of the
  UN. So you may have a government represented at
  the UN which does not control its territory.
• On what grounds can states intervene in the
  internal affairs of others? To preserve human
  rights? To prevent bloodshed? To restore or
  create stability? To facilitate the secession of
  a community?
• When can it be military or when economic or other
  kinds of sanctions?
• In practice, much depends on politics and power.

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The State System

• The so-called Westphalian or Western notion of
  the state was adopted by the UN and, as noted, is
  the basis for our international system.
• There is a widespread assumption that the
  superiority of a stable, democratic nation state
  is the ideal system. But is it? Why?
• Many people have got along perfectly well without
  a nation state. How can power be exercised
  internationally? Only by force?

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Alternatives

• In fact, many states are not real states. The
  attempt to force communities into a national
  Procrustean bed has often been a dismal failure.
  Would they be better off as clans or tribes or
  religious communities?
• The answer is a matter of opinion but human
  history suggests that big fish eat little fish so
  would they survive? Consider The Solomons, PNG,
  Timor Iraq
• A major dilemma for the UN and others is to what
  extent and by what right can the UN or others
  intervene in the internal affairs of other
  states. In theory they cannot, but they do.
• Discuss

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Soft Power

• We considered Joe Nyes concept of soft power and
  you have a reading on that as well as his earlier
  work on transnational bodies. The earlier work
  was all about the influence on non-government
  actors in international relations while soft
  power is about the power of attraction through
  example.
• History is full of examples where people followed
  other people or empires or countries because they
  found their ideas and practices attractive. Often
  attitudes may be mixed, e.g. Rome, USA.
• Nye argues that the USA has in the past led by
  example but the Iraq war and some other policies
  are losing it the reputation which gave it
  influence. Force has not worked.

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Trans-nationalism

• International relations are increasingly
  complicated by non-state actors which exercise
  considerable power. We have looked at the media
  and some others.
• International businesses are another good
  example. The United Fruit Company in Latin
  America, Royal Dutch Shell, Microsoft, the big
  Japanese zaibatsu and many others. Small states
  are very vulnerable.
• International organisations and lobbies can
  exercise power.
• But the nation-state is still the main actor.

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International System

• The UN is an attempt to establish a world system
  to keep the peace but it is limited by the power
  and interests of its members especially the big
  ones.
• Some of the entities involved in the
  international system are the UN, other regional
  bodies, nations, religious groups, global
  businesses, lobby groups, the media and others
  all of whom have their own agenda.
• All exercise power in some way and interact in
  different ways but we do not really have a neat,
  functioning system more of an unruly mixture.

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Course Summary

• I have tried to give you a feel for the ways in
  which power can be exercised and legitimated. It
  may be done overtly or it may be hidden so that
  you dont know what is happening.
• We have also looked at different ideas about
  what power is and how it is legitimated. This
  should help you understand some personal and
  international conflicts based on different
  notions of what is legitimate.
• While there has been much emphasis on theory, you
  should find what you have learned of practical
  value in dealing with the big wide world.
• It would be nice to think that it is love that
  makes the world go round but, as I said at the
  beginning, I fear it is really power.

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Next Week

• Next week you do your presentations. Please
  remember that 15 minutes is a maximum time and
  that shorter is better. Aim at no more than ten
  minutes.
• Make sure you are there well before your
  scheduled time because we may make up time.
• This is when you find out who your friends are.
  It is better to present in front of an audience
  of friendly faces instead of just me and my sharp
  pencil. So support your fellow students.

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Presentations

• Try not to read your presentation. Make it short
  and punchy. There is no need for references or
  literature reviews.
• If you use power point or something similar, you
  can assume that your audience knows how to read
  dont just read to them what is on the slides.
• The point of the exercise is to summarise the
  basic features of your paper in an interesting
  way. This means some things get left out.

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Feedback

• I would welcome any comments you may have on the
  course.
• I would prefer that they be non-violent.
• Would you also please fill in the Payback
  assessment sheet and hand it to our volunteer.
• Thank you for doing the course I hope you
  enjoyed it.