A Historical Look at Contemporary International Relations

1
A Historical Look at Contemporary International
Relations

• Pre- Westphalian World
• The Westphalian System
• Nineteenth Century Europe
• The World Wars
• The Cold War

2
Pre Westphalian World

• Greek City States
• Roman Empire
• Middle Ages
• Late Middle Ages

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Greek City States (c. 400 B.C.)
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Greek City States (c. 400 B.C.)

• Organized independent states conducted peaceful
  relations with each other as they vied for power
• Even as militaries clashed theses city states
  still conducted economic relations and trade
• Precursor to the modern state system

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Roman Empire (50 B.C. A.D. 400)
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Roman Empire (50 B.C. A.D. 400)

• Origin of imperialism developing the practice
  of expanding territorial reach
• Maintain state security by expanding resources
  and boundaries, while at the same time ensuring
  domestic stability
• Centralization of power
• Empire is united through law and language, while
  allowing some local identity

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Middle Ages (400-1000)

• Centralization of RELIGIOUS authority in the
  church
• Decentralization in political and economic life
• Feudalism, which placed authority in private
  hands, was the response to prevailing disorder in
  the former Roman Empire
• Power/authority was placed in different
  overlapping levels

8
Late Middle Ages (1000 1500)

• Secular trends begin to undermine feudalism and
  the authority of the church
• Increased trade promotes both economic and
  diplomatic relationships
• Development of transnational networks spawn the
  age of exploration
• MARKS THE TURNING POINT!

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Treaty of Westphalia

• Ended the Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
• Embraced the notion of sovereignty
• Monarchs had the ability to chose the version of
  Christianity for his/her people
• Pope and HRE emperor stripped of power now
• Sovereign states emerged with national armies
  which were secularly based
• Established a core group of states that dominated
  the world until the beginning of the 19th century

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Europe after the Peace of Westphalia
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Dominant States

• Austria Hungary
• Russia
• Prussia
• England
• France
• Netherlands Belgium
• (United Provinces)

Eastern powers revert to Feudal practices
Capitalism will spawn economic development in
the west.
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Europe in the 1800s
13
19th Century Europe

• Post American (1776) and French (1789)
  Revolutions
• Concept of limited government introduced - the
  monarch derives his legitimacy from the people
  (Locke, Two Treatises on Government)
• Rise of Nationalism this leads people to want
  to participate in the political process
• Balance of Power brings relative peace to Europe

14
Late 19th Century Europe

• Balance of power threatened when alliances begin
  to form and Russia invades Turkey (1877)
• European imperialism in Africa and Asia helps to
  maintain the European Balance of Power
• Balance of power breaks down due to
  solidification of alliances, resulting in WWI

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World War I

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austro
  Hungarian Empire) was assassinated in Sarajevo
  (Bosnia)
• Germany, an ally of Austria, encouraged them to
  attack Serbia thus beginning the war
• Russia, England, and France enter the war on
  behalf of Serbia
• Germany enters on the Austrian side
• WWI officially ends the Balance of Power in Europe

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Interwar Years

• Three empires collapse
• Russia
• The Austro-Hungarian Empire
• The Ottoman Empire
• German dissatisfaction with the WWI settlement
  leads to fascism allies with Italy Japan
• A weak League of Nations is unable to respond to
  Japanese, Italian, and German aggression, nor
  does it respond to widespread economic unrest.

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Fascism

• Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology
  (generally tied to a mass movement) that
  considers individual and other societal interests
  subordinate to the needs of the state, and seeks
  to forge a type of national unity, usually based
  on, but not limited to, ethnic, cultural, or
  racial attributes.

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World War II

• Axis Powers (Germany, Japan, Italy) crushed by
  the Allied Powers (England, US, France, and
  Soviet Union- an uneasy alliance)
• Yalta Conference US, England, USSR planned for
  peace post war creation of United Nations
• Redistribution of power after the war US vs.
  Soviet Union
• Changing political boundaries
• USSR absorbed the Baltic States, parts of
  Finland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania
• Germany and Korea were divided
• Japan was ousted from most of Asia

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Yalta Conference 1945
Whats his problem?
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COLD WAR

• Begin to use the term Superpower referring to
  the US and USSR
• Decline of European power
• USSR creates buffer states by taking over in
  Eastern Europe Russia had been invaded from the
  west on many occasions
• US begins to use the policy of containment
  Truman Doctrine
• Ideological disagreements b/w US USSR

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Cold War cont.

• NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
• Related crises occur throughout the world
• Korean War
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Vietnam War
• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
• A long peace is sustained by mutual (nuclear)
  deterrence
• The creation of the bipolar world in essence
  provided a new Balance of Power

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End of the Cold War

• 1985 - Gorbachev introduces ideas of glasnost
  (openness) and perestroika (restructuring)
• 1989 Berlin Wall comes down symbolizing the end
  of communism in Europe
• 1992 The Soviet Union disintegrates
• The world is no longer bipolar US enjoys
  superpower status alone

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Key Developments Post-Cold War

• Changes are made in Soviet/Russian foreign policy
  by withdrawing from Afghanistan and Angola in the
  late 80s
• 1991 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait the multilateral
  response unites the US and Russia
• 1992 Yugoslavia breaks up, civil war ensues in
  Bosnia and Kosovo, NATO responds

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Post-Cold War cont.

• 1990s Widespread ethnic conflict arises in
  central and western Africa, Central Asia, and
  India
• 2001 Al Qaeda attacks the United States US and
  coalition forces respond militarily in
  Afghanistan (02) and Iraq (03)

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21st Century what events would you add?
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NEW WORLD ORDER

• With the end of the Cold War the US remained the
  only super power.
• First time in the 20th century that one country
  alone wielded so much power.
• Are there new super powers emerging and if so
  who? Why is the power of these states rising?
• How are states aligning themselves in todays
  international political setting?