- War can be managed but never eliminated due to human nature.

- States exist in an anarchic system.

- States are thus insecure and must rely on self-help to find security.

- States can learn to cooperate because of self-interest in the benefits of peace.

- International institutions act as cooperation enablers by reducing transaction cost, providing information, preventing cheating, and promoting issue-linkages.

- Capitalism turns human naturetoward gree and relentless destructive competition.

- The state supports repressive forces of capitalism at the expense of the majority of people, both domestically and worlwide (imperialism)

- War will exist so long as capitalism exists.

-War can be eliminated through the triumph of socialism, which fosters sharing of resources and labor.

Is war inevitable? (Constructivism)

- Threats and enemies are socially constructed

- implications of material objects are socialized as threatening

- Different types of socialization can lead to different outcomes.

          -Example: U.K versus Iran owning nuclear weapons.

- When actors employ violence as leverage in a conflict scenario.

- One or more states will be actors and crossing

boundaries.

- At least 1000 military (not civilian) deaths in combat to be considered international war to differentiate a war from a raid and a skirmish.

   - Borders and access to particular strand of territory because is vital to survival.

-   EX. Sea port, trade, protection by mountains, extend resources when gaining territory, access to clean water sources and petroleum.

Tangible causes of war

Who controls national government.

·      Primary internal civil wars. 20^th century with 2 or 3 faction fighting over government.

EX. Cold war, US and Soviet pick sides and lending them military support, intelligence, surveillance, and selling weapons. Foreign government are meddling in the issues.

Tangible Causes of War

Economic Conflict

·      Most common, so many possible points of interaction in trade, which can be a potential conflict. Trade and ownership of resources.

EX. China and Vietnam very pissed at each other, countries are saying they own the unclaimed land. Moving military navy closer to one another.

Tangible Causes of War

Nationalization Issues

·      Privately own to State ownership of resources. EX. We have too many foreigners owning stuff in our society, that means wealth being created through our natural resources is stolen and taken away, so they would nationalize industry.

EX. Fidel Castro with sugar industry, which was owned by Americans. After Cuban government took ownership, Americans performed an embargo and Bay of Pigs (would have been military invasion if successful) Fidel offered in payment plan through last year’s taxes, American corporation said laughed and said no, Cuban currency no one would take, also American corporation lied about how much they claim and skimming off a lot of wealth and pay less taxes.

Intangible Causes for War

Ethnic Conflict

- Conflict between ethnic groups.

- Enthnicities tend to share a similar culture and ancestry but they dont have a political identity like nations do.

- Ethnicity creates stereotypes to choose one ethnic group over another.

EX. Genocide of Rhonda, Nazi Germany, can really sell idea to public in times of insecurity

Intangible causes of war

Groups's core values

·      Moral beliefs that were ingrained in us when we’re young, belief system told what is good and bad. Strong dichotomy. What is evil must be destroyed and eliminated!

EX. Pedophilia, Euthanasia, Hitler, but have different groups having different opinions on what is evil.

EX. US foreign policy we’re not consistent in our behaviors, secretive covert behaviors, we claim to like peace, but support dictatorship in Iran and sell weapons to Iran and Iraq, in Muslim religion, Shia would think that’s a deceiver aka Satan.

Intangible causes of war

Idealogical Conflicts

- What is the best form of government and/or the economy?

- States have fundamental difference of what is best, they go to war because they believe they have the best solution for mankind. We believe we have the right opinion, people have been struggling and still talking about. Sometimes it starts to encroach on other countries.

EX. US believe capitalism, while Soviet believe in socialism and communism as the best form, and begin spreading their ideology, convinced Cuba and we got freaked out. Country at the brink of war or going to war.

Individual Level of Analysis: Causes of War

The Individual

Both the characteristics of individual leaders and the general attributes of people have been blamed for war.

• Realist interpretation: Characteristics of the masses lead to the outbreak of war. Aggressive behavior is adopted by virtually all species to ensure survival. War is the product of biologically innate human characteristics or flawed human nature.

• Liberal interpretation: Misperceptions by leaders, such as seeing aggressiveness where it may not be intended, or attributing the actions of one person to an entire group, can lead to the outbreak of war.

State Level of Analysis: Causes of War

State and Society

War occurs because of the internal structures of states.

• Liberal explanations: Some types of economic systems are more war-prone than others, such as aristocratic states. Democratic regimes are least likely to wage war because democratic norms and culture inhibit the leadership from taking actions leading to war.

• Radical explanations: Conflict and war are attributed to the internal dynamics of capitalist economic systems: the competition between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat over economic dominance and political leadership. This struggle leads to war.  One manifestation of this is diversionary war: war designed to hold off a domestic political crisis by temporarily unifying the populace.
  • Conflict over what institutions should govern a state can also lead to civil wars as groups attempt to impose their preferred system.

International Level of Analysis: Causes of War

The International System

• Realist interpretation: The international system is equivalent to a state of war; it is anarchic and governed only by a weak and overarching rule of law. War breaks out because there is nothing to stop it.  States themselves are the final authorities and the ultimate arbiters of disputes; herein resides sovereignty.
  • A state’s security is ensured only by its accumulating military and economic power.
  • Groups seeking self-determination cannot appeal to higher authority.
• Realist variant: Power transition theory: Represented by the work of Organski, this theory argues that changes in state capabilities lead to war. War occurs when a dissatisfied challenger state begins to attain the same capabilities as the hegemon. Modelski and Thompson find that there are regular cycles of power as old powers decline and new powers rise.

• Radical interpretation: Dominant capitalist states within the international system need to expand economically, leading to wars with developing regions over control of natural resources and labor markets.

Just War Doctrine

• The idea that wars must be judged according to two categories of justice:
  
• (1) jus ad bellum = Justness of war
• Just cause, right intention, legitimate authority, last resort, reasonable chance of success, and proportionality.
  
• (2) jus in bello = Justness in war
• discrimination between combatants and noncombatans, and propornality.
  
• Just war is a "Normative Theory"
• Shows what should be done in world politics through some fundamental normative presuppositions.

Just Causes of War: National Defense

National Defense

Article 2(4)of the UN Charter: All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the UN.

• Individuals have the right of self-defense.
• A state is like a person, with its own life.
• Therefore, a state has the right of self-defense.

The Collective Self-Defense Argument.

• Individuals have the right of self-defense.
• A state is a collection of individuals.
• Therefore, a state has the right of self-defense.
  

Just Cause of War: Humanitarian Intervention

• State Sovereignty versus Human Rights.

• Responsibility to Protect.
  

Just Cause of War: Preventive War

• Eliminating the threats of weapons of mass destruction before they become immient.

Just Causes of War: Poverty

• Enforcing global distributive justice.

Just Cause of War: Right Intention

• A war should be intitiated with an intention to pursue the just cause of war.

• Does intention really matter?
• No. Poisoning you wife with the correct medicine.
• Yes. Killing your ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend out of jealousy.

Just Causes of War: Legitimate Authority

• A war must be initiated by an actor with legitimate authority.

• Only the state has legitimate authority to fight.

• Challenges from international organizations
•  United Nations

• Challenges from non-state actors
• Terrorists, individuals, rebels

Just causes of war: Last Resort

• One should only go to war if they have exhausted all plausible peaceful alternatives to resolving the conflict in question.

Just causes of war: Reasonable Chance of Succes

• One shold not go to war if one does not have any chance to win.

Just causes of war: Proportionality

(in jus ad bellum - Justice of war)

• The good resulting from war should be proprtional to the harm resulting from war.

• Relevant goods
• Universal harms

Just causes of war: Proportionality

(in jus in bello - Justice in war)

• Soliders may only use force proportional to the end they seek. No excessive force.
• Discrimination between combatants & noncombatans

Protocol 1 Addition to the Geneva Conventions, 1997, Article 48:

• In order to ensure respect for and protection of civillian population and civillian objects, the parties to the conflic shall at all times distinguish between civillian pop. and combatants and civillian objects and military objects and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives
• Noncombatant immunity.
• civiliians do not threaten soldiers
  

Collective Security

Assumptions of collective security

• Wars are caused by aggresive states.
• Aggressors must be stopped
• Aggressors are easily identified
• Aggressors are always morally wrong
• Aggressors know ahead of time that the international community will act against them

Weakness of Collective Security in Practice.

• There is a lack of commitment by some nations to act in concert.
• Never works against permanent members of UN Security council due to veto power
• Difficulty of identfying aggressor

Collective Goods

Problems of Collective Action and Collective Goods

• Public goods are resources and resources are not infinite.

• As each individual acts rationally to maximize their own gain, the collectivity suffers, and eventually all individuals suffer

• The Tragedy of the Commons

Solutions to Collective Good's Problems

Garrett Hardin (The Tragedy of the Commons) proposes solutions:

• Use of coercion: Imposition of fines or imprionment

• Changing preferences; education, raising awareness campaigns.

• Altering group size to ensure compliance

Diversionary War

• Leaders intiate wars to divert public's attention away from domestic problems
• Personal and corrupt political ambitions:
  
• Domestic economic downturns
• Scandals

Security Dilemma

• As one state seeks to ameliorate its insecurity, it seeks power
• Once state A gains power, it inadvertently makes state B insecure
• State B then seeks more power, which it might not have otherwise done
• As state B gains power, state A again becomes insecure and seeks more power

RESULTS: Vicious circle of power accumulation Permanent condition of tension

Nuclear Deterrence

• The military doctrine that an enemy will be deterred from using nuclear weapons as long as he can be destroyed as a consequence

In Practice

• Info. anout the threat must be communicated and credible
• States must build arsenals for a credible threat (nuclear second-strike capabilities): MAD
• Opposing actors are assumed to be rational so they will not attack.
  

Problems of Deterrence

International Law

Consists of body of both rules and norms regulating actions among states, between states and IGOs, and Sometimes among IGOs, Individuals, and states.

Purposes:

• Legitimates use of force
• Mechanism for settling disputs
• Norms of permissible and impermissible behavior
  

Characteristics of International Law

• Custom
• Authoritative bodies
• Treaties
• Courts (International, national, local)

International Court of Justice

International Criminal Court

Nongovernmental Organizations

(NGO's)

• Private, voluntary organizations whose members are individuals or associations that come together to address a common purpose, often oriented to a public good

• Not sovereign; lack resources available to states

• Some entirely private, and some partially rely on government aid

• About 7,500 have an international dimension; local or national NGOs may number in the millions

Roles of NGOs

International Governmental Organizations

(IGOs)

Roles

• Preventing cheatings
• Arena for bargaining and dispute resolution

• Provides information and transparency
• Reduce transaction costs

Examples of IGOs

• U.N, NATO, World Bank.
  

The United Nations: Founding Principles.

Global Governance

(IGOs)

• The interaction of actors (states, IGOs) in order to solve common problem

• Political interaction of transnational actors aimed at solving problems that affect more than one state or region when there is no power of enforcing compliance. The modern question of world governance exists in the context of globalization. In response to the acceleration of interdependences on a worldwide scale, both between human societies and between humankind and the biosphere, world governance designates regulations intended for the global scale.

Supranational Integration

• The current trend of the subsuming of a number of states into a larger entity