international relations and world politics (history)

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND WORLD POLITICS

Chapter Three: History© AFP/Getty Images

Copyright © 2013, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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HISTORY

• History contributes to an understanding of contemporary international politics in terms of what is similar or different from earlier practices

• History encourages caution in the use of historical analogies

• Historical relations incorporate influential political theorists

• History incorporates concepts and theories beyond just facts and figures


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INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS

An international system is an aggregation of diverse entities (including states, empires, international organizations, and non-state actors) linked by regular interactions

Types of international systems:

• Independent

• Hegemonic

• Imperial

• Feudal


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INDEPENDENT STATE SYSTEM

• Consists of sovereign entities with no superior power• Despite differences in their power and capabilities, states are

equally sovereign, and all possess the right to make their own foreign and domestic policy

• States will tend to balance a rising power in the system by forming an alliance against it to maintain the balance of power


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HEGEMONIC STATE SYSTEM

• System is dominated by one or more powerful states– Unipolarity – a single dominant state– Bipolarity/dual hegemony - two dominant states– Multipolarity or collective hegemony – three or more states

dominate the system• Less powerful states may align with great powers• States maintain independence in their domestic affairs


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IMPERIAL SYSTEM

• One unit asserts political supremacy over the others, which accept that claim

• Unlike a hegemonic system, the non-dominant units do not maintain domestic independence, but their domestic affairs are instead managed by the dominant power


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FEUDAL SYSTEM

• Existed between the 9th and 14th centuries• Consisted of diverse entities, including governmental units, trade

associations, and the Catholic Church


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INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS

• The four systems are ideal types• Systems may coexist and even overlap with one another• Future of the international system may diverge from current

trends in important ways• Ideas (like democracy) wield significant power in the future

direction of the international system


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HISTORICAL INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS

• Persian Empire• Greece• India• Rome• East Asia• Feudal Europe


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PERSIAN EMPIRE

• Persian Empire was located in present-day Iran (but extended as far as Egypt and India)

• Emperor Darius the Great ordered the use of Aramaic as the common language for the empire

• Politically, the empire was organized as a series of concentric circles, with control becoming more indirect in the outlying circles, which enjoyed quasi-autonomy

• Persians successfully avoided conflict among members of their empire


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CLASSICAL GREECE

• Greek system consisted of several small city-states– Small populations and limited territory– Close proximity to one another– Diverse internal political systems

• City-states sought to maintain their independence, but eventually a dual hegemony dominated by Athens and Sparta emerged– Athens and Sparta both exerted control over the domestic

politics of their allies– Both powers consolidated control over their spheres of

influence until war broke out between them and Sparta defeated Athens

– An anti-Sparta alliance led to the emergence of an independent state system that ultimately fell to Alexander the Great


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INDIA

• United by geography and Hinduism’s common values• India included many independent political units, whose relations

often included war• Influences from Persia and Alexander the Great prompted the

rise of an Indian empire under Chandragupta Maurya


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ROMAN EMPIRE

• Although it began as a city-state, Rome constructed a vast empire that came to be viewed as a legitimate authority by most of the communities under its rule– Conquered territories reaped the benefit of law and order

and, for some, Roman citizenship– As with the Persian Empire, far-flung territories enjoyed

considerable autonomy• Conquests of Carthage, Greece, and Macedon rapidly expanded

the territory of the Roman Empire and spurred the rise of a central bureaucracy


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EAST ASIA

• Empires also emerged in China and Japan that survived to the 20th century

• Buddhism moved from India to China, and eventually to Korea and Japan

• Contact between Asia and Europe was all but non-existent prior to Marco Polo’s trip in 1369


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FEUDALISM IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE

• Feudal system existed between the collapse of the Roman Empire until the renaissance and Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries

• The Church, which acquired significant wealth and power, spread a message of universality

• By contrast, secular power was highly fragmented and divided among competing authorities

• Diplomacy and politics were driven by personal interests and relationships among monarchs


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THE RISE OF THE EUROPEAN INDEPENDENT STATE SYSTEM

• Power was again concentrated in monarchs’ hands in the 12th century, partly as a result of peace on the periphery of Europe– Peace allowed for inward focus and population growth in Europe– Expanded economic activity allowed for taxation and gave monarchs

financial resources through which they secured coercive power• Growth of literacy allowed for the widespread use of contracts and

the dissemination of ideas, laws, and other norms• Secular and religious authorities clashed over learning, commerce,

and politics, with the state attaining political supremacy over the Church– The Renaissance and the Reformation weakened the Church– The Thirty Years’ War and its resolution solidified the authority of

sovereigns’ authority over their citizens and shifted the balance of power• By the mid 1600s, the territorial state had become the key political

actor in Europe


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THE RISE OF THE EUROPEAN INDEPENDENT STATE SYSTEM


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INDEPENDENT STATE SYSTEM

• Sovereignty of the state became widely accepted– Internal sovereignty – the state possesses exclusive authority

within its borders– External sovereignty – the state is independent in its foreign

relations, though this did little to curtail military competition between states

• Nationalism also became important in the context of the independent state system

• Mercantilism suggested that the state should play an important role in the economy with a view to maximizing its position relative to other states


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THE EMERGENCE OF COLLECTIVE HEGEMONY

• Rise of Napoleon beginning in 1789 prompted cooperation among major European powers

• The Concert of Europe sought to develop rules for the international system and to maintain a balance of power in Europe

• The Concert of Europe maintained a long period of stability in Europe


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GLOBALIZATION OF THE EUROPEAN SYSTEM

• Competition among European states drove their acquisition of empires

• By the early 20th century, the non-European parts of the world also consisted of states– All states were embedded in the global capitalist economic

system– Acceptance of Western rules and practices was widespread


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TWENTIETH CENTURY HEGEMONIC SYSTEMS IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

• Post-World War I, states attempted to create a collective security framework in the League of Nations– System provided for collective action against aggressive

states– The League failed to halt the aggression of the Axis powers

(Germany, Italy and Japan), which led to World War II• Following World War II, states again tried to establish an

international organization to keep the peace, the United Nations (UN)– Cold War politics led to deadlock in the UN– The UN provided the framework for the dismantling of

colonial empires and the emergence of the Third World


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DUAL HEGEMONY DURING THE COLD WAR

• During WW II, the Soviet Union had been an ally of the West against the Axis powers

• Following the end of the war, relations between the US and the Soviet Union deteriorated– The Soviet Union sought to expand its sphere of influence

into eastern Europe– The US response was a policy of containment of the USSR

and communism more broadly• Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the US and Soviet Union

engaged in a global competition, most notably in Cuba where the Soviet placement of missiles nearly led to nuclear war


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DUAL HEGEMONY DURING THE COLD WAR

• The 1970s saw improved relations (détente) and arms control talks between the US and the Soviet Union

• Détente persisted until the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, which brought about new competition in defense spending, contributing to the collapse of the Soviet Union


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RISING POWERS

• European Union– Integrated economic and monetary union– Formed in response to global economic conditions to

enhance competitiveness• China

– Military and economic modernization– Potential to compete with the US militarily and economically

• India– Second only to China in terms of population size– Locked in regional competition with Pakistan over the

disputed Kashmir region


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RISING POWERS

• Russia– Nationalist backlash against the dominance of the US– Economic resurgence

• Brazil– 5th largest state in area and population– Economic growth


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