Transcript Mingst_Chapter 2

The Importance of History
 History shows:
 Emergence of the state and concept of sovereignty
 Development of international state system
 Causes and continuing consequences of
colonialism and two world wars
The Importance of History
 History shows:
 Changes in distribution of power among states
 Theory and practice of contemporary international
relations rooted in European experience, leading
to a Eurocentric focus
Machiavelli (1469–1527)
 In The Prince, argued that since there was no
universal morality to guide them, leaders must act in
the state’s interests, without regard for morality
 Argued a universal Christian kingdom was
unattainable
 Illustrated debate on separation of church and state
Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
 Thirty Years War (1618–1648) began as a dispute
between Catholic and Protestant groups over
supremacy of religious authority
 Ended with economic bankruptcy, devastation, and
depopulation of Europe
Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
 Effects of treaty:
 European states embraced notion of sovereignty
 Monarchs have political authority, not the Catholic
Church
 Sovereigns enjoy rights within own territory
 Right of noninterference in domestic politics introduced
Key Developments
after Westphalia
 Notion and practice of sovereignty develops.
 Permanent national militaries established, which led to
increased political centralization
 Core group of states that dominated world for 300
years: Austria, Russia, Prussia, England, France,
United Provinces
 Capitalist economic system emerges in western
Europe; feudalism maintained in eastern areas
Europe in the Nineteenth Century:
Key Principles
 Legitimacy: John Locke (1632–1704) argued that:
 Political power ultimately rests with the people
 Absolutist rule is limited by mankind
 State is a beneficial institution created by rational
people to protect their natural rights and selfinterests
Europe in the Nineteenth Century:
Key Principles
 Nationalism:
 People share devotion and allegiance to the nation
 Usually based on shared characteristics of the
people: common customs, cultural practices,
historical experience, and perhaps even language
Europe in the Nineteenth Century:
Key Principles
 Forged an emotional link between the state and the
people
 Arose from American and French Revolutions
 Used by Napoleon Bonaparte to raise an army of
422,000 that marched across Europe
Developments in
Nineteenth-Century Europe
Concert of Europe
 Major powers hold ad hoc meetings to solidify power
positions
 Affirmed new states and divided Africa among
European states
 Held together by core beliefs of elite superiority
and fear of revolution from the masses
Advent of Industrialization
 Major focus of states in second half of nineteenth
century
 Britain is leader; becomes source of financing
 Masses flock to cities
Explaining
Nineteenth-Century Peace
 European solidarity: Christian, “civilized,” white
 Elites united by fear of revolution
 Preoccupied by unification of Germany and Italy and
their impact on European power structure
 Engaged in territorial expansion outside of Europe—
colonialism and imperialism
Balance of Power in
Nineteenth-Century Europe
 States with relatively equal power
 When one state or coalition of states is much more
powerful than others (asymmetrical balance), war is
likely
 Form alliances to counteract powerful states
 Britain as nineteenth-century balancer
Key Developments in
Nineteenth-Century Europe
 European imperialism in Asia and Africa helps to
maintain the European balance of power
 The balance of power breaks down due to
solidifications of alliances, resulting in World War I
Key Developments
in the Interwar Years
 Three empires collapse: Russia, Austro-Hungarian
Empire, Ottoman Empire
 In wake of empires’ collapse, nationalism reemerges
and new states are created, although some states
lack political and economic viability
Key Developments
in the Interwar Years
 German dissatisfaction with the World War I
settlement spurs fascism, and Germany finds allies in
Italy and Japan
 A weak League of Nations is unable to respond to
Japanese, Italian and German aggression, nor does it
respond to widespread economic unrest
The Aftermath of World War II
 Massive human rights violations, particularly genocide,
lead to creation of Geneva Conventions
 First use of nuclear weapons technology
 Emergence of two superpowers—United States and
Soviet Union
 Decline of Europe
 Gradual end of colonialism
 Creation of the United Nations
The Aftermath of World War II
 Differences in geopolitical national interests and ideology
(capitalism versus Soviet communism)
 Mutual misperceptions fuel suspicion and mistrust
 Arms race: mutually assured destruction (MAD)
 Development of competing alliances:
 NATO versus Warsaw Pact
 Competition played out by and within third parties as
conflict is globalized
The Cold War as a
Series of Major Crises
 Berlin Blockade (1948–1949)
 Creation of two Germanys
 Korean War (1950–1953)

Creation of two Koreas
 Soviet invasion of Hungary 1956
 Cuban missile crisis (1962)
The Vietnam War
 Proxy wars in Asia, Middle East, Congo, Horn of
Africa, Angola
 U.S. policy of containment to prevent “domino effect”
 Led to questions of United States as a righteous
power
Explaining the Cold War
as a Long Peace
 John Gaddis
 Key role of nuclear deterrence
 Roughly equal division of power led to system
stability
 U.S. economic hegemony maintained stability
within and among its allies
Explaining the Cold War
as a Long Peace
 John Gaddis
 Economic liberalism leads to transnational politics
and eventual obsolescence of great powers
 Long historical cycles of 100–150 years
Key Developments in
Ending the Cold War
 Mikhail Gorbachev institutes glasnost (political
openness) and perestroika (economic restructuring),
which unravel communist system
 Gorbachev’s policies also lead to changes in Soviet
foreign policy, such as the withdrawals from
Afghanistan and Angola in the late 1980s
Key Developments in
Ending the Cold War
 Soviets give up control of European satellite countries,
beginning with Poland, leading to the fall of the Berlin
Wall (Nov. 1989)
 The Soviet Union begins to disintegrate, formally
ceasing to exist on Dec. 25, 1991
The Early Post–Cold War Era
 Iraq invades Kuwait in 1990 and the multilateral
response unites the former Cold War adversaries.
 United States becomes biggest military and economic
power, while Russia rebuilds after economic and political
collapse
 Yugoslavia disintegrates via war into independent states;
genocide in Bosnia; Serbs attack ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo; United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) respond
The Early Post–Cold War Era
 Widespread ethnic conflict arises in Central and West
Africa, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
 Rwanda: genocide with no international response
A New Era?
 Age of globalization
 Al Qaeda terrorist network commits terrorist acts
against the homeland of the United States and U.S.
interests abroad; U.S. and NATO forces respond
militarily in Afghanistan
A New Era?
 U.S. and coalition forces invade Iraq, alleging
preemptive strike against secret weapons of mass
destruction (WMDs)
 Transnational terrorism
 ISIS
 “Rise of the rest”