Lecture 3 Flashcards

Question

Hierarchy in int. relations

Answer 1

Lake 2019. International hierarchies are “bargains between ruler and ruled premised on the former’s provision of social order of value sufficient to offset the loss of freedom.” * One state agrees to cede some authority (sovereignty) to another in exchange for security, economic, or political benefits. Hierarchies are an important part of governance in the absence of world government. * US-Europe: US provides defense umbrella… expects political support. * US-Caribbean: US maintains order & keeps outsiders out… expects political support & free trade. * WTO ensures free trade… member states accept rulings by supranational panels.

Answer 2

Lake 2007. Hierarchy is closely related to authority, defined as rightful rule, and the legitimate exercise of power. * “In an authority relationship, the subordinate state recognizes both that the dominant state has the right to issue certain commands and that it should, within the limits of its abilities, follow those commands or suffer appropriate consequences. In short, the subordinate accepts the dominant state’s commands as legitimate.” (51) Hierarchy relies on contingent, relational authority, not coercion or formal-legal authority. * “Obligation flows not from [the law or] the commands of the ruler, but from the consent of the ruled; a ruler does not possess authority unless her subordinates acknowledge an obligation to comply with her will.” (55) Authority is closely related to compliance and enforcement. * “When political authority is exercised, the dominant state commands a subordinate state to alter its behavior, where command implies that the former has the right to order the latter to take certain actions. This right, in turn, implies a correlative obligation or duty by the subordinate state to comply, if possible, with the dominant state’s order… The subordinate state’s obligation implies a further correlative right by the dominant state to enforce its command in the event of noncompliance.” (50)

Answer 3

Kang 2010. * Study of international relations in East Asia 1368-1841 – from the Ming dynasty to the Opium Wars. * China ensured a Confucian-inspired social order valued by Korea, Japan, Vietnam, who accepted the legitimacy of Chinese leadership and provided tribute to China. * Exchange of tribute & regulated trade -> trust, conflict resolution, few major wars. * Note: This analysis is controversial -- see critique by Chia 2022, below

Answer 4

Clark, Bukovansky and Eckersley 2012. Q: Why is there a P-5 in the United Nations? Why has int’l society consistently addressed major global problems by allocating differentiated responsibilities (hierarchy) among sovereign states? A: Allocating special responsibilities is more efficient than relying on sovereign equality or power competition. Special responsibilities give both rulers and ruled incentives to support the outcome that international society values.

Answer 5

All forms of hierarchy are contested by subordinate actors -- sometimes effectively, sometimes not. Strategies of contestation – how subordinate actors attempt to challenge hierarchy: * Contesting the ideas and discourses that sustain inequality * Challenging the formal rules that sustain hierarchy * Accumulating greater material resources

Answer 6

Chia 2022. Response to Kang 2010 * In early modern Southeast Asia, both Siam and Vietnam tried to assert their equality (and even superiority) to Chinese dynasties that challenged their sense of self. Shilliam 2015. The political struggles of the African diaspora resonated with and influenced the strategies of South Pacific peoples because they also confronted an international hierarchy based on racial distinctions.

Answer 7

Egel and Ward 2022. * Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) creates ‘nuclear hierarchy’ -- some states formally authorised to have N-weapons, others not. * Many small/weak states are unhappy with NPT’s hierarchy. * They partnered with civil society/NGOs to draft Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) that stigmatizes N-weapons and subverts the discourse that advantages states that possess them. * Adopted by UNGA in 2017, and 91 states have signed, in force since 2021, but effects are unclear.

Answer 8

In 1970s, poor countries challenged rules of the world economy, proposed a ‘New International Economic Order’ (NIEO) that would mandate redistribution from North to South. * They failed, due to resistance by North and divisions in South. * Since 1990s, ‘Global South’ has used global capitalist system to gain wealth and challenge hierarchy between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. * Some states in Global South have become much wealthier and gained global influence -- G20 now as important as G7. * But global inequality remains.

Lecture 3 Flashcards

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