State Actors
- Declare/wage wars
- Sign treaties etc.
- at the global level without being a state
individuals always retain power, to refuse, to choose wether something is bad, cruel, immoral
.
UN = United Nations
Collection of states that give the UN power
NGO’s = non governmental organizations
Eg MSF, Red Cross, Amnesty international
State
Need to have a population, territory, and sovereignty (legal authority)
State has a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence (only one’s who can formally declare war)
Domestically?
Outside borders?
D: police. “To serve and protect”. Part of “us”
OB: military. Us vs them mentalities
Sovereignty
Chain of hierarchy, competitive system between states, ensures that the global situation will be competitive, stressed
Systematic causes of war
- pre-existing conditions states get caught up in. ie. ideologies
- clusters of power who are more likely to cause conflict
- wars are predictable depending on global situations
- more general
Situational causes of war
- all of the things that provide this particular conflict
- more specific
Alliances
Give states a sense of solidarity at the global level
Real Politik
All that matter is the well being of the state
- the enemy of my enemy is my friend
- ally with an enemy and then turn on them after
- worry about tomorrow, tomorrow
Raisin d’Etat
State has its own logic, may have to do things for security reasons which usually wouldn’t be condoned
What does coercion get us at the global level?
- deterrence
- internal cohesion
- arms races
- attribution error
Deterrence
“Don’t mess with us were strong”
- only works if opponent thinks you are capable
- need to show credibility (follow through on threats)
Internal cohesion
- might distract population
- safety valve -> send volatile men to war
Arms races
- makes other states nervous
- militarily grow -> keeping up with other states weaponry
Attribution error
- we give motives to our opened we would never give ourselves
example: when we set up weapons we’re trying to deter others, but when they do it their being hostile.
Advisors/Experts
- CIA, ministry of foreign affairs
- leaders rely on to make decisions
- excluding bad news: group won’t want to let the person down, telling them what they want to hear
Example: war of Vietnam, NSA -> weapons in Iraq-> GW Bush
-attribution error
-time constraints: everything is urgent
-groupthink: unfamiliar ideas get streamed out, isolate different thoughts, repress independent thinkers
We can talk about conflicts based on
Intensity
Technology
Intensity
-high: huge battles, battle field, orchestrated
-low: small attacks, skirmishes
Example: Afghanistan, Iraq
Technology
- high: guided missiles, bombs, drones, etc
- lows: guns, clubs, machetes, I.e.d.s, etc
