THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
 permanent population
International System
- refers to the network and structure of
relationships that exist at the international level.
- forms the forces and trends in the global
environment; it also establishes the workspace of
national security policymakers and makers of
strategy.
International Community
- refers to a broad group of people and
governments of the world.
- for many years, the international
community has attempted to maintain order and
prevent conflict by utilizing international
institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and
international legal regimes such as the
International of Geneva Convention.
Structure of relationships of International System
 International Organizations
 State actors
 Non-state actors
The Actors
 Nation
 State
 Non – States
Nation
- refers to a group of people who shares
common bonds, such as descent, language,
history, or culture. Collectively, such an
aggregation would constitute a national entity.
State
- also known as nation-states, have a legal
character and possess certain rights and duties
under the tenets of international law.
- According to the Montevideo Convention,
a state must have certain five characteristics to
be considered a sovereign state in the
international community:
States must possess the following characteristics :
 defined territory
 a government capable of maintaining
effective control over its territory and
conducting international relations with
other states.
 the government must possess a
monopoly on the legitimate use of force in
the state,  and other states in the
international system must recognize the
sovereignty of that government.
Sovereignty
- The concept of sovereignty came into
existence when the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia
ended the Thirty Years War in Europe.
- In contemporary international law,
sovereign states are treated as equals
Sovereign Equality following elements:
1. States are legally equal.
2. Every state enjoys the rights inherent in full
sovereignty.
3. Every state is obligated to respect the fact of
the legal entity of other states.
4. The territorial integrity and political
independence of a state are inviolable.
5. Each state has the right to freely choose and
develop its own political, social, economic, and
cultural systems.
6. Each state is obligated to carry out its
international obligations fully and conscientiously
and to live in peace with other states.
International Organizations
- An IO is a formal institutional structure
that transcends national boundaries. States create
them by multilateral agreement or treaty. IOs
normally function as an association of states that
wield state-like power through governmental-like
organs. The founding treaty defines the limits of
the IO’s legal competence.
- IOs depend entirely on member states for
support and resources, both political and practical
(like money and personnel).
International Organizations Examples:
- United Nations
- World Trade Organization
- World Health Organization
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Non-State
- The term nonstate actor typically refers
to any participant in the international system that
is not a government but may have an impact on
the internationally related decisions or policies of
one or more states.
Non-state actors can include:
➔ NGOs
➔ Transnational corporations: Large,
multinational corporations that operate in
multiple countries.
➔ Individuals.
NGOs or Non-governmental organizations
- NGOs are voluntary organizations of
private individuals, both paid and unpaid, who are
committed to a wide range of issues but not on
the behalf of any specific state government.
NGOs Two Categories
- Those that have a universal
noncommercial (nonprofit) and nonpartisan focus,
 humanitarian aid organizations
 human rights group
 environmentalists or new social
movements
- Those that are primarily motivated by
self-interest
 is usually best represented by
MNCs.
Multi-National Corporation
- known as a transnational corporation or a
multinational enterprise. An MNC is a company
that operates for profit in multiple countries and
has a global reach.
- they are involved in a range of
businesses, such as manufacturing, finance, and
retail, and their size and reach can vary greatly.
Some examples of MNCs include Apple, Coca-Cola,
and Walmart
International Regime
- A set of norms, rules, and institutions
that govern the behavior of states and other
actors in a specific issue area or policy domain.
- International regimes can take many
forms, including legal conventions, formal
treaties, international organizations, and informal
networks of experts and policymakers.
International regimes occupy a wide range of issue
areas and policy domains, including:
Trade : The World Trade Organization (WTO)
Environment: The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Disarmament: The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
Human Rights: The United Nations system,
including the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
Security: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
Health: The World Health Organization (WHO)
Development: The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank
Failed State
- ungovernable and has lost its legitimacy
from the perspective of the international
community and it is no longer able to maintain
itself as a workable political and economic entity.
- indicates that a breakdown of law, order,
and basic services, such as education and health
for the population, has occurred.
Ungoverned Spaces
- refer to areas within a state or between
states that are without effective government
control or administration.
- areas where nonstate actors that
threaten domestic or international order can
exploit the lack of legal norms and processes.
Rogue State
- a state that frequently violates
international standards of acceptable behavior.
- a sovereign entity that is openly
aggressive, highly repressive, and intolerant with
little or no regard for the norms of the
international system. As such, it is a threat to
international peace.
The rogue state may attempt to:
 ➔ exert influence over other states by  Coalition
several means. - a temporary and often informal
➔ It might threaten to or actually develop, grouping of states or non-state
test, and field WMD or ballistic missile systems. actors that come together to
➔ It might traffic in drugs achieve a specific objective,
typically military action. (Ex.
➔ break international treaties
American-led coalitions during the
➔ or sponsor terrorism first Persian Gulf War (Operations
Desert Shield and Storm) and the
Example: North Korea and Iran second conflict (Operation Iraqi
Freedom).
Transnational Threats
- are threats to the international system Two Ways States can use Alliances or Coalition
that cross state borders 1. Balance
- term transnational relates to any activity - Balancing occurs when a weaker
that crosses state boundaries, transnational state decides that the dominance and influence of
threats is a technical term that usually refers to a stronger state are not acceptable, and the cost
activities with minimal or no governmental of allowing the stronger state to continue its
control. policies unchecked is greater than the cost of
action against the stronger state.
Three types of movement can be associated with
transnational behavior: - Can either be external or internal
➔ movement of physical objects including in origin
human beings
➔ movement of information and ideas External Balancing Internal Balancing
➔ and movement of money and credit - Occurs when weaker - Occurs when weaker
states form a coalition states form a coalition
Transnational Threats Categories against a stronger against a stronger
 Direct threats from human beings state, shifting the state, shifting the
 Threats from impersonal forces balance of power in balance of power in
their favor. their favor.
Function of International System
- Can either be a hard or soft action
- The international system functions
Hard Action Soft Action
through a combination of formal and informal
- It is intended to - It occurs if weaker
norms, institutions, and rules that shape the
increase or threaten states want to balance
behavior of actors in the global arena. the use of military a stronger opponent
power of one state but believe that the
Forms of International Cooperation relative to another. use of military power
is inconvenient.
 Alliance
- a formal security, trade, and 2. Bandwagon
diplomacy agreement between two - refers to the act of a weaker state
or more states. (NATO (North or states joining a stronger state, alliance, or
Atlantic Treaty Organization) and coalition.
the Australia, New Zealand, United - occurs when weaker states
States Security Treaty (ANZUS). determine that the cost of opposing a stronger
state exceeds the benefits to be gained from
supporting it.
The Concept of Balancing of Power in the
International System
Balance of Power
- refers to the process that prevents or
opposes the emergence of a single dominant
actor. It works to maintain the anarchy of equal,
independent, and sovereign states.
Functions in the International System
1. It prevents the system from being
transformed by conquest into a universal empire.
2. Localized balances of power serve to protect
actors from absorption by a dominant regional
actor.
3. Most important, the balance of power has
helped create the conditions in which other
features of the international system can develop
(i.e., diplomacy, stability, anarchy, or war).
Search for Security
 Universal Collective Security
- For those actors in the
international system less
comfortable with operating in
alliances and coalitions, such as
membership in the League of
Nations or UN, provides an
alternative approach
 Collective Security
- a framework or institution
designed to prevent or neutralize
aggression by a state against any
member state. Its intent is to
maintain of peace among members
of the framework or institution, not
between the international system
and external elements, as in the
case of an alliance.
Power in the International System
Power
- the ability of an actor or actors to
influence the behavior of other actors, typically to
persuade them to act in the interests of the
power-wielding state
Three General Components of Power
1. Hard Power
- refers to the state’s ability to directly use
military force and economic pressure.
2. Soft Power
- refers to the state’s influence with the
more indirect use of moral authority, diplomacy,
culture, and history.
3. Smart Power
- refers to power that complements (a
state’s) military and economic might with greater
investments in soft power.
One of the most visible uses of power is in the
wielding of force. According to Thomas
Schelling, he described four different ways in
which force might be used.
Four Different Ways of Force That Can be Used
1. Deterrence
- seeks to prevent another actor from doing
something that it might otherwise have done.
2. Compellence
- carries the promise of inflicting an
escalating level of damage to an actor until it
meets demands. It can carry the promise of
inflicting an escalating level of damage to a foe
until it meets demands.
3. Coercion
- the intent to inflict pain if an opponent
does not do what one wants. It is normally most
successful when held in reserve as a credible
threat.
4. Brute Force
- directly taking what the actor wants. It is
ultimately not about asking, but rather is about
taking whatever the actor wants through the
direct use of force.
Overall, the international system functions
through the interactions and relationships of its
various actors. To pursue their interests and
achieve their goals, these actors may use
alliances, coalitions, negotiations, and other forms
of cooperation and conflict, as well as the
enforcement of rules and norms that help to
regulate and manage interactions among the
actors in the system.
Levels of Analysis
- help analyze all the dynamics of
interaction in the system.
- developed by political scientists in the
late 1950s
 - these perspective echelons became
known as levels
Levels
- represent locations where both outcomes
and sources of explanation can be identified.
Five Most Frequently Used Levels of Analysis:
1. International System – the largest grouping of
interacting or interdependent units with no system
above them.
2. International Subsystem - groups or units
within the international system that can be
distinguished from the entire system by the nature
or intensity of their interactions or
interdependence.
3. Units — actors consisting of various
subgroups, organizations, communities, and many
individuals, all withstanding at higher levels.
4. Sub-units — organized groups of individuals
within units that are able or try to affect the
behavior of the unit as a whole.
5. Individuals
International Relations Theory
- attempts to provide a conceptual model
with which to analyze the international system.
The respective theories act as lenses, allowing the
wearer to view only the key events relevant to a
particular theory.
- can be divided into theories that focus
primarily on a statelevel analysis and those that
orient on an overall systemic approach.
- The two most prevalent schools are:
Realism and Liberalism, though increasingly,
Idealism, also known as Constructivism, is
becoming a competing concept
Realism
• Realism is a political philosophy that
views international relations as characterized by
power struggles, competition, and self-interest.
• From the realist perspective, struggle,
conflict, and competition are inevitable in the
international system.
• States—not international institutions,
NGOs, or MNCs— are the primary actors in the
international system
• assumes that the international system is
anarchic because there is no authority above
states capable of regulating their interactions.
• asserts that states are inherently
aggressive, and territorial expansion is constrained
only by opposing state(s)
Realism
• A variation of realism is ne o r e a l i s
m . Neorealists believe that the structure of the
international system controls and impacts all
actors.
• For a neorealist, state interests shape
behavior. In neorealism, the success of regimes
depends totally on the support of strong powers.
• From a neorealist point of view,
cooperation is more likely than a pure realist
would claim because states are more interested in
relative than absolute gains.
Liberalism
- Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace” in
1795, have characterized liberalism as another
fundamental theoretical basis for international
relations:
“Peace can best be secured through the spread of
democratic institutions on a worldwide basis.
Governments, not people cause wars... Free
Markets and human nature’s perfectibility would
encourage interdependence and demonstrate
conclusively that war does not pay... Disputes
would be settled by established judicial
procedures... Security would be a collective,
communal responsibility rather than an individual
one.”
• liberalism sees much opportunity for
cooperation and broader notions of power such as
cultural capital.
• Liberals also assume that states can
make absolute gains through cooperation and
interdependence—thus peace and stability are
possible in the system.
• One primary hope of liberals for stability
is the democratic peace concept.
• The main propositions of this concept are
peace through the expansion of democratic
institutions; state populations naturally focus on
their economic and social welfare as opposed to
imperialistic militarism; subordination of states to
an international legal system; and commitment to
collective security as an enhancement of stability.
• Liberalism has a related alternative
called neoliberalism. This version postulates that
the system is not in charge of everything; states
make their own decisions. States are interested
not only in survival, but also in cooperation.
• Rules, principles, ideas, social norms,
and conventions must be considered.

Idealism
• also known as constructivism
• rejects standard realist and liberal views
of the international system, arguing that states
derive interests from ideas and norms.
• believe that the effects of anarchy in the
system are not alldefining, but rather depend
upon the different social identities
• either cooperative or conflictual.
• state’s identity shapes its interests;
States are social beings, like people, and much of
their identity is a social construct.
• Key for an idealist, one state’s reaction
will affect the way another state behaves.