Global Politics Applying Theory to A Complex World Mark A. Boyer University of Connecticut Natalie F. Hudson University of Dayton Michael J. Butler Clark University New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESSOxford University Pressis a department ofthe University of Oxford. Ie furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford isa registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America, © 2020 by Oxford University Press For titles covered by Section 112 of the US Higher Education Opportunity ‘Act, please visit www.oup.com/us/he for the latest information about pricing and alternate formats. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted, in any form orby any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as eXpressly permitted bby law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above, ‘You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Boyer, Mark A., author. | Butler, Michael J, author. | Hudson, Natalie Florea., author. Title: Global politics: applying theory to a complex world/ Mark Boyer, Michael Butler, Natalie Hudson, Description: New York: Oxford University, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: CCN 2019020481 | ISBN 9780190655600 | ISBN 9780190655532 (paperback) Subjects: LCSH: International relations. | World politics. Classification: LCC JZ1305 .B69 2019 | DDC327—de23 LC record available at https://Ieen.loc.gov/2019020481 Printingnumber: 987654321 Printed by Quad Graphics Printed in the United States of AmericaGlobal Politics Matters Every day, global challenges impact your life and your local community, either directly or indirectly. Maybe you decided to change your travel plans recently because of the threat of terrorist attacks or the potential health impact of the Zika virus in certain countries. Maybe you know someone whose work will be affected by Brexit, the 2016 British decision to leave the European Union. If you live in California, you may be thankful for the heavy rains in 2016 and 2017 that relieved the years-long drought, but those rains may also have sen- sitized you to the impact of climate change on your life and livelihood. You may even have a family member or friend who has been impacted by the travel restrictions on people from certain countries put in place by the United States through executive order in 2017. . Whatever the issue or situation, wherever it occurs, it will likely affect you or someone close to you. Andin our ever-more interconnected world, the daily impact of global forces is grow- ing. Each of the examples just mentioned illustrates how con- nected we are to events in the world well beyond our own control and how we must increasingly learn to manage global impacts in our everyday, seemingly local lives. The examples also help us think about what it means to engage as a global citizen, to act locally but think globally, and to constantly learn tn October 2018, thousands of men, women, and children, many of them Hon- Chapter! GLOBAL POLITICS MATTERS sanctions that Iran has long endured. (In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement.) ‘As we move through the chap- ters of this book, one central theme ‘emerges: we are facing complex prob- lems that do not lend themselves to simple solutions. These problems affect us individually but also as a collective. It is important to consider both our own interests and shared interests in addressing and responding to the chal- lenges our world faces. Ultimately, we study global politics because it allows us to grapple with interesting, complex, and consequential questions about ourselves and our world. In the next section, we will start to unravel the complexity that defines global politics © Grappling with Global Complexity Thatshape Your Worden Global politics is multifaceted and often overwhelmingly complicated. Why, for instance, were many of America's European allies much less supportive of US military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s compared to the military intervention in the 1990s? Why do many countries support en- vironmental sustainability with words and even signatures on environmental agreements but fail to live up to their commitments? Why is consensus on eco- nomic policies nearly impossible to achieve, even among the world’s most devel- oped countries? Although domestic politics is increasingly polarized, complex, and stalemated, global politics brings complexity to even higher levels. In this section, we address various aspects of this complexity. We then lay out some frameworks for understanding global politics from a diverse set of theoretical perspectives. The Study of Global Politics Before we go any further, it is worth spending a few moments discussing the recent evolution of the field you are now studying. Many topics of study in in- ternational relations (IR), such as the role of economic and cultural exchange in reducing conflict, can be traced back at least a millennium to Sanskrit dis- cussions of ancient India, or even as far back as biblical times with the Book of Exodus and reflections on the role of diplomacy (Trushcke, 2016). For our purposes, however, we are going to focus on the modern study of IR, which arguably originated in response to the horrors of World War I with the estab- lishment of the first chair in the field at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth,GRAPPLING WITH GLOBAL COMPLEXITY 7 in 1919 (Carlsnaes, Risse, & Simmons, 2002). Since that time, scholarly inter- ést in the causes of war and the conditions needed for peace has continued to evolve and grow into an interdisciplinary field of academic inquiry. While IR is closely connected to the field of political science, the two are in- creasingly distinct. IRis informed by studies of diplomatic history, how culture affects international interactions, how our leaders think about and perceive the situations they confront, how economic forces constrain the actions of coun- tries throughout the world, and how social structures around gender, class, and race reinforce patterns and trends of IR. Thus, any good student of IR must account for the fact that many academic disciplines inform our understanding of the world, For instance, within the International Studies Association (ISA; ‘www.isanet.org), a leading forum of the study of global affairs, you can find special study sections on diplomatic studies, feminist theory, global health, his- tory, technology, communication, law, sociology, economics, demography and geography, religion, and more. The eclecticism within the ISA is evidence of the varied perspectives that can be brought to bear on the topics in this book and in academic and policy studies as well. ‘The world itselfis also constantly changing, which means that the tools used to analyze it must change. Decades ago, as the field of IR was developing, most of the interactions that took place in the world were between states, as we will discuss in more detail in later chapters. Today, however, the types of actors in world affairs are greater in number and more varied in type. As a result, the term international relations is sometimes viewed as anachronistic and inaccurate for studying today’s world. We, the authors of this book, prefer the term global as more inclusive of the types of interactions that take place in today’s world and the scope of the spaces where such interactions take place. This term better accounts for the multifaceted and dynamic processes of globalization, the in- creasing integration of economics, communications, and culture across national boundaries that will be discussed in Chapter 5. Thus, we tise the term global most of the time in this book unless there isa specific reason not to do so, such as when we talk about a bilateral relationship (which, indeed, may remain international) Similarly, we have chosen not to use the term international relations as the title for this book. Instead, we use global politics. But why keep politics in the terms we use and the title of the book, you may ask? Why not global relations, or global affairs, ox even world affairs? Very good question. Some of it has to do with our own educational backgrounds (we all earned our PhDs in political sci- ence); some of it has to do with which classes will find this book a helpful edu- cational tool; and some of it has to do with the linguistic conventions that still ‘keep most academic study tied to specific disciplines each often having its own language, theory, and methods. It also has a lot to do with our desire to keep questions about power—who has it and who does not—as a central theme of this book. (We will take up the concept of power in great detail in Chapter 3.) Global Actors As testimony to the movement away from the international to the global, this section focuses on the diversity of actors that now populate global pol- itics and are the focal points of this book. Unlike the actors in most of your Intranet Glabliziee] A mutttac- ted conceptthat represents the increasing integration of economics, communications, and culture acrossnational boundaries.9 a Chapter 1 GLOBAL POLITICS MATTERS state A political actor that has sovereignty and a number of characteristics, including terri- tory, population, organization, ‘and recognition. Sovereignty The most essen- tial defining characteristic ofa state and perhaps the global system. The term strongly im- plies political independence from any higher authority and also suggests atleast theoreti cal equality, anarchy A fundamental con- ceptin global politics identi- fying the lack of a governing authority in the global system ‘and the implicationsit has on 4lobal interactions. international organiza- tions Organizations with an International membership, scope, and presence. There are essentially two types of international organizations— intergovernmental and non: governmental organizations. daily interactions, most actors involved in global politics are organizations, not people. This does not mean that we should downplay the influence of individuals in global politics, but rather that we need to recognize organiza- tions as groups of people with established practices of interaction that con- dition the impact of individuals. In other words, groupings of people often act not merely as collections of individuals, but behave in their own ways. ‘This is why we have psychologists (who study individuals) and sociologists (who study groups) States (or countries) are one type of organizational actor, and they are the primary actors in global politics. Currently, the global community includes almost 200 states, but a is obvious when you read any newspaper or watch the news, some states are more involved in global politics (or seem to matter more) and some less so. A variety of factors including (but not limited to) power, his- tory, and geographic location dictates this level of involvement. Regardless of a state's power and position relative to others, states’ central organizing prin- cipleis that of sovereignty. Sovereignty is the authority of the state to govern itself autonomously and is based on recognition by other states and nonstate actors. Even though sovereignty is not always enjoyed equally by all states, this sovereign status separates states from other actors in world affairs. State sovereignty also means that no world government controls the ac- tions of states in the way that a federal government controls lower governmental units within its borders. This lack of central governing authority—a condition called anarchy —has varying consequences for state interactions, not the least of which is a system where states and other global actors are often in conflict with one another. Although all states are legally equal, the reality is that states participate in the global system in different and asymmetric ways. The United States is among the few states that hold a position of privilege and therefore power, exercising significant influ- ence over global interactions. Other states in privileged positions include Chiria;:Rusaia; vee ediGerancy: Conversely, countries like Andorra, Vanuatu, and Gambia have much less power and influence over global inter- actions—and in some cases even over their own affairs, For al states, state sovereignty is often viewed as eroding because of such sociopolitical forces as the Internet, social media, and global financial markets, just to name a few. Even though states hold the global legal status that sovereignty brings, international organizations, group- ‘The UN General Assembly plays an agenda-setting role in global politics. Soeven ings of actors that often center around without compulsory authority to enforceits decisions, it has successfully promoted {ssues to the global forefront over the past decades. The agenda-setting role has become even more important with the growth of former colonial Global South countries that became UN members from the later 1950s onward. a particular issue, are playing increas- ingly significant roles in contemporary global politics. The most prominent ofthese are the 300 or so intergovernmental organizations (GOs), which are comprised almost entirely of states. Some are global, like the UN (see Figure 1.2) and the World Trade Organization; others are regional, like the European Union, the Organization of American States, and the African Union. Even more numerous are transnational actors, such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and Oxfam, that reach across and even permeate states. One prominent example, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are formal legal entities distinct from the state, often operating not for profit, and primarily composed of individuals. Thousands of NGOs exist today, and their concerns touch virtually every aspect of international politics, ranging from the AIDS crisis (the In- ternational AIDS Society) to zero population growth (Popula- tion Connections) to human rights (Amnesty International). Multinational corporations (MNCs) are private enter- prises that have production subsidiaries or branches in more than one country. The energy company ExxonMobil and the agribusiness Monsanto are another prominent type of trans- national actor. The annual earnings of some of these companies often rival the economic output of midsize states and dwarf most of the smaller ones. Ina largely unregulated world economy where money is the source of power, MNCs are important players to consider. Finally, dividuals are also important actors on the world stage. Individuals usually exercise their influence on global politics as decision-makers, protesters, voters, or some other role within the bounds of a state, IGO, or NGO. Sometimes, however, individuals play roles that transcend national and other institutional GRAPPLING WITH GLOBAL COMPLEXITY 9 ° Division of the General Assembly by membership in the five United Nations Regional Groups. The African Group The Asia-Pacific Group II The Middle and Eastern European Group H The Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) {l The Western European and Others Group (WEOG) No group Figure 1.2 Incontrast to the UN Security Council the General Assembly isa universally representative body, with regional groupings shown here. intergovernmental organi- zations GOs) Organizations that are global or regional in membership and scope and, whose members are states. nongovernmental organi zations Formal legal enti- ties distinct from the state, often operating notfor prof, ‘and primarily composed of Individuals. multinational corporations Private enterprises that have production subsidiaries or branches in more than one country “Multinational corporations play important rolesin global affairs, especially when you consider their market dominance. The German chemical and pharmaceutical com pany Bayer acquired agricultural glant Monsanto in 2018, giving it even more influence ina broader set of global markets.Edna Adan Ismail, Somalia's first qualified nurse-midwife, had a career with the World Chapter 1 GLOBAL POLITICS MATTERS boundaries. The Irish rock star Bono has made significant waves in crusad- ing for various causes of importance to global affairs, including debt relief for the developing world and the HIV/AIDS crisis—a type of activism sometimes called “celebrity diplomacy” (Cooper, 2009; Matijasevic, 2015). Ordinary people can also makea dif- ference in the way the world works every day. Take Edna Adan Ismail, a Somalian woman who with great persistence ob- tained an education—a rarity for girls like her—and became her country's first qualified nurse-midwife. After work- ing for the World Health Organization, Health Organization. When she returned to Somalia, the donated her personalassets Edna returned to Somalia to build the to help build the country’ frst maternity hospital country's first maternity hospital. With the help of supportive donors, Edna completed her maternity and teaching hospital (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009). In a world where over 300,000 women die in childbirth each year—overhalf of them in Africa—maternal mortality isa critical area (Maternal Health, 2016).Starting with Chapter3, each chapter will include a Personal Narrative feature that highlights the impact that individuals can and do have on global politics. We hope that you willbe able to connect with these stories, perhaps seeing aspects of yourself in ordinary people across the globe doing extraordinary things. Global History in Context American philosopher and poet George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot re- member the past are condemned to repeat it" His off-quoted statement provides anumber of ideas that we will develop throughout this book. First, Santayana tells us that leaders must know something about history in order to learn, grow, and evolve, both as individuals and for their communities. Understanding history is essential to effective governance, citizenship, and democratic participation and choice. Second, Santayana implies that for us to understand the world around us, we must understand how it got to be this way. In other words, how has our his- tory shaped what exists today, and how does it constrain what might emerge in the political world tomorrow? History provides us with many critical details of specific events, which we can often use to identify patterns and even make gener- alizations. While we can learn many lessons from history, however, we must avoid drawing simple conclusions from historical cases and be wary of using oversimpli- fied political analogies to understand the complex dynamics of IR. Following up on Santayana’s thinking, this book will make a point of identi- fying the relevant historical context as it applies to each chapter's focus. In each chapter, it will be important to think about how history impacts the relevant actors in IRand the development and veracity of the theories that help us understand the patterns of global interactions we observe every day. As one IR scholar argues,GRAPPLINGWITH GLOBAL COMPLEXITY 11 “History does not simply provide us with the story of our past, prudential truths, ~ andantidotes to hubris, but perhaps more significantly, a greater capacity to craft ‘our own collective and individual life stories, political or otherwise, as we strive to join the pastand provide for the future” (McKeil, 2015). We encourage you to take seriously the historical context that is integral to all chapters that follow. Akey moment in this history is the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which ended the Thirty Years War. This event is widely recognized by scholars as the birth of the modern nation-state system. The Treaties of Westphalia granted sovereignty to virtually all the small states in Europe, effectively ending the rule of the Holy Roman Empire or any other higher authority, such as the Church. The monarchs governing these new states were able to determine their own domestic policies, including the sect of Christianity practiced in a country and the development of national militaries. ‘The emergence and eventual triumph of the state as the dominant mode of governance and organizing principle had profound consequences for the na- scent global system. One of these consequences was that states became the primary actors in the post-Westphalian international system, and they remain dominant, though increasingly challenged, today. Central to this state-centric system is the guiding norm of sovereignty, which is one of the most basic fac- tors impacting state behavior, ‘The dominant place of the sovereign state in IR is a central reason why real- ism, one of the IR theories discussed in Chapter 2, has long been the dominant lens through which to analyze it. Realism's focus on the stateas the primary actor in world affairs and on the state's monopoly of power allows the theory to provide powerful and logical explanations for much of what we will discuss throughout this book and observe every day in the news. From this perspective, we often explain the international system in terms of polarity, or concentrations of state power, such as the bipolar system that defined the Cold War or the evolving multi- polar system that characterized the 1990s and beyond. But realism’s dominance began to break down with the emergence of new thinking about the future of di- plomacy and IR in the early 20th century, which focused on the rise of economic issues in global affairs and the growing role of nonstate actors in the system. We suggested earlier that the historical dominance of the state is increasingly challenged today. One change has involved the weakening of the Western orien- tation of the international system as a result of an expansion in the number and power of non-Western states. The colonial empires established by the imperial West- em powers collapsed after World War II, and in the ensuing years over 100 new countries gained independence. The vast majority of these new countries, as evident in Map 1.1, are located in the Global South, a term used tonote that most former col- onies and now developing countries are located south of the countries in the indus- trialized noith. A few, like China, have achieved enough power to command global attention and challenge the United States for global leadership. Even the smaller Global South countries have gained a stronger voice through their membership in international organizations, For example, Global South countries now command a majority in the UN General Assembly, where all 193 member-states have one vote regardless of wealth, population, or geographic size (see Chapter 6). As discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9, the Global North-Global South divide is still a The peace agreement signed inoebtoend the Tiy fers Mav efectvely removing papatauthorty for spite satlement in Europe. Viewed dsthe tang point forthe eer er aaaro BeliriG] The numberof predominantly powerful actors the global systemat any alven polntin time. je (or North-South Je) The economic dispar- Tesbetween the developed Nortand underdeveloped Souththat arte ootsot tension in global forums. Toa acciete rascal legacy of colonialism.12 Chapter1/ GLOBAL POLITICS MATTERS moran [Corona attains Before 1945 poe es GEE) cee EY a0arese =) BB ren pens (BB) Avorn (D emen ey wn _ Map 1.1 Decolonization led to creation of many new countriesin the Global South. This maps shows the progression of decolonization and symbolizes the rise of developmentissues onto the global political agenda, relevant organizing principle for understanding politics, economics, and culture. ‘This divide mostly exists because of inequalities across the economically developed North and the less developed South Underlying these empirical observations are some of the fundamental ques- tions that guide this book: In an increasingly globalized world, what is the nature of the international system and the humans who live in it, how did we get here, and what is the future? How do we understand change versus continu- ity? For example, how do we interpret and analyze the fact that North Korean and South Korean leaders recently pledged to rid the peninsula of nuclear ‘weapons and officially end the Korean War, which began shortly after World War II? The adjacent photo depicts a breakthrough peace summit between the two Korean leaders in 2018, an in- teraction that had not happened since 2007. The meeting produced five spe- cific promises aimed at reducing mil- itary tension between the two states, The symbolism inthis photo is manifest, The leaders of North and South Korea are reaching beyond their country's boundaries to shake hands in dsputed territory. But this meeting was indeed. breakthrough simply by the fac that the two leaders met face-to-face after many years ofhostle diplomacy in various forms. which include holding high-level talks,GRAPPLINGWITH GLOBAL COMPLEXITY 13, establishing ajointlliaison office, destroying or moving back guardposts along the border, and facilitating meetings for families separated by the demilitarized zone (DMZ). According to a South Korean newspaper, Hankyoreh, more than one third of those promises have been kept.‘ Is this an instance of great change anda cause forhope in world affairs, or is it politics as usual? These are the kinds of questions that this book will examine to help you better understand, contextualize, and analyze current events. ‘Along with the rise of non-Western states, the fact that—as noted earlier — nonstate actors are rising to the fore in many IR venuesis also affecting the system in the 21st century. The processes of globalization and the blurring of national boundaries have opened up new spaces for nonstate actors to grow, connect, and make a difference in global society. Nonstate actors range from humanitarian or- ganizations and churches to foundations and businesses to terrorist networks and human smuggling rings. It is critical to consider nonstate actors operating in both official and illicit ways, along with whom these actors claim to represent and howmuch power they wield in the system. Globalization has empowered nonstate actors in both positive and negative ways, sometimes simultaneously. The Inter- net, alongwith innovations in technology, transportation, and even finance, make the world a place where states seemingly have less control over their citizens than vwas the case even twenty years ago. This is particularly important as we consider the role of nonstate actors, which we discuss in greater detail in Chapter 5. In the end, then, the historical evolution of IR and the interactions that it entails impact which theoretical lenses are most valuable and accurate in their explanations of world affairs. In the next section, we will discuss why under- standing theory matters. Then, in Chapter 2 we will examine five perspectives that are widely used in the study of IR. Interpreting Global Politics We have seen that considerable transformation is taking place around how the world is organized and how global politics proceeds. Long-dominant structures, ideas, and practices have changed substantially and at an increasing rate during the past century. Traditionally, global politics has been tumultuous and often vio- lent, centering on independent and self-interested countries using their power to compete against other countries in a largely anarchic global system where there is no central authority to set and enforce rules and resolve disputes. Although this re- mainsa central characteristic of global politics, new trends and forms of interaction are emerging, and it is critically important to examine which states are reinfore- ing which trends. For instance, according to the 2017 report from the Global Peace Index, the world is getting more peaceful, with 93 countries seeing improvement. ‘The data, which take into account everything from wars to the level of government ‘weapons purchases to homicide rates, incarceration rates, perceptions of criminal- ity, political repression, and suppression of free speech, shows 68 countries actu- ally getting worse; these include the United States and the Middle East.® Some of the differences that distinguish the traditional conceptions of global politics from evolving trajectories are shown in Table 1.1. ‘You might note that the evolving trajectories shown in Table 1.1 suggest growing complexity in the global system, and there is tangible evidence of this casts apps14 Chapter’ GLOBAL POLITICS MATTERS Table 1.1 Traditional Conceptions and Evolving Trajectories ane Human organization Interests Predominant interactions Pursuit of security Pursuit of prosperity Locus of authority Conflict resolution Cennard Gieeunrcane sacs National societies ‘Multiple identities and community affiliations: global, regional, local; religious, ethnic, ace, gender, class National interests Global and regional interests; local identity-based interests Competitive Mixture of cooperation and competition; zerosum not zero sum. Focus on the national Multiple focal points of security across, actors and issues Economic nationalism ‘Mutual effort; recognition of interdepen- dence; management of globalization Sovereign states Many, including international organi- zations, individuals, nongovernmental organizations, subnational groups, and more Power-centric Law- and norm-centic in addition to power-centric trend. First, the evolving trajectories in global politics reflect how we interact as individuals inside our own countries. Certainly, we pursue our own interests in domestic systems, with considerable freedom to do so, and we partly rely on ourselves for our own safety and welfare. In domestic political systems, how- ever, individuals also recognize rules and norms, are accountable for obeying them, and have some sense of common identity and shared responsibility to achieve the common good and help struggling members of society. Second, although the traditional conceptions continue to be essential to the way we analyze global politics, they are not as dominant as they once were in academia or in the policy community. Ifa century ago a professor had written a global politics book predicting a world organization with 193 countries as mem- bers (the UN), a legal community of 28 European countries (soon to be 27 with Brexit), the virtual disappearance of tariff restrictions under the World Trade Organization, or tens of billions of dollars a year in economic aid flowing from rich to poor countries, that book, if printed at all, would have been consigned to the fiction section of the library. Exploring and comparing the traditional conceptions and the more complex evolving trajectories underlies almost all the content of this book. In Chapter 2, we will consider several ways to think about global politics theoretically, some of which map closely to the traditional and evolving columns of Table 1.1. Thinking Theoretically: Tools for Studying Global Politics Organizing our thinking about world events is important because it allows each of us to make sense of what is going on in the world—recurrent terror attacks in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States; the spread of the Zika virus (among other communicable diseases); the rise of computer hackers as newGRAPPLING WITH GLOBAL COMPLEXITY 15 actors in world affairs; or the ebb and flow of the global economy. Given the impact that seemingly random events have on our daily lives, organizing our thinking about them gives usa chance toplan and act in ways that help us live productive and secure lives. To geta better perspective on these and other stories, we must put them in both historical and theoretical context. Several theoretical perspectives will be developed in more detail in Chapter 2, and we will draw on theory throughout the book to help analyze events from diverse perspectives. This often means melding current happenings with the- yen yith NAFTA, re trade hasn't really been al hat fee Until recently, Mexican oretical lenses and historical context. _tuckshadto unload their goods into US tucks to cross the border. Now, Mexican For example, in the ongoing Brexit sit- trucks can ross withthe goods and travelinto the United States for their deliveries, uation, it is worth noting the United _ =Kingttadealitiefreerin the process. Kingdom's historically conflicted re- lationship with the European project from the 1950s onward, as well as the struggle between state sovereignty and evolving supranationalism among the European Union countries. We will cover the history of the global system in later chapters and also set up relevant historical backdrops necessary to understand the issues, concepts, and theories in each chapter. As you will see throughout the book, we need to draw on both history and theory to help us better understand and think critically about the world around us. ‘As we seek to explain and think systematically about global politics and all its complexities, the use of theories becomes an indisperisable tool in our toolbox. Theory allows us to describe, explain, and even predict phenomena. Theorieshelp _theoy An interconnected us distinguish which facts are important, what questions we should be asking, _setofideas and concepts that and who really counts. For instance, theories have allowed some analysts toargue _seekstoexplain why things that the spread of Zika is evidence of lax health standards in many developing happen and how events and countries anda lack of effective global health institutions. Some might argue that _ “ends elateto one another. the spread is also an artifact of problematic immigration and travel medicine __Theoviesallow ustoexpiain standards. Map 1.2 illustrates the spread of Zika in a relatively short time period coun from locales in South America throughout much of the Western Hemisphere. With these aspects of theory in mind, consider, as you begin to think theo- retically, this advice from James Rosenau (2004:330): [Thinking theoretically] is a technique that involves making a habit of asking a six-word question about anything we observe. ..—. The six-word question seems quite simple at first glance. It is: “Of what is this an instance?” ‘The “this” in the question is anything you observe (be it in world or personal affairs), and it is a powerful question because it forces you to find a larger cat- egory in which to place what you observe. That is, it compels you to move up the conceptual ladder and engage in the theoretical enterprise. There are many16 Chapter1 GLOBAL POLITICS MATTERS Map 1.2. Although countries wok to defend their borders, health threats dont abide by national boundaries and cary no passports, The spread of Zkain recent years ilustated on tis map presents casein point. advantages to thinking theoretically, but perhaps the most important one is. thatit will help you to better understand your own underlying assumptions and . more critically analyze why you think what you do. Other reasons for thinking theoretically include the simple notion that such thinking helps us build knowledge. If we confine ourselves to treating every event as unique, then our past and present re little more than a complex jumble of seemingly random events. By thinking theoretically, we look for patterns, GRAPPLING WITH GLOBAL COMPLEXITY that help us understand more clearly what has occurred and, perhaps, even + predict what may occur. Thinking theoretically also gives us a better chance of evaluating policy. One example is assessing the debate over whether the democ- racies in the Global North should work to promote democratization throughout the Global South. Chapter 9 provides some insight into the exploration of the “democratic peace theory,” which is the idea that democratic states seldom, if ever, go to war with one another (Chernoff, 2004). If this theory is correct, then the path to world peace may be through democratization throughout the world. This would make promoting democracy not simply an altruistic ideal but also a significant contribution to global security. Lastly, thinking theoretically pushes us to think more critically about our own biases and assumptions as we exam- ine our world. In this way, “thinking about how we think” helps us to ask new questions and opens our minds to alternative perspectives. ‘As you begin to think about events and to decide “of what is this an in- stance,” do so expansively, and do not worry at least for now whether your ideas seem controversial or even contradictory. James Rosenau (2004) once ended up with 23 answers when he thought about one event and then asked himself “of what it was an instance.” From such beginnings, you can test and refine your thinking to see what seems to hold up and what does not. You will encounter discussions of various theories throughout this book. A good place to start in these discussions is to consider a range of ideas that have been put forth to address the study of global politics in its most general terms. To that end, as mentioned previously, Chapter 2 presents five different theoretical perspectives. Two, realism and liberalism, are arguably the dom- inant schools of thoughts in IR. The other three, world systems, feminism, and constructivism, present thought-provoking challenges to their dominant counterparts. That said, there is increasing theoretical diversity in our field, and Chapter 2 reflects that intellectual and academic reality and the cogni- tive diversity that each of us, as an observer and a participant in global poli- tics, brings to the game. Also watch for the Thinking Theoretically features that start in Chapter 2. These features will focus your attention on theory applied to real-world settings and will help you develop the analytic tools you need to make your own critical decisions about global politics. Before we take up these schools of thought in detail, several intellectual cave~ atsare in order. First, none of the theories discussed in Chapter 2are truly compre- hensive. Some scholars argue that even realism and liberalism are “best described as paradigm(s]” rather than full-scale theories (Geller & Vasquez, 2004:1). Second, each theoretical perspective has numerous variations because “GiJfyou put four IR theorists in a room you will easily get 10 different ways of organizing theory, and there will also be disagreement about which theories are relevant in the first place” (Jackson & Sorenson, 2003:34). There are, for instance, classical realists, neoclassical realists, offensive realists, defensive realists, and other kinds of realists (Schmidt, 2004). We will briefly note some of these subdivisions in the sections of Chapter 2 but mostly concentrate on the major premises of the theories discussed, Third, do not be fooled by the connotations of realism and liberalism. Re- alists do not necessarily see things as they “really” are. Also, do not equate "718 Chapter. GLOBAL POLITICS MATTERS the use of “liberal” here with left-of-center political parties in American do- mestic politics. In this context, liberalism is more closely tied to the writings of 18th- and 19th-century political philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, ‘Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Hobbes than itis to US politics and policy implementation. For example, someone might consider President Barack Obama to bea liberal in American politics, but one might better understand his approach to some foreign and security policy situations through a realist lens. Fourth, try to focus on what each theory has to offer rather than its short- comings. Each of these approaches helps us to better understand world poli- tics, Each also has its weaknesses and biases, as you will come to understand throughout this book. There are considerable overlaps among theories as well, not only in terms of what they try to explain but even in the manner by which they try to explain it and some of their key assumptions about human behavior and social structures. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, recognize that the theories presented in Chapter 2 are not the hypothetical ramblings of abstract scholars in the field of IR. Rather, they result from years of concept de- velopment, rigorous critique, and empirical test- ing by both scholars and practitioners. As a result, every time a theory is used by an analyst, itis re- fined both conceptually and empirically. Thisis one reason why so many variations exist within a given approach. This community of scholar-analysts un- dertakes theory development to advance knowl- edge and understanding to (hopefully) improve the world around us. Thus, theory does not just emerge out of someone’s imagination or mere opinion. Rather, it is the product of engagement with the field of study and the long-term observa- tion of actors, processes, and issues, as well as their interactions. Ultimately, the goal of this book is to help you see the value and relevance of IR theories in trying to analyze historical and contemporary events and explain decision-making processes in thoughtful ways. Such an empirically based and theoretically sound approach will allow you to better understand how globalizing processes and forces are transforming world politics and what these economic, political, social, and cultural shifts mean for states and individuals. As men- tioned, it will also allow you to better understand Itmay be hardto imagine that four deceased white men continue to have tich an impact on world fats and your dally fe. In clockwise order from the upper left Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Thomas your own biases and perspectives on the world Hobbes, and Immanuel Kant were some ofthe seminal thinkers who around you, One feature that starts in Chapter 2 helped shape the development of democracy and capitalism several 7 centuries ago. Their writings remain relevant to our understanding of is Challenge Your Assumptions; the goal here is to domestic and global society and politics today push you to think critically and raise questions. KEYTERMS 19 about certain subjects that are often beholden to conventional thinking, long- held stereotypes, and even misperceptions. We hope this feature encourages you to be curious about your own belief system and that which you hold to be true, With that said, we now move to the theories in Chapter 2. Chapter Summary + Itisimportant to think about the many ‘ways global politics directly and indirectly affects your daily lives, from your environ- ment and health to your wallets and the clothes you wear to the places you go and the social networks you engage with. + While the global system is most often char- acterized by sovereign states existing ina state of anarchy, nonstate actors and glo- balizing forces are increasingly exerting power and influence, moving us away from IR to global politics. Critical Thinking Questions + Inaddition to states, which have tradi- tionally been the focus of IR, new actors have arisen within the global arena. These include intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). + We improve our understanding of world politics by putting events within the context of history and applying various theories to see patterns and make general- izations about the conduct of global affairs. 1. Consider how your life is impacted by the world around you. What do you see as the ‘most important way your life is affected by global affairs? How is your life most regu- larly affected? 2. Formany college students, studying theory might sound boring. Explain to your room- mate at least three reasons why thinking theoretically is important. 3. Draw global politics or international rela- tions. Don't worry about your artistic abil- ity, but think carefully about who and what is emphasized in your drawing, the issues you see as central, and the nature of the system, What does your drawing say about your worldview and basic assumptions of the way the world works? Compare your drawing with those of others in the class, and hypothesize about their worldviews. Key Terms anarchy high-value, low- international Peace of Westphalia Global North-Global probability problems organizations polarity South divide intergovernmental multinational sovereignty global politics organizations corporations state globalization intermestic nongovernmental theory organizations