Introduction to International Introduction to International Politics (Poli 86)Politics (Poli 86)

Dr. Thomas Oatley

370 Hamilton Hall

Course OrganizationCourse Organization

Why So Much War?International OrganizationsThe International Economy and

GlobalizationThe Developing World in the International

System: Emerging Issues

Course RequirementsCourse Requirements

Four In-Class Tests, each worth 20 percentRecitation Grade, 20 percent

Unexcused AbsencesUnexcused Absences

You are required to be present for all scheduled exams.  The only allowable exception to this policy is a documented medical emergency. 

If you are absent from a scheduled exam for an unexcused reason, you will be allowed to take a make-up test, but there will be a substantial penalty.

ReadingReading

Joseph S. Nye Jr. 2000.  Understanding International Conflicts: an Introduction to Theory and History.  New York: Longman.

Web-Based ReadingsTaking Sides

Course Web SiteCourse Web Site

www.unc.edu/~toatley Links to Web-based ReadingsLecture OutlinesPowerPoint PresentationsSyllabus

What is International Politics?What is International Politics?

What is Politics?What is Politics?

Politics Is a Process Through Which Societies Decide Who Gets What.

Decisions Are Made by the Exercise of Power. Politics, Therefore, Creates Winners (Those Who

Get) and Losers (Those Who Don’t). Critical Question: Why Do Losers Accept Defeat?

Politics Politics WithinWithin Nations v Nations vs.s. Politics Politics BetweenBetween Nations Nations

Politics Politics withinwithin Nations Nations

Take Place Within Well Developed Political Institutions.

The State Has a Monopoly on Coercive Force. The Political Process Sometimes Has Legitimacy. Force and Legitimacy interact to make losers

accept defeat.– State Controls Coercive Force, Losers Can’t Challenge

the Outcome. – Political Process is Fair and Unbiased, Losers Agree to

Accept Will of the Majority.

Politics Between NationsPolitics Between Nations

Take Place Without Well Developed Political Institutions.

No Monopoly on Coercive Force.No Legitimacy to Political Process

—”Might Makes Right.”No Institutional Structure to Ensure that

Losers Accept Defeat.

The Importance of InstitutionsThe Importance of Institutions

Critical Difference Between Politics Within Nations and Politics Between Nations, Therefore, is the Institutional Framework Within Which the Two Take Place.

Almost Everything of Interest in International Politics Arises From the Absence of Strong Institutions.

Realism, Liberalism, and Realism, Liberalism, and International PoliticsInternational Politics

Realism: Power Politics in Absence of Strong Institutions Generates War.

War is a political act—an attempt to determine who gets what.

Liberalism: Reduce Frequency of War by Institutionalizing International Politics.