Anarchy, States, and Non-State Actors in International Relations

IR 2
The Players and
the Playing Field:
Anarchy, States,
and Non-State
Actors
2
SCOTT / CARTER / DRURY
Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

2Copyright ©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. IR2 | CH2
The Search for Security in a
Changing World
• International system: Constellation of
international actors and the relationships
between them
• International actors: People who act in the
international system
• State: Political-legal unit that:
• Has an identifiable population
• Is located within defined borders recognized by
others
• Has a government with sovereignty

Changing World
• Non-state actors: International actors that
are not states
• International governmental organizations (IOs)
• Non governmental organizations (NGOs)
• Multinational corporations (MNCs)
• Transnational advocacy networks (TANs)
• Subnational actors

Changing World
• Anarchy and interdependence
• Anarchy - One of the defining structural
characteristics of the international system
- No authoritative central governing bodies
• Interdependence: Mutual connections and
reliance between international actors

Changing World
• Security dilemma: Tension over how a state
can improve its security without
threatening others
• In a self-help world
• India/Pakistan

Changing World
• The Treaties of Westphalia (1648)
• International system’s history is divided
into:
- The pre-Westphalian system
- The Westphalian system
- The neo-Westphalian system

The Pre-Westphalian System (Pre-
1648)
• Limited contact between people due to
geography
• Innovations like domesticating plants and
animals led to larger communities and thus
larger political organizations
• Modern international politics arose out of
European history

The Pre-Westphalian System (Pre-
1648)
• Feudalism: Socio-economic-political system in
which rulers would grant land to:
• Local aristocracy in return for their loyalty and
support
• Peasants who work for the land in return for food,
shelter, and protection from the local aristocracy
• Protestant Reformation
• Thirty years’war (1618–1648): Series of wars
that created many modern European states

The Westphalian System (1648–
1989)
• States and their characteristics
• Sovereignty, autonomy, territoriality
• Head of government: Person who is in charge of a
state’s government on a day-by-day basis and
ensures that basic state functions and services are
met
- Head of state: Person who symbolically
represents a state and its people

1989)
• Parliamentary systems: Governments with a prime
minister as the head of government and either a
monarch or president as head of state
• Presidential systems: Governments with strong
presidents as both the head of state and the head
of government
• Semi-presidential systems: Governments with
prime ministers who are responsible for most day-
to-day governing
- Have presidents who have significant policy-
making roles

1989)
• Authoritarian systems: Nondemocratic
governments with leaders who rule via force
• Embassies: Properties that house the
permanent diplomatic missions of other
countries
▸ Located in the capital city of a state
▸ Extraterritoriality: Principle that one is exempt
from prosecution of the laws of the state

1989)
• Diplomats: Individuals occupying positions in
the foreign policy establishments of states or the
management of other organizations
• Represent and negotiate on behalf of their
country or employer
• Consulates: Offices where diplomatic officials
facilitate commerce, travel, and cultural
exchanges

1989)
• Diplomatic immunity: Principle that accredited
diplomats are exempt in all cases from
prosecution under the laws of the state where
they are assigned

1989)
• States, diplomacy and negotiation in world
politics
• Nature and role of diplomacy
- Diplomacy: Art and practice of conducting
negotiations between nations
- Role - Communication and negotiation in
pursuit of cooperation and conflict resolution
- Linkage strategy: Connects solutions on one
issue to proposals on another to facilitate
agreement

1989)
• Nations and other players
• Territories
- Not independent or sovereign
- Can be self-governing
• State
- Legal term in international politics for a
country
• Nation: Identifiable group of people who share
a collective identity

1989)
• Nations and other players
• Nation-state: All of the population are members
of the same nation
• Stateless nation
• Multinational state
• Westphalian sovereignty: Idea that within a
state’s borders there is no higher authority than
the government of the state itself

The Revenge of Geography
• 1. Who are the Afghans? Are they the
Pashtun minority or the non-Pashtun
majority?
• 2. Who speaks for Afghanistan?
• 3. Does Afghanistan really exist, other than
lines on a map that don’t mean much once
you are there?
• 4. If it lacks sovereignty, is it a failed state?

1989)
• The evolution of the system
• The empowerment of states
- Imperialism: Control and exploitation by one
state of the economy, culture, and/or
territory of others
- Democracy: Form of governance in which the
people have a meaningful choice in selecting
their rulers
- Nationalism: Emotional connection of the
mass public to their state (patriotism)

1989)
- Treaty of Versailles: Treaty in 1919 that
ended world war I, imposed heavy penalties
on Germany, and created the league of
nations
- Communism: Anti-capitalist economic
philosophy created by Karl Marx that under
subsequent leaders promoted centralized
control of a country and its economy

1989)
- Fascism: Political ideology that glorifies the
state over the individuals who comprise it and
relies on nationalism and violence to bond the
citizenry to the state

1989)
• The cold war: Period of intense rivalry and
competition from 1947–1989 between the
United States and its allies on the one hand, and
the Soviet Union and its allies on the other
- NATO: Military alliance structure created
following the outbreak of the Korean war in
1950 and led by the United States

1989)
• The cold war
- Warsaw pact: Military alliance created by the
soviet union as a response to the 1955
addition of West Germany into NATO
- Truman doctrine: Policy that the US would
help states resisting communist expansion

The Neo-Westphalian System (1990–
Present)
• Neo-Westphalian system
• Marked by a comparative rise in:
• Importance of non-state actors
• Phenomenon of globalization
• Subsequent relative weakening of states
• New principle of responsible sovereignty

Present)
• The development of non-state actors
• NGOs
• MNCs
• IGOs (IOs)

Present)
• League of nations: International institution created
after World War I for collective security and the
resolution of disputes between states
• United nations: International institution
established after world war II to promote:
- Peace and security
- Development of friendly relations and harmony
among nations
- Cooperation on international problems

Present)
• The UN
- Principal organs
▸ General assembly: Plenary body of the UN in which
all UN members have a seat
▸ Security council: Fifteen-member council that
carries the primary UN responsibilities for peace,
security, and collective security operations
▸ Economic and social council: Component of the UN
handling matters considered economic or social,
broadly defined

Present)
• The UN
- Principal organs
▸ Secretariat: Bureaucracy and administrative arm of
the UN
▸ International court of justice: International
institution was created in 1946 as part of the
united nations systems to apply international law
to resolve conflicts brought voluntarily to it by
states

Present)
• The rise of non-state actors
• MNCs
- Gross domestic product: Total amount of
goods and services produced in a state
- Oil companies
- Rival state power

Present)
• Other NGOs
- Humanitarian relief programs
- Economic development programs
- Educational programs
- Civil society development programs
- Human rights empowerment and protection
programs
- Environmental protection programs

Present)
• Celebrities
• Religious leaders
• Ordinary people

The Neo-Westphalian System
(1990–Present)
• Osama bin Laden's impact on others
- Mujahideen: Those who fight to liberate
Muslims or traditionally Muslim lands from
control by nonbelievers
- al-Qaeda: Fundamentalist Islamic
transnational terrorist organization

Present)
• Globalization and its effects
• Globalization: Increasing integration of global
society through economic, technological,
political, and cultural means
- Impact of the communication and
information technologies and transportation
▸International interactions are easier and far more
commonplace

Present)
• New stresses on states
• Borders on maps have less importance than
geography, tribe, clan or religion
• Internal economic threats
• External political and economic pressures

Present)
• The changing meaning of sovereignty
• Began with WWII
• UN Security Council Resolution 688: 1991
resolution authorizing UN members to
intervene in the domestic affairs of Iraq
• Ethnic cleansing and genocide
• Humanitarian interventions
• Responsible sovereignty
- Neo-Westphalian sovereignty
- R2P – responsibility to protect - UN – prevent genocide etc.

Present)
• The changing meaning of sovereignty
• Supranational regimes: International
organizations or sets of rules that can bind
states even against their will
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime
- Nuclear Non--Proliferation Treaty
- The World Trade Organization
- The European Union (EU)

KEY TERMS

LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Summarize how the search for security has
evolved in a changing international system
2. List the major types of actors and relationships
of the pre-Westphalian international system
3. Differentiate the major types of actors and
relationships of the Westphalian international
system
4. Recognize the major types of actors and
relationships of the neo-Westphalian

SUMMARY
• Same types of actors found in prior periods
are found in the current neo-Westphalian
• End of the Westphalian international
system opened the door to numerous
changes in:
• How international politics is routinely conducted
• How security is defined and protected

Anarchy, States, and Non-State Actors in International Relations

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