CSS International Relations key facts

Foundations

Nature, scope and development of IR

• Peace of Westphalia, 1648: ended the Thirty Years' War; origin of state sovereignty and non-interference.
• Congress of Vienna, 1814-15: restored a balance of power after Napoleon; led to the Concert of Europe.
• First World War 1914-18; Second World War 1939-45.
• League of Nations: its Covenant was part of the Treaty of Versailles (1919); the United States never joined.
• UN Charter: signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945; in force 24 October 1945.
• IR as a university subject: first chair at Aberystwyth, Wales, 1919.
• After 1945 the United States and the Soviet Union were the two superpowers.

Actors, power and national interest

• Montevideo Convention, 1933: a state has a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
• Morgenthau: national interest is 'interest defined in terms of power'.
• Hard power = coercion or payment: military force, economic sanctions, aid used as an inducement.
• Soft power (term coined by Joseph Nye) = attraction through culture, political values and foreign policy.
• Smart power = a chosen combination of hard and soft power.
• Tangible elements of power: geography, population, natural resources, economy, military strength.
• Intangible elements: national morale, national character, leadership, quality of government and of diplomacy.

Levels of analysis and foreign policy making

• Kenneth Waltz, 'Man, the State and War' (1959): three images of the causes of war = human nature, the state, the international system.
• Graham Allison, 'Essence of Decision' (1971): three models applied to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Rational actor model: the state is one unit with clear, ranked goals; it picks the option with the best expected result.
• Organisational process model: policy is the output of large organisations following standard operating procedures.
• Bureaucratic politics model: policy is the result of bargaining among officials; 'where you stand depends on where you sit'.
• Robert Putnam: the 'two-level game' links domestic approval and international bargaining.
• Herbert Simon: satisficing. Irving Janis: groupthink.

Theories of IR

Realism and neorealism

• Classical realism: E. H. Carr, 'The Twenty Years' Crisis' (1939); Hans Morgenthau, 'Politics Among Nations' (1948).
• Neorealism (structural realism): Kenneth Waltz, 'Theory of International Politics' (1979).
• Waltz = defensive realism: states are security seekers.
• John Mearsheimer = offensive realism: great powers maximise power and aim at regional hegemony.
• Security dilemma: steps one state takes for its own safety make others feel less safe, so they arm too.
• Internal balancing = building up one's own strength; external balancing = forming alliances.
• Bandwagoning = joining the stronger side. Early sources of realism: Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes.

Liberalism, idealism and institutionalism

• Immanuel Kant, 'Perpetual Peace' (1795): republican constitutions, a federation of free states, and universal hospitality.
• Woodrow Wilson: Fourteen Points, January 1918; national self-determination; a general association of nations.
• Democratic peace thesis: democracies rarely, if ever, fight one another.
• Commercial liberalism: trade makes war too costly.
• Keohane and Nye, 'Power and Interdependence' (1977): complex interdependence = many channels of contact, no fixed ranking of issues, a smaller role for military force.
• Robert Keohane, 'After Hegemony' (1984): institutions can keep cooperation going after a hegemon declines.
• Institutions help by sharing information, reducing uncertainty and lowering transaction costs.

Constructivism, English school and critical theories

• Alexander Wendt: 'Anarchy is what states make of it' (1992); three cultures of anarchy: Hobbesian (enemies), Lockean (rivals), Kantian (friends).
• Hedley Bull, 'The Anarchical Society' (1977); Martin Wight's three traditions: realist (Machiavelli), rationalist (Grotius), revolutionist (Kant).
• Lenin, 'Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism': imperialism grows out of capitalism.
• Andre Gunder Frank: dependency theory, 'the development of underdevelopment'.
• Immanuel Wallerstein: world-systems theory with core, semi-periphery and periphery.
• Feminist IR: J. Ann Tickner, Cynthia Enloe. Post-colonialism: Edward Said, 'Orientalism' (1978).
• First great debate: idealism against realism. Second: traditionalism against behaviouralism (scientific method).

Security, conflict and diplomacy

Balance of power, alliances and collective security

• Alliances: NATO (1949; Article 5, an attack on one is an attack on all); Warsaw Pact (1955).
• Failures of League collective security: Japan in Manchuria, 1931; Italy in Ethiopia, 1935.
• Appeasement = giving in to an aggressor's demands to avoid war: Munich Agreement, 1938.
• Containment = stopping the spread of Soviet influence: George Kennan's 'X' article and the Truman Doctrine, both 1947.
• Détente = easing of US-Soviet tension in the 1970s: SALT I (1972), Helsinki Final Act (1975).
• Neutrality = legal status of staying out of wars between others: Switzerland.
• Non-alignment = staying out of the Cold War blocs: Non-Aligned Movement, first summit at Belgrade, 1961. Rollback = pushing communism back where it already ruled.

Nuclear politics and arms control

• Partial Test Ban Treaty, 1963: banned tests in the atmosphere, outer space and under water; underground tests allowed.
• NPT: opened for signature 1968, in force 1970. Three pillars: non-proliferation, disarmament, peaceful use of nuclear energy.
• NPT nuclear-weapon states (tested before 1 January 1967): USA, USSR (now Russia), UK, France, China. India, Pakistan and Israel never signed.
• IAEA: applies safeguards on civil nuclear material.
• SALT I, 1972: ABM Treaty and an Interim Agreement limiting strategic missile launchers. SALT II: signed 1979, never ratified by the US Senate.
• START I: signed 1991; real cuts in strategic arsenals. New START: signed 2010.
• CTBT, 1996: bans all nuclear explosions; it has not entered into force.

War, terrorism, conflict resolution and diplomacy

• Article 33 of the UN Charter (in Chapter VI, pacific settlement) lists negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement.
• Good offices: a third party only helps the sides to talk. Mediation: the third party also proposes terms, which are not binding.
• Arbitration: the parties choose the arbitrators and agree in advance to accept the award, so it is binding.
• Limited war: aims and means are restricted. Total war: the whole resources of society are used.
• Functions of a mission (Vienna Convention 1961): representing the sending state, protecting its interests and nationals, negotiating, reporting on conditions, promoting friendly relations.
• Classes of heads of mission: ambassadors (highest), then envoys and ministers, then chargés d'affaires. Agrément = advance approval of the receiving state.
• Mission premises are inviolable (entry only with the head of mission's consent). A diplomat can be declared persona non grata. Consular relations come under a separate Vienna Convention of 1963.

Institutions and the international economy

The United Nations system

• Six principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice, Secretariat.
• Security Council: 15 members. Five permanent (China, France, Russia, UK, USA) and ten elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.
• Voting: a substantive decision needs nine votes in favour and no negative vote from a permanent member. An abstention is not a veto.
• Chapter VI = pacific settlement of disputes. Chapter VII = enforcement action (sanctions, use of force). New members are admitted by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.
• The International Court of Justice sits at The Hague and has 15 judges. The Secretary-General heads the Secretariat. The Trusteeship Council suspended its work in 1994.
• Agencies: WHO (Geneva, health), ILO (Geneva, founded 1919, tripartite: governments, employers, workers), UNESCO (Paris, education, science, culture), FAO (Rome, food and agriculture).
• Peacekeeping principles: consent of the parties, impartiality, force only in self-defence and defence of the mandate. The UN has no standing army.

Regional organisations

• EU: established by the Maastricht Treaty (signed 1992, in force 1993); grew out of the European Economic Community of the Treaty of Rome, 1957. The Commission sits in Brussels.
• NATO: North Atlantic Treaty, Washington, 1949. Article 5: an attack on one is an attack on all. Headquarters in Brussels.
• ASEAN: Bangkok Declaration, 1967. Founders: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand. Secretariat in Jakarta.
• SAARC: Dhaka, 1985. Founders: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (Afghanistan joined in 2007). Secretariat in Kathmandu. Its charter excludes bilateral and contentious issues.
• OIC: Rabat, 1969, after the arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque. Headquarters in Jeddah.
• SCO: Shanghai, 2001, growing out of the Shanghai Five of 1996. Founders: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Pakistan and India became full members in 2017.
• AU: launched 2002, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (1963). Headquarters in Addis Ababa. ECO: 1985, founded by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey as successor to the RCD (1964). Headquarters in Tehran.

International political economy and globalisation

• IMF: lends to members with balance-of-payments difficulties, often with policy conditions (conditionality). Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are a reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969.
• World Bank: began as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to rebuild war-damaged economies; now lends for long-term development. Both it and the IMF are based in Washington, DC.
• End of Bretton Woods: in August 1971 President Nixon ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold.
• WTO: began work in 1995, replacing the GATT (1947). Based in Geneva. Most-favoured-nation rule: an advantage given to one member must be given to all.
• Free trade area: no tariffs between members. Customs union: the same, plus a common external tariff.
• Mercantilism: wealth and power come from trade surpluses. Ricardo's comparative advantage: countries gain by specialising where their opportunity cost is lowest.
• North-South: Group of 77 (1964) speaks for developing countries; the Brandt Report (1980) was headed by Willy Brandt. Dependency is linked with Raúl Prebisch and Andre Gunder Frank; complex interdependence with Keohane and Nye.

History and regions

The Cold War and the post-Cold War order

• Order of events: Churchill's 'iron curtain' speech at Fulton (1946), Truman Doctrine (March 1947), Marshall Plan (announced June 1947), Berlin blockade (1948-49), NATO (1949), Korean War (1950-53), Warsaw Pact (1955).
• Truman Doctrine: aid to Greece and Turkey. Marshall Plan: economic recovery of Western Europe. Comecon (1949): economic body of the Soviet-led states.
• Berlin blockade: the USSR cut land routes to West Berlin; the West answered with an airlift. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 and opened in 1989.
• Korean War: ended in July 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
• Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962: US naval quarantine; the USSR removed its missiles and the USA pledged not to invade Cuba.
• Warsaw Pact (1955): formed after West Germany joined NATO. Glasnost = openness; perestroika = restructuring.
• Polarity: bipolar = two dominant powers; unipolar = one; multipolar = several (for example Europe around 1900).

Foreign policy of Pakistan

• SEATO: based on the Manila Pact of 1954. Baghdad Pact: 1955, renamed CENTO in 1959 after Iraq withdrew.
• China: boundary agreement signed in 1963. In 1971 Pakistan was the channel for Henry Kissinger's secret visit to Beijing.
• USA and USSR: the U-2 spy plane shot down over the USSR in May 1960 had taken off from Peshawar. The USA suspended military supplies to both Pakistan and India during the 1965 war.
• Kashmir: the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1949 called for a plebiscite under UN supervision.
• Indus Waters Treaty, 1960, with World Bank help: eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India; western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan.
• Tashkent Declaration, January 1966: Ayub Khan and Lal Bahadur Shastri, brokered by the Soviet Union. Simla Agreement, July 1972: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indira Gandhi; disputes to be settled bilaterally and peacefully.
• Afghanistan: the Durand Line was drawn in 1893 between Afghanistan and British India. In 1947 Afghanistan cast the only vote against Pakistan's admission to the UN.

South Asia and the Middle East: historical issues

• Resolution 181 (General Assembly, 1947): partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem under an international regime.
• Suez Crisis, 1956: began when President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company; Britain, France and Israel then attacked Egypt.
• June 1967: Israel captured Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Security Council Resolution 242: 'land for peace'.
• October 1973: Egypt and Syria attacked. Arab oil producers imposed an embargo on states supporting Israel, and oil prices rose sharply. OPEC itself was founded at Baghdad in 1960.
• Camp David Accords, 1978: Sadat and Begin, brokered by President Carter. The Egypt-Israel treaty of 1979 led to Israel's withdrawal from Sinai.
• 1971: the Awami League won an overall majority in the 1970 elections; power was not transferred; Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered at Dhaka on 16 December 1971.
• Afghanistan: Soviet troops entered in December 1979; the Geneva Accords were signed in 1988; withdrawal was completed in February 1989.

Major powers' foreign policy doctrines

• Monroe Doctrine, 1823: the Americas are closed to further European colonisation; the USA will stay out of European quarrels. Roosevelt Corollary, 1904: the USA may intervene in Latin America as a police power.
• Open Door, 1899-1900: equal commercial access to China for all powers. Good Neighbour policy, 1930s (Franklin Roosevelt): no intervention in Latin American states.
• Truman Doctrine, 1947: support for free peoples resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressure. Domino theory: if one state falls to communism, its neighbours follow.
• Nixon Doctrine, 1969: allies must carry the main burden of their own defence. Nixon visited China in February 1972.
• Reagan Doctrine, 1980s: support for anti-communist resistance movements.
• USSR: Stalin, 'socialism in one country'; Khrushchev, 'peaceful coexistence' (1956); Brezhnev Doctrine (1968), the right to intervene where socialism was judged to be under threat.
• Panchsheel, 1954: respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful coexistence.