INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Course Description and Objectives

International Affairs is not only politics among nations, as it is usually understood; in
the era of geo-economics and globalization the scope of political economy has
significantly increased, there for in this course, special attention is given to political
economy, the North-South gap, poverty and international development. The course
will also cover the past and present crucial historical events which are consider
imperative for understanding International Affairs. As an introductory course, it has
been aimed to comprehend the students some basic theories of International
Relations. The course has been formulated in a way which will facilitate the
students, in understanding other areas particularly Development Studies. By the
end of the course, students will be familiar with the basic theories of International
Relations; students being known with these basic theories of International Relations
will be capable enough to assess and analyze the issues of International Relations
with valid suggestions and solutions.

Organization of the Course

The module is planned of a period of 14-16 weeks, two sessions in a week each of
90 minutes. The students are encouraged and expected to actively participate in
the classes. The instructor reserves the right to delete, substitute and add new
material during the course of the semester.

Course Assessment
1. Group or individual presentation with a written paper of 2000-3000 words.
(Soft copies of all the assignments and presentations must be emailed to the
instructor on the day they are due or before) [20%]
2. Weekly Assignments: Students will be asked to collect five international
and five national news headlines from newspapers or magazines.
3. Monthlies [40%]
4. Comprehensive Exam [40%]

NOTE: There will be penalties for any assignments submitted after the
deadline or on retake quizzes. It should also be noted that late
assignments and retake are acceptable only on the three consecutive days
after the original deadline.

Readings
As the course is interdisciplinary, therefore, there is no single textbook for the
course. Some of the books that contain a wide verity of topics have been put in the
recommended books list. In addition to referring to books, the students are advised
to consult a wide range of newspapers, magazines and e-journals that may be of
use to students in preparation for their assignments. The students are highly
advised to read newspapers and magazines on daily basis.

Recommended Books:

Goldstein S. Joshua (2003), International Relations. Pearson Education, India.

Rouke T. John and Boyer A. Mark (latest edition), International Politics on the
World Stage. Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

Smith Steve and Baylis John (2001), The Globalization of World Politics-An
Introduction to International Relations. Oxford University Press Inc. New York.

Shahid M. Imtiaz (1996), International Relations: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.

Caravan Enterprises. Lahore.

Chander Parkash (latest edition), International Relations. Cosmos Bookhive

(P) Ltd. Bombay.

Allen, T and Thomas, A. (2000). Poverty and Development into the 21st
Century. Oxford University Press.

SUGGESTIONS

Skim all reading before lecture.

Reread after lecture and discussion for better understanding.

Identify main argument (thesis), importance and main supporting

evidence/logic.

Try not to get lost in esoteric details or language.

Introduction to International Relations

Course Contents:

1.

Understanding International Relations (1)

Introduction
History, Meaning, Nature and Importance
Levels of Analysis (2 & 3)
National Interest

Teaching
weeks

1&2

VIDEOS:
1. Iron Curtain: (Divided at the end of World War II,
Europe was a potential flashpoint for 40 years as the
superpowers maintained an uneasy peace built on
deterrence.
2. Oriental Communism: (From the withdrawal of the
old colonial powers to the conflict in Korea, instability,
regional conflicts, and the boiling over of Cold War
tensions marked much of the 20th century in Asia.
3. Wars in Peace: (The perennial problems of civil war,
terrorism, and bilateral wars took on a new urgency in
the years since the end of the Cold War, and the
international community struggled to deal with them.

2. Balance of Power and Power Vacuum

The Determinants of Power (4)

3. International Security:
National Power/ Power Politics (5)

VIDEOS:
1. War to End All War? (The entry of the United
States helped bring World War I to a close, but
the harsh conditions of the Versailles Treaty
paved the way for a greater conflict to come).
2. Enter The Dictators (The years between the
World Wars were marked by the rise of
totalitarian states in Europe and a growing
militancy in the Far East).
4. International Organizations: (6)
Regional
Global
5&6

5.

International Issues:
Nuclear Proliferation
Humanitarian Intervention and World Politics
Poverty, Development, and Hunger.
Gender Issues
International Law (Human rights)
Environment.
The Concept of Jihad.

7&8

9 & 10
6.

Foreign Policy:
Determinants of American Foreign Policy
Determinants of Pakistan Foreign Policy
Determinants of Chinese Foreign Policy
11

7. Diplomacy:

8.

International Political Economy:

The North-South Gap
International Development
Integration

12 & 13

9. Case Studies:
Middle East, Afghanistan or South Asia.
VIDEO:

14 & 15

1. War in the Middle East (From Israels continual

battles to defend itself to inter-Arab squabbles and
the role of oil; trace the many conflicts that have
shaken this tumultuous region).
2. Gulf War and the Future (The Allied victory over
Iraq showcased a new generation of weapons and
tactics, but evolving threats- particularly from
weapons of mass destruction- require a new approach
to deterrence).
South Asia
Afghanistan.

Understanding International Relations

IR-a fascinating and challenging subject. There is always more to learn. This
course is only the beginning of the story.

Meaning and definition of IR: the term International was used for the
first time by Jermy Bentham in the later part of the 18 th century with regard to
the law of nations. Consequently, the term international relations were used
to define the official relations between the sovereign states. Nevertheless,
these relationships cannot be understood only on state level, there are also
non-state actors, which influences the course of these relationships. IR is not
confined with one field such that only politics among nations it includes other
social structures e.g. economic, culture, and domestic politics. Therefore, IR is
a large subject that overlaps several other fields.

IR and Daily Life: The internationalization of daily life is increasing rapidly,

the technological advances as thus shrunk the world, and this Age is known
as the Age of globalization.

Execution of a Viet Cong Guerrilla [1968]

This picture was shot by Eddie Adams who won the Pulitzer Prize with it. The picture shows Nguyen
Ngoc Loan, South Vietnam's national police chief executing a prisoner who was said to be a Viet Cong
captain. Once again the public opinion was turned against the war.

The Scope of IR: As a field of study, IR has uncertain boundaries and

massive scope. Its scope has greatly expanded in modern times. Initially
international relations were concerned with the study of diplomatic history.
Later on emphasis began to be laid on the study of international law and
international relations began to be studied within the framework of
international law. The scope of international relations in the post World War II
period further widenedIR scope is keeping getting broaderscholars began
to study the military policy of the country as well as the behavior of
political leadersarea study, psychological study of the motives of the
member states. According to Alfred Zimmern, from the academic point of
view, international relations is clearly not a subject in the ordinary sense of
the word. It does not provide a single coherent body of teaching material. It
is not a single subject but a bundle of subjects. Of what is this bundle
composed? Of law, economics, political science, geography and so on-but not
the whole range of these subjects. Domestic politics and comparative politics
are not the scope of IR.

Atomic Bomb Nagasaki

Significance of Studying IR: In the present day interdependent world the

study of IR has great significanceto know and analyze the policies of
various countries to better understand them and to get ourselves known
about the success and failure of those policies. Also to know about the
worlds problems and know their solutions.

A vulture watches a starving child [1993]

The prize-winning image: A vulture watches a starving child in southern Sudan, March 1, 1993.
Carter's winning photo shows a heart-breaking scene of a starving child collapsed on the ground,
struggling to get to a food center during a famine in the Sudan in 1993. In the background, a vulture
stalks the emaciated child. Carter was part of a group of four fearless photojournalists known as the
"Bang Bang Club" who traveled throughout South Africa capturing the atrocities committed during
apartheid. Haunted by the horrific images from Sudan, Carter committed suicide in 1994 soon after
receiving the award.

Theories and Methods: IR scholars want to understand why international

events occur in the way they do. Scholars have different ways to answer the
Why questions.

Descriptive way: It seeks to describe how particular force and actors

operate to bring about a particular outcome (direct cause)

Theoretical way: It seeks general explanation and longer term, more

indirect causes.
Understanding IR requires both descriptive and theoretical knowledge.
Generally, scholars closer to the policy process are most interested in
descriptive and short-term explanations that are useful for managing a
particular issue area or region. Scholars closer to the academic ivory tower
tend

to

be

interested

in

more

abstract,

general,

and

longer-term

explanations. IR is an unpredictable realm of turbulent processes and events

that catch the experts by surprise, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall of 1989.
Perhaps because of this complexity and unpredictability, IR scholars do not
agree on a single set of theories to explain IR or even on a single set of
concepts with which to discuss the field.
Theories of International Relations: One way to look at the variety of
theories is to distinguish three broad theoretical perspectives, which may be
called the conservative, liberal, and revolutionary world views.
Conservative World View: Maintenance of the status quo and discounts the
element of change in IR. Conservative approaches value order.
Liberal World View: Reform of the status quo through an evolutionary
process of gradual change. Liberal theories often focus on the mutual
benefits to be gained in IR through interdependence and reciprocity. Liberal
approaches find their most fertile ground in the international political
economy.
Revolutionary World View: it values transformation of the status quo
through revolutionary and rapid change. Revolutionary approaches tend to
value justice. They often see war as a product of underlying exploitative
economic relationships, and see changes in those economic relationships as
the key to solving the problem of war.

Real world politics mixes these three perspectives in various ways. No theory
or scholar in IR is purely conservative, liberal or revolutionary.

Che Guevara
In international security, a conservative worldview strongly influences the
contours of realism or power politics. The liberal counterpoint to realism,
originally called idealism, has been less influential in IR scholarship and
policy making regarding international security (e.g. International Law)

In international political economy, the liberal worldview dominates

scholarship

and

often

policy.

More

conservative

approach

such

as

mercantilism has been less influential than those based on liberal free
market economics.
ACTORS AND INFLUENCES:
All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players. William
Shakespeare.

10

State Actors: A state is a territorial entity controlled by a government and

inhabited by a population, it exercises sovereignty over its territory. It has to
be recognized by other states (UN)

Non-state Actors: National governments may be the most important actors

in IR, but they are strongly conditioned, constrained, and influenced by a
variety of actors that are not states. E.g. Transnational actors, NGOs, IGOs,
Media, Individuals, Terrorists, Military Alliances (NATO) etc.

Mussolini and Hitler

Churchill, Roosevelt and

Stalin
LEVELS OF ANALYSIS:
A level of analysis is a perspective on IR based on a set of similar actors or
process that suggests possible explanations to why questions. The lowest
levels focus on small, disaggregated units such as individual people, whereas
the highest levels focus on macro processes such as global trends. Generally,
most of the scholars use three widely accepted levels of generalization or
influences to help better understand the highly complex problems in world
politics. They are: the individual, state (or society) and international
system.

11

Many influences affect the course of international relations. Levels of analysis

provide a framework for categorizing these influences and thus for
suggesting various explanations of international events. Examples include.

GLOBAL LEVEL
North-South gap

Technological Change

World regions

Information Revolution

European imperialism

Global

telecommunication
Worldwide scientific and business communities
World environment

INTERSTATE LEVEL
Power

IGOs

Balance of Power

Alliance

formation

and

dissolution
Wars

Treaties

Trade agreements

Diplomacy

Summit meetings

Bargaining

Reciprocity

DOMESTIC LEVEL

Nationalism
Ethnic Conflict

Political Parties and Elections

Public Opinion

12

Type of Government

Gender

Democracy

Economic Sectors and Industries

Dictatorship

Military Industrial complex

Domestic Coalitions

Foreign

Policy

Bureaucracies

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Great Leaders
Crazy Leaders

Learning
Assassinations, Accidents of History

Citizens Participation (Voting, rebelling, going to war, etc.)

Psychology of Perception
and Decision

EVOLUTION OF THE WORLD SYSTEM:

GEOGRAPHY:
Geography provides one fixed context in which IR takes place, history
provides another.

13

North and South Poles or West and East poles. The South is often called the
Third World. The North contains only 20 percent of the worlds people but 60
percent of its goods and services. IR scholars have no single explanation of
the tremendous North-South gap and in wealth and poverty.
HISTORY:
Of special interest in IR are the past 500 years, known as the modern age.
This has been the age of the international system that we know (sovereign
states).
With so much change occurring, one might wonder whether history is still
relevant to understanding the world. It is. The basic structures and principles
of international relations, even in the current era, are deeply rooted in
historical developments (particularly of European history).
WORLD CIVILIZATION TO 2000

The present-day international system is the product of a particular civilization-Western

Civilization,

centered

in

Europe.

Ethnocentrism:

Eurocentrism,

American-

exceptionalism, Sinocentrism, Orientalism.

Greek City States (400 B.C)
China
Arab Civilization
Japan
Latin America (Mayans, Aztecs, Incas)
South Asia (Indus Valley Civilization, Indian Valley Civilization, Mugals)
Africa (Bakongo)

Holy Roman Empire (10th century) Pope rules

Renaissance (1500 A.D) the decline of papal authority and the increase in
royal power were reinforced by a period of culture and intellectual rebirth and
reform called the Renaissance (about 1350-1650). Educated people looked to

14

the classical Hellenic (of ancient Greece) and Roman cultures and models and
developed a concept of personal freedom that ran counter to the authority of
the Church. Protestant Reformation.

Feudal Monarachs, Modern armies (Canons, Navy).

The growth of kingdoms and the breakdown of central religious dominance,

combined to give rise to the modern nation-state.

Ultimately the European conquest of the world brought about a single world
civilization, albeit with regional variants and subcultures.

THE GREAT POWER SYSTEM (1500-2000)

The modern international system is often dated from the Treaty of
Westphalia in 1648, which established the principles of independent,
sovereign states that continue to shape the international system today.
The Congress of Vienna (1815)
The Concert of Europe (or Congress System)
IMPERIALISM (1500-2000)
most of the newly independent states have faced tremendous challenges
and difficulties in the postcolonial era. Because long-establishing economic
patterns continued despite political independence, some refer to the
postcolonial era as being neocolonial.
NATIONALISM (1500-2000)
The continuing influence of nationalism in todays world is evident. More than
ever, it is a major factor in international conflict and war.

The Principle of self-determination: it implies that people who identify as

a nation should have the right to form a state and exercise sovereignty over
their affairs. Self-determination is widely praised principle in international
affairs today (not historically). But it is generally secondary to the principles

15

of sovereignty (noninterference in other states internal affairs) and territorial

integrity, with which it frequently conflicts.

Nationalism proved a stronger force than socialism and many other isms. E.g.
Arab- Nationalism, Soviet resistance to German invasion, German, Italian and
Japanese

Fascism

(an

extreme

authoritarianism

bound

by

national

chauvinism.

Nationalism and democracy remain great historical forces exerting strong

influences in IR.

Nationalism Falls and Rises.

THE WORLD ECONOMY (1750-2000):

Industrial Revolution: the use of energy to drive machinery and the
accumulation of such machinery along with the products created by it.

The Industrial Revolution started in Britain notably with the inventions of Steam engine
(1769), thread-spinner (1770), and the cotton gin in America (1769), coal-powered iron
steamships (1880), railway, colonialism, slave trade, and free trade.

The United States led the world in converting from coal to oil and from horsedrawn transportation to motor vehicles.

Great Depression of 1930s

The government role in the economy intensified during World War II
(Keynesian economics)
Following World War II, the capitalist world economy was restructured under
U.S leadership (Bretton Woods System)

Standing apart from the world capitalist economy in the years after WWII
were the economies of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, organized on
communist principles of central planning and state ownershipthe Soviet
bloc economies stagnated under the weight of bureaucracy, ideological

16

rigidity, environmental destruction, corruption, and extremely high military

spending.

Today there is a single integrated world (capitalist) economy that almost no

country can resist joining. Above all, the emergence of a global capitalist
economy has sharpened disparities between the richest and poorest world
regions. While U.S enjoys unprecedented prosperity, Africas increasing
poverty has created a human catastrophe on a continental scale.
THE TWO WORLD WARS (1900-1950):
World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) occupied only 10
years of the 20th century. But they shaped the character of the century.
WWI: Irrational, unnecessary or perhaps accidental
WWII: Treaty of Versailles, US isolation left power vacuum in world politics.
Germany, Japan an emerging (expansionist) powers. Appeasement Policy
(Munich Agreement of 1938).
Carpet-bombing, D-day, Crimes against Humanity, Nuremberg Tribunal, Pearl
Harbor (1941), Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945).

THE COLD WAR (1945-1990):

CAPITALIST DEMOCRACY VS COMMUNISM
NATO Vs WARSAW PACT
YALTA CONFERENCE (1945)
IRON CURTAIN
MARSHALL PLAN
CONTAINMENT
NUCLEAR RIVALRY

17

PROXY WARS (VIETNAM, AFGHANISTAN, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, LATIN

AMERICA)
GORBACHEVS

PERESTROIKA

restructuring)

&

GLASNOST

(economic

and

(openness

bureaucratic
in

political

reform

or

discussions,

demokratizatsiva)

THE EARLY POST-COLD WAR ERA (1990New World Order

Power Vacuum
Iraq invasion of Kuwait
Balkans War
Globalization
Resurgence of Nationalism
Ethnic-religious conflict, Terrorism, Political unrest-all backlash to globalization
which is creating disparities.
War on Terror.
The emerging China

18

NATIONAL INTERESTS:

Self-interest is not only a legitimate, but a fundamental cause for national policy; one
which needs no cloak of hypocrisy. As a principle it does not require justification in
general statement.

But how would you define National Interests.

Hans Morgenthau (1904-1980), a well known proponent of the realist view of
IR, was a systematic supporter of the premise that diplomatic strategy should
be motivated by national interest rather than by utopian and dangerous
moralistic, legalistic and ideological criteria. To him interest and power are
the ends and means of international political actions. In Morgenthas view,
the minimum requirement of nation-states is to protect their physical,
political and cultural identity against encroachments by other nation-states.
From these non-compromising NI, the leaders can derive cooperative and
conflictive policies, such as competitive armaments, BoP, foreign aid,
alliances, subversion, and economic and psychological warfare.

The term national interest gained currency only with the emergence of the
national state system, increase in popular political control and the great
expansion of economic relations.

Methods for the Promotion of NI:

1. Coercive Measures (in case of conflicting NI)
2. Alliances
3. Diplomatic Negotiations (in case of complementary or compatible national
interests)
4. Economic Aid
5. Propaganda

19

6. Collective Security (international peace and security a common objective of

all the nations)

20

NATIONAL POWER:

Theoretically, according to international law all states are equal, but

in reality all states are not equal or completely sovereign. Power
defines their sovereignty.

The concept of nation state has made the acquisition of power more
relevant and in demand.

What is power? The ability to get someone to do something you

want.

Might may not make right, but might frequently determines the winner.

The Nature of power: Power is like loveeasier to experience than to

define or measure.

Power is a multifaceted, ever-changing political resource and is the sum of

the various elements that allow one country to have its interests prevail over
the interests of another country. In short, national power is the sum of the
attributes that enable a state to achieve its goals even when they clash with
goals of other international actors.

Just as money is the currency of economic life, one scholar wrote so power
can be thought of as the currency of politics.

POWER AS AN ASSET:

One of the confusions about power is whether it is an asset (an end, a goal)
that you try to acquire and maintain or a tool (a means, an instrument) that
you use? The answer is both.

THE URGE FOR POWER:

There are many theories about the lure of amassing power. Realists, for
instance, contend that the quasi-anarchistic nature of the international
system makes it prudent for a country to amass power to protect itself in a
dangerous world. one psychological theory argues that at least some people

21

have a need to dominate their environment and seek power to do so. Yet
another idea is that power-seeking is a particularly male psychosexual
impulse. Whatever the cause, it can be argued that it is prudent to acquire
power because the international system that exists emphasizes sovereign
interests and self-help (action outside legal system)

THE COST OF POWER:

If power were free, the acquiring as much of it as possible might be wise.

Power is not free, though. To the contrary, it is costly, and there are dangers
inherent in the search for power.

Similarly, there are clear dangers associated with overemphasizing the

acquisition and preservation of power, especially military power. Three such
perils deserve special mention. They are insecurity, temptation and expense.

1.

Power creates insecurity: spiral of insecurity. Arms race

2.

Power creates temptation: one reason Americans intervened in

Vietnam was

because of an arrogance of power. (Fulbright, 1966). One can

never be sure, but it is certain that it is hard to shoot someone if you do not own a
gun.
3.

Power is expensive: A modern U.S. aircraft carrier costs approximately

$3.5 billion, including its 85 aircraft and its carrier battle group of supporting ships
all these escalate the cost of about $15 billion. WHO estimate that $2.5 billion can
save 7.5 million children annually.
In The Rise and Fall of Great Powers (1988) Paul Kennedy concluded that wealth is
usually needed to acquire military power, which, in turn, is usually used to achieve
and

protect

even

greater

wealth

(imperial

overstretch).

This

imperial

overstretch, in the end, leads towards declinism. The declinists hold responsible
both

military

and

non-military

budgets.

The

focus

of

declinists

is

on

overconsumption (spending that depletes assets faster than the economy can
replace them) at the expense of reinvestment (spending that creates assets).

22

THE STATUS OF POWER:

The illusory status of power is another aspect of power that makes it difficult
to assess. Real power and Perceived power.
The

relatively

isolationist

U.S

stand

before

WWI

led

others

to

underestimate American power. When asked for his evaluation of the U.S
military in 1917, a German admiral replied, Zero, Zero, Zero. Based on this
perception of U.S. power, Germany resumed the submarine warfare against U.S.
merchant shipping, a move that soon ked to war with the U.S.

MEASURING POWER:

Measuring things like the number of guns, oil production, or population is

easy. Measuring other aspects of power, such as leadership or moral, is such
ore difficult.

CHARACTERISTICS OF POWER:

Power is not a simple and stable phenomenon. Indeed, it is very much a

political chameleon.

1. Power is dynamic: There are scholars who contend that some power factors
(such as military force, population size, raw materials, and geography) are
declining in their importance as part of the power equation, while other
factors (such as technological excellence, education, and economic growth)
are becoming more important. Joseph Nye, for example, contends that
coercive hard power is declining in importance and that soft power is
increasing.
2. Power is relative: calculating power is of limited use except to measure it
against the power of the other side. When assessing capabilities, then,
relative power, or the comparative power of the national actors, must be
considered. We cannot say that China is powerful unless we specify in
comparison to whom. For example, whatever Chinas power resources may

23

be, China relative power compared to Japans is not as great as Chinas

relative power is when it is compared to Vietnam.
3. Power is Situational: A countrys power varies according to the situation, or
context, in which it is being applied. Sometimes a country does have
resources to use power but it lacks the will to use force.
4. Power is multidimensional: Power is multifaceted. People often think of
international power only in terms of military capabilities. This is an error
because military might cannot always be used.

THE DETERMINANTS OF POWER:

Tangible power: those that can be measured, e.g. Population, industrial output,
and number of soldiers, number of educated people etc.
Intangible Power: those that cannot be measured easily, e.g. Leadership.
The determinants of power can be grouped into four major categories
1. The National Core: a countrys physical characteristics, its people, its
government, and its reputation
2. The National Infrastructure: a countrys technological sophistication, its
transformation system, and its information and communications capabilities
3. The National Economy: a countrys financial position, its natural resources, its
industrial output, and its agricultural output
4. The National Military: a countrys military equipment and its troops.

1. The

National

Core:

geopolitics:

it

focuses

the

interrelationship

of

geography, power and international politics or geography determines the

power of nations. According to geopolitics, it is a law of history that peoples
must expand by conquering space, or perish. Sir Alfred Thayer Mahan, an
American naval officer, argued in The influence of Seapower on History
(1890) that world power was determined by control of the seas and by the
acquisition of colonies for that purpose. Mahans theory supported both
British and American imperial expansion. Taking the opposite view, British
geographer Sir Halford Mackinder in Democratic Ideals and Reality (1919)

24

classified Europe, Asia, and Africa as the world island with Eurasian
heartland at its center. Mackinder held that:

Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland

Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island
Who rules the World Island commands the world.

Nicholas J. Spykman (1944), taking a geopolitical position between Mahans

and Mackinders, emphasized the rimlands of Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, South America, and Asia as the keys to U.S. security. These lands form
a sort of fence to keep the Eurasian powers out of the New World or,
conversely, if controlled by a hostile power, to encircle the United States.

National Geography: geographic factors include 1. Location, 2. Topography,

3. Size and Shape, and 4. Climate.

People: number of people, age distribution, and such quantitative factors as

health and education. There are also intangible population factors such as
morale.

population:

Age distribution: Productive years (15-64), aging countries

Other factors: Discrimination add to the failure to maximize a populations

potential. Roma in Bulgaria, Blacks in South Africa, Catholics in Northern
Ireland, Arabs in Israel, Kurds in Turkey, and a host o other groups are
substantially lost as a resource to their countries. The gap is even wider in
some rich countrys impoverished areas, such as Harlem in New York City. The
life expectancy of black males there is 46 years, lower than the life
expectancy (56) of people on average in the poorest 40 countries of the
world.

Morale:

Winston Churchill proclaimed in Parliament on October 9, 1940,

during the darkest days of the war, that for the British people Death and

25

sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment;

constancy and valor our only shield. We must be united, we must be
undaunted, we must be inflexible. The British answered Churchills call. They
remained undaunted; they held; the prevailed. At the negative extreme, the
collapse of national morale can bring about civil unrest and even the fall of
government.

Government: Administrative Competence, Leadership skills

2. The National Infrastructure:

Technological Sophistication: The coming century will be the Pacific

Century.

Transportation System:

Information and Communication Capabilities:

3. The National Economy:

Financial Position: The center of any countrys economic health is its

basic financial position. GNP, Foreign reserves, The Balance of Payments,
countrys total foreign debt

Natural Resources: Among the myriad raw materials needed to become a

modern industrial power, petroleum, iron, and coal are three of the most
important. It is not just production, its production compared to consumption.
Avoiding energy or other resource dependency, however, can be difficult in a
modern economy. Japan has constructed a powerful economy, but it is
vulnerable. The Japanese import virtually all their primary energy supplies (oil,
natural gas, and others) and 90 percent or more of such key minerals as
copper, cobalt, manganese, chromium, and platinum. Japan has 0.0002
percent of the worlds reserves of iron, the main ingredient of steel. Yet Japan is
the leading steel producer, accounting for 13.6% of the world total. On a global
basis, industrial production is highly concentrated. Germany, Japan, and the
United States, for instance, combine to produce 30.8 % of the worlds steel.
Vehicle production is another indication of industrial concentration, where just
nine countries account for more than 85 % of all the cars and trucks

26

manufactured globally, with the three biggest producers (Germany, Japan and
the United States) making 61.4% of the global total.

Industrial Output: even if a country is bountifully supplied with natural

resources, its power is limited unless it can convert those assets into industrial
goods

Agricultural Output: United States, with less than 5 percent of the worlds
population, it produces about 16 percent of the worlds cereal grains, 8 percent
of its beef and chicken, and 7 percent of its pork.

4. The Military: Like the other categories it has tangible aspects, such as
spending and weapons levels, and intangible aspects, such as leadership and
moral.

Levels of Spending: Throughout most of the Cold War, just two

countries, the United States and the Soviet Union, together accounted for
almost 60 percent of the world total.

Quality versus Quantity: F 16 Vs MIG 29

Personnel, Morale and Leadership: Another intangible military

factor is morale. An army that will not fight cannot win.

ENDING REMARKS: To reiterate a point made in the beginning, what you should
draw, in part, from this extended discussion of power is that it is a highly complex,
very dynamic phenomenon. Moreover, it should be acquired and used prudently.
Power is expensive, and its misapplication can bring immediate or future difficulties.

27

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

The sovereign state has been the primary actor in world politics for the past several
centuries

State power is the basis for states to achieve their goals, yet there are
alternative to this self-help system

International organization is one of these alternatives

Many observers contend that the efforts of the international agencies in

promoting political, economical and social cooperation are the hope of the
future and making higher form of political loyalty and activity

Many people dismiss the notion of international organizations as idealistic

dreaming

Surrendering some of your countrys sovereignty to an international

organization may seem unsettling. But it is neither inherently wrong, nor
unheard of in todays world.

THE NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

The Roots of International Organization: IGOs is primarily a modern

phenomenon.

Three main root systems have nourished the current growth of International
Organization.
1. Belief in a Community of Humankind: the universal concern for the
condition of humanity. The first example of an organization based on
these principles was The Hague system, named for the 1899 and
1907 peace conferences held at that city in the Netherlands.
Organizationally, the Hague system included a rudimentary general
assembly and a judicial system. WWI destroyed the plans for a third
Hague conference in 1915, but the move toward universal organization
was under way.
The next step was creation of the League of Nations after WWI.

28

The League was intended mainly as a peacekeeping organization, although it

did have some elements aimed at social and economic cooperation. The UNO
is the latest, and most advanced, development stage of universal concern
with the human condition.
2. Big-Power Peacekeeping: this ideal that big powers have a special
responsibility to cooperate and preserve peace. This idea took on
substance with the Congress of Vienna. This conference and three
other between 1815 and 1822 led to the Concert of Europe. This
informal coalition of the major European powers and the following
Balance of (big) powers diplomacy managed generally to keep the
peace for the century between the fall of Napoleon and he outbreak of
WWI. The special status and responsibilities of the big powers that had
been reflected in the Leagues council were transferred to the UN
Security Council (UNSC).
3. Functional Cooperation: The third branch of our root system lies in
he specialized agencies that deal with specific, generally nonpolitical
economic and social problems. This international activity is also
reflected in the UN through the 18 specialized agencies associated with
the world body.

Growth of IGOs and NGOs:

An important phenomenon of the twentieth century is the rapid growth
in the number, activities, and important of intergovernmental and
nongovernmental organizations. There has been a 400 percent
expansion in the number of countries during this century. Even more
significant to our discussion here, there has been an even faster
percentage growth of IGOs (+907 percent) and NGOs (+7,000 percent)
during the 20th century.

Reasons for Growth:

29

Increased international contact: the revolutions in communication

and transportation have brought the states of the world into much
closer contact. These interchanges need organizational structures in
order to become routine and regulated. The worlds increased
interdependence, particularly in the economic sphere, has fostered a
variety of IGOs designed to deal with this phenomenon. E.g. IMF, WB,
OPEC etc. the third cause of the growth of international organizations is
the expansion of transnational problems that affect many states
and require solutions that are beyond the resources of any single
state., e.g. nuclear proliferation and the organization which deals with
this issue is the IAEA (international Atomic Energy Agency). The four
incentives for the expansion of international organizations is the
failure of the current state-centered system to provide security
the continuing problems in health, food, human rights, and other areas
have also spurred the organization of IGOs and NGOs. A fifth factor is
the increased number of transnational political movements, e.g.
environmentalism

and

Islamic

fundamentalism.

Sixth,

the

concentration of military power in a handful of countries and the

concentration of economic power in the industrialized states have led
less powerful actors to join coalitions in an attempt to influence events.
Vulnerability has, thus, motivated countries to come together in
such organizations as NAM, and G77. In some ways the end of the cold
war has increased this vulnerability. Finally, the existence and
successes of international organizations provide role models that
have generates still other IGOs and NGOs. People and countries have
learned that they can sometimes work together internationally, and
this has encourages them to try new ventures in international
organizations and cooperation. E.g. EU.
GOALS OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
The various ideas about the proper and possible goals of IGOs can be
grouped into two broad categories. One category includes relatively
limited and traditional goals. The second category is much more farreaching and foresees international organizations moving toward

30

assuming the roles of regional government or even of a global

government.

1. LIMITED
GOALS
AND
ACTIVITIES
OF
INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
1. Interactive Arena: the most common use of international organizations
is to provide an interactive arena in which members-states pursue their
individual national interests. The arena itself is technically neutral, but
members or coalitions of members often try to use it to further their goals.
This negative factor sometimes transforms these organizations into
another

scene

of

struggle

rather

than

utilizing

them

to

further

cooperation. Furthermore, countries are apt to refuse or withdraw their

support from an international organization that does not serve their
narrow national interests. Still, the use of IGOs as interactive arenas is
required.
There is a theory of international integration called
Intergovernmentalism that argues that integration can advance even
when IGOs are the arena for self interested national interaction with each
countrys policy preference determined in part by domestic politics. The
reasoning is that even when realpolitik is the starting point, the process
that occurs in an IGO with decision making rules fosters the habit of
cooperation and compromise.
2. Functional Cooperation: Another limited approach to international
organization is Functionalism, a bottom up evolutionary approach to
international cooperation. Functionalists argue that by cooperating in
specific, usually nonpolitical areas, countries and people can learn to trust
one another.
3. Comprehensive

Cooperation:

There

are

many

supporters

of

international organization who believe that IGOs should go beyond the

interactive area and functionalist approaches to international cooperation.
Some analysts believe that IGOs can best serve as vehicles to promote
cooperation among states rather than through the subordination of states
to a global authority. The UN and some regional organizations such as the

31

EU are designed to advance international cooperative efforts across a

whole series of issues areas, such as maintaining peace, improving
economic conditions, protecting the environment, and, in general,
improving the human conditions.
4. Independent International Actors: The most far-reaching, but least
developed, traditional activity of IGOs is that of an independent
international actor. Technically, the activities of all IGOs are controlled by
the wishes and votes of their members, in reality, many IGOs develop
strong relatively permanent administrative staffs. These individuals often
identify with the organization and try to increase its authority and role.
Insofar as IGOs do play an independent role; proponents of this approach
argue that it should be one mainly of mediation and conciliation rather
than coercion. The object is to teach and allow, not to force, nation-states
to work together. To a degree, organizational independence is intended
and established in the charters of various IGOs. The UN Charter directs
that the secretary-general or any of his or her staff shall nor seek or
receive instructions from any government or from any other authority
external to the organization.

2. WORLD AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT:

There is a vision that some proponents of international
organization hold that goes far beyond the traditional roles discussed in the
preceding section. That vision is that someday IGOs will lead to regional
governments or even a world governmentyet there is no legitimate and
authoritative

international

organization

Governance without Government.

to

make

and

enforce

rules:

According to this approach, the

current national states should give up at least some of their sovereignty to

one or more supranational organizations that would have the authority to
make, enforce, and adjudicate the law.
Within this general goal, there are several approaches that vary according to
the structure and power of the supranational organization(s). The most farreaching possibility is a powerful World Government that governs a global
political system. There are various alternatives for the relations between such

32

a world government and sub-units. E.g. centralized structure (in which

countries are non-sovereign subunits that serve only administrative purpose),
and Federalism (the central authority and the members units share power)
for example USA and Canada, or co-federalism (less centralized structure)
for example EU.
Note that each of these three approaches includes at least some degree of
supranational organization. This means that the international organization
has authority over its members, which, therefore, are subordinate units.
Theoretically, some IGOs possess a degree of supranationalism and can
obligate members to take certain actions. In reality, supranationalism is
extremely limited. Few states concede any significant part of their
sovereignty to any international body. But there are limited signs that the
dogged independence of nation-states is giving way to limited acceptance of
international authority.
There is a strong critique of the one-world idea. Critics argue that, first,
there are practical barriers to world government. The assumption here is that
nationalism has too strong a hold and that neither political leaders nor
masses would be willing to surrender independence to a universal body. Are
we ready to pledge allegiance to the United States of the World? Critics of
the world government movement also pose political objections. They worry
about the concentration of power that would be necessary even to begin
enforcing international law and addressing the worlds monumental economic
and social problems. Some skeptics further argue that centralization would
inevitably diminish desirable cultural diversity and political experimentation
in the world. Another criticism of the world government movement is that it
diverts attention from more reasonable avenues of international cooperation
such as the United Nations and other existing international organizations.
The Idea of regional government meets some of the objections to global
government. Regions would still have to bring heterogeneous peoples
together and overcome nationalism, but the regional diversity is less severe
than global differences. Moreover, advocates of regional governments argue
that

they

would

allow

for

greater

cultural

diversity

and

political

33

experimentation than would a global government. Some proponents of the

establishment of regional governments also suggest that they might serve as
a steeping stone toward world government.

34

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION: GLOBAL

THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION

Nation States Vs International Organizations (which are more independent)

EU as a supranational organization

UN Organization and Structure

UN work carried out through these bodies
1. The General Assembly (All 192 members, one vote per member)
2. The Security Council (15 members, 5 permanent, 10 serve 2-year terms)
3. The Economic and Social Council (54 members, serve 3-years terms)
4. The International Court of Justice (15 judges, serve 9-years terms)
5. The Secretariat (Headed by secretary-general, 5-years term)
6. Associated Agencies (20 intergovernmental organizations with close ties
includes: WHO, WB, IMF, FAO)
7. Trusteeship Council (5 members one vote per member)

Membership: In most IGOs membership is open to any state that is both

within the geographic and/or functional scope of that organization and
subscribes to the principles and practices of that organization. A third
standard politics often becomes a serious consideration in membership
questions.

Withdrawal and Expulsion: At times members withdraw, usually for

political reasons, from IGOs. The U.S, for example, quit UNESCO amid charges
of anit-American bias in the 1980s. No country has ever voluntary withdrawn
from the UN. Countries can also be expelled from IGOs, including the UN.
35

Nationalist China, or Taiwan, was, in effect, expelled from the UN when the
China seat in the UN was transferred to the mainland China. And South
Africa membership was suspended for many years until it ended its system of
apartheid.

Representative Bodies: there are several important issues that relate to

how the representative bodies of international organizations are structures
and operate. Two such considerations are the membership basis of
representative bodies and voting issues.
1. Membership Basis: Almost all IGOs have some form of plenary
representative body that includes all members. The theoretical basis
for plenary bodies is the mutual responsibility of all members for the
organization and its policies. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the
UNs plenary organ. The second type of representative body is based
on limited membership. The theory here is that some members have
a greater stake, responsibility, or capacity in a particular area of
concern. The UN Security Council (UNSC) has 15 members. Ten are
chosen by the UNGA for limited terms, but five are permanent
members.
The current UNSC structure, for example, does not reflect the changes
in the bases of power or the strength of state that have occurred since
1945. UNSC rules in UNthe General Assembly has been so much
marginalized in the last few years that the developing nations of the
South feel their input at the UN almost irrelevant.
One difficulty in restructuring any part of the UN is that changes
have to be recommended by a two-third vote of the UNSC and adopted
by a two-thirds vote of the UNGA and ratified by two-thirds of the
members according to their respective constitutional processesthere
are a number of proposals being offered to restructure or reform the
UN. One, put forward by Brazil, would add five or six seats to the UNSC,
give permanent seats without veto to Germany and Japan, and
establish three or four seats to alternate between regional powers.
2. Voting

Issues: another difficult issue facing any international

organization is

formula for allocating votes. The UNGA and the UNSC

36

offer two different examples. The most common voting formula used in
IGOs is majoritarianism. This system has two main components: (1)
each member casts one equal vote, and (2) the issue is carried by
either a simple majority (50 percent plus one vote) or, in some cases,
an extraordinary majority (commonly two-thirds). In the assembly,
decisions on routine matters are taken by a simple majority of
members voting; a two-thirds majority is required for matters of
importance, such as the admission of new members, the revision of the
charter, and budgetary and trusteeship questions.
The problem with the idea of equality among states is that it does not reflect
some standards of realityit might be noted, for example, that in the UNGA,
states with less than 15 % of the worlds population account for two-thirds of the
vote. By contrast, the 10 countries which combine for about 60 % of the worlds
population have less than 6% of the votes in the GA. A second voting option is
the big power vetoVeto right is highly criticized by many small countries.

ADMINISTRATION:

Appointment: in the UN, the secretary-general is nominated by the UNSC, then

elected by the GA for a five year termpolitics also heavily influences the
appointment of the under staff, several principle positions are, by tradition,
reserved for and, in practice, named by one high power or another.

FINANCING: All IGOs face the problem of obtaining sufficient funds to conduct
their operationsIGOs have very little authority to compel member countries to
support them. The UN is no exception, and it is beset by severe and controversial
financial problems.
There are three elements to the extended UN budget. The first is the core or
regular budget for headquarters operations and the regular programs of the
major UN organs. Second, there is the peacekeeping budget to meet the
expenses of operations being conducted by the Security Council. The third
budget element is called the voluntary contributions budget, which funds
agencies such as the World Health Organizations (WHO), United Nations
Childrens Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP);
it also includes voluntary contributions to peacekeeping expenses.

37

The UN raises only a tiny percent of its funds from its own operations.
Therefore, the organization is almost entirely dependent on the assessment it
levies on member countries. This assessment is fixed by the UNGA based on a
complicated formula that reflects the ability to pay. According to the 1993
budget assessment: the U.S (25%), Japan (12.5%), Germany (8.9%), Russia
(6.7%), France (6.0%), Great Britain (5.0%), Italy (4.3%) and Canada (3.1%). For
peacekeeping, the P5 members of the UNSC have a somewhat higher
assessment based on their special privileges in the organ. The voluntary budget
has no formal assessment, as the name implies, but the regular budget
percentages are used as a rule of thumb.
UN facing financial challenges: the worlds leaders are coming here to tell
us to work harder, but will they remember their checkbooks.
The opposition to what some countries believe to be an unwarranted
expansion of the UNs bureaucratic structure has also harmed funding.
Yet another cause of resentment stems from the differing assessments.
Eight countries collectively pay 71.5% of the UN budget; they cast less than
4.4% of the votes in the UNGA. The countries with a 0.01 % assessment account
for less than 1 % of the UN budget, but collectively command 47.3% of the votes
in the GA.

THE UNITED NATIONS: ACTIVITY AND ISSUES

Promoting International Peace and Security: this role of the UN is

symbolized by the opening words of the charter. They dedicated the organization
to saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, whichhas brought
untold sorrow to mankind. The UN attempts to fulfill this goal by creating norms
against violence, by providing debate as an alternative to fighting, by
intervening diplomatically to avert the outbreak of warfare or the help restore
peace once violence occurs, by instituting diplomatic and economic sanctions,
and by dispatching UN military forces to repel aggression or to act as a buffer
between warring countries.

Collective Security: The concept of collective security is one theory behind UN

use of security forces. This idea was first embodied in the covenant of the
League of Nations and is also reflected in the Charter of the UN.
Collective security is based on four basic tenets. First, all countries forswear
the use of force except self-defense. Second, all agree that the peace is
indivisible. An attack on one is an attack on all. Third, all pledge to unite to halt
aggression and restore the peace, and all agree to supply whatever material or

38

personnel resources are necessary to that end. Fourth, a UN armed force will be
formed to defeat aggressors and restore the peace.
Although an intuitively appealing idea, collective security has not been a
success on the international scene. The more important reason that collective
security fails is the willingness of countries to subordinate their sovereign
interests to collective action.
Peacekeeping: in contrast to the limited success of collective security the UN
has been able to use peacekeeping operations more effectivelyto prevent
fighting the UN act as a buffer between combatants. The international force is
neutral between the combatants and must have been invited to be a present by
at least one of them.
UN Military Intervention in Practice: since its establishment in 1945 through
mid-1994, the UN has mounted 34 missions utilizing a substantial number of
troops or police forces from more than 75 countries. There have also been more
than a dozen UN observer missions that involved unarmed or very lightly armed
UN personnel. Never before have international forces been so active as they are
now. By the end of 1994, 17 different armed UN forces of varying size were in
the field at locations throughout the world. These forces totaled almost 70,000
soldiers drawn from 70 countries.
HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION AND WORLD POLITICS

Q: Non-intervention is the norm in international society, but should military

intervention be legitimated in contravention of the sovereignty principle when
governments massively violate the human rights of their citizens, of if states have
collapsed into civil war and disorder?
Q: the society of states has outlawed war except for purposes of self-defense and
the challenge posed by humanitarian intervention is whether it also should be
exempted from the general ban on the use of force?

Introduction: Humanitarian intervention poses the hardest test for an international

society built on principles of sovereignty, non-intervention, and non-use of force.
The society of states has committed itself in the post holocaust world to a human
rights culture. Which outlaws genocide, torture, and massive human rights abuses,
but these principles of humanitarianism can and do conflict with principles of
sovereignty and non-intervention.

39

Humanitarian intervention was not a legitimate practice during the cold war,
but there has been a significant shift of attitudes since the early 1990s.

WHAT IS HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION?

Activity undertaken by a state, a group within a state, a group of states or an
international organization which interferes coercively in the domestic affairs of
another state. It is a discrete event having a beginning and an end, and it is aimed
at the authority structure of the target state. It is not necessarily lawful or unlawful,
but it does break a conventional pattern of international relations (Vincent 1974:
13). Humanitarian intervention is an act that seeks to intervene to stop a
government murdering its own people. Traditionally, intervention has been defined
in terms of a coercive breach of the walls of the castle of sovereignty. Article 2 (7) of
the UN Charter prohibits the UN from intervening in matters which are essentially
within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.
Conventionally, humanitarian intervention is defined in terms of intervention
motivated by humanitarian considerations, but this raises the question as to what
counts as humanitarian? International Committee of the Red Cross defines
humanitarian acts as those that prevent and alleviate human suffering. The
problem with this definition is that it assumes that humanitarian acts are the same
across time and space; that a capacity for humanitarianism naturally inheres in all
humans by virtue of a common human nature. Critics of this position argue that
what counts as human suffering changes from on historical epoch to another. Thus,
slavery was regarded as perfectly natural in one century and identified as a scourge
against humanity in the next. What this example illustrates is that our conception of
humanitarianism is culturally specific and has its own biases.

OBJECTION TO LEGITIMIZING HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION:

40

1. States dont intervene for primarily humanitarian reasons : Realism

tells us that states only pursue their national interest and thus
humanitarian intervention is ruled out since states are motivated solely by
what they judge to be their national interest.

2. States are not allowed to risk their soldiers lives on humanitarian

crusades: Citizens are the exclusive responsibility of their state, and
their state is entirely their own businessthus outsiders have no moral
duty to intervene even if they would be able to improve the situation and
stop the killing.

3. The problem of abuse: This realist argument against humanitarian

intervention contends that it should not be legitimated as an exception to
the principle of the non-use of force because this will lead to abuse. In the
absence of an impartial mechanism for deciding when humanitarian
intervention was permissible, states might espouse humanitarian motives
as a pretext to cover the pursuit of national self-interest. The problem of
abuse leads some to argue that humanitarian intervention will always be
a weapon that the strong will use against the weak.

4. Selectivity of response: The argument here is that states will always

apply principles of humanitarian intervention selectively, resulting in an
inconsistency in policy. The problem of selectivity arises when an agreed
moral principle is at stake in more than on situation, but national interest
dictates a divergence of responses. A good recent example of the
selectivity of response is the claim by critics of NATO that its intervention
in Kosovo could not have been driven by humanitarian motives because
the organization had done nothing to address the equally terrible plight of
the Turkish Kurds, the Chechens, or the East Timorese. Selectivity of
response is the problem of failing to treat like cases alike.

41

5. Disagreement on what principles should govern a right of

humanitarian intervention: In the absence of a consensus on what
principles should govern a right of individual or collective humanitarian
intervention, such a right would undermine international order and it is
highly possible that humanitarian intervention will be based on the
cultural preferences of the powerful.
International order, and hence the general well-being of all individuals,
is better served by upholding the principle of non-intervention than by
allowing humanitarian intervention in the absence of a consensus on what
considerations are to count as humanitarian.

THE SOLIDARIST CASE FOR HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION:

In contrast to Pluralist international society theory, Solidarist
international society theory argues that states have both a legal right and
a moral obligation to intervene in exceptional cases that offend against
minimum standards of humanity. The Counter-restrictionist case for a legal
right of individual and collective humanitarian intervention rests on two key
claims. First, that the UN charter commits states to protecting fundamental
human rights and second, that there is a right of humanitarian intervention
in customary international law.

1. Protection of human rights:

Counter-restrictionists challenge the view of restrictionists that the
UNs primary purpose is to maintain international peace and security. They
contend that the promotion of human rights should rank alongside the
maintenance of international peace and security. Here, they point to the
preamble to the UN Charter and Articles 1 (3), 55 and 56 of the Charter.

42

Some counter-restrictionists are prepared to go even further, asserting

that if the UN fails to take remedial action as was so often the case
during the Cold War-individual states have a legal right to intervene with
force to reduce human suffering.
2. A customary right of humanitarian intervention:
An alternative grounding for a legal right of unilateral humanitarian
intervention is found in the assertion that a customary legal right exists
independently of the UN Charter. Customary international law is the law of
state practice. If, over a period of time, states act in a certain way and
come to regard that behavior as required by the law, then a rule of
customary international law has developed.
3. Is humanitarian intervention morally required?
Some

lawyers

argue

that

whatever

the

legality

of

humanitarian

intervention, it might be morally required in those cases where the use of

force is the only means of ending the slaughter. Thus, humanitarian
intervention belongs in the realm not of law but of moral choice,
which nations, like individuals must sometimes make. Their position is that
this moral imperative cannot be legally recognized because of the dangers
that such a legal right would be abused.

STATE PRACTICE DURING THE COLD WAR:

Case studies: Vietnams intervention in Cambodia in December 1978 and
Tanzanias intervention in Uganda a few weeks laterin either case the
intervening states never claimed that their motives were humanitarian.
Instead, both Tanzania and Vietnam argued that they were acting in selfdefense-the legitimate right of all states under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Also, the reluctance of the society of states to legitimize humanitarian

43

intervention reflected fears about setting precedents which could erode the
non-intervention principle.
The response of international society: The international response that
greeted the two interventions was radically different: Vietnams use of force
was almost universally condemned whereas Tanzanias intervention that
breached the same rules as Vietnams was treated much more leniently.
What, then, explains this divergence of response? The international response
was to a large degree conditioned by the political and strategic imperatives of
the cold war.

POST-COLD WAR HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTIONS:

CNN Factor: In the cases of northern Iraq and Somalia, the principal force
behind intervention was not state leaders taking the lead in persuading
reluctant publics to respond to a humanitarian emergency. Rather, it was the
media and domestic public opinion that pressurized the policy-makers into
taking humanitarian actions. Media images of human suffering have led
Western publics to pressurize their leaders into post-cold war humanitarian
interventions.

HOW LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE IS INTERVENTION?

In contrast with the state practice during the cold war, the
interventions in northern Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, and Kosovo were all
legitimated in humanitarian terms by the intervening states. The norms of
sovereignty and non-intervention remain the key foundations of order, but
there is a growing sense especially among Western states-that these
principles should be overturned by the collectivity of states in cases of
exceptional

human

suffering.

However,

if

post-cold

war

international

interventions suggest a growing willingness on the part of international

society to legitimate humanitarian intervention inside state borders, then the

44

key point to note is that none of these interventions have been legitimated by
the UN Security Council solely on humanitarian grounds. Chapter VII of the
Charter enables the Security Council to authorize military enforcement action
only in cases where it finds a threat to international peace and security.

GLOBALIZATION AND NON-FORCIBLE HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION:

As we have seen, the traditional approach to humanitarian intervention
focuses on states and forcible intervention. Intervention is characterized by
coercion, a breach of sovereignty, and is non-consensual. Non-forcible
humanitarian intervention emphasizes the pacific activities of states, IGOs
and NGOs in delivering humanitarian aid and facilitating third party conflict
resolution and reconstruction. Non-forcible humanitarian intervention can be
consensual

or

non-consensual.

E.g.:

Medecins

Sans

Frontieres

(non-

consensual) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (consensual).

The activities of humanitarian agencies reflect the growth of a global society
in which humanitarian organization operate transnationally Cosmopolitan
moral awarenesskants vision of a rights violation in one place being felt
everywhere.
The global human rights culture seeks to protect human rights and
humanitarian values everywhere. This culture is a product of the postholocaust world and it is embedded in the ideas and practices of international
civil servants, media, NGOs and a global network of humanitarian INGOs that
are sustained and supported by that transnational global citizenry committed
to human rights and humanitarianism.
The global human rights culture is a unique and progressive feature of
the globalization of world politics. Its existence reflects the growing
recognition that the causes of human rights abuses and humanitarian crises
are global ones that require global solutions. Non-forcible humanitarian
intervention is usually defined in terms of the activities of non-state actors

45

and third party mediators in complex humanitarian emergencies, but it also

needs to encompass global interventionary strategies designed to address
the underlying causes of human suffering in world politics.

46

INTERNATIONAL LAW:

International law, unlike national laws, derives not from actions of a

legislative branch or other central authority, but from tradition and agreement
signed by states. It also differs in the difficulty of enforcement, which depends not
on the power and authority of central government but on reciprocity, collective
actions, and international norms.

SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW:

Laws within states: come from central authority-legislatures or dictators
International law: as states are sovereign and recognize no central authority,
international law rests on a different basis. The declarations of the UNGA are not
laws, and most do not bind the members. The UNSC can compel certain actions by
states, but these are commands rather than laws: they are specific to a situation.
No body of international law has been passed by a legislative body. Where, then
does international law come from?
Four sources of international law are recognized:
1. Treaties: treaties once signed and ratified must be observed (Pacta suntservanda). Treaties and other international obligations such as debts are
binding on successor governments whether the new government takes power
through an election, a coupe, or a revolution.
2. Custom:

if states behave toward each other in a certain way for long

enough, their behavior may become generally accepted practice with the
status of law.
3. General principles of law (such as equity):

actions such a theft and

assault recognized in most national legal system as crimes tend to have the
same meaning in an international context.
4. Legal scholarship (including past judicial decisions): The fourth source
is recognized by the World Court as subsidiary to the others, is legal

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scholarship-the written arguments of judges and lawyers around the world on

the issues in question.

Enforcement of International Law:

There is no world police force.

Enforcement of international law depends on the power of states themselves,

individually or collectively, to punish transgressors. Enforcement of international
law depends heavily on the reciprocity principle. States follow international law
most of the time because they want other states to do so. States also follow
international law because of the general or long-term costs that could come from
disregarding international law.

HUMAN RIGHTS
The idea that human rights should be internationally protected is
gaining currency and seems a prime example of globalization. However,
states seem unwilling to give international action in support of human rights
a high priority. Moreover there are serious conceptual problems involved in
widening the notion of rights to incorporate economic and collective rights.
The Western origin of the doctrine of rights has also come to be seen as
problematic in the postcolonial era, as the proponents of Asian Values
have stressed. It may be that in the next century only a limited notion of
human rights will be defensible-or perhaps human rights will have to be
defended in explicitly cultural terms.

The case that rights were almost always associated with domestic legal and
political systems, in the last half century a complex network of international
law and practice has grown up around the idea that individuals possess rights
simply by virtue of being human, of sharing in a common humanity.

Humans as right bearers: Many cultures and civilizations have developed

ideas about the intrinsic worth and dignity of human beings, but the notion
that humans are right bearers is specifically European.
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Bills Of Rights of 1791: U.S. human rights law: the first ten amendments
to the U.S. Constitution, which protect peoples basic human rights.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. 1789: Any law
which violates the indefeasible rights of man is essentially unjust and
tyrannical; it is not a law at all.

One

major

set of

contemporary

problems

concerns

compliance

and

enforcement.

Post 1945: Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948: This was the first
time in history that the international community had attempted to define a
comprehensive code for the internal government of its members. Eight states
abstained, for interestingly different reasons: South Africa abstained because
of

its

Apartheid policy, the Soviet Union and five Soviet Bloc countries abstained,
because of their authoritarian style policies (objected on the absence of
sufficient attention to social and economic right by comparison to the
detailed elaboration of bourgeois freedoms and property rights). Saudi
Arabia abstained and its objection was on religious (or cultural) grounds.
Article 18 specifies the freedom to change and practice the religion of ones
choice.

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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

What

is

(Economic)

Development?

Economic

development

(accumulation of capital) refers to the combined processes of capital accumulation,

rising per capita incomes, increasing skills in the population, adoption of new
technological styles, and other related social and economic changes. The concept of
development has a subjective side that cannot be measured statistically-the
judgment of whether a certain pattern of wealth creation and distribution is good for
a state and its people. But one simple measure of economic development is the per
capita GDP-the amount of economic activity per person.

The Gap between Rich and Poor:

Growth varies greatly across regions and countries, as well as within countries. The
gap between rich and poor-both within countries and globally-is widening, according
to a 1996 UN report. In 89 countries, economic conditions are worse now than a
decade ago, and in 70 countries incomes are lower than in the 1960s and 1970s.
Nineteen of those countries have lower incomes than in 1960, almost 40 years ago.
These conditions lead some observers to wonder if the global South is dividing into
two parts, one moving forward and one stalled.

Income Distribution:
Capitalists perspective: capitalists tend to favor the concentration of capital as a
way to spur investment rather than consumption. In line with liberalism, capitalists
favor development paths that tie third world states closely to the world economy
and international trade. They argue that although they defer equity, such
development strategies maximize efficiency. The same concept applies broadly to
the worlds development as a whole. From a capitalist perspective, the North-South
gap is a stage of world development in which capital accumulation is concentrated
in the North. This unequal concentration creates faster economic growth, which
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ultimately will bring more wealth to the South as well (a trickle down
approach). There is no practical way, in this view, to shift wealth from the North to
the South without undermining the free market economies responsible for global
economic growth.
Socialists perspective: socialists by contrast argue that meaningful third world
development should improve the position of the whole population and of the poorsooner rather than later. Thus, socialists tend to advocate a more equitable
distribution of wealth; they dispute the idea that greater equity will impede
efficiency or slow down economic growth. Rather, by raising incomes among the
poorer people, a strategy based on equity will speed up the demographic transition
and lead more quickly to sustained accumulation. Such a strategy seeks to
develop a states economy from the bottom up instead of the top down.

Welfare Capitalism-Such as most industrialized states practice, distributes

enough wealth to meet the basic needs of almost everyone while letting most
wealth move freely in capitalist markets. Such a mix is harder to achieve in a third
world country where the smaller total amount of wealth may force a choice between
welfare and capitalism.
The capitalist theory that unequal income distributions are related to higher
economic growth is only weakly supported by empirical evidence. Many states with
fairly equitable income distributions have high growth rates (including South Korea,
Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong); many with unequal distributions have grown
slowly if at all (Zambia, Argentina, and Ghana). But there are also cases of relatively
equitable countries that grow slowly (India) and inequitable ones that grow rapidly
(Malaysia).
EXPERIENCES:
The Newly Industrialized Countries:
Semi periphery states: The most successful NICs are the four tigers or
four dragons of East Asia: South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Other
potential tigers are Thailand, Malaysia, and Israel

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The Chinese Experience: After Mao died in 1976, China under Deng Xiaoping
instituted economic reforms and transformed its southern coastal provinces (near
Hong Kong and Taiwan) into free economic zones open to foreign investment and
run on capitalist principles. Peasants work their own fields, instead of collective
farms, and get rich (by Chinese standards) if they do well. China is also recreating
some of the features of capitalism that Maos revolutionaries had overturned. MNCs
continue to shift production to China year by year because Chinas labor force is
vast, low paid, and disciplined (strikes not allowed). Of the $700 billion in foreign
direct investment in Asia in 1990-2000, nearly half was in mainland China.

Import Substitution and Export-Led Growth.

Throughout the third world, states are trying to use international trade as the basis
of accumulation. Through the creation of a trade surplus, a state can accumulate
hard currency and build industry and infrastructure. One way to try to create a trade
surplus, used frequently a few decades ago, is through import substitution-the
development of local industries to produce items that a country might
been importing. These industries might receive state subsidies or tariff protection.
This might seem to be a good policy for reducing dependency-especially on the
former colonial masters. But it is against the principle of comparative advantage
and has not proven effective in most cases. Some scholars think that import
substitution is a policy useful only at a very early phase of economic development,
after which it becomes counterproductive. Others think it is never useful.
On the other side, more and more states have shifted to a strategy of
export-led growth, a strategy used by the NICs. This strategy seeks to develop
industries that can compete in specific niches n the world economy. These
industries may receive special treatment such as subsidies and protected access to
local markets. Exports from these industries generate hard currency and create a
favorable trade balance. But such a strategy has risks, especially when a state
specializes in the export of a few raw materials. It leaves poor countries vulnerable
to sudden price fluctuations for their exports. For example, when world copper

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prices fell from $3,000 to $1,300 per ton in 1974, income fell accordingly in Zambia,
which got 94 percent of export earnings from copper. It had to cut back imports of
needed goods drastically and suffered a 15 percent decline in its already low GDP.
Concentrating Capital for Manufacturing
Manufacturing emerges as a key factor in both export-led growth and self-sustaining
industrialization. The third world states want to increase their own manufacturing
base and change the global division of labor based on manufacturing in the core
and resources extraction in the periphery. One great difficulty in getting
manufacturing started is that capital is required to build factories. Capital for
manufacturing can come from foreign investment or foreign loans, for instance. This
strategy reduces short-term pain, but it also reduces the amount of surplus (profit)
available to the state in the long term. Another way to minimize the capital needs of
manufacturing is to state out in low capital industries, for example textile
industry. Textile industry is fairly labor-intensive, giving an advantage to countries
with cheap labor, and does not require huge investments of capital to get started.
Microcredit: A related approach to capitalization in very poor countries is growing in
popularity. Microcredit is the opposite of a trickle-down approach, instead injecting
capital at the bottom of the economic hierarchy.

Authoritarianism and Democracy: which one is helpful in accumulation of

wealth or capital?

North-South Business:
Foreign Investment:

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MNCs invest in a country because of some advantage of doing business there.

E.g.: absorptive capacity, regulatory environment, financial stability, political
stability etc.

Technology Transfer:
A third world state may allow an MNC to produce certain goods in the country
under favorable conditions, provided the MNC shares knowledge of the technology
and design behind the productbut MNCs are sometimes reluctant to share
proprietary technology. Technology transfer sometimes encounters difficulty when
the technological style of the source country does not fit the needs of the recipient
country. A good fit has been called appropriate technology.

Third World Debt:

In recent years, activists and NGOs have called for extensive debt forgiveness
for the poorest countries. A movement called Jubilee 2000 sought debt cancellation
in honor of the millennium, and claimed credit for write-offs of more than $30 billion
in debt owed by the poorest countries (they still owe more than $200 billion).
Excessive borrowing in the 1970s, which was not wisely spent, had developed a
third world debt crisis in 1980s. Despite some stabilization after the 1980s debt
crisis, the South owes $2 trillion in foreign debt, and pays about $340 billion a year
to service that debt. The debt service (in hard currency) absorbs nearly a third of
the entire hard-currency export earnings in Latin America-the region most affected,
Africas debt is equal to two-thirds of the annual GDP of the region. Many states in
Asia are vulnerable to debt problems as well.

IMF Conditionality agreement:

Implementation of these conditions is referred to as a structural adjustment
program. Dozens of third world states have entered into such agreements with the
IMF in the past two decades. The terms insisted on by the IMF are usually painful for

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the citizens (and hence for national politicians). The IMF demands that inflation be
brought under control, which requires reducing state spending and closing budget
deficits. These measures often spur unemployment and require that subsidies of
food and basic goods be reduced or eliminated. Short-term consumption is curtailed
in favor of longer-term investment. Surplus must be concentrated to service debt
and invest in new capital accumulation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
wants to ensure that money lent to a country is not spent for politically popular but
economically unprofitable purpose (such as subsidizing food). It wants to ensure
that inflation does not eat away all progress and that the economy is stable enough
to attract investment.

The South in International Economic Regimes: Third world states continue to

pursue proposals to restructure world trade to benefit the South. These efforts now
take place mainly through the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
which meets periodically but lacks power to implement major changes in NorthSouth economic relations. Attempts to promote South-South trade (reducing
dependence on North) have proven largely impractical.

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