Introduction to International Politics Poli 86

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Introduction to International Politics (Poli 86)

• Dr. Thomas Oatley
• 370 Hamilton Hall

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Course Organization

• Why So Much War?
• International Organizations
• The International Economy and Globalization
• The Developing World in the International System
  Emerging Issues

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Course Requirements

• Four In-Class Tests, each worth 20 percent
• Recitation Grade, 20 percent

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Unexcused Absences

• You are required to be present for all scheduled
  exams.  The only allowable exception to this
  policy is a documented medical emergency. 
• If you are absent from a scheduled exam for an
  unexcused reason, you will be allowed to take a
  make-up test, but there will be a substantial
  penalty.

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Reading

• Joseph S. Nye Jr. 2000.  Understanding
  International Conflicts an Introduction to
  Theory and History.  New York Longman.
• Web-Based Readings
• Taking Sides

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Course Web Site

• www.unc.edu/toatley
• Links to Web-based Readings
• Lecture Outlines
• PowerPoint Presentations
• Syllabus

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What is International Politics?
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What is Politics?

• Politics Is a Process Through Which Societies
  Decide Who Gets What.
• Decisions Are Made by the Exercise of Power.
• Politics, Therefore, Creates Winners (Those Who
  Get) and Losers (Those Who Dont).
• Critical Question Why Do Losers Accept Defeat?

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Politics Within Nations vs. Politics Between
Nations
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Politics within Nations

• Take Place Within Well Developed Political
  Institutions.
• The State Has a Monopoly on Coercive Force.
• The Political Process Sometimes Has Legitimacy.
• Force and Legitimacy interact to make losers
  accept defeat.
• State Controls Coercive Force, Losers Cant
  Challenge the Outcome.
• Political Process is Fair and Unbiased, Losers
  Agree to Accept Will of the Majority.

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Politics Between Nations

• Take Place Without Well Developed Political
  Institutions.
• No Monopoly on Coercive Force.
• No Legitimacy to Political ProcessMight Makes
  Right.
• No Institutional Structure to Ensure that Losers
  Accept Defeat.

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The Importance of Institutions

• Critical Difference Between Politics Within
  Nations and Politics Between Nations, Therefore,
  is the Institutional Framework Within Which the
  Two Take Place.
• Almost Everything of Interest in International
  Politics Arises From the Absence of Strong
  Institutions.

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Realism, Liberalism, and International Politics

• Realism Power Politics in Absence of Strong
  Institutions Generates War.
• War is a political actan attempt to determine
  who gets what.
• Liberalism Reduce Frequency of War by
  Institutionalizing International Politics.