POLI 12

International Relations
Spring 2016
MON 03/28/2016
Cooperation through History
Conflict is Expensive
Timeline in Summary
1800s: relative peace/prosperity
Early-mid 1900s: wars, depression
Late 1900s: economic globalization
2000s: integration and conflict
Mercantilist Era 1492-1815
Mercantilism = economic doctrine
Need politics to set guidelines for economy
Tea Party in U.S.
o Tea came from China/India >> shipped to Britain, where UK
ports profit the most >> shipped to US colonies
Military and economic power complementary (if you have guns, youll
have butter)
Competition goes abroad
o Ship technology improves, which also allows profits to improve
as ships become more efficient
o People begin joining empire business this is about world
dominance
o World trade
Current: someone always cheats in OPEC and drops their
oil prices by producing more
Britain has lucrative trade industry and tries to take
advantage of being the middle man, to have higher profits
But when US gains independence, they have access
to wood and a lot of accessible ports causing
Britain to change from mercantilism (wealth by
being middle-man) to capitalism (creating better
products)
Thirty Years War 1618-1648
o Economy emphasizes having better goods, rather than owning a
specific location. Goods become less geographically specific and
alternative ways are made to create the same goods.
Example: rubber
Synthetic rubber created by Germans (or Russians)
Britain loses money on their natural rubber
o Purpose of war: kill people with other religious preferences
Everybody decides war is bad

Winners of war agree nation-state is a better way to

organize countries
Peace of Westphalia
Fight for hegemony
Anglo-French rivalry
o Seven Years War
o Napoleonic Wars (Waterloo)
o A lot of attempts of one party trying to gain dominance over
another
Britain and France fighting for global dominance
Interests
o Security through power
o Control of markets and resources people involved in politics
generally have something to gain in the playing the politics gain
(motive)
o civilizing missions
Spanish and Portuguese saw opportunity to implement
mercantilism with North America, however many parties
(the Church & religious authorities) involved also wanted
to be influential conquistadores could only kill natives if
the natives did not accept Catholic faith
Zero-sum bargaining among states
o Mercantilism encourages fucking others over: to prosper, you
have to prevent others having access to ports/goods
Pax Britannica 1815-1914
Britain comes out on top because they win more wars
Hundred Years Peace
o Peace created because conflict is over after a winner comes out
on top
Industrial Revolution altered interests
o More efficient technology, increase in wealth >> higher
standard of living overall
o Exchange replaces mercantilism
o Economic integration increases
o Migration, free trade, gold standard

MON 04/04/2016
Thirty Years Crisis 1914-1945
Level of cooperation between nations is declining
Interwar period between WWI and WWII
After WWI
Many countries lose territories, leaving many bitter
Economy becomes globalized, but there is political pushback

o Some friction, because not everyone appreciates the

globalization >> countries turn inward
Great Depression 1929
After WWII Allied powers win
How to prevent inward regression of companies?
o Axis powers are suppressed
o Try to prevent Germany from reindustrializing
USSR fought the bulk of the war (20 million Russians dead vs a few
million Americans dead)
o USSR takes over countries along its border to make sure they
have aligning governments
o USSR remains militarized
Cold War 1945-1990
US vs USSR they do not fight each other because there is very little
to win
o Neither country want territory
o Want to win better economic opportunities and hearts and
minds (want other countries to think the way that the country
wants them to)
US wins with McDonalds, t-shirts, and pop music
USSR had mediocre consumer goods they focused much more on
weaponry
Interests, Interactions, Institutions
Interests: actors/preferences
Politics generate violence because winners get their way, losers get
nothing
Examples of actors: states, corporations
State as actor: protects society, and helps lower society prosper (state
takes smaller slice of pizza, but willing workers makes a bigger pizza)
Interactions: cooperation, bargaining, public goods, collective action
Institutions
WED 04/06/2016
Interests
Actors are purposive; develop strategies in response to anticipated
strategies of others
Interactions
Cooperation
o Companies who usually fight each other may cooperate to
achieve similar goals
o Use of coercion/threat to cooperate more cooperation in one
society = less cooperation from opposing society
BATNA: best alternative to no agreement
o Search for deal if no cooperation leads to bad outcome

o Grocery store: market condition where seller is anticipating

market price
o Politics: stakes are high, so bargaining allowed
Prisoners dilemma
o Arrest multiple suspects and put them in a room forces them
to make a decision collectively (turn collective good to
individual good)
if you tell me what really happened, youll only go to jail
for a short time
o If both suspects keep quiet they get the best outcome (keeping
faith in each other means more gains)
o UN established to keep faith between countries helps
encourage less fighting
Public goods (e.g. air, park)
Free riding: benefit from something that someone else is providing
Prisoner defection: chicken game
o Classic example: nuclear war youll do anything to prevent
being bombed to death
Worst payoff: defection and both killed
2nd worst payoff: people think youre a wimp
Better payoff: the other country gives in
Best payoff: neither swerve neither harmed/humiliated
o C
Coordination: nobody gains anything, purely to make things go more
smoothly
o Driving on the right-hand side of the road
o Mail-coordination