Approaches to Global Politics

Key themes:

1. Historical background to global politics (questions will not be set on historical issues alone)

• World wars of 20^th century (WW1 and WW2); Cold War period (1945 as turning point in world history?); post-Cold War period (1989-91 as turning point in world history?); globalization (international trade and interdependence since 1980s and 1990s); ‘war on terror’ (9/11 as turning point in world history?).

2. Sovereignty and the international system

• Emergence of state system (rise of modern state in 17^th century Europe; decline of other forms of authority (Papacy, Holy Roman Empire etc); 1648 Peace of Westphalia; development of nation-states (rise of nationalism from late 18^th century onwards; nature of nation-state (political and cultural unity)); state-centric view of international politics (billiard ball model)
• Nature of sovereignty (principle of absolute and unlimited power) internal sovereignty (unchallengeable authority within state borders) external sovereignty (legal equality of states) sovereignty in practice (hierarchy of states; imperialism, etc)
• Relevance of sovereignty – realist belief that states, and therefore sovereignty, remain key to global politics; sovereignty as basis for international law (sovereignty preserves freedom; norm of non-interference in international politics;); erosion of sovereignty and development of ‘post-sovereign’ states (economic globalization (loss of economic sovereignty); permeable borders and transnational actors (corporations, NGOs, terrorist groups; regional (‘post-modern Europe’) and global governance; humanitarian intervention, etc); weak states (‘failed states’), etc.

3. Theories of global politics (questions will only be asked on realism and liberalism)

• Key themes of realism – traditionally the foremost theory of international politics; central theme: power politics; states as key global actors; states pursue national interests (human beings are selfish); international anarchy (self-help forces states to prioritise security; importance of military power); importance of balance of power within international systems; ethical considerations irrelevant to foreign affairs; realism little questioned during Cold War period.
• Realist theories of war and peace (war is inevitable; human aggression, etc; implications of international anarchy); security dilemma (fear and uncertainty mean that a possibly defensive military build-up by one state will always be interpreted as aggressive by other states, which will react in kind, creating an arms race); only balance of power maintains (fragile) peace.

4. Key themes of liberalism – liberalism as key form of idealism (belief that international politics should be based on morality); optimism about human progress, cooperation and peace; biases in favour of international cooperation (complex interdependence; tendency towards regional and global governance, etc), etc.

• Liberal theories of war and peace – political causes of war (multinational empires (Woodrow Wilson); authoritarian government; economic causes of war (economic nationalism; autarky); diplomatic causes of war (balance of power system); determinants of peace (free trade (commercial liberalism; national self-determination; democracy (‘democratic peace’ thesis: evidence for and against); collective security (global governance and rule of law).
• Radical theories – Marxism/neo-Marxism (critique of international/global capitalism; core/periphery analysis; world system theory; dependency theory, etc); anarchism (corruption of state power; hegemonic states seek world domination). Note: questions will not be set on radical theories as such; they are nevertheless relevant, for instance, to debates about globalization and the causes of poverty.

5. Globalization

• Nature of globalization – widening and deepening of interconnectedness and interdependence; economic globalization (neoliberalism; interlocking financial markets and transnational capital flows; increase in world trade, etc); cultural globalization (cultural homogeneity; information and communications revolution; time/space compression); political globalization (global governance).
• Impact of globalization – debate about extent of impact (hyperglobalizers (economic liberals) vs globalization sceptics (realists/’old’ left); implications for the state and sovereignty (tyranny of global markets? post-sovereign states?); rise of non-state actors (transnational corporations (TNCs); non-governmental organisations (NGOs), terrorist groups, social movements etc); growth of complex interdependence (competition through trade, not war); growing importance of international bodies (global problems need global solutions; regional and global cooperation); rise of cosmopolitan sensibilities (human rights; development ethics; global civil society, etc); impact of global economic crisis (change of pace?; from neoliberal globalization to regulated globalization?, etc).
• For and against globalization – pro-globalization arguments (worldwide prosperity and growth; interdependence and dispersal of global power; democratisation; widening ‘zones of peace’, etc); anti-globalization arguments (risk and uncertainty (crisis tendencies in the economy etc); globalization as Americanization; tyranny of TNCs (threat to democracy); deepening inequality and poverty; environmental degradation, etc).

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World Order

Key themes:

1. Nature of power

• Power as capacity – elements of power (military strength; economic development; population size; level of literacy and skills; geographical factors, etc); limitations of power as capacity (unclear relative significance of factors; subjective factors; translating capacity into genuine political efficacy (e.g. nuclear weapons); power as perception).
• Classification of states – great powers (features of; examples); superpowers (features of; examples); hyperpower (features of, examples); emerging powers (features of, examples).
• ‘Hard’ power and ‘soft’ power – debate about the continued significance of military power (difficulties posed by ‘intractable’ terrorist threats and insurgency or ‘new’ wars; impact of globalization’; need for ‘soft’ power in an independent world,; ‘smart power’ diplomacy, etc).

2. Changing nature of world order

• Cold War world order – Cold War bipolarity; implications of bipolarity (structural dynamics of bipolarity; balance of power theory); Cold War ‘balance of terror’); collapse of the Cold War (role of ‘new’ Cold War and Reaganite anti-communism; structural weakness of Soviet communism; role of Gorbachev and Soviet reformers; significance for realism and liberalism).
• Post-Cold War world order – The ‘new world order’ (the ‘liberal moment’); fate of the ‘new world order (rise of ethnic conflict and civil wars, etc).
• US hegemony and world order – nature of hegemony; rise of US hegemony (basis of US power; neoconservative project for unipolar world); implications of unipolarity (tendency towards unilateralism; benign hegemony (hegemonic stability theory, Pax Americana, etc) vs oppressive or ‘predatory’ hegemony (American empire, Chomsky, etc); implications of ‘war on terror’ for world order; decline of US power? (loss of ‘soft’ power; ineffectiveness of ‘hard’ power; decline of relative economic power, etc).
• 21^st century world order – rise of multipolarity (nature and structural dynamics of multipolarity – global conflict and instability (anarchic multipolarity) or peace and reconciliation (multilateral multipolarity)?); implications of rise of China and India and revival of Russia tendencies (China as a superpower (new hegemon?); possibility of conflict between the USA and China; shift from West to East; major powers and new Cold War (Russia vs the West?)); democracy vs authoritarianism; implications of globalization for world order; impact of global economic crisis on balance of power, etc

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Global Governance

Key themes:

1. Global governance

• Nature of global governance – multiple, multilevel and multi-actor process of global decision-making that incorporates formal and informal processes as well as public and private bodies; growth of international organisations since 1945; differences between global governance and world government (humankind united under one common authority, monopoly of legitimate use of force; ‘hard’ law; often linked to idea of world federation, etc); contrast between intergovernmentalism and supranationalism (advantages and disadvantages of each).
• Prospects for global governance – realist stance (states still dominant; states achieve goals in and through international organisations; influence of great powers); liberalism view (interdependence fosters international cooperation; collective security more effective than self-help, etc).

2. The United Nations

• History of UN; role and composition of UN and its component elements (role and composition of Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, etc).
• Performance of the UN – UN’s role and performance in maintaining peace and security (peacekeeping; intervention within states, etc); UN’s economic and social role and performance (development and environmental regimes); reforming the UN (criticisms of the UN; suggested reforms; advantages and disadvantages of reform).

3. NATO

• Traditional role of NATO (creature of Cold War, etc); changing role and significance of NATO (implications of end of Cold War; peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention; beyond Europe (Afghanistan); NATO’s expansion into eastern Europe (implications for relations between Russia and the West).

4. Global economic governance

• Development and impact of global economic governance – Bretton Woods system, its aims and purposes; breakdown of Bretton Woods (implications); Washington consensus and its implications; success and failures of global economic governance (stability and growth in global economy; are crisis tendencies contained?)
• International Monetary Fund – performance and impact of IMF (balance of payments crises; structural adjustment programmes (SAPS); strengths and criticisms; how IMF has responded to criticism; IMF and global economic crisis and pressure for reform, etc).
• World Bank – performance and impact of World Bank (development and poverty-reduction programmes; SAPS; strengths and criticisms; how World Bank has responded to criticism; World Bank and global economic crisis and pressure for reform, etc).
• Word Trade Organisation (WTO) – from GATT to WTO; role of WTO (‘liberalise’ world trade); performance and impact of WTO (‘Uruguay round’ of negotiations (1986-95); fate of ‘Doha round’); debating the WTO (strengths and criticisms; advantages and disadvantages of global free trade).
• Group of Eight (G8) – role and significance of G8; criticisms of G8; role and significance of alternative G20 and G77.

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European Union And Regionalism

Key themes:

Regionalism (questions will not be set on economic blocs other that the EU)

• Growth of regionalism (since 1945, but especially since 1990); relationship between regionalism and globalization (response to economic globalization; constraint on globalization?); prospects for regional governance (debating regional governance; realism vs liberalism).
• Key regional economic blocs – North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Association of South-East Asian States (ASEAN, Mercusor, Free Trade Area of America, etc. Regional political bodies – African Union, Organization of American States, etc.

European Union (questions will not be set on the roles of EU bodies)

• Nature of EU as a political entity – origins and development of the EU (from EEC to EC to EU); key institutions of EU (European Commission, Council of Ministers;, European Council, European Parliament, European Court of Justice); intergovernmental and supranational features.
• European integration – rival views about the ‘European project (federalism vs functionalism); process of integration (Single European Act; Treaty of European Union; economic union; monetary union; political union); role of subsidiarity; EU integration: for and against (‘pooled’ sovereignty vs national sovereignty, etc; EU constitution?; the EU as a super-state?; EU exceptionalism? (can the EU model be exported to other parts of the world?).
• Expansion of EU – phases of expansion; implications and significance of expansion; prospects for further expansion; tension between ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ of EU.
• EU as a global actor – trading bloc; economic influence; structural power (membership of international bodies, etc), diplomatic influence; extent of defence capacity and military