Subject: International Relations (Part 1)

Teacher: Agha Shahriyar Khan (CSS 2019 Qualifier)

Contact number: 03432374304 (If you have any further questions, WhatsApp your queries)
Lecture number: 4 and 5
Time Limit: 3hrs

Topic Covered

 Neo-Realism/Structural Realism
 Neo-Liberalism/ Structural Liberalism
 Constructivism
 Postmodernism
 Critical theory

III. International Political Security 

 Conceptualization of security in the twenty-first century

Q/A session

Structural Approaches

Neo-Realism

A theory which premise that politics is essentially a struggle among self-interested states for power and
position to ensure their survival in anarchic international system.

Proponents: Kenneth Waltz, Book: Theory of International relations, 1979.

Assumptions: Actors (State and non-state actors), International system (Anarchic), Acquisition of power
is a means towards a greater goal which is Survival.

Salient Features:

 Root Cause of State Behavior: Self-help and survival in anarchic international system instead of
selfishness and lust of power. E.g. Pakistan acquisition of Nuclear weapons (LEVIATHAN)
 States are unitary actors: No diff in the task they face, all pursue national interest, ensuring
survival. State differ in capabilities and distribution of capabilities define International system.
(Polarity: Unipolar, Bipolar, Multipolar)
 Only Global Level analysis is enough to explain any event: What are the types of analysis?
Global, State and Individual. e.g. Cold War and developing countries
 Balance of Power and Stability:
 Cooperation is dangerous in security realm: Friend of today is foe of tomorrow. Concept of
relative gains, cheating factor, secrecy. E.g. US ended INF treaty, 1988
 International System itself promotes Power. E.g P5 in UNSC, US veto power at WB, US influence
on IMF, NPT,1968

Types

 Offensive Realism: example India

  Defensive realism: Example Pakistan.

Neo-Liberalism

Cooperation is possible even in anarchic international system

Proponents: Keohane and Doyle.

Assumptions:

Salient Features

 Accept the points of neo-realism (anarchy, unitary actors etc.) but conclude differently:
Cooperation is possible. How? Kant, Wilson, collective security Convert of Europe 1815, LON,
UN article 24, NATO article 5. Iraq invasion of Kuwait 1900s, Korean War 1950s
 Increase interdependence: This reduces the possibility of war.
 Concept of absolute gains, but how to address cheating factor? When everyone knows what
everyone else doing, cheating is difficult. For example, WTO

Constructivism

Not power or institutions but shared ideas are the major driver in int politics. Political structure and
behavior are shaped by shared ideas and identities and interests are the result of these ideas.

Salient features

 Identities shapes perception of realities. Example DPRK’s nuclear prog is a bigger threat to US
that that of Great Britain’s. Cold war
 Identities and Interests are dynamic: Europe of 20th and 21st century. Sharp difference.
 International Society as a whole change: Example Piracy.
 State also value social status and reputation: Example Switzerland (neutralized country joined
UN in 2002.)
 International Norms guides State behavior: state act a/c to the logic of appropriateness (How
should I behave in that situation?) instead of logic of consequences (what will be the
consequences if I behave in a certain way?). For example, US intervention in Somalia in 1992 a
country with minimal importance.

Criticism: identities are cover for state interests, little attention to int inst and politics

Post Modernism

Questions the very rationale of IR as look beyond states and emphasize upon society and non-state
actors. No objective reality and universal truth. All are subjective in nature.
Salient Features:

 World is much more complex than classic theories premised. No easy categorization.
Postmodernists want to celebrate the diversity of experiences.
 State have no tangible reality: Stories about the action and policies of state are just stories
 Multiple realities exist beneath state
 International relations are unpredictable: each group live a/ to their own perception and
according to their own reality therefore unpredictable.
 Reconstruct the whole edifice of IR: looking for what might be omitted

Criticism: no generalization, no prediction and no standardization, then What is the benefit of theory?

Critical theory/Frankfurt School of thought

III. International Political Security.

Conceptualization of security in the twenty-first century

Security:

Definition: Walter Lippmann, in 1943, defined it in terms of war saying that "a nation has security when
it does not have to sacrifice its legitimate interests to avoid war, and is able, if challenged, to maintain
them by war". Security means the activities involved in protecting a country, building or person against
attack, danger, etc. (Oxford Advance Learner’s)

Concepts of Security:

Traditional Concept: State-centric, military power is of vital importance, Security dilemma, Traditional
security threats ; Aggression, invasion, interreference, Economic blockade, war, security of citizens.

Non-Traditional concept: States as well as non-state actors and Int.Society as whole is important, only
military power is not enough. Non-traditional security threats basically non-military security threats.:
Global warming, Extremism, Cyber threat, biological warfare/threat, Information warfare, Human
insecurity, Economic insecurity.

UNDP’s Classification
The UNDP's 1994 Human Development Report's definition of human security argues that the scope of
global security should be expanded to include threats in seven areas:
Economic security

Economic security requires an assured basic income for individuals, usually from productive and
remunerative work or, as a last resort, from a publicly financed safety net.

Food security

Food security requires that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to basic food.

Health security
Health Security aims to guarantee a minimum protection from diseases and unhealthy lifestyles. In
developing countries, the major causes of death traditionally were infectious and parasitic diseases,
whereas in industrialized countries, the major killers were diseases of the circulatory system. Today,
lifestyle-related chronic diseases are leading killers worldwide, with 80 percent of deaths from chronic
diseases occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

Environmental security

Environmental security aims to protect people from the short- and long-term ravages of nature, man-made
threats in nature, and deterioration of the natural environment. COP-21 (Paris climate deal)

Personal security

Personal security aims to protect people from physical violence, whether from the state or external states,
from violent individuals and sub-state actors, from domestic abuse, or from predatory adults.

Community security

Community security aims to protect people from the loss of traditional relationships and values and from
sectarian and ethnic violence.

Political security

Political security is concerned with whether people live in a society that honors their basic human rights.
According to a survey conducted by Amnesty International, Political repression, systematic torture, ill
treatment or disappearance was still practiced in 110countries. Human rights violations are most frequent
during periods of political unrest. Along with repressing individuals and groups, governments may try to
exercise control over ideas and information.

6. World’s Attitude towards Security

The good news is that in the world the concept of redefining security is now permeating not only various
independent think tanks but the security agencies themselves. A number of studies have looked at threats
to the world’s interests posed by climate change, population growth, water shortages, and food shortages
are the key trends that contribute to political instability and lead to social collapse.

Although security is starting to be redefined in a conceptual sense, we have not redefined it in fiscal
terms. All the powers still have a huge military budgets, committed to developing and manufacturing
technologically sophisticated and costly weapon systems. What if the next war is fought in cyberspace or
with terrorist insurgents? Vast investments in conventional weapons systems will be of limited use. We
can most effectively achieve our security goals by helping to expand food production, by filling the
family planning gap, by building wind farms and solar power plants, and by building schools and clinics.

We can calculate roughly the costs of the changes needed to move our twenty-first century civilization off
the decline-and-collapse path and onto a path that will sustain civilization. This is what we call “Plan B.”
What we cannot calculate is the cost of not adopting Plan B. When we crunch the numbers, the external
funding needed to eradicate poverty and stabilize population requires $75 billion per year beyond what
countries around the world are already spending. These measures will also help prevent state failure by
alleviating its root social causes.

Meanwhile, efforts to eradicate poverty and rescue failing states that are not accompanied by an earth
restoration effort are doomed to fail. Protecting topsoil, reforesting the earth, restoring oceanic fisheries,
and other needed measures will cost an estimated $110 billion in additional expenditures per year.

Unfortunately, the states continue to focus its fiscal resources on building an ever-stronger military,
largely ignoring the threats posed by continuing environmental deterioration, poverty, and population
growth. USA is the leading spender on defense with amount of $515bn (2009). Other leading spenders
included China ($100 billion), France ($64 billion), the United Kingdom ($58 billion), and Russia ($53
billion).

For less than $200 billion of additional funding per year worldwide, we can get rid of hunger, illiteracy,
disease, and poverty, and we can restore the earth’s soils, forests, and fisheries. We can build a global
community where the basic needs of all people are satisfied—a world that will allow us to think of
ourselves as civilized.