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2611. International Relations and Comparative Politics: Cooperation or Conflict?

Author:
Jorge Schiavon
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This article concentrates in providing an answer to two deeply related questions: is the study of International Relations (IR) and Comparative Politics (CP), in methodological and theoretical terms, intrinsically different, essentially identical, or complementary?, and thus, should we see IR as an autonomous and isolated field of study, as a sub-field of CP, or are both IR and CP valid and deeply related areas of study of Political Science (PS)? To answer these questions, the article is divided in three sections. The first section concentrates on the validity of IR as a field of study. The second section is devoted to discuss the methodological compatibility (or not) between IR and CP, using one central theoretical issue as a case of study: the sources of origins of state motivations as explanatory variable of state actions (specifically cooperation or conflict. Finally, the third and last section to the article presents some insights on how IR theories can be linked, and to certain degree improved, taking into account CP theories, using the example of state preferences developed in the second section. The article concludes that IR and CP theories are very similar in methodological and theoretical terms, and thus, they can complement and cross-fertilize each other, "cooperating" to construct better explanations of the actions of political actors in the domestic and international systems.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, International Cooperation, and Politics

2612. Structure and Choice in Foreign Policy Analysis

Author:
Peter Trubowitz
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
How do states choose their foreign policies? Most foreign policy analysis relies on structuralist reasoning to answer this question. Realist theory emphasizes a nation's position in the international distribution of power. A second approach focuses on domestic factors and stresses a country's political institutions. Both traditions focus on constraints on state behavior. The future of foreign policy analysis lies in finding ways to incorporate politics and choice into structuralist reasoning. Three main solutions have been proposed: theories that focus on how international pressures affect competing domestic coalitions, rational choices theories that analyze "two level games," and constructivism. This paper proposes an alternative model that views politicians as political entrepreneurs who seek to consolidate domestic power in national arenas that are conditioned by international constraints. The approach is developed and illustrated in a discussion of foreign policy choice in the United States.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

2613. Shining a Light on Small Arms Exports: The Record of State Transparency

Author:
Maria Haug, Martin Langvandslien, Lora Lumpe, and Nic Marsh
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
The proliferation of small arms and light weapons directly enables a horrifying number of deaths and injuries around the world each year, and it poses a grave threat to the stability and development of many countries, as well as to the success of UN-mandated peace operations. One of the most meaningful and straightforward initiatives concerned governments could undertake is to provide full unilateral transparency around the small arms shipments they are authorizing for import or export.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
United Nations

2614. Making Global Public Policy: The Case of Small Arms and Light Weapons

Author:
Rachel Stohl and Edward Laurence
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
In the Programme of Action, agreed at the July 2001 UN Small Arms Conference, national governments adopted a wide-ranging set of commitments which, if implemented, would aid greatly in preventing and reducing the negative impacts of these weapons. In an extensive review, this paper reveals that states, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have taken up this challenge in a broad series of meetings, programmes, and policies. Individual states are enacting new laws, building needed capacity, and funding projects in affected states. UN agencies are engaged in various activities in support of the Programme, while the UN Secretariat is carrying out the tasks assigned to it in this document. At the same time, regional IGOs are taking action loosely based on the Programme. And NGOs, both global and local, have embarked on specific programmes and awareness-raising initiatives, empowered by the mandate contained in the Programme.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
United Nations

2615. "Power" in International Relations: concept formation between conceptual analysis and conceptual history

Author:
Stefano Guzzini
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper will try to take the reader on a journey from conceptual analysis, used as a means for variable construction, to concept formation as conceptual history through a series of stops which will add different contextual layers to the analysis. This step by step introduction is meant to show the basic connectedness, and indeed crucial importance, of all this layers for constructivism-inspired scholarship where concept formation is not simply a means but an important end in our knowledge. Throughout the journey, references will be made to the concept of power which, in this indirect way – so I hope – will be shown as variable, as core concept in a social theory, as well as a performative speech act, embedded in a certain historical and cultural context, with the effect of "politicising" issues.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Government

2616. EU Crisis Response Capabilities: An Update

Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
In June 2001, ICG published a first report on EU crisis response capabilities, which presented a snapshot of the institutions, policies and processes for conflict prevention and crisis management as they stood at mid 2001. It described the respective roles in external relations matters of the three key EU institutions, Council, Commission and Parliament, and the evolving machinery for implementing more coordinated strategies in the formulation of general policy positions, conflict prevention and conflict management.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Security, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Europe

2617. Belgrade's Lagging Reform: Cause for International Concern

Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
For more than a decade Serbia was the driving force behind much of the instability in the Balkans. Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic on 5 October 2000, it was hoped that Serbia would promptly reform the external policies of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) that had caused such disruption. To date, these hopes have been substantially disappointed.
Topic:
International Relations, Defense Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Balkans

2618. Work In Progress: The Peace and Governance Programme: At the Interface of Ideas and Policy

Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The mission of the United Nations University is to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States. The work of the Peace and Governance Programme is a core element of this mission, and one that is complex and demanding. The concept of peace and security is evolving and broadening considerably, both in the worlds of academia and policy. Traditionally, national and international security were mainly defined in military and territorial terms, in an international system characterized by interaction among states. The UN Charter, while ultimately working in the interests of “the peoples,” is predicated on the relationship between unitary states in the maintenance of international peace and security. Within this system, the challenge was traditionally seen as mediating between liberal internationalist and power-political “realist” forces.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, International Organization, and United Nations

2619. Foreign Missile Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat Through 2015

Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The ballistic missile remains a central element in the military arsenals of nations around the globe and almost certainly will retain this status over the next fifteen years. States willingly devote often scarce resources in efforts to develop or acquire ballistic missiles; build the infrastructures necessary to sustain future development and production; and actively pursue technologies, materials, and personnel on the world market to compensate for domestic shortfalls, gain increased expertise, and potentially shorten development timelines.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States

2620. Workshop on Information Technology in Africa

Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The last 20 years have been characterized by rapid improvements in information technology and have com e to be regarded as the “Information Revolution.” The Information Revolution is changing the speed at which information is communicated, the facility with which calculations can be conducted in real time, and the costs and speed of observation of physical phenomena. Applications of IT in transportation mean that people and goods can be moved m o re efficiently; applications to the production process mean that goods and services can be produced m o re efficiently.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Africa