Constructivism

Neo-liberalism

The Study of Conflict in Political Science and International Relations

Lecture I

1. The Study of Conflict in the Social Sciences

2. Contemporary Theories of (International) Conflict

1. Conflict as a social phenomenon of competition between actors with incompatible goals is as old as human civilisation

Earliest accounts of a systematic study of conflict include works of history, political theory/philosophy, and law

– Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War

– Hobbes: Leviathan

– Machiavelli: The Prince

– Kant: The Perpetual Peace

– Rousseau: The Social Contract

– Grotius: On Law

Subjects of political conflicts: states, international organizations, groups, individuals (almost all international actors)

Objects of political conflicts: territorial claims (Kuril Islands), negative attitude to political regimes (velvet revolutions), presence or absence of privileges of social groups (problem of migrants, national minorities), nationalism, imperial claims, real problems in different spheres (economic, social, ethnic), fight for resources

Functions of political conflicts:

Positive:

1. Solution of the problem

Negative:

1. Financial, material, human losses

2. Bad influence on diplomatic relations of the state

3. Bad influence on psychology of people

4. Rise of political risk for international investors

2. •Neo-realism

–States are key actors and determine the rules of the game

–Inter-state relations are based on selfish human nature

–States put national interests first and seek to realise them through maximising power

 Order is a result of balance of power: states seek to prevent any rival from achieving dominance in the system by means of diplomacy, cooperation and if necessary conflict

 Security is a function of power

–Bi-polar, multi-polar and uni-polar structures of international system have very different rules of the game

–States are important but not only actors

–Human nature is not permanently selfish but can be ‘perfected’ under conditions of democracy (progress is possible, international system not static)

–National interest s are multi-facetted and can be realised through bargaining between range of different state and non-state actors

–Key feature of contemporary international system: interdependence

 Order emerges as a result of interactions between different governance mechanisms, law, norms, regimes and institutional rules

 Security is a function of integration

–Emphasises the role and importance of human agency

–‘Reality’ of international system is not a given, but socially constructed

 Order is a result of social rather than material structures

 Security is a function of norm compatibility

–Social structures shape actors’ identities and interests, not just their behaviour

–Social structures that determine nature of international system emerge in constant interaction and negotiation between actors in discourses at different levels:

•Domestic/societal (national identity)

•Governmental (politicians and bureaucrats)

•Bi-lateral/multi-lateral (direct interaction on specific issues between state and non-state actors)

•International (framework-setting/agenda-setting)

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