Title: POLS 425 U.S. Foreign Policy
1POLS 425 U.S. Foreign Policy
- Topic Nested Games And Alternative Theories
- February 28, 2007
2U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- The notion of security games is a useful segue to
chapter 5, which discusses the significance of
globalization on foreign policy - Rather than focus on details of chapter, lets
begin with a basic question -
-
What is globalization?
3U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- Key Point Globalization is understood or
perceived very differently by different groups,
societies and countries - How globalization is perceived can have (is
having?) a major impact on the foreign policies
of different states - Consider Iran The aspirations for an open
society at home and integration into the
international community stem from a combined
sense of national pride and a growing
consciousness of the need to be part of the
democratic movement sweeping across the world
This has led to a new, more open foreign policy
under Khatami (Iranian president, 1997-2005)
4U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
No basic change. Globalization does notand
cannot change the structure of theinternational
system. States remain sovereign,and the system
remains anarchic.
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- How might the various theories deal with
globalization? - Realism
- Marxism
- Liberalism
- Constructivism
-
Globalization deepens and intensifies
alreadyexisting conditions. It may lead
toviolent conflicts among major
capitalistpowers in the future.
Globalization is having a profound impact onthe
world. It undermines sovereignty, andallows new
players to shape foreign policy. Globalization
blurs the boundaries betweenthe domestic and
international.
It depends on how globalization is understoodand
perceived. Globalization may create basisfor
more peaceful, cooperative world, or it mayvery
well lead to a clash of civilizations
5U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- Implications of Globalization on American Foreign
Policy -
- From a liberal perspective, globalization has a
number of implications for US foreign policy, the
most important of which stem from the relative
decline of sovereignty -
What is sovereignty and why is it important?
Globalization undermines sovereignty,
whichundermines the power of states
globalizationopens the door to the empowerment
of non-state actors to a degree never before seen
6U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- Importance of (Declining) Sovereignty
- If liberals are right, the decline of
sovereignty will open the door to more and more
domestically-based, international and
transnational actors exercising more and more
influence over foreign policy. These actors
include - The usual suspects corporations, domestic
interest groups, political parties, lobbyists,
and other domestic non-state actors - The not-so-usual suspects non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), international governmental
organizations (e.g., UN, WTO), social movements
(e.g., anti-globalization movement),
transnational organizations and coalitions,
epistemic communities, individuals, and so on
7U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- Importance of (Declining) Sovereignty
- As more non-state actors become involved in the
foreign policy making process, the line between
domestic and international becomes more and more
blurred foreign policy becomes more and more
nested (that is, more multi-level). This means
- The study of foreign policy becomes more
complicated - Traditional conceptions of foreign policy (i.e.,
realist and Marxist) must be rethought and
seriously revised, and perhaps even abandoned - If you doubt this, a liberal might say, just
consider the role of a single non-state actor, al
Qaeda
8U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- Importance of (Declining) Sovereignty
- Al Qaeda is the quintessential model of
globalization the groups power derives from
globalizing processes - - no fixed base of operations
- - appeal to transnational, decidedly non-state
identity based on Islam - - uses tools of financial globalization to
finance operations and evade state power - - uses tools of technology and global
communications to accumulate and mobilize
resources and manpower
9U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- Constructivism, Globalization and U.S. Foreign
Policy - Basic Point Constructivism tells us that our
construction of globalization is key - Consider the example of another quintessential
model of globalization Global Warming - How has the Bush Administration (and its
supporters) constructed global warming--as a
grave and serious threat to the United States
and the international community, or as something
else
Much of the debate over global warming is
predicated on fear, rather than science." The
threat of catastrophic global warming is the
"greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American
people U.S. Sen. James M. InhofeChairman of
the Senate Committee on the Environment
10U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- Constructivism, Globalization and U.S. Foreign
Policy - A light-hearted interludeon global
warmingWill Ferrel as George W.Bush discussing
global warming
11U.S. Foreign PolicyNested Games and Alternative
Theories
- A Nested Game with Many Players
- Constructivism, Globalization and U.S. Foreign
Policy - Key Point. The construction of global warming as
a grave threat, as a the greatest hoax ever
perpetrated on the American people, or as
something else as profound policy implications - As grave threat (say, more grave than the threat
Iraq posed to the US in 2002) Demands an
immediate, large-scale, coordinated, long-term,
and expensive response - As a hoax Demands no pro-active policy response
at all instead, requires that perpetrators of
the hoax be ostracized, marginalized and even
punished