Realism
This realism theory is focused on balancing or bandwagoning with the powerful. It says that states must seek survival by preserving the status quo.
What is Neorealism?
This president ignited the "global war on terrorism" in an effort to avenge the lives lost on 9/11 and to inspire a new wave of nationalism with the aspirations of a reelection.
Who is Bush?
While realism theories tend to think that the leaders of a country dictate the actions of those below them and the system works down like that, liberalism theories have a _____ approach, signifying that state governments must reflect powerful societal actors preferences internationally.
What is bottom-up?
In regards to Bush, which theory best describes his approach to grand strategy?
Bush's actions are best described through Neoclassical Realism. Bush saw a massive attack on democracy in 9/11. The U.S. population was infuriated and demanded a reaction from Bush. In response, Bush launched the "global war on terror," both to satisfy the American population and to address the threat in the Middle East. The action of balancing threats while satisfying domestic population is best described through Neoclassical Realism.
Liberalism is a bottom-up theory that empowers the domestic population to make international changes. Provide an example in which domestic discontent forced politician to affect international cooperation.
The gay rights movement has been going on for centuries, however, we saw a major uproar among the domestic population in the 1970's and 1980's through groups such as the Human Rights Compain, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and ACT UP and progress grew exponentially as a result. Soon following, gay activists won the support of the Democratic Party in 1980. From there, progress only continued, but this is a great example in which the domestic population of a country can inspire grand change in the international community, as these movements spread to the UK and soon to a large portion of the world quickly thereafter.
This realism theory claims that states must seek survival by preserving the status quo. It's focused on the idea of balancing or bandwagoning (either for survival or profit) with perceived threats: threats of aggregate power, proximate power, offensive power, and/or offensive intent.
What is Defensive Realism?
This president created seven innovations to U.S. foreign policy with the intent to Make America Great Again. His policies were more isolationist than the previous administrations.
Who is Trump?
This theory uniquely states that harmonies of interests are possible because social ideas, interests, and institutions shape states' preferences. It predicts that states must reflect the powerful social actors' preferences internationally by cooperating or conflicting with others based on preference interdependence...and domestic discontent.
What is Liberalism?
In regards to Obama, what theory best described his grand strategy?
Obama was a Neoclassical Realist. Obama started a massive pullback of military resources in the Middle East to boost the economy, address the threat in the Pacific, and satisfy the American population. This balancing of threats amidst domestic constraints is textbook Neoclassical Realism.
U.S. grand strategy pre-9/11 and post-9/11 are drastically different. Compare and contrast the two.
Pre 9/11 grand strategy focused on expanding U.S. influence and allies through aid, especially in the wreckage of WWII. This aid primarily took the form of economic aid and military assistance.
Post 9/11, however, grand strategy was hegemonic and unilateral. Put another way, the U.S. focused all their power and effort into exerting said power in the Middle East, showing the world who the "big bad country" was and showing that terrorist attacks on U.S. soil will not be taken lightly.
This realism theory claims that states must seek survival by shaping the status quo. It's focused on seeking hegemony (either global or regional) or responding to hegemony through hard balancing, soft balancing, balking, blackmail, leash slipping, neutrality, binding, bonding, and/or bandwagoning.
What is Offensive Realism?
This president practiced restraint and precision in the use of U.S. military power in the Middle East so that more money could be allocated towards China.
Who is Obama?
This theory claims that harmonies of interests are extensive because anarchy leads to the security dilemma. It focuses on states seeking survival by improving the international information environment through creating international institutions to prescribe rules, constrain activity, and shape expectations about cooperation thereby increasing interdependence and mitigating anarchy's effects.
What is Neoliberalism?
According to Drezner, Krebs and Schweller, these are the three reasons that grand strategy is dead.
What is:
1) an accurate perception of the global distribution of power does not exist,
2) a shared worldview among key political constituencies does not exist, and
3) a robust marketplace of ideas backed by sturdy institutions does not exist?
Panopticon: states with jurisdiction over network hubs can access information for strategic advantage.
Chokepoint: states with jurisdiction over network hubs can control which actors can access it for strategic advantage.
This realism theory claims that states are varyingly (dis)satisfied with world politics because states' influence on international hierarchy varyingly matches power. As a result, states must varyingly consider changing the international hierarchy by challenging (through economic development, political development, or international control), accepting, or defending (via eliminating threats, expanding resources, or reducing commitments) the international hierarchy.
What is Rise and Fall Realism?
List 4 of the 7 innovations created by Trump.
Acceptable answers:
What is zero-sum world, ambivalent ally, power and purpose, dispensable national, unsteady as she goes, competence gap, and soft power defense?
This theory claims that harmonies of interests are probable because the distribution of knowledge contextualizes anarchical security systems. It predicts that states must seek interests situationally based on identities by creating international institutions, thereby positive/negative reinforcing interactions...and redefining anarchy.
What is Constructivism?
This is the plan set forth by Drezner, Krebs and Schweller to "revive" grand strategy.
What is decentralization and incrementalism?
Decentralization: "...decentralize authority and responsibility, encourage employees to address problems through teamwork, and take an informal approach to assigning tasks and responsibilities."
Incrementalism: "...does not require putting all your eggs in one basket. [Incrementalism] does not achieve victory in one fell swoop, but it does avoid disastrous losses. It allows for swift adaptation to changing circumstances."
Put on your Rise and Fall Realism hat, and analyze a country's actions through it.
At the conclusion of the Vietnam War, the U.S. saw a period of relative peace for the first time in truly decades. The U.S. was satisfied with the international hierarchy and accepted it as is. China, on the other hand, was dissatisfied. They took this time as an opportunity to try to change the international hierarchy by challenging it quietly. They slowly gained international control through the production and exportation of the goods produced in country. This lead to further economic development where we saw them catch up to the U.S. Ignorantly, the U.S. failed to recognize and address this, and thus we have been thrown into a period of needing to defend the international hierarchy.
This realism theory claims that states must seek survival by preserving the status quo by balancing or bandwagoning with perceived threats subject to domestic constraints: elite consensus, regime vulnerability, social cohesion, elite cohesion, and/or nationalism (rising or declining power).
What is Neoclassical Realism?
The four pillars of U.S. grand strategies under Obama.
What is...
1) perpetuating U.S. primacy and shaping an international order that reflected American interests and values,
2) taking a more restrained, economical, and precise approach to using U.S. military power,
3) Ddoubling down on diplomacy with friends and rivals alike, and
4) reorienting U.S. leadership to reflect the changing geography of international power?
Contructivism often takes the form of creating and destroying norms. List the three types of norm creation and the three types of norm destructions.
Creation: emergence (norms originating in human agency, indeterminacy, change occurrences, and favorable events), cascade (after the tipping point for a nation, new norms are adopted rapidly without domestic pressure--like dominos), and internalization (norms are widely accepted and internalized by actors, conforming is "automatic").
Destruction: persuasion (saboteurs convince others not to follow the norm), blocking (saboteurs put institutional or legal obstacles in the way of actors seeking to follow the norms), and obfuscation (leave other actors unsure about the applicability of the norm).
In regards to Trump, analyze and prescribe a theory to his presidency to explain his grand strategy.
Trump was a Neoclassical Realist. He attempted to invigorate a sense of Nationalism in the United Sates amidst the newfound frustrations in response to the ongoing war efforts in the Middle East through his rhetoric. Although frustrating a huge portion of the population in the U.S. and, quite frankly, the world, it also caused an uproar in patriotism within the Republic Party. Further, Trump worked to boost the U.S. economy through isolationist policies, such as zero-sum world, ambivalent ally, power and purpose, dispensable national, unsteady as she goes, and the soft power defense. Since Neoclassical Realism describes satisfying elites and domestic population while balancing perceived threats, it is evident that this theory fits best.
Pick a country and describe a way that they weaponized Neoliberalism.
China's control over Tik Tok is a prime example of their weaponization of Neoliberalism through the Chokepoint. Understanding that Tik Tok is the most popular social media platform in the world, they have specifically altered the algorithm to ensure that the Chinese population receives educational videos seeking to improve the well-being of their country. The U.S., on the other hand, receives videos of people dancing and of content that does not further the U.S. advantage over China. China's jurisdiction over Tik Tok allows them to control the content for strategic advantage, thus they use it as a Chokepoint.