GO131:International Relations

Professor Walter HatchColby College

Closing Thoughts

How far have we come?

From Ignorance?

To Enlightenment?

Well, let’s see…

We’ve examined IR theory

Realists

Liberals

Constructivists

Marxist-Leninists

Feminists

We’ve applied theory to cases

WWI

WWII

Cold War

We’ve studied security issues

Weapons of Mass destruction

Ethnic and religious conflict

Old and new interventionism

We’ve studied economic issues

The North-South divide

Trade and Finance

Globalization and regionalism

We’ve studied legal issues

Treaties, conventions, norms

ICJ vs. ICC

“Shaming”

We’ve studied environmental issues

Global warming

Ozone depletion

Loss of bio-diversity

We’ve asked: Who matters?

States?

Intergovernmental organizatons?

Non-state actors?NGOs

MNCs

Terrorist Networks

Civilizations?

But we haven’t yet looked ahead

Two Linked Issues

Terrorism

Anti-Americanism

Terrorism

HistoryFrench Revolution’s “Reign of Terror” (1793-4)Anti-czarist Russians (1878-9)National liberation struggles (since 1960s)

Provisional IRABasque ETAChechensUighursTamil Tigers

Islam-ism

Politics of Definitions“Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.”

US State Dept

Any action “intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or noncombatants, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population or to compel a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act.”

UN study panel (2004)

Tokyo (March 1945)

Dresden (February 1945)

Political Islam

Political Christianity

Abortion clinic in Birmingham, AL (1998)

Common Denominators

Erosion of faith

Decline of tradition

Eclipse of “the local”

Jihad

McWorld

vs

Anti-Americanism

Two More Big Issues

for your generation …

Climate Change

Global Poverty