Part II

1. Fundamental Concepts of
International Politics
Spring 2015
Prof. H. Steven Green
Toyo University
Faculty of Law
Class 1
PART II
Sept. 21, 2015
Balance of Power &
Great Power Conflict 1815-
1918

2. Today we will use beautiful art
to help us understand IP…
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3. Today we will use beautiful art to
understand IP…
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4. What is a state? (Review)
A state is the organization that has a monopoly
of force in a specific geographical region.
It has territoriality and sovereignty.
• It governs a specific place on Earth.
• It is the only organization that governs that
place and the only one that may use force.
REMEMBER: For better and for worse we often use the words
“nation”, “nation-state” and “state” to mean the same thing.
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5. The Sovereign State and
the Peace of Westphalia
• Ended 30 Years War (1618-1648).
• Included several treaties, but known as Treaty of
Westphalia or Peace of Westphalia.
• Gave each ruler the right to determine the
religion of his own territory and…
• To control his own territory and people.
Principle for monarchical sovereignty
(As we know: It became the principle for state sovereignty)
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6. The Sovereign State
• Today every place on Earth, except Antarctica
and 3 city-states, is ruled by states.
• Began in Westphalia.
• Grew out of feudalism.
These penguins are flightless AND stateless.
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7. Origins of the Sovereign State 1
The philosophers’ view
1. States represent communities who control
their own affairs.
• Similar ethnicity, language, values, religion
• People give right to use force to one police
and one military
Sounds like our modern view of a state, right?
Certainly, many people want to live in their own state.
(Former USSR, Palestinians, Kurds South Sudanese.)
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8. Origins of the Sovereign State 2
The political scientists’ view
2. “A protection racket”(保護恐喝)? (Charles Tilly)
“War made the state and the state made war.”
• Kings (and 将軍） gave protection in
exchange for money (taxes).
• Kings/将軍 needed money to fight wars;
winning wars made kings’ territory larger
and made kings richer.
• Eventually, kings needed administrators and
police to govern larger territories.
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9. Westphalia, States and the
International System
Westphalia is the beginning of the modern system
of international politics.
• Kingdoms would become states that…
• Grew stronger and less personalized (i.e. less
directly controlled by a single king or queen).
• Rise of bureaucracies and state professionals.
The modern study of IR really begins during the
17th-19th Centuries when states became the most
powerful political units in the world.
Almost all states, as we think of them, were in
Europe at that time. 9

10. Structural theory (of realism)
構造議論
Structural realism = realism as we have studied
it
• Logic of anarchy Self-help system
• States will use force when they think they
can succeed.
Main point :
The logic of the international system predicts
how states will act.
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11. Westphalia to Napoleonic Wars
(1648-1803)
Peace of Westphalia did NOT create peace.
• Wars among European states were “short,
sharp and geographically limited.” (Nye)
(“sharp” = sudden & quick)
• States fought over dynastic (王家の)issues,
territorial disputes and to prevent certain
states from becoming too powerful.
• Stabile system until French Revolution (1789)
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12. Stability and war
The Westphalian system was stable:
• No wars challenged states’ right to exist.
• No wars tried to change the rules of the
international system.
• In the 18th Century, the basic rule was the
right of a king/queen to control his/her
territory
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13. War in the Westphalian System
Realism predicts war:
Sovereign states worry about security and use
force when they want to or must.
Frederick the Great of Prussia takes Silesia from
Theresa of Austria, 1740-1742
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14. War within the rules of the game
Frederick II of Prussia
Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and
Bohemia
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15. 15

16. War within the rules of the game
As realism would expect:
• Frederick II wanted Silesia in order to have
more territory, wealth, security.
• His goal was to take specific territory so he :
Did NOT ask the Austrian people to overthrow
their queen, Theresa
Did NOT try to destroy Austria
Did NOT challenge the right of monarchs to rule
Frederick did NOT challenge the basic rules of the
international system.
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17. War against the rules of the game
• French Revolution (1789) said that only the
people, NOT kings or queens, have the right to
rule.
• French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) tried
to spread this idea throughout Europe.
• Napoleonic Wars
(1803-1815)
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18. War against the rules of the game
What challenged the rules?
1. Idea that kings and queens are not the state.
2. Wars fought between France and other
European states over sovereignty itself.
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19. War against the rules of the game
French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars are
EXOGENOUS to structural realism.
(Exogenous = outside of)
• Realism could not predict the French
Revolution OR the spread of its ideas.
• Realism could not predict the rise of a new
value (popular rule) OR a state’s attempt to
spread this value .
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20. What Napoleon changed
• French Revolution contributed to changing
state type: Ideas of democracy would spread
throughout Europe in the 19th Century.
• Napoleon also changed the social organization
of war:
– Monarchs used mercenary armies (傭兵軍).
– French invented conscription (徴兵制), which
helped created identity of citizens who belonged
to a state.
– Wars became mass actions with mass support.
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21. What Napoleon did NOT change
The Napoleonic Wars did NOT change the
logic of the international system.
• State types in Europe gradually changed after 1815:
– 1648-19th Century: Rule by kings and queens
– 19th Century-now: Rule by the people, dictators
(独裁者), etc.
• The basic “rule of the game” for the Westphalian
system is the same now (2012) as it was in 1740:
State sovereignty
Realism: Logic of both eras is the same.
The modern international system is Westphalian.
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22. Does state type matter?
• We would rather live in a democracy than in a
dictatorship (独裁政権), right?
• Democracies are better for human rights.
BUT
For realism, the logic of the international system
is the same for ALL states
at ALL times.
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23. SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS so far
1. Westphalian system originally guaranteed the
sovereignty of kings and queens.
2. Later (starting after about 1815) the
Westphalian system guaranteed the sovereignty
of states b/c states started to change.
3. The modern international system is
Westphalian:
 States are main political unit
 Sovereignty of states is the key “rule of the game”
4. For realism, the logic of the international system
does not change (even if state type does.)
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24. KEY WORDS
• great power 大国
• great power conflict
• Concert of Europe
• balance of power
• hegemon 覇権
• bandwagon
• hegemony主導権
• exogenous ~に対する外生的
• structural theory 構造議論
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25. Great Power Conflict
• A great power is country that has global
influence through both kinds of hard power,
as well as through diplomacy and soft power.
• Great powers’ influence causes smaller
countries to think about the great powers’
opinions before they act.
• Much of the study of IR is about how great
power conflict happens or is avoided.
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26. Great Powers Today
Great power and…
super power
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27. What is a superpower?
• Country that can send dominating power and
influence anywhere in the world and….
• To more than one part of the earth at same
time.
• 1944: UK, USSR, USA
• 1945-1990: USSR, USA
• 1990- now: USA
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, 27

28. Great Power Conflict
Realism expects conflict between great powers.
-Peloponnesian War was inevitable.
-Rise of Athens created security dilemma for Sparta.
Great powers in 19th Century
1815-1900: UK, Prussia/Germany, France, Russia,
Austria-Hungary/Austrian Empire
From 1900: Plus- Japan, US, Italy
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29. Great Power Conflict: Concert and Balance
• After Napoleon (1815), the great powers met
frequently to control the spread of democratic
ideas and movements and to maintain the
balance of power (i.e. to avoid war.)
• This system is called the Concert of Europe
(ヨーロッパ協調) and lasted until 1822.
• It started with the Congress of Europe in 1815.
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30. Great Power Conflict: Concert and Balance
Congress of Europe, 1814-1815 (9 mos.)
European leaders make new borders after defeat of Napoleon.
These borders would form framework for
European politics until start of WWI (1914)
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31. DISCUSSION 1
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Are the Congress of Vienna and the Concert of
Europe exogenous to (outside of) realist
theory?
Why or why not?
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32. Great Power Conflict: Balance of power
• European leaders wanted to avoid major wars
such as the Napoleonic Wars.
• Their first goal was to maintain a balance of
power.
• Did NOT want one state to become too
powerful (e.g. France in 1799)
• Did NOT want to lose independence (i.e.
sovereignty.)
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33. What is “balance of power”
Does it cause war or create peace?
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34. What is balance of power?
1. Distribution of power.
パーワ分布としてのバランス
• Often refers to the status quo (そのままの状態)
• Status quo in 2012?
Slide #5: 6 great powers, 1 superpower
Which is the best distribution for peace?
– Equal power among all great powers?
– One nation that is a hegemon (覇権)?
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35. Equal distribution of power = peace?
• From 1800-1815 a powerful France had
threatened other European states.
• So, European leaders believed that one state
more powerful than the others threatened
peace.
• The other Great Powers defeated France and
made its power equal to theirs again.
• One goal of the Concert of Europe was to
maintain similar levels of power among the
Great Powers.
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36. Hegemonic stability theory
覇権安定理論
• In spite of the Concert of Europe, the UK
became single most powerful state during 19th
Century. So, maybe…
An IMBALANCE of power = peace & stability?
• ONE strong, dominant power creates stability
in the international system
• The “hegemon” maintains
the rules of the game and
makes sure other Great
Powers cooperate (e.g. US today) 36

37. What is balance of power (BOP)?
(1. Distribution of power: Equality vs. hegemony)
2. BOP as policy (“balancing”)
• States try to prevent other states from becoming too
powerful
• In WWII, the UK and US allied with the USSR (even
though they opposed communism) in order to stop
the spread of German power.
• The EU and the US act to contain Iran’s power.
• The EU, the US, China, Japan and South Korea
cooperate to contain North Korea’s power.
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38. BOP as policy
“States have no permanent
friends or permanent
enemies, only permanent
interests.”
Henry John Temple,
Lord Palmerston, Great Britain
(1784-1865)
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39. BOP as policy
Predicting “balancing” as policy
1. Is based on realist view of IP: States value
independence in an anarchic system.
2. But, does NOT assume states try to
maximize their power.
3. States may try to bandwagon or to join the
weaker side (i.e. “balance”).
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40. BOP as policy: Bandwagon
Bandwagon: Join the stronger nation’s side.
• Italy joined Germany to attack France in 1939,
to gain territory and treasure ($). However…
• Italy became too dependent
on Germany for military help
and could not make many
military decisions by itself.
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41. BOP as policy: Balance
(join the weaker side)
Balance: Join the weaker nation’s/nations’ side.
• The problem with joining the stronger nation is that
a state can lose its independence (and more.)
• So, states often form alliances with other countries
to balance the “top dog” (the most powerful
nation) in a region (or in the world)
• Balancing against the top dog solves the security
dilemma AND preserves independence
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42. BOP as policy:
Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988
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43. BOP as policy: Balance
Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988
Middle East balancing in Iran-Iraq War:
Iraq: Arab, led by Ba’ath Party, Sunni version of Islam
Iran: Persian, Shi’ite version of Islam
Expectation: Syria, another powerful nation in the ME,
would support Iraq because it was also led by
someone from the Ba’ath Party.
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44. BOP as policy: Balance
Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988
OUTCOME : Syria supported Iran because it worried
about the growing power of Iraq.
 Permanent interests matter, NOT values.
Predictions based on balancing, i.e. on knowing who is
most powerful in a region and the logic of the
security dilemma, are often correct.
Syrian president Iranian president
Hafez al-Assad Ali Khamenei
Different ideologies, same interests.
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45. DISCUSSION
Since 1990 the US is the world’s
only superpower. Why haven’t
the great powers balanced
against it, i.e. why haven’t they
cooperated militarily and
economically to decrease the
USA’s relative power?
?
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46. What is balance of power (BOP)?
(1. Description of distribution of power: Equality vs. hegemony)
(2. BOP as policy (“balancing”) )
3. BOP as description of multipolar systems (多極状
態) in history
• “Balance of power” = system in which more than
one state has large amounts of power and influence.
• Within this system all states follow rules of the game
and..
• Change alliances to prevent a hegemon. (連盟を組
み変える.)
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47. Multipolar BOP System in 19th Century
• Main case of multipolar system is Europe from 1815-1914.
• Longest period without world war in modern state system.
19TH C. MULTIPOLARITY & TWO DIMENSIONS OF
SYSTEMS
STRUCTURE (Look at Table 3.1)
• How power is distributed among states (“poker game”)
PROCESS (Table 3.2)
• How states interact with each other
• How “the game is played”
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48. END OF LECTURE 1, PART II
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