Yahya Sadowski

Chapter 5 named 'The State' is the part I am now stucking in my textbook. The introduction to this chapter says that 'The state is the key actor in international relations.'
Yahya Sadowski of American University of Beirut describes the diversity of Islam and the characteristic of political islam.

Let me introduce Yahya Sadowski briefly here. He is the associate professor of political studies at American University of Beirut. He got his Ph.D. at Univeristy of California in Los Angels in 1984.
He is teaching comparative politics of the Middle East, International Relations of the Middle East, Globalizatioin, US Foreign Policy toward the Middle East and so on.

I have just begun reading his article 'Political Islam: Asking The Wrong Questions?'
As for as I read, he emphasizes the diversity of Islam and the danger to simply regard Islam as a one unity based on the one principal.

'War as an Instrument of Policy'

Today I was reading a part of Carl Von Clausewits' masterpiece, 'On War.'
In the book8 ,Plan of War, Chapter6 presents Clausewits' most famous argument that is about 'war is nothing but a continuation of political intercourse.'

He says in his book that people usually tend to think that War is derived from the disagreement of bargaining. However, War is a continuation of political intercourse because war is a part of politics, and just like he says, the instrument of policy.

Here I note that we really have to remember that war is not a single consequence at all. In addition, Clausewitz asserts that wars are representative of the interests of the whole community and manifestations of policy in a country.

Women's Perspective on World Politics

It is interesting for me to see how women's perspectives on International Relations are claimed. For example, I am showing Valentine M. Moghadam who is a sociologist.
She published "Globalizing Women: Transnational Feminist Networks" in 2005. (http://www.iranian.com/Books/2005/September/Global/index.html)
In her book, she examines the correlation between gendered process and globalization.

Carl von Clausewitz

Have you ever heard of his name? This was my first opportunity to know him, in spite of his prominent figure. He is a soldier, military historian and thinker who has had a great influence on strategist. What made him significant figure is the book he wrote, 'On War.'
According to the website for Carl von Clausewitz, it says that there are just two writers who dealt with war and the strategy for it. They are Thucydides and Carl von Clausewitz. Carl von Clausewitz analysis the theory of warfare and of strategy. And I found that his book is applied in business school to learn business strategy.
I cannot wait to read the book which has still been attracting a lot of people in different fields.

Two Editors of My Textbook

I think it is pretty late to do, I have counted the number of people who are appeared in my textbook, 'Essential Readings in World Politics.' It is edited by Karen A. Mingst and Jack L. Snyder.

The total number is 51! Until now I have gained some pieces of information about 20 people in the textbook. Now let me introduce some of them here.
First, I am writing about the editors. Karen A. Mingst is a professor at Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. Her areas of specialization is International Cooperation, International Organization, Non-government Organizations, and International Law. She edited the first and second edition as well.
(http://www.uky.edu/PattersonSchool/faculty.htm)

Jack L. Snyder is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations in the political science department at Columbia University. (http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/academics/directory/jls6-fac.html)
His articles concentrating on democratization and war, imperial overstretch, war crimes tribunals versus amnesties as strategies for preventing atrocities, international relations theory after September 11, and anarchy and culture can be seen in many journals such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and World Politics.

Immanuel Wallerstein

Immanuel Wallerstein

is distinguished sociology professor at Yale University.
I add here the useful website to reference his previous articles.
In my textbook, the extract from his work 'Comparative Studies in Society and History' is included.

We are supported to learn his theory which the international system is a capitalist world system. In addition, we will learn his classification of three types of states: the core, the periphery, and the semi-periphery.

The Second Feature of Political Realism

I am adding one more feature of political realism on my blog.

Hans Morgenthau describes political realism as the theory which knows moral principle. Hewe I found the correlation Thomas Hobbes' human nature and the idea Hans Morgenthau analyse. When I studied Thomas Hobbes, I found that he believes that human nature is self-centered and emotional, although that he believes that human beings has reason.
By the way, Hans Morgenthau shows us that political realism knows the importance of moral principle of political action. However he asserts that moral principles of political action cannot be applied to the international politics.

I suppose that the reason is every state has to survive in the world, and surviving in the conflictual world is the immediate goal for every state as Hans Morgenthau explain.

The First Feature of Political Realism

I want to add another relavant knowledge on the basic feature of political realism.

Based on Hans Morgenthau's theory, political realism thinks that politics is conducted based on objective laws in each country. The word 'objective' is similar to the meaning of the word 'goal' or 'aim.' Thus, objective law is the law established to acheive aims or to follow policy in each country. Also he explains that each country's objective law is established based on their conception of humasn nature. Human nature is humasn beings' hypothetical condition in absence of government or rulers. Because the conception of humasn nature varys depending on societies, laws are different in each society in the world.

Worth Reading!!

Around noon Dr.Suguru Araki stopped by at the Cross Cultual Education Center in which we are staying for stdying, eating, chatting, and listeing to our 老師. By the way, when Dr.Araki came in the office, he told me very important points you cannot miss with regard to reading textbooks.
Now I am reading my textbook 'Essential Readings in World Politics' which is the compilation of many political theorists' essays or documents.
What I learned from Dr.Araki is:
① Read throgh body texts in the textbook and know the main points of them
② Scan notes and references on the back page of body paragraphs to advance your research.
That is much more important to do than ①.
If you are planning to go to a graduate school, it is the essential ability to deepen your knowledge and write your thesis in the future.
This is what Dr.Araki insisted. Although I am now in Step1, reading the main body in the textbook, I hope I can take one step forward for strengthening myself.

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

While I was serching the Web for John Mearsheimer, I found his notorious book, 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.' The work was also written by stephen walt . First I tried to see who John Mearsheimer is on Google Image Search, which resulted in knowing the book. Although I have not known exactly the contents of the book, I was attracted by the book. It is because I want to know the reason of strong tie between the U.S and Israel. The book hints at understanding the strong tie between them. The book was published on August 27 in 2007.

Manifest Destiny - America's policy

'Manifest Destiny' is the significant term to understand America's diplomacy. The meaning of the term is that the America shouhld expand their territory and transmit their culture, ideas, and systems to uncivilized lands. The term represents America's character in politics. Thus, based on this idea the America think that expansion is obvious(manifest) and certain(destiny). 'Manifest Destiny' was used to justify America's expansion from the East to the West in the North American continent.

This idea is very important and key term to view even today's America's politics.

J. Ann Tickner - Feminism perspective

Today I want to introduce a scholar, J. Ann Ticker. I found it interesting that she is a feminist international relations theorist. For example, she criticizes Hans Morgenthau because he is talking about just men’s character in politics. J. Ann Ticker’s interest in the field of International Relations is national security. Therefore, she analyzes the lack of women’s capability with respect to national security.

Alexander Wendt

Now I am reading an article in my textbook. The article ‘Anarchy is what states make of it’ was written by Profesor Alexander Wendt in the Ohio State University. He published it in International Organization in 1992. He is now recognized as a profound and influential scholar in International Relations. It is because he established Constructivism, one of International Relations Theory. You can see the influential scholar in International Relations in the list below. The list is taken from ‘Teaching and Research Project’ College of William and Mary, Williamsburg. August 2005.

With regard to his article, he proposed the inquiry about anarchy in international politics in it.

(22) Please list the four scholars who have had the greatest impact on the field of international relations over the past 20 years. N=752

Rank	Names	Responses	Percent
1	Robert Keohane	422	56
2	Kenneth Waltz	311	41
3	Alexander Wendt	248	33
4	Samuel Huntington	155	21
5	John Mearsheimer	138	18
6	Joseph Nye	125	17
7	Robert Jervis	113	15
8	Bruce Bueno de Mesquita	109	14
9	Bruce Russett	83	11
10	Robert Gilpin	78	10
11	Peter Katzenstein	69	9
12	Stephen Krasner	68	9
13	James Rosenau	60	8
14	John Ruggie	49	7
15	Michael Doyle	42	6
16	James Fearon	41	5
17	Immanuel Wallerstein	31	4
18	Robert Cox	28	4
19	Hans Morgenthau	27	4
20	Francis Fukuyama	26	3
21	J. David Singer	21	3
22	Stephen Walt	19	3
23	Jack Snyder	17	2
23	Robert Axelrod	17	2
23	Stanley Hoffmann	17	2

British Inconsistent Promise

The MacMahon-Hussein Correspondence and Balfour Declaration of 1917 are the inconsistent promise British made aiming at settling Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is said to be a seed of the long-lasting conflict in Palestinian area.

The MacMahon-Hussein Correspondence is the letters exchanged between Husayn Bin Ali and Henry MacMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt. This correspondence ensured the Arab independence from Ottoman empire and the right to live in Palestinian area.
In contrast, Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised Palestinian area to Jews. The declaration was addressed by Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour.

These two are now remembered as a trigger events for the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Guyana - The report of HIV

In the morning I watched a TV program which was focusing on the problem of HIV in Guyana. I was amazed at witnessing the situation how HIV is infected among people there. The main industories are forestory and gold mining in Guyana. However, people cannot earn enough money to live their lives just by engaging in forestory. It is because the government announced that it aims at protecting forest as much as possible under the influence of global warming. Thus, whether you work in a gold mine or not descides your life in the future.

Because of the reason, most men work in a gold mine and stay there leaving their family in the towns. In the gold mine, there is also a small town in which gold miner can drink alcohol at night.
After the sun goes down, some young women approach the small town to have a sexual relationship with the men. Above all, there are tourists to buy gold jewelry. So, lots of people gather at one place, and the risk of being infected becomes higher and higher.

The sad thing is that they cannot change their job because there is little chances to be hired. For feeding their family, it is the best way to work in a gold mine.
Poverty is not just a motter of lacking of money. Poverty brings other serious issues which directly threaten people's lives

Islael and Palestina

Today I watched 'MUNICH', movie directed by Steven Spielberg.
It depicted Munich Massacre occured during summer Olympics in Munich in 1972. 11 Israeli members were killed by Black September, Palestinian members of the fedayeen.

Because I did not know the background of Israel-Palestina conflict, I did not enjoy fully watching the DVD. Therefore, I want to understand the conflict, and I am writing down what I have found.
Until the 2oth centry, the land of Israel was occupied by Ottoman Empire.
And gradually, Jews livining mostly in Europ came back to their homeland. The first wave of Jews coming homeland is named as the First Aliyah began in 1881. The wave continues to the Second, Third, Forth, and Fifth Aliyah. When Jews came back to their land, the conflict between Jews and Arabs became serious and never-ending story.

The cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict known today is directed not only at religious matter but also British government and the UN which devided the land for Israeli and Palestinian Arab. After Ottoman Empire gave up the land of Israel, British made it its territory and ruled for 25 years. When British realized the eternal problem rooted in the region, it withdrew from Palestine.

Next time I will focus on the way of deviding the region by the UN Partitian and the Balfour Decralation.

American Hegemony?

As I noted the last time, every nations are tend to pursue power for their preservations in the glove. Then, it seems obvious that the most successful country having great power in the planet is the United States. What characterizes the US as the powerful country is military power.
According to John Mearsheimer,however, the US is not a hegemon because the US does not dominate all the other states in the system. Although no countries can acheive global hegemons, he tells us that countries can acheive regional hegemons.

I suggest that he confirms his idea which all country feel fear for the possibility to be attacked and destroyed by others based on the above 'hegemony theory.

John Mearsheimer-Offensive Realism

John Mearsheimer is well-known international relations theorist and a professor of political science at the Univeristy of Chicago. The excerpted version of his prominent book, 'The Tragedy of Great Power Politics' is included in my textbook. Thus, I am writing down his introduction here.

By reading a part of his book, I knew his 'offensive realism.' It is the framework how countries act in the international politics.
He raises five assumptions on this.

The first assumption is that in the international politics there is no 'goverment over goverment.' He call the situation anarchic. Because there is no obligatioin to follow, and thus, there is no existance to trust in, states pursue power.
The second assumption is that states are potentially dangerous each other no matter they have much more weapons than others or not. The impressive and interesting sentence for me is 'After all, for every neck, there are two hands to choke it.' This really explains how much nations have to be careful and watch out what other nations are trying to do.
The thrid assumption is that states have no idea about other states' intentions. It is because intentions are impossible to divine with 100 percent certainty and can change quickly in his words.
The forth assumptioin is that the ultimate aim of states is to survive. Power comes along with seculity. Therefore, states pursue power to survive in the world.
The fifth assumption is that states are rational factors.

With such analysis, he proposes the reasons why states tend to pursue power.

Political Power

Hans Morgenthau also writes about the notion of 'power' in his book. 'Power' in his definition does not mean physical attack, but influence to control other countries through orders, threats, persuasion, the authority, or charisma of a man or of an office.

He adds that every nation always want to gain power for freedom, security, and prosperity no matter what their objectives are. Why are countries so stick with getting power over other countries?

Principle of Political Realism

As I wrote down before, realism is one of schools of international relations.
By reading Hans Morgenthau's thesis, I took a hint of the core idea of realism.
The key word for realism is 'reason.' Hargenthau explains in his book that realism believes 'truth' which is truly objective and rational through the filter of evidence and reason. It does not include prejudice and wishful thinking which were separated from the facts. This is called 'opinion' according to Hargenthau. Realism examines political acts in the past imagining why politicians acted in this way or in that way. And from the knowledge derived from that process, realism can foresee what will happen in the future.

Hans Morgenthau

Before introducing Francis Fukuyama's thesis to you, I want to note Hans Morgenthau who is remembered now as a pioneer of international relations theory. My textbook includes his great work 'Politics among Nations.' The main concern in the book is the notion of power.
Also, I found that he was born in Germany and was affected by Nazis for forming Morgenthau's political theory. He sees politics objectively and scientifically. And he does not like think politics emotionally and subjectively. When I study theories, I enjoy learning how the theories are formed by each person based on their background.

Francis Fukuyama, 'The End of History?'

Now I am struggling with Francis Fukuyama's thesis, 'The End of History?'.
His thesis strongly supports for liberal democracy above any other political thories.
He argues in its thesis that history is the conflict among ideas.
I will report on more detailed contents about the thesis next time.

TICAD Ⅳ

Do you know anything about a event which happened in Yokohama city, Japan, from May 28 to 30?
More than 40 people from each african country assembled.

'TICAD Ⅳ' was held for 3 days in Japan. What does TICAD stand for?
TICAD means 'Tokyo International Conference on African Development(アフリカ開発会議).'
The first conference began in 1993 in Tokyo. The next one was held in 1998 in Tokyo. The third one was held in 2003. And the forth one was held this year in Yokohama city in Kanagawa prefecture.

Today I read the article related with the fourth conference. It raises question about the conference phrase 'Towards a Vibrant Africa.' What does this mean to the TICAD participants?
Does it just mean greater economic growth for the African countries?
The article gives us information that some observers and NGOs advocated that much more essential points for the stable growth in Africa were not discussed in TICAD.
The essential points are 'democratization' and 'redistribution of wealth.' The article also introduces Minoru Obayashi(a learder of TNet)'s interview. He said that 'Japan should send a clear message calling for democratization because it has no history of colonial rule in Africa, unlike some Europian countries.' I argue for his comment about Japan's democracy. I am not sure Japanese copied Europian democracy in completely the same way. Thus, I think that Japan's perception of democracy is different in some way. Also, I am not sure democracy have power to make all of countries and people happier and their lives safer and richer.
I want to pursue for this question through the study of international relations.

[Sources]
THE JAPAN TIMES Sunday, June, 1, 2008 「Making a continent 'vibrant'」
TICAD Ⅳ online brochure http://www.undp.or.jp/ticad/pdf/ticad_iv_j.pdf