The Institutionalist Paradigm(Liberal Institutionalism)

The Institutional Foundation of International Politics

Similarities and Differences with the Realist Paradigm

• Units: States (rational, unitary) • System Structure– Anarchy– Distribution of Capabilities– But also the Importance of Institutions

What Is an Institution?

• Persistent and connected sets of rules (formal or informal) that indicate the appropriate behavior for designated actors and, in some cases, create actors

Why Institutions Matter

• Institutions as Instruments of States • Institutions as the Foundation of the

International State System – States as the creation of institutions

Why Bring in Institutions:Puzzles for Realism

• Too Little War– Persistence of Weak States (Table 13)– Stability of State Boundaries: Africa, 1914, 1930, and

2000 • Too Much War and Conflict– Efforts to Defend Insignificant Pieces of Territory

Falklands/Malvinas (1982) Perejil (2002)

– Struggles over Representation in International Bodies Taiwan and the UN

Clue: How States Come Into Existence

• Effective Control by a Government over Territory and Population

• Diplomatic Recognition by Existing States E.g., Former Yugoslavia (map)

• Examples– Peaceful/uncontested: USSR– Violent/contested• Croatia and Kosovo• Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Constitutional Principles of the Interstate System (UN Charter)

• Respect for Political Independence and Territorial Integrity (Art. 2(4))

• Sovereign (Juridical) Equality (Art. 2(1)) • Non-Interference in Internal Affairs (Art 2(7))

Basic Rules of Interstate Relations: Rules of Diplomacy

• Diplomatic Accreditation and Immunity EX: Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-81

• Extraterritoriality EX: Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, 1990

• Confidential Communications EX: Diplomatic pouch

Basic Rules of Interstate Relations

• Rules of Agreement Making: Pacta Sunt Servanda– "Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to

it and must be performed by them in good faith.“

• Rules of War (Chapter VII)