Conflict, Cooperation, & Security

Conflict

• Types of conflict: conventional, nuclear, trade, resource, religious

• Intrastate (civil war), interstate, terrorism

Characteristics of Power

• Dynamic, not static: changes over time

• Can be coercive or persuasive

• Power is both objective and subjective

  • Objective-real power that a country can assert at any time

  • Subjective-the perceived power a country has

• Power can be tangible and intangible

• Power is relative

• Power is based on relationships between actors

Security

• Military and human security; two-level games

• Cost-benefit analysis of actions

• Unilateral self-defense for security

• Adversarial Negotiations

• Hostile Negotiations

• Treaties, alliances:

  • Collective security

    • Notion that aggression against one state is aggression against the collective

    • Organizations range from regional (NATO, EU) to global (UN)

  • Bilateral security

  • Multilateral security