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)