Politica internacional guia segundo parcial

Political Hegemony and International Trade

Hegemonic Stability Theory: “changes in the relative power resources available to major states will explain changes in international regimes.” It holds that hegemonic structures of power, dominated by a single country, are most conducive to the development of strong international regimes whose rules are relatively precise and well obeyed.

1.What are the arguments of the Hegemonic Stability Theory?
- Power is viewed in terms of resources; if the theory is to be operationalized, these resources have to be tangible.
- Less tangible resources such as confidence (in oneself or in a currency) or political position relative to other factors are not taken into account.
- Tangible resource models, therefore, are inherentlycrude and can hardly serve as more than first- cut approximations - indicate the range of possible behavior or the probable path of change, rather than offering precise predictions.
- The version of the hegemonic stability theory that best explains international economic regime change between 1967 and 1977 is an “issue structure” rather than “overall structure” model. That is, changes inpower resources specific to particular issue areas are used to explain regime change.

2. What factors may produce changes in International Regimes?
Less tangible resources such as confidence (in oneself or in a currency) or political position relative to other factors are not taken into account. Yet these sources of influence would seem to be conceptually as close to what is meant by“power resources” as are the more tangible and measurable factors listed above.

3. What are the differences between polarity and non-polarity?
Polarity is any of the various ways in which power is distributed within the international system. It describes the nature of the system at any given period of time. One generally distinguishes four types of systems: unipolarity, bipolarity, tripolarity,and multipolarity.

Nonpolarity is an international system with numerous centers of power but no center dominates any other center. Centers of power can be Nation-states, corporations, non-governmental organizations, terrorist groups, and such. Power is found in many hands and many places

* Multilateralism will be essential in dealing with a nonpolar world. To succeed, though, it must berecast to include actors other than the great powers. (Ex. UN)

4. Which System tends to be more stable a polar, bipolar, multipolar or nonpolar system?
Polar system because one center establishes the rules and the others accepted more peaceful and the things are done as the superior power said. On the other hand with the nonpolar system there is more disorder.

5. What other factorsbesides economic factors, may explain why countries trade with one another?
- Political similarities in domestic governing arrangements and similarities in foreign policy orientation (underlying similarities in sociopolitical values and perspectives)
- Expected stability, minimum risk that could disturb long-run relationships.
- Minimal political interference and stable betweennations whose governments share foreign policy orientation and political structure and ideals.
- The motivations of the state are equally clear, though the mechanisms are somewhat more variant and complex.
- States will prefer trade relations that are least likely to invite manipulation by others.
- What does Krugman (1987) say about the traditional theory of internationaltrade?

Introduction: “the political pressures for protectionism have triumphed in the past without shaking the intellectual foundations of comparative advantage theory. it is because of the changes that have recently taken place in the theory of international trade itself. While new developments in international trade theory may not yet be familiar to the profession at large, the have been...