IR Paper 1 Part IV Strategic

Approach to IR
1. War, Causation of War, & Its Types
2. Deterrence

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 War
• War is defined as:
– ‘A state of Armed Conflict between Societies’
• War is ‘characterized by extreme Collective
Aggression, Destruction, and High Mortality’
• ‘Set of Techniques and Actions used to
conduct War is known as Warfare’
• Total War ‘is not restricted to purely
Legitimate Military Targets’

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 War
• It ‘results in massive Civilian/Non-Combatant
Casualties’
• Deadliest War in the History, in terms of the
Cumulative Deaths, ‘is WWII with 60–85
Million Deaths’

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 War
• War ‘usually results in’:
– ‘Significant deterioration of Infrastructure and
Ecosystem’
– ‘Decrease in Social Spending’
– ‘Famine’
– ‘Large-scale Emigration from War Zone’
– ‘Mistreatment of Prisoners of War or Civilians’

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 War
• Causes of War:
1. Statism:
• Statism is ‘the Social System based on the notion that
the State has a Right to force Individuals to act against
their Judgment for the sake of some Greater Good’
• Greater Good ‘could be for the Community
(Communism), the Race (Nazism), the Nation
(Fascism), or God (Theocracy)’
• People ‘accept the notion that they have a Right to
Murder/Oppress Individuals for some Greater Good’

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 War
• Causes of War:
2. Collectivism:
• Notion that ‘Individual’s Life belongs to some Group’
• The Group ‘may force him to think or act in
accordance with the dictates of the Group’
• E.g. US Civil War was caused by a Group insisting they
have a Right to maintain Enslavement
• ‘Defence of a Common Cause can lead to War’

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 War
• Causes of War:
3. Altruism:
• Notion that ‘being Moral consists Self-Sacrificially
serving Others’
• ‘Doesn’t call for serving Others to advances Personal
Gains’
• E.g. America’s involvement in the Vietnam War was a
consequence US Foreign Policy whose purpose was to
selflessly serve Others

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 War
• Causes of War:
4. Mysticism:
• Notion that ‘Knowledge can be acquired by Non-
Sensory, Non-Rational Means, such as Faith,
Revelation, Intuition, or any other form of Just
Knowing’
• E.g. Jihadist Groups are waging War against Western
Civilization because they have Faith in the Truth and
Morality of Allah’s Scriptural Commandments
requiring Muslims to Convert or Kill Infidels

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 War
• Causes of War:
5. Evasion:
• ‘Refusal to face relevant Facts’
• E.g. In the 1930s, European Leaders evaded the
explicitly stated Intentions of the Nazis
• When a Nation evades such facts about its Enemies,
‘that Nation eventually will either fight a larger and
more costly War than it would have had to fight if it
had faced reality from the beginning’

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 War
• Causes of War:
6. Self Determination:
• For Self Determination, ‘one utilizes all the Resources
at hand and what could be borrowed from Allies’

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 War
• Causes of War:
7. Resources:
• ‘Resources have been a Major Source of Wars
historically’
• E.g. Germany & France bitterly fought for the
provinces Alsace-Loraine
• Resources ‘are important for Development &
Prosperity’

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 War
• Causes of War:
8. Territory:
• States ‘have the Ambitions of growing in Area’
• States ‘can look for Territory to secure Resources or to
reconnect with Historic Ties’

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 War
• Types of War:
1. Asymmetric War:
• Conflict ‘between 2 Populations of drastically
different Levels of Military Capability or Size’
• Asymmetric Conflicts ‘often result in Guerrilla Tactics
being used to overcome the gaps in Technology and
Force Size’
• E.g. War between a Standing, Professional Army and
an Insurgency or Resistance Movement

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 War
• Types of War:
1. Asymmetric War:
• Differs from Symmetric Warfare ‘where 2 Powers
have similar Military Power and Resources and rely
on Tactics that are similar’
• Asymmetric War ‘is used to describe Guerrilla
Warfare, Insurgency, Terrorism, and Counter-
Terrorism’

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 War
• Types of War:
2. Biological Warfare:
• Biological Warfare ‘is also known as Germ Warfare’
• This ‘involves the use of Biological Toxins or Infectious
Agents (Bacteria, Viruses, Fungi) with the intent to kill
or incapacitate Humans, Animals, or Plants’
• They are ‘termed as WMDs along with Nuclear and
Chemical Weapons’

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 War
• Types of War:
3. Chemical Warfare:
• Involves ‘using Toxic Properties of Chemical
Substances as Weapons’
• ‘Destructive effects of Chemical Weapons are not due
to any explosive force’

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 War
• Types of War:
4. Civil War:
• A ‘War between Organized Groups within the same
State or Country’
• ‘Involves Regular Armed Forces, is sustained,
organized, and on a large scale’
• ‘Results in large numbers of Casualties and the
consumption of significant Resources’
• E.g. Syrian Civil War, Afghan Civil War of 1980s

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 War
• Types of War:
5. Conventional War:
• Warfare ‘conducted by using Conventional Weapons
and Battlefield Tactics between 2 or more States’
• ‘Attempts to reduce the Enemy’s capability through
an Open Battle’
• ‘Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical Weapons are not
used’
• It can ‘only see Limited Deployment in support of
Conventional Military Goals’

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 War
• Types of War:
6. Cyber Warfare:
• Actions by a Nation ‘to penetrate another Nation’s
Computers or Networks to cause damage or
disruption’
• Can also be carried out by ‘Terrorists, Companies,
Political or Ideological Extremist Groups, Hackers, or
other Groups/Organizations’
• ‘Governments have made Cyber Warfare a part of
their Strategy to fight a War’

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 War
• Types of War:
7. Total War:
• War ‘that is unrestricted in terms of the Weapons
used, the Territory or Combatants involved, or the
Objectives pursued’
• Total War ‘disregards the Laws of War’
• ‘Places no limits on Legitimate Military Targets’

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 War
• Types of War:
8. Nuclear War:
• A Military Conflict ‘in which Nuclear Weaponry is
used’
• Nuclear Weapons ‘are the Primary Method of
coercing the Capitulation of the other Side’
• It is ‘vastly more destructive in range and extent of
damage in a much shorter Time’
• E.g. Nagasaki & Hiroshima during WWII
• ‘Bombs were named Fat Man & Little Boy’

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 War
• Types of War:
8. Nuclear War:
• Nuclear Attacks ‘could lead to a Nuclear Winter that
could last for Decades, Centuries, or even Millennia’

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 War
• Types of War:
9. Unconventional War:
• It is the ‘opposite of Conventional War’
• Unconventional War can be defined as:
– ‘An attempt to achieve Military Victory through
Acquiescence, Capitulation, or Clandestine Support for
one Side of an existing Conflict’
• ‘Forces or Objectives are covert or are not well
defined’
• ‘Instills a belief that Peace and Security are not
possible without Compromise or Concession’
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 War
• Types of War:
9. Unconventional War:
• Tactics of Unconventional War include:
– ‘Inducement of War Weariness’
– ‘Curtailment of Civilian Liberties’
– ‘Economic Hardship due to War’
– ‘Terror, Depression, and Disintegration of Morale of
the Forces & Nation’

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 War
• Types of War:
10. War of Aggression:
• Military Conflict ‘carried out for Territorial gain and
subjugation’
• It is ‘also known as War of Conquest’
• Any War ‘carried out for any other purpose apart
from Collective or Individual Self-Defence is a War of
Aggression’
• E.g. War on Terror, Iraq War

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 Deterrence
• Deterrence is defined as:
– ‘Strategy intended to dissuade an Adversary from
taking an action not yet started or to prevent
them from doing something that another State
desires’
• ‘Military Strategies of today are a mixture of
the Art of Coercion, Intimidation, and
Deterrence’

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 Deterrence
• ‘Capacity to harm another State is used as a
factor for other States to avoid taking any
action’
• ‘Costs and Losses to carry out an action would
be far greater than the Benefits that can be
expected from taking a course of action’

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 Deterrence
• ‘2 Broad Categories of Deterrence are’:
I. Direct Deterrence:
• ‘Preventing an Armed Attack against a State’s own
Territory
II. Extended Deterrence:
• ‘Preventing an Armed Attack against another State’

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 Deterrence
• Elements of Deterrence:
1. Proportionality:
• ‘Objectives being pursued and the Instruments
available for use to pursue these’
• ‘Cost of Non-Compliance should be so great that it
outweighs the Benefits’
• ‘Benefits of Compliance should be greater than the
Costs that would be incurred by the Aggressor’
• Deterrence ‘may go beyond Threats to the actual use
of Military Force’

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 Deterrence
• Elements of Deterrence:
1. Proportionality:
• If force is actually used, ‘it must be limited and fall
short of full scale War’
• ‘Otherwise, Deterrence fails’

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 Deterrence
• Elements of Deterrence:
2. Reciprocity:
• Involves ‘an explicit understanding of the Defending
State’s Offers/Benefits and the Attacking State’s
Concessions’
• ‘Balance lies neither in offering too little too late for
too much in return, nor offering too much too soon
for too little in return’

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 Deterrence
• Elements of Deterrence:
3. Coercive Capability:
• Defending State ‘convincingly conveys to the
Attacking State that Non-Cooperation has
Consequences’
• ‘Coercive Instruments must be sufficiently credible to
raise the Attacking State’s perceived Costs of Non-
Compliance’
• Defending State ‘having a superior Military or
Economic strength in itself is not enough to ensure
Credibility’
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 Deterrence
• Elements of Deterrence:
3. Coercive Capability:
• It ‘needs to use that capability to make the threat
believable’

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 Deterrence
• Rational Deterrence Theory:
1. Military Balance:
• For successful Deterrence, ‘Defending State needs
Military capacity to respond quickly & strongly’
• Deterrence ‘often fails when either the Defending
State or the Attacking State under or overestimates
the Others’ ability to undertake a particular course of
action’

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 Deterrence
• Rational Deterrence Theory:
2. Signaling & Bargaining Power:
• ‘Costly Signals need to be communicated to show the
Credibility of the Claims’
• These Signals ‘also increases the Costs of backing
down from a Deterrent Threat’
• States that are ‘bluffing are unwilling to cross a
certain threshold for fear of committing to an actual
Armed Conflict may suffer immensely’

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 Deterrence
• Rational Deterrence Theory:
3. Reputation for Resolve:
• ‘Past Behavior creates a strong belief in an Attacking
State about the Defending State’s actions’
• Previous Reputation ‘has a limited impact when the
Credibility of Deterrence is determined by Military
Capabilities, Interests at stake, and Political
Constraints faced by a Defending State’
• Attacking States ‘would draw Reputational Inferences
about resolve from Past behavior of Defending States’

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 Deterrence
• Rational Deterrence Theory:
4. Interests at Stakes:
• ‘Defending States that have greater Interests at stake
in a Dispute are more resolved to use force and be
more willing to endure Military losses to secure those
Interests’

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 Deterrence
• Nuclear Weapons & Deterrence:
– ‘Nuclear Weapons’ Deterrent capabilities has led
to the Concept of the Stability-Instability Paradox’
– Nuclear Weapons ‘confer large scale Stability
between Nuclear Weapon States’
– Nuclear Weapons ‘are used to pursue Political
Aims by Military Means’
– ‘After the Sino-Soviet split, USA pursued the Policy
of Détente’

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 Deterrence
• Nuclear Weapons & Deterrence:
– ‘Peaceful Co-existence was sought between the
United States and the Soviet Union’
– ‘Rough Parity was achieved in stockpiling Nuclear
Weapons with the clear capability of Mutual
Assured Destruction’ (MAD)
– ‘Nuclear Capability is possessed by 5 Recognized
States & 4 Un-Recognized States’

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 Deterrence
• Criticism of Deterrence:
I. ‘Suicidal or Psychotic Opponents may not be
deterred by Deterrence
II. ‘Diplomatic Misunderstandings may lead to
escalating Perceptions of Threat and a
subsequent Arms Race’
III. ‘Escalation of Perceived Threat can lead to
Measures inflicted upon the Population by the
Government (restrictions on Civil Liberties, etc.)

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