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"Competitor? Adversary? Enemy?"
@SusanPage posed that question about
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flagge von China" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von China">& #39;s relationship with https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten"> during #VicePresidentialDebate.
Are such distinctions useful and do any of the terms accurately describehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">-https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flagge von China" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von China"> relations?
Let& #39;s break it down.
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@SusanPage posed that question about
Are such distinctions useful and do any of the terms accurately describe
Let& #39;s break it down.
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To start, notice what were NOT options given by Page:
"friends, partners, allies"
(though Page did acknowledge thathttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flagge von China" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von China"> could be a "potential partner" for addressing https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇰🇵" title="Flagge von Nordkorea" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Nordkorea"> and climate change)
So we& #39;re starting with the presumption of a "confrontational" relationship.
"friends, partners, allies"
(though Page did acknowledge that
So we& #39;re starting with the presumption of a "confrontational" relationship.
From the standpoint of foreign policy discourse, there can be value in saying that someone is a "competitor" (competition is "healthy") rather than an "enemy" (who is "evil"). @EdwardGoldberg makes this distinction in a piece for @Salon https://www.salon.com/2019/06/22/china-enemy-or-competitor/">https://www.salon.com/2019/06/2...
And there can be value in distinguishing "adversary" from "enemy" in foreign policy. @M_Ignatieff made this point in a @nytimes piece years ago:
Adversary -> compromise possible
Enemy -> compromise bad https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/17/opinion/enemies-vs-adversaries.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/1...
Adversary -> compromise possible
Enemy -> compromise bad https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/17/opinion/enemies-vs-adversaries.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/1...
But do IR scholars distinguish "competitor", "adversary", and "enemy"?
To an extent. To understand when and how, consider the more widely used IR concept of "international rival"
To an extent. To understand when and how, consider the more widely used IR concept of "international rival"
When it comes to studying international rivalry, I start with this 2001 @ISQ_Jrnl piece by Bill Thompson
https://academic.oup.com/isq/article-abstract/45/4/557/1792569">https://academic.oup.com/isq/artic...
https://academic.oup.com/isq/article-abstract/45/4/557/1792569">https://academic.oup.com/isq/artic...
In the paper, Thompson presents new data "predicated on systematizing historical perceptions about competitors, threats, and enemies."
For Thompson, this means the actors must regard each other as (1) competitors, (2) there being a possibility of military conflict, & (3) enemies
For Thompson, this means the actors must regard each other as (1) competitors, (2) there being a possibility of military conflict, & (3) enemies
"Competitors" are states that view one another as being "in the same league".
For example, as @dlarson13 & Alexei Shevchenko lay out in @Journal_IS,https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flagge von China" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von China"> (& https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇷🇺" title="Flagge von Russland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Russland">) want to be viewed by https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten"> as having "Major Power status" https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/isec.2010.34.4.63">https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/1...
For example, as @dlarson13 & Alexei Shevchenko lay out in @Journal_IS,
But competitors need not be hostile. Thompson acknowledges that "Some are friends, others are enemies."
For "friendly" competitors, see 1980shttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">-https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇯🇵" title="Flagge von Japan" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Japan"> relations https://www.marketplace.org/2018/11/29/how-us-outgrew-1980s-anxiety-over-japan/">https://www.marketplace.org/2018/11/2...
For "friendly" competitors, see 1980s
This is why perception of "enemy" is so key to being "rivals".
"Enemies" are states that are "problems" due to being militarily threatening.
"Enemies" are states that are "problems" due to being militarily threatening.
How does a state become perceived as "threatening"?
@stephenWalt broke it down well in his classic book https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Alliances-Cornell-Studies-Security/dp/0801494184">https://www.amazon.com/Origins-A...
@stephenWalt broke it down well in his classic book https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Alliances-Cornell-Studies-Security/dp/0801494184">https://www.amazon.com/Origins-A...
Key is perception of "aggressive intentions"
Walt mentions "ambitions" as playing a role in state being perceived as aggressive. Actions should play a role too.
Of course, such perceptions can be wrong https://www.amazon.com/Perception-Misperception-International-Politics-University/dp/0691175853">https://www.amazon.com/Perceptio...
Of course, such perceptions can be wrong https://www.amazon.com/Perception-Misperception-International-Politics-University/dp/0691175853">https://www.amazon.com/Perceptio...
And states can, within certain bounds, construct any perception they want of an "other" https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/anarchy-is-what-states-make-of-it-the-social-construction-of-power-politics/B03BC7C9AAC5211B6DC319C077C1A854">https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...
But assuming that a states is perceived as an "enemy", that state may still not be viewed as a "rival".
That is because not all "enemies" are "competitors". Think ofhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">-https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇷" title="Flagge von Iran" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Iran"> relations https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/why-is-iran-our-enemy/">https://www.thenation.com/article/a...
That is because not all "enemies" are "competitors". Think of
Having laid all of this out, Thompson& #39;s team then engaged in intensive reading of diplomatic histories and news sources to identify when states perceived one another as "rivals"
Thompson then provides a list of interstate rivalries over the past 200 years.
US rivalries include, among others:
- US v USSR 1945-1989
- US v Britain 1816-1904
- US v Chile 1884-1891
- US v China 1949-1978
- US v Japan 1900-1945
US rivalries include, among others:
- US v USSR 1945-1989
- US v Britain 1816-1904
- US v Chile 1884-1891
- US v China 1949-1978
- US v Japan 1900-1945
Other major power rivalries include
- Russia v Germany 1890-1945
- Russia v Japan 1873-1945
- Russia v Britain 1816-1956
I think you see a pattern https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1204745930144174080">https://twitter.com/ProfPaulP...
- Russia v Germany 1890-1945
- Russia v Japan 1873-1945
- Russia v Britain 1816-1956
I think you see a pattern https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1204745930144174080">https://twitter.com/ProfPaulP...
But there are also non-major power rivalries, such as Armenia-Azerbaijan since 1991 https://www.vox.com/21502327/armenia-azerbaijan-nagorno-karabakh-war-explained">https://www.vox.com/21502327/...
Thompson& #39;s 2001 piece then led to a series of publications on the concept, namely this 2007 book with Karen Rasler and @colaresi... https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Rivalries-Politics-Michael-Colaresi/dp/0521707617">https://www.amazon.com/Strategic...
...and this 2013 book with Karen Rasler & Sumit Ganguly. https://www.amazon.com/How-Rivalries-End-Karen-Rasler-ebook/dp/B00EEYFJ68">https://www.amazon.com/How-Rival...
So it IS useful to distinguish "competitor" from "rival" from "enemy". Great question by @SusanPage!
https://www.c-span.org/video/?475794-1/pence-harris-debate&live">https://www.c-span.org/video/...
https://www.c-span.org/video/?475794-1/pence-harris-debate&live">https://www.c-span.org/video/...
Of course, we should note that neither @Mike_Pence or @KamalaHarris answered the question (but instead used it as an opportunity to attack one another)
But maybe that& #39;s okay: after all, it& #39;s not yet clear into which categoryhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flagge von China" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von China"> relations will fall.
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But maybe that& #39;s okay: after all, it& #39;s not yet clear into which category
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