1. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO LEARN IN THIS UNIT?
Under what conditions do countries cooperate?
Under what conditions are states working together likely to succeed in meeting collective goals? (i.e., dealing with collective problems or creating collective opportunities.
What are the main international organizations (IGOs)? Why did they form, and what do they do? How well do they work and whose interests do they serve? Can they work better?
Why do so many countries continue to suffer from war? How well are countries working together to solve this problem? What are our collective options for preventing state-on-state violence, intrastate violence, and the proliferation of WMDs?
Why do a billion of people in the world still live in abject poverty? Why do we still have global economic crises that seem to start in just one or two places? Can the international community solve these problem?

2. THE PRISONERS’ DILEMMA: WHEN DO ACTORS WORK TOGETHER
Let’s play a collective dilemma game :
You and another person have robbed a bank to pay for college. While escaping, your car ran over someone. You both have been arrested.
If you confess, and your partner doesn’t: You get paid and are set free. Your partner get’s life in prison
Both of you stay quiet: Both set free for lack of evidence.
Both of you confess: Both get life in prison
What is the difference between positive sum and zero sum games, and what kind of game is PD? Fortunately, most of intl relations is about positive sum games unless you are realist who focuses on relative power.

3. the key variables shaping whether states will cooperate or not are:
Whether the participation of one, a few, many, or all states is necessary to achieve the outcome (collective action harder w/ more actors)
How much communication occurs between the involved states?
Is this a one-off instance of cooperation or part of a larger series of interactions that has been doing on for a while? (tit-for-tat theory)
Can the benefit in question can be limited to just those helping to secure it? (i.e., can you stop free-riding?)
Is some way to enforce cooperation and measure whether compliance by the involved states is occurring? Is a powerful state willing to do this?
Is the benefit/harm corresponding to collective action is certain? How far is harm/benefit into the future? (Wishful thinking, black swan problems)
Does securing the benefit involve preventing a harm/loss to an existing good or it is about a benefit not previously enjoyed? (Endowment principle)
Whether the benefit/harm is now or in the future? (Future discounting)
What’s at stake? (strangely, this isn’t the most important variable)

4. SO… WHEN ARE INTL. REGIMES LESS OR MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP?
Most likely when…. (1) one state or actor threatens everyone else and (2) a small number of states with similar political views can deal with the problem (e.g. rogue regimes)
Less likely when… a small number of states must participate in a regime or face bad outcomes for going it alone (InterPol, airport rules)
Even less likely when numerous states must work together to secure a collectively beneficial outcome (members of the Security Council)
Even less likely when most, but not all, states must each sacrifice something important to avoid collective doom (Kyoto)
Least likely when… (1) most states must each sacrifice something to get an optimal outcome; (2) this is especially hard to do if you can’t measure compliance (reciprocity probs) and (3) the benefits of collective behavior won’t happen until the future.

5. WHAT ARE THE DEFINING FEATURES OF AN INTL REGIME?
For our purpose, they are states or societies working together are guided by:
Principles/purpose
Norms and rules
Decision-making procedures and “institutions”
WHAT TYPES OF REGIMES ARE THERE?
IGOs: Leagues, Confederations, Federations
NGOs: Red Cross/Red Crescent; Amnesty Intl.; Oxfam
Non-legitimate intl. groups: Organized crime; organized terrorists; cyber hackers
Semi-institutionalized regimes: English as the international language & FIFA

6. WHAT DO INTL. REGIMES ATUALLY DO FOR US?
They establish an interactive arena for self-interested states. They are a place where repeated interactions can occur, and they are place that gives weak states and rogues a venue.
They work around a set of principles or norms and sometimes develop rules, adjudication processes, and information collection roles.
Over time, they can become independent actors with their own legitimacy
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY REGIMES SUDDENLY?
How did the fall of the Soviet block and the increased value placed on “international sovereignty” and “self-determination” shape intl. regimes? How did the lessons of WW!
Many more, much weaker, & more interdependent states means bigger coordination problems
Globalization and norms: Bigger problems and more opportunities
The dominant hegemon—the US—has purposefully built international institutions.
Do intl. regimes have a good track record? On both development & security success, intl. regimes are proving to be of high value

7. WHY DO REGIMES FORM AROUND SOME ISSUES AND NOT OTHERS
WHY DO REGIMES FORM AROUND SOME ISSUES AND NOT OTHERS? HOW DO WE EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT THERE ARE MORE AND MORE INTL REGIMES?
Realism: Relative gains, free-riding, prisoners’ dilemmas all mean that most IOs serve the most powerful states’ interests
Liberalism: Tit-for-tat = learning in Ios, and sub-state pressures mean that you can have IOs form even if it’s not in the state’s best interests (e.g. Why did the US allow the Sec. council after WW2?; Why did the US have the Marshall Plan instead of leveraging nuclear weapons)
Marxism: IOs keep forming so intl capital can better coordinate exploitation and the concentration of wealth.
Constructivism: Regimes are forming in substantive areas where doing so is consistent with the dominant ideas of important elites and the prevailing discourse. Even globalization is largely an idea. Think about riots after soccer games or mass vigils as the appropriate response to crises… Institutions are things we create, but once established they seem like the natural response.