1. Theories in International Relations: Neo-Liberalism
Keohane, After Hegemony
Axelrod and Keohane, Achieving Cooperation under Anarchy: Strategies and Institutions
Conceptualization of the international system
‘International regimes’ concept
Foreign policy formulation

2. Conceptualization of the international system
Assumptions:
- International environment is anarchical
- States are the most significant actors in the international system and the non-state actors are subordinated to them
Problem: how to initiate and maintain cooperation under conditions of anarchy
International regimes/ international institutions thesis: Neo-Liberalism accounts for the process of achieving sustained patterns of cooperation under anarchy
Why do states choose to set up regimes
- reduce transaction cost
- increase security

3. ‘International regimes’ concept
Definition: set of rules, norms and procedures around which expectations converge; these apply to a concrete issue area; vary in terms of scope and depth
How do the regimes mitigate anarchy:
alter the payoff structures facing actors; lengthen the shadow of the future; N-person games are broken down into games with smaller number of actors (Axelrod and Keohane, 1985)
reducing the political market failures in terms of information, enforcement (making defection from norms easier to punish) and monitoring (Ruggie, 1998)
Typology of the international and transnational organizations
membership: universal and regional; intergovernmental, supranational and transnational
Goals: specific and general

4. Foreign policy formulation
National preferences and interests:
domestic politics
process of learning
International institutions and bargaining