COLLECTIVE SECURITY UNDER THE LEAGUE

    Collective Security

•  1. Definition
  • a.  A liberal alternative to balance of power, based on the rule of law & international institutions.
  • b.  embodies the (liberal) belief that "force can be tamed by law, just as it is at the domestic level". I.e., anarchy in international politics doesn’t impose any more constraints than we encounter at home.
•  2. Distinct from the balance of power
  • a.  BoP = strongest state; CS = aggressive state.
  • b.  BoP = alliances in advance of aggression; CS = alliances only after aggression revealed.
  • c.  BoP = those threatened by most powerful state should balance; CS = all members of the system are mandated to act vs. the aggressor.
•  3. Operation:
  • a.  Submit disputes to arbitration.
  • b.  Outlaws war begun outside of League rules, as subject itself to punishment by all League members. Kellogg-Briand pact in 1928 outlaws war in general.
  • c.  An Honor Code!!!
  • d.  But no enforcement: each state decided for itself whether to comply.
  • e.  Would you comply with the Honor Code under these circumstances?