Race and International Politics: How Racial Prejudice Can Shape
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Race and International Politics: How Racial Prejudice Can Shape Discord and Cooperation among Great Powers DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Zoltán I. Búzás, M.A. Graduate Program in Political Science The Ohio State University 2012 Dissertation Committee: Alexander Wendt, Advisor Ted Hopf Randall Schweller Ismail White Copyrighted by Zoltán I. Búzás 2012 Abstract This dissertation is motivated by the fact that race is understudied in the discipline, despite its historical importance in international politics, its ubiquity in adjacent disciplines, and its importance in the “real” world. It attempts to mitigate this problem by extending the study of race to the hard case of great power politics. The dissertation provides a two-step racial theory of international politics according to which racial prejudices embedded in racial identity can shape patterns of discord and cooperation. In the first step, racial prejudices embedded in different racial identities inflate threat perceptions, while prejudices embedded in shared racial identities deflate them. In the second step, racially shaped threat perceptions generate behavioral dispositions. Inflated threat perceptions predispose racially different agents towards discord, while deflated threat perceptions predispose racially similar agents towards cooperation. The theory works best when states have dominant racial groups, they hold activated threat-relevant racial prejudices, and when threats are ambiguous. Three empirical chapters assess the theory’s strengths and probe its limits. The first shows how racial prejudices regarding fundamental difference and aggressive intentions inflated American threat perceptions of Japan and, with British cooperation, led to the demise of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902-1923). The second traces how ii racial prejudices regarding aggressive intentions and irrationality inflated American threat perceptions of Chinese nuclear proliferation and, with Soviet cooperation, resulted in the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. The last one illustrates how racial prejudices of immorality and aggressive intentions inflated American threat perceptions of Japanese foreign direct investment in the 1980s and led to the 1988 Exon-Florio Amendment. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of race and the legitimacy of the liberal international system in the context of rise of the developing world. iii Acknowledgments I wrote the dissertation during what is now called “The Great Recession,” when much of the world struggled with debt. In a way, it is a child of its time. In the course of writing it I accumulated so much intellectual and emotional debt that without regular “bailouts” from generous friends and teachers I would not have been able to finish it. The generous grant awarded by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies allowed me to do archival research without accumulating financial debt. In classes offered by Richard Herrmann, Jennifer Mitzen, and Daniel Verdier I learned even more than I realized at the time. Fellow graduate students did much to make my graduate school experience more productive and more fun. At the “Wendt workshop” they provided useful feedback on various draft chapters. On the fun side, I particularly enjoyed Thursday night soccer. For all this and more, I thank Bentley Allan, Austin Carson, Aldous Cheung, Kevin Duska, Jason Keiber, Josh Kertzer, Tim Luecke, Eleonora Mattiacci, Fernando Nunez Mietz, John Oates, Xiaoyu Pu, and Clement Wyplosz. I was fortunate to have the support of an outstanding dissertation committee. Randy Schweller has provided critical feedback and encouragement since the early days of the dissertation writing seminar (PS 846). Ted Hopf’s expertise, careful reading of and detailed feedback on every chapter made the dissertation incomparably better. Ismail iv White guided me patiently to the most relevant aspects of the race literature. Most importantly, I am grateful to Alex Wendt. It was in one of Alex’s seminars that I got interested in race and international politics. His gentle guidance, encouragement, and generosity were critical ingredients not only of completing the dissertation, but of my professional development more generally. As an academic, I will aspire to live up to the high standards of professionalism, open-mindedness, and kindness Alex embodies. Prior to the years spent at Ohio State, I have benefitted enormously from being taught by several people. As an undergraduate, the classes of Ovidiu Pecican, Liviu Tirau, and Sergiu Miscoiu sparked my interest in international politics. Daniel M. Green, Matthew J. Hoffmann, Stuart Kaufman, and Mark Miller helped me take the first steps in graduate school. I am most thankful to my family. My parents, Ernest and Georgeta Buzas, have been an infinite reservoir of emotional support. Our Saturday afternoon chats have always put things in the right perspective. Mom’s occasional “Are you still not done yet?” gently reminded me that I cannot retire from graduate school. My brother, Ernő, was a good friend. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Erin Graham, to whom I owe most. Erin read every page of the dissertation and provided detailed feedback, listened to my long monologues on race during our evening walks, and made me laugh when I needed it most. I am truly blessed to have had her in my life throughout this time. v Vita 2004 ............................................................ B.A. European Studies and International Relations, Babeş-Bolyai University (RO) 2006 ............................................................ M.A. Political Science, University of Delaware 2007-2012 ................................................... Graduate Student Associate, Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Political Science vi Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... iv Vita ............................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables............................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................... ix Chapter One: Introduction ..............................................................................................1 Chapter Two: A Racial Theory of International Politics ................................................. 31 Chapter Three: Race and the Demise of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 1902-1923 ......... 91 Chapter Four: Race and the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty ......................................... 165 Chapter Five: Race and the 1988 Exon-Florio Amendment ......................................... 233 Chapter Six: Conclusion ............................................................................................. 295 References ................................................................................................................... 322 Appendix A: List of Texts Used in Chapter Three Content Analysis ............................ 357 Appendix B: List of Texts Used in Chapter Four Content Analysis .............................. 363 vii List of Tables Table 1. A Typology of Race Relations ......................................................................... 21 Table 2.1: Mapping the Race Debate ............................................................................. 41 Table 2.2: Hypotheses Linking Racial Identity to Threat Perception .............................. 70 Table 3.1: Japanese in the United States, 1880-1920 ...................................................... 97 Table 3.2: Power Indicators: US, Britain, and Japan .................................................... 121 Table 3.3: Content Analysis Frequency Test ................................................................ 154 Table 4.1: Content Analysis Threat Frequencies ......................................................... 225 Table 4.2: Alternative Explanation Keyword Frequencies ........................................... 226 Table 5.1: Japanese FDI Perceived as More Threatening than European and Canadian FDI .............................................................................................................................. 250 Table 5.2: Direct Investment Position in the United States by Country of Ultimate Beneficial Owner, 1980-90 ......................................................................................... 252 Table 5.3: The 1988 Trade Act Votes and COPE Ratings ........................................... 284 Table 6.1: Summary of Findings ................................................................................. 300 viii List of Figures List of Figures Figure 2.1: The Causal Chain......................................................................................... 78 Figure 3.1: Content Analysis Frequency Test by Year ................................................ 155 Figure 3.2: Word Cloud of Concordance Test .............................................................. 157 Figure 4.1: Rising ‘Yellow Peril’ and Falling ‘Red Peril’ ............................................