2-Historical Context of Contemporary IR

Question 1

Why do IR scholars use the 1648 Treaties of Westphalia as a benchmark?

Answer 1

• Marked the end of religious rule in Europe; emergence of secular authorities
• SOVEREIGNTY: emergence of the notion of the territorial integrity of states as legally equal and sovereign participants in the intl system
• CENTRALIZATION: states developed their our militaries; military power grows
• Core European states emerged: Austria, Russia, Prussia, England, France, & the United Provinces (Netherlands)

Question 2

What is sovereighty?

Answer 2

• No authority above the state, e.g., the church

- States still limited by regime type, constitutions, treaties, cultural norms, etc.

Question 3

What is legitimacy?

Answer 3

Consent of the governed

Question 4

What is nationalism?

Answer 4

people identifying with a common past, language, customs, and territory, i.e., coming together as a nation of people

identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially at the exclusion or the detriment of other nation’s interests

Question 5

What is imperialism?

Answer 5

the annexation of distant territory (most often by force) and its inhabitants to an empire

extending a country’s rule over foreign people, often by military force

Question 6

What is colonialism?

Answer 6

Settling of people from a home country among indigenous people of a different territory and establishing political control over the area

Question 7

How much of the world had Europeans colonized by 1914?

Answer 7

4/5

Question 8

What is a hegemon?

Answer 8

a predominant state; a state with more power than any other state in the region

Question 9

How many people died during the Cold War? (How many people are dying during ongoing proxy wars?)

Answer 9

In Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, over 40 million people died during superpower proxy wars from 1946-1990.

Question 10

What is populism?

Answer 10

a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who believe elites have disregarded their concerns

Question 11

What was a rollback strategy during the Cold War?

Answer 11

pushing the USSR back to its own borders

Question 12

What was containment of the USSR?

Answer 12

devise policies that restrained the USSR, but not necessarily using military force