2 sentence answers

Question 1

5. What is the significance of the Treaty of Westphalia for international relations, in two sentences?

Answer 1

The significance is that it established the concepts of sovereignty, diplomacy, and balance of power that IR knows today. The boundaries it created in Europe allowed for the right to rule within borders and mediations between countries to develop.

Question 2

11. What is international anarchy?
    How does that relate to the “security dilemma” faced by states, in two sentences?

Answer 2

It is an international system with an absence of a central authority that enforces rules or provides orders among states. This relates to the “security dilemma” because with no overarching power to enforce agreements, states must rely on themselves and this creates a cycle of insecurity and mistrust.

Question 3

12. What is the difference between a nation and a state, in two sentences?

Answer 3

A nation is a group of people with a common language, history, and culture while a state is a group bound by territorial boundaries, sovereignty, and government. They are not interchangeable as a nation can be without a state like Palestinians or Kurds.

Question 4

18. What is the core proposition of the democratic peace theory, in two sentences?

Answer 4

The core proposition is that democratic states are less likely to engage in armed conflict with one another than non-democratic states. This theory argues that the spread of democracy can contribute to global peace and stability.