Alliances Flashcards
1
Q
What are alliances?
A
An international institution that helps its members cooperate militarily in the event of war
2
Q
ppppp
A
hahahaah
3
Q
How do alliances shape bargaining?
A
- Changes to the bargaining range
- Added capabilities of an ally can shift the likely outcome of a war
- This moves the bargaining range closer to the allies’ ideal point
- An ally can increase the costs of war for the opposition, which can change the size of the bargaining range
- [lecture 9, page- 13]
- Possibility of bargaining failure
- Uncertainty over an ally’s actions can lead to bargaining failure due to incomplete information regarding the capability of the alliance
4
Q
What is abandonment?
A
Failing to fight on an ally’s behalf
5
Q
Why might a state not abandon their ally/allies?
A
- Alliances are often public declarations
- If a state does not follow through on an alliance, there may be audience costs
-International audiences (other states) may be reluctant to work with that state in the future
- States have incentives to uphold alliances to avoid potentially significant audience costs and gaining a bad reputation.
6
Q
What makes an alliance effective?
A
- Willingness of the actors
- Do the allied states actually have aligned interests and want to fight for the same things?
- Credibility of their agreement
- Do adversaries of the alliance believe that the allied states will actually fight together?
7
Q
What is entrapment?
A
Being dragged into an unwanted war because of the opportunistic actions of an ally
8
Q
How do states avoid entrapment?
A
- Limiting their commitments
- Leaving their commitments purposely ambiguous
