Ch. 2- Realism

Question 1

The ability or potential to influence others’ behavior, as measured by the possession of certain tangible and intangible characteristics

Answer 1

Power

Question 2

A broad intellectual tradition that explains international relations mainly in terms of power

Answer 2

Realism

Question 3

An approach that emphasizes international law, morality, and international organization, rather than power alone, as key influences on international relations

Answer 3

Idealism

Question 4

The use of geography as an element of power, and the ideas about it held by political leaders and scholars

Answer 4

Geopolitics

Question 5

In IR theory, a term that implies not complete chaos but the lack of a central government that can enforce rules

Answer 5

Anarchy

Question 6

The shared expectations about what behavior is considered proper

Answer 6

Norms

Question 7

A state’s right, at least in principle, to do whatever it wants within its own territory; traditionally, it is the most important international norm

Answer 7

Sovereignty

Question 8

A situation in which actions that states take to ensure their own security (such as deploying more military forces) are perceived as threats to the security of other states

Answer 8

Security dilemma

Question 9

The general concept of one or more states’ power being used to balance that of another state or group of states

Answer 9

Balance of power

Question 10

Generally, the half dozen or so most power states

Answer 10

Great powers

Question 11

States that rank somewhat below the great powers in terms of their influence on world affairs

Answer 11

Middle powers

Question 12

A version of realist theory that emphasizes the influence on state behavior of the system’s structure, especially the international distribution of power

Answer 12

Neorealism

Question 13

An international system its typically five or six centers of power that are not grouped into alliances

Answer 13

Multipolar system

Question 14

A theory that the largest wars result from challenges to the top position in the status hierarchy, when a rising power is surpassing the most powerful state

Answer 14

Power transition theory

Question 15

The holding by one state of a preponderance of power in the international system so that it can single-handedly dominate the rules and arrangements by which intl. political and economic relations are conducted

Answer 15

Hegemony

Question 16

The argument that regimes are the most effective when power in the intl. system is most concentrated

Answer 16

Hegemonic stability theory

Question 17

The ease with which the members hold together an alliance; it tends to be high when national interests converge and when cooperation among allies becomes institutionalized

Answer 17

Alliance cohesion

Question 18

The distribution of the costs of an alliance among members; the term also refers to the conflicts that may arise over such distribution

Answer 18

Burden sharing

Question 19

A US-led military alliance, formed in 1949 with mainly West European members, to oppose and deter Soviet power in Europe

Answer 19

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Question 20

A soviet-led Eastern European military alliance founded in 1955 and disbanded in 1991. It opposed NATO

Answer 20

Warsaw Pact

Question 21

A bilateral alliance between the US and Japan, created in 1951 against the potential Soviet threat to Japan. The US maintains troops in Japan and is committed to defend Japan if that nation is attacked, and Japan pays the US to offset about half the cost of the troops

Answer 21

US-Japanese Security Treaty

Question 22

A movement of third world states, led by India and Yugoslavia, that attempted to stand apart from the US-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War

Answer 22

Nonaligned movement

Question 23

The threat to punish another actor if it takes a certain negative action

Answer 23

Deterrence

Question 24

The threat of force to make another actor take some action

Answer 24

Compellence

Question 25

A reciprocal process in which two or more states build up military capability in reposnse to each other

Answer 25

Arms race

Question 26

Actors conceived of as single entities that can “think” about their actions coherently, make choices, identify their interests, and rank the interests in terms of priority

Answer 26

Rational actors

Question 27

The interests of a state overall (as opposed to particular parties or factions within the state)

Answer 27

National interest

Question 28

A calculation of the costs incurred by a possible action and the benefits it is likely to bring

Answer 28

Cost-benefit analysis

Question 29

A branch of math concerned with predicting bargaining outcomes. Games such as Prisoner’s Dilemma and chicken have been used to analyze various sorts of intl. interactions

Answer 29

Game theory

Question 30

Situations in which one actor’s gain is by definition equal to the other’s loss, as opposed to a non-zero sum game, in which it is possible for both actors to gain

Answer 30

Zero-sum game

Question 31

A situation modeled by game theory in which rational actors pursuing their individual interests all achieve worse outcomes than they could have by working together

Answer 31

Prisoner’s Dilemma