Chapters 1-3 Flashcards
The central trend in IR today is
Globalization
International relations
Relationships amongst the worlds governments
IR revolves around a key problem of how…
Can a group serve its collective interests when they need to forgo their own interests.
The collective goods problem is
How to provide something that benefits all members of a group regardless of what each member contributes to it.
In 2010, Russia offered to give Iran nuclear fuel in return for its enriched uranium. This type of nuclear deal can be considered an example of which principle?
Reciprocity
The two major sub fields of IR are
International security studies
International Political economy (IPE)
Components of a state are:
Population
Control of Government
Territory
Sovereignty
Sovereignty
A states right to do whatever it wants within their own territory. Most important international norm
A nation is a
Territory, group of people sharing language, culture, etc.
The International System
Set of relationships among the world states, structured according to rules and patterns on the world and peace.
An example of a political entity often referred to as a state but not formally recognized as one is
Taiwan
Nonstate actors include
All except individual decision makers in the government
Substate actors include
So called military industrial complex in the U.S.
Intergovernmental Organization (IGO)
Organization whose members are the national government
Substate actors
Groups within states that influence the states foreign policy
What level of analysis concerns the choices and actions of human beings?
Individual level of analysis
What role do states play as economic units in the process of globalization, according to economic liberalists?
They share equal powers in the process
What is not a point of view in globalization?
Globalization is changing international security more quickly and profoundly than IPE
What is the North South gap?
The disparity between the rich and poor countries
Which region can claim the largest GDP per capita?
N. America
In the global North, the GDP per capita is roughly how many times as high as in the global south?
6
What is the Warsaw Pact?
During the cold war, the Soviet Union coordinated the Warsaw Pact
What is NATO?
The cold war alliance of states coordinated under the U.S.A.
Who built the Berlin wall?
East Germany
In what way did the U.S. attempt to contain soviet influence around the world after World War II?
They provided aid through the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe
Recent crises involving nuclear weapons programs involve which countries?
North Korea and Iran
What is the most important feature of IR according to a realist?
Power
Which thinkers belong to the realist school of thought?
Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Thucydides, Hobbes, Morgenthau
What’s the single indicator of a states power may be the size of its…
GDP
________ is an element of power on which an actor can draw over the long term, whereas _________ is an element of power that allows an actor to exercise influence in the short term
Natural Resources,
Military Force
Anarchy in the International System refers to
A lack of central government that can enforce rules
What is the Treaty of Westphalia
The beginning of the modern international system
What is the European Union (EU)?
An alliance of European Countries.
It is an example of an alliance that is currently balancing the United States
What is a unipolar system?
The current constellation of power in the international system
What is neorealism?
A theory that focuses on the importance of the structure of the international system and not on the internal makeup of individual states
What is the power transition theory?
The idea that the largest wars result from challenges to the top position in the status hierarchy.
What is a hegemony?
A super power that reduces anarchy and deters aggression in the international system.
What is the hegemonic stability theory
A theory that a dominant state can enforce international rules, avoid collective good problems, and encourage peace.
Woodrow Wilson
Advocated the right of self determination.
Favored U.S. leadership and world affairs, was an internationalist
Internationalist
Favored U.S. leadership and world affairs
Multilateralists
Working through international institutions to achieve foreign policy goals
How are most modern alliances formalized?
Written treaties
When was the first time that NATO used force?
Bosnia, in support of a UN mission
What was the only great power that the U.S. does not have major trade relations or a military alliance with, either directly or indirectly?
Russia
India faces which concerns with its neighbor China
China is a major rival in the region, but is willing to discuss trade and military cooperation.
What is China’s policy towards Taiwan?
Realism
Define deterrence
A threat to punish another actor if it takes a certain negative action
Compare a zero sum game to a non zero sum game.
A zero sum game is an equal loss and gain.
A non zero sum game is when it is possible for both players to win and lose.
Explain the prisoners dilemma
A lack of trust between the two prisoners.
International regimes
Are stronger when embedded in permanent institution
What is collective security?
When many actors come together to oppose another actor.
What does the success of collective security depend on?
Commitment and agreement
What is the League of Nations
The first attempt at creating a collective security system.
Ex) 1st gulf war on Iraq.
Public opinion
Has greater force in democracies.
Legitimacy
Governments strive by relying on it
What is diversionary foreign policy?
Distracting public attention from domestic issues
What explains the small size of the attentive public in the U.S.
A lack of direct connection with foreign policy issues
What did Harry Truman’s sign “the buck stops here” illustrate about his role in foreign policy decision making?
That it was ultimately his responsibility
What is affective bias
When you assume the worst of someone else
What are information screens?
Choosing to see the good side, not the aggression, in order to stay out of war.
What is cognitive bias?
Limitations of the human brain in making choices
What is groupthink?
When groups reach decisions without assessing the consequences of their actions
Constructivists argue that state identities are constructed through socialization. What is an agent of socialization?
Elements of power
What do postmodernists mainly focus on when attempting to deconstruct dominant beliefs?
Discourse
The quote “there is no single, objective reality but a multiplicity of experiences and perspectives that defy easy categorization.” describes a person that believes in what theory?
The postmodernism theory
Marxist approaches to IR hold that both IR and domestic politics arise from unequal relationships between ________.
Economic classes
Lenin
Theory of Imperialism
Mediation
Possible peace treaties between Jimmy Carter for the Palestinians and Isreali leaders.
What explains the Japanese public’s dislike of military force in foreign policy?
Lessons of history
What is positive peace?
Resolving the underlying reasons for war
What is negative peace?
Temporary absence of war
What are difference feminists?
Women who believe that there are real differences between genders.
What are liberal feminists?
Women who believe that women and men are equal.
What is considered the main reason for not allowing women into combat units in the military?
They were considered a distraction.
What is a postmodern feminist?
Women who believe that gender roles are not fixed.
How did women generally vote when they won the right after World War I?
They voted like their husbands.
