Concepts Flashcards
1
Q
Hegemonic Stability Theory
A
- Peace and Stability can only be assured when a single superpower attains hegemony. Great powers often rise and fall (Kennedy and Layne)
- The fall of a hegemonic state can be traumatic for the international system and global security
- Strength: Almost all states benefit from hegemon taking the cost (Liberalism
- Weakness: Only limits anarchy doesn’t eliminate it (realism)
- Example: fall of USSR potentially beginning to happen to US
- Link to theories: Realists argue that the hegemon only support the system if it is in their interest. Liberals argue that the hegemon takes the cost because it is good for all states
2
Q
Arms transfer
A
- Defined as the sale, donation or commercial use of arms, ammunition, parts, military or dual-use technology, weapons development, and building facilities as well as training for the use of aforementioned items.
- Generally, State mediated with international treaties also playing a role in international transparency (eg. UNODA and UN Arms Treaty 2014)
- Strengths: Very significant economically for states. The biggest Company Lockheed Martin sold $m 35490 worth of arms in 2013
- Weaknesses: Morality of supplying weapons to kill humans, risk to international security by doing so, does this fuel other states to look for bigger and better weapons? There is still a risk items might get into the wrong hands despite the measures in place
3
Q
The J Curve theory
A
- States that the best way to change behaviour of an adversary is to trade with them rather than isolate them
- Difficult to prove empirically
- Strongly linked to liberal ideas
4
Q
Humanitarian intervention
A
- Refers to the use of military force by external actors for humanitarian purposes, usually against the wishes of the host government.
- Aims to prevent/stop civilian deaths which are a key facet of new wars
- Strengths: takes an individualistic/human approach to security
- Weaknesses: goes against the notion of state sovereignty. Realists do not like this
- Example: NATO’s intervention in Kosovo
5
Q
The Decapitation Approach to Counter-Terrorism
A
- A counter-terrorism approach through which terrorist organisations are decapitated of their leadership by physical military force or legal means
- Strengths: Disrupts organisational capacity, forces groups into diverting time and resources into protecting leaders of their organisations
- Weaknesses: Morally and ethically wrong? Blowback, leaders are easily replaced and killing them can increase the number of recruits
- Example: the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden
6
Q
The Legal Approach to Counter-Terrorism
A
- An approach by which legal means, such as prosecution and detention are employed to counter terrorism.
- Strengths: Can act as a deterrent by raising the costs of such activities
- Weaknesses: International Laws are designed for states, not non-state actors, domestic laws become more intrusive as a result
- Example: Imprisonment and death sentence of Boston Marathon Bomber Dshokhar Tsarnaev
7
Q
The Military Approach to Counter-Terrorism
A
- An approach by which traditional military methods, such as invasions and physical conflict and employed
- Strengths: Appears in the public’s eyes as though something is actually being done
- Weaknesses: Confers legitimacy upon the perpetrator, can’t really win a war against an ideology, difficult as non-state actors are not bound to territory
- Examples: US post 9/11 with their “War on Terror”
8
Q
Coercive diplomacy
A
- A diplomatic stratergy that relies on the threat of force or inacton rather than its use, with the aim of influencing and changing behaviour.
- Can be political eg. expulsion from an IO, economic eg. sanctions, or military eg. bombing
- Strengths: Less bloodshed so lower political cost, effective if there is a power balance infavour
- Weaknesses: Could backfire escalate or adversary might not see the threat as credible. Would not work if there was a power imbalance against
- Example: Cuban missile Crisis: US built up forces i the area and threatened invasion of Cuba. USSR withdrew missiles from Cuba, USA withdrew theirs from Turkey
9
Q
Conflict Transformation
A
Involves a significant change in how parties relate to and see each other. It changes institutions, discourses, and parties that reproduce violence
- Strengths: helps mutual understanding between parties and addresses the key causes and prevents the conflict from expanding and becoming highly destructive.
- Weaknesses: Often difficult to do successfully, attempts often collapse as the Camp David accords did
- Examples: Northern Ireland and the Troubles with their new power-sharing arrangement
10
Q
Conflict Resolution
A
- The approach to addressing conflict by which the deep-rooted causes are addressed and transformed
- Goals: Behaviour and attitudes no longer hostile and the structure of the conflict is changed
- Strengths: Comprehensive, reconciles attitudes, joint participation to reach outcome
- Weaknesses: often hard to facilitate joint participation
- Examples: Rwanda following the genocide, Germany and the allies post-ww2
11
Q
Conflict management
A
- Goal is the reduction or control of instability rather than dealing with the real source of the problem
- Strength: Assumes that conflicts are a longterm process which cannot be quickly resolved
- Weaknesses: assumes people can be directed or controlled like physical objects. It is not permanent and as it is a top down approach it doesn’t address the roots
- Example: Syria= outside actors have now spilt in to try to manage the conflict
12
Q
Security Regimes
A
- A set of “principles, rules and norms that permitnations to be restrained in their behaviour in the belief that others will reciprocate”
- Must have: great powers wantng to establish it , everyone reasonably satisfied with the status quo, belief that others share the same values of mutual security and cooperation and a view that war and individualistic persuits would be too costly
- Not as strict as a formal alliance. It is more about the rules and expectations than the actual agreement
- Strengths: Creates cooperation (liberal)
- Weaknesses: relies on others (realist)
- Example: Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
13
Q
Alliances
A
- “A formal or informal relationship of security cooperation between two or more sovereign states.” (walt)
- Can be inward or outward looking
- Based on perception and can occur in response to changes in the international system e.g. Polarity
- Example: ANZUS alliance which was concerned with the spread of communism
- Realism= about power
- Liberalism= about democracy and ideology
- Constructivism= about identity
14
Q
Deterrence
A
- The threat of retaliation which seeks to deter and prevent specific behaviours
- Deterrence by denial= conventional
- Deterrence by punishment= nuclear
- Strengths: Can prevent Warfare
- Weaknesses: relies upon threat being believable
- Link to theories: MAD, NPT and Nuclear Peace Treaty
15
Q
Security community
A
- A collective of states who believe that problems must be resolved through peaceful rather than violent means. These are based on cooperation through social identity and interaction.
- Big question is whether these actually differ from alliances
- Strong link to liberalism
16
Q
MAD theory
A
- Mutually assured destruction is a doctrine of military strategy and security policy in which full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. It is thus a deterrent in preventing full-scale nuclear war.
- Strength: Key in preventing nuclear war
- Weaknesses: Prevents disarmament as threat of being annihilated becomes higher
- Example: Cold War
17
Q
Nuclear Peace Theory
A
-Theory which argues that under some circumstances nuclear weapons can induce stability and decrease the chances of crisis escalation
-Strengths: Neo-realist Waltz argues that more nuclear states might be better as it would increase deterrence
-Weaknesses: some argue that it increases the chances of nuclear material falling into the wrong hands.
Organisational theorist Sagan argues that it would be worse as it would be harder to control
-Example: During the Cold War
18
Q
Nuclear Proliferation
A
- Is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to states not recognised as Nuclear Weapons States.
- Poses a significant threat to international security as it could result in misuse or an arms race. Existential threat to humanity
- Examples: North Korea’s creation and attempts to further their nuclear weapons, the Khan network
19
Q
Horizontal Proliferation
A
- The spread of nuclear materials and technologies by private companies or states nuclear programs to assist nation states that do not have nuclear weapons or possess a covert nuclear weapons program
- Strengths: Could act to further deter nuclear warfare
- Weaknesses: Increases the risk of nuclear weapons getting into the hands of violent non-state actors or violent states
- Examples: The Khan network where Khan took the blueprint from his job in the Netherlands home to Pakistan
20
Q
Verticle Proliferation
A
- The modernisation or advancement of existing nuclear weapons technologies in countries already possessing nuclear weapons.
- Strengths: Reinforces MAD theory
- Weaknesses: goes against the aim of disarmament
- Example: US and USSR during the cold war and US’s recent upgrade
21
Q
Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
A
- An international treaty that aims to “prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technologies, to promote cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to further disarmament”
- Signed by China, Russia, France, and Germany.
- North Korea withdrew 2003
- Israel, India, and Pakistan never signed
- Strengths: Is progress to disarmament
- Weaknesses: Not universal is hard to distinguish between energy and weapons; allowing for nuclear energy increases the chance of proliferation; enforcement is only weak and little progress has been made in disarmament
