Concepts

Question 1

Arms Control

Answer 1

the exercise of restraint in the development, acquisition, stockpiling and use of weapons. The management of this process is usually achieved through negotiated agreements or treaties

Any arrangement made directly between adversaries or multilaterally by the broader international community to limit the weapons that might be used in warfare.

Mainly applied to WMD but can be applied to conventional weapons

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968

Question 2

Asymmetric Warfare

Answer 2

when the military capabilities of belligerent powers are not simply unequal but are so significantly different that they cannot make the same sorts of attacks on each other.

Guerrilla warfare, occurring between lightly armed partisans and a conventional army, is an example of asymmetrical warfare.

Terrorist tactics, such as hijackings and suicide bombings, are also considered to be asymmetrical, both because they tend to involve a smaller, weaker group attacking a stronger one and also because attacks on civilians are by definition one-way warfare.

Question 3

Causes of War

Answer 3

Constructivists - Identity
Realists - Power and Anarchy

Waltz - Human nature, state international structure, international system and security dilemma.

Lebow 2010 - fear, material interest, standing, revenge.

Question 4

Cold War

Answer 4

A condition of hostile encounter between two states or alliances which falls just short of hot war or direct violent conflict.

It is mostly used to name the conflict between the US and USSR from roughly 1946-1989.

Though the two superpowers did not apparently fight one another directly, they often fought by proxy.

Because it is historically unusual for two preeminent powers not to wage war against each other, some commentators also refer to the cold war as a long peace. Gaddis.

Question 5

Constructivism

Answer 5

Constructivism focuses on the intersubjective nature of human interaction and places a heavy emphasis on non-material factors such as norms, values, ideas, and identity.

the interests of the state, or other actors, in world politics emerge from the actor’s identity and how this influences their actions.

an actor’s identity is directly tied to the structure - the unique historical and cultural context of the situation.

actors influence the structure and the structure, in turn, redefines the identity and interests of the actors.

international politics are the result of a continuous process of social interaction.

Question 6

Embedded Liberalism

Answer 6

WW2-1970s

A compromise between two desirable but partially conflicting objectives: the revival of free trade and to allow governments the freedom to provide generous welfare programmes and to intervene in their economies to maintain full employment

Question 7

Human Rights

Answer 7

the entitlements due to all humans by virtue of their humanity. Human rights are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, which is a non-binding document

Question 8

Humanitarian Intervention

Answer 8

‘Humanitarian’ being a point of contention for many, especially those living in post-colonial societies.

Question 9

Global Commons

Answer 9

Global commons is a term typically used to describe international, supranational, and global resource domains in which common-pool resources are found. Global commons include the earth’s shared natural resources, such as the high oceans, the atmosphere and outer space and the Antarctic in particular.

Question 10

Non-state actor

Answer 10

An actor not part of the offical state or governmental apparatuses

Lobby groups, Aid groups, Corporations, violent non-state actors like militias, religious groups, diasporas.

Question 11

Power

Answer 11

The ability to get an actor to do what they would otherwise not do. The capability or power to do or act.

Hard Power - Military and economic
Soft Power - Ideas, doctrines, values.

Hard power coerces, soft power persuades

Question 12

Realism

Answer 12

A tradition of thought that posits the struggle for power and the condition of anarchy as two fundamental realities of international relations.

‘The initial pointer towards the Realist was that they are those who emphasize in international relations the element of anarchy, of power politics and or warfare’ - Martin Wight.

Question 13

Security Dilemma

Answer 13

A condition in which states find themselves because every measure taken to make themselves more secure may simply urge other states to respond in such a manner that all states end up feeling less secure and more anxious.

When US Marines were in Darwin to teach Australia how to develop an amphibious force which could be used in humanitarian disasters or regional conflicts, Indonesia felt threatened.

Question 14

Self-determination

Answer 14

A doctrine proclaiming that each nation or people should possess independence and govern themselves

It is a key concept of liberalism and advocated by Woodrow Wilson.

Also important to anti-colonial struggles, the decolonisation process and nationalism.

Question 15

Sovereignty

Answer 15

a state’s right to exercise ultimate internal authority within its own territory. This right is recognised by the international community.

It depends on authority not power. The state claims the right or authority to decide matters of interest even if it cannot control everything within its territory.

Humanitarian intervention violates this.

Established by the Peace of Westphalia (Sovereigns/monarchs right to rule over subjects)

Question 16

The Nation

Answer 16

A community of people bound together by the belief in common historical, cultural, ethnic, religious or linguistic ties. Nations often, but not always, demand exclusive allegiance from their citizens.

Kurdish people, indigenous Australians, Taiwan, Quebec

Question 17

The State

Answer 17

Defined geographical boundaries (Territory), Inhabited (Population) international recognition, sovereignty and a monopoly on legitimate use of violence (recognition) A central institutional site of political experience and a supreme decision making authority (Government)

Territory + Population + Recognition + Government = A state

Spain, Australia, the United States

Question 18

Transnational threats

Answer 18

Transnational threats, security threats that do not originate in and are not confined to a single country. Terrorism, organized international crime, and the possible acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by nongovernmental group

Question 19

Anarchy

Answer 19

Hobbes’ theory that international life is a miserable condition because it is a condition of war either latent or actual.

He proposed that when individuals live in a lawless or ungoverned environment without a common power to keep them all in awe we are in a state of nature which is chaotic and unstable.
To escape such conditions, individuals agree to enter a civil society and install a sovereign power which provides protection, order and security.

Anarchy imposes mistrust and uncertainty on others intentions, obstructing mutually advantageous cooperation

relative gains rather than absolute.

Cooperation is also limited under anarchy as being dependent on others who are free to cheat is risky.

Question 20

Collective security

Answer 20

Rather than leave security in the hands of each individual state, security for all is shared by all. If one state is threatened or attacked, the collective will react. Embodied in the UN Charter

Question 21

Communism

Answer 21

A social system that vapours government controlled markets based on collective ownership and the distribution of wealth according to need.

Question 22

Detente

Answer 22

Relaxation of tensions between rivals - China and US, Nixon.
policy of Kissinger

Question 23

Deterrence

Answer 23

A policy or strategy based on the threat of massive retaliation in the event of an attack.

Premised on the idea that if the destruction threatened in response is great enough it will deter the initial attack.

MAD.

Question 24

Disarmament

Answer 24

The reduction or elimination of weapons

Question 25

Failed State

Answer 25

a state whose political or economic system has become so weak that the government is no longer in control.

Can occur through:
escalation of communal or ethnic conflicts such as Yugoslavia

Democratic collapses (civil wars and coups) like in Nepal,

Succession such as the SU and Russia

Regional rebellion such as with Vietnam.

Question 26

Globalisation

Answer 26

Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology.

Question 27

Hobbes

Answer 27

State of nature
‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’.
Escape the state of nature through

Question 28

Lockean

Answer 28

emphasises individual rights, the rule of law and the rational capacities of humankind as they key elements of political order within and between states.

Question 29

Responsibility to Protect

Answer 29

first appeared as the title of the 2001 report by the international commission on intervention and state sovereignty.

The central normative tenant of the responsibility to protect is that state sovereignty is contingent and not absolute.

Each state has a responsibility to protect its citizens from large scale ethnic cleansings, mass killings and other conscience-shocking suffering. If the state cannot or will not, its sovereignty is abrogated while the responsibility to protect transfers to the international community, ideally acting through the security council.

Question 30

Rogue states

Answer 30

A state deemed to be a serial violator of international society’s rules, norms and standards of expected behaviour.

It is a term usually used by the US to disparage its enemies, but it itself can also fit the definition.

North Korea.

Question 31

Third world debt

Answer 31

typically used to refer specifically to the external debt those countries owe to developed countries and multilateral lending institutions.

issue among developing countries took prominence in 1982 when Mexico declared that it could no longer meet the repayments on its external debt.

In the following decades, many of the poorest countries in the world had to make sacrifices in key areas of public spending in order to service their debt.

World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) became key players by offering conditional loans and advice to try to help manage the debt of developing countries.

Question 32

Utopianism

Answer 32

A belief, doctrine or ideology committed to utopia: an imaginary place of ideal social, moral and political conditions. Usually used to discredit idealism

Question 33

War

Answer 33

‘War is an activity between two or more political actors that are using force (and threats of force) to affect each other’s behavior.’ Robert Ayson

Interstate, Intrastate, Just, Cold, Hot

Question 34

Actor

Answer 34

• An autonomous capacity to determine their own purposes and interests
• The capability to mobilise human and material resources to achieve these purposes and interests
• actions should be significant enough to influence state-to-state relations or the behaviour of non-state actors. q

Question 35

Idealism

Answer 35

IR perspective - chief purpose is to eradicate war.

Believes peace can achieved through collective security, respect for the rule of law and greater interdependence.