Definitions Flashcards
absolute advantage
when a country is more efficient at producing a single good than another country
absolute gains
the total effect of a decision or situation on an actor
advisory group
the set of individuals from whom leaders seek decision-making assistance
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
the treaty by the Organization for African Unity (later the African Union) that went into force in 1986 and listed individual rights and the responsibilities of individuals in a communal context. It also created the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights.
African Union (AU)
organization in Africa devoted to representing the interests of African states.
agent-centered approach
understanding and explaining international relations by focusing on the individuals and groups who make decisions within the stat
aid sanction
cutting off aid to a country in order to get it to change its behavior
American Convention on Human Rights
the Organization of American States treaty that went into force in 1978. It created an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and an Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
anarchy
the absence of central government in world politics.
arable land
land capable of sustaining agriculture
arms embargo
not selling weapons to a country
arms control
regulation of the amount, type, positioning, or use of weapons
arms races
peacetime competition in armaments by two or more states driven by conflict interests, fear, and suspicion.
asymmetric war
armed conflict between two or more groups of very different military size or power.
austerity program
program of severely restricted government spending, often on welfare programs, imposed when the country must balance its accounts.
authoritarian systems
nondemocratic governments with leaders who rule via force, whose basis of power is the ability to coerce others or a submissive citizenry.
autonomy
state of independence from another country, the ability to act by onesel
balance of power politics
patterns of shifting alliances, force, and counterforce among states as they seek power, counter the efforts of rivals, and confront security threats.
balance-of-payments
a country’s balance between exports, imports, and debt. If exports are too low and cannot support the country’s debt, there is an economic crisis.
balancing
(in alliances) forming coalitions to counter the rising power and threat of a state.
bandwagoning
(in alliances) siding with a rising power to gain benefits.
Baruch Plan
a nuclear disarmament proposal authored by U.S. statesman Bernard Baruch after World War II to place nuclear weapons and energy activities under the control and authority of the United Nations.
beggar-thy-neighbor
an economic policy that stresses trade protectionism and causes other countries to bear the costs of efforts at securing prosperity at home.
Big Mac Index
a measure created by The Economist magazine that compares the value of currencies by comparing the cost of a Big Mac hamburger in different countries. The United States is used as the baseline cost for the index.
bilateral
relations between two states. For example, a bilateral summit is a high-level conference between two states.
bipolar
a distribution of power in the international system in which there are two great powers
boomerang model
internal groups repressed by their own states can turn to TANs to put pressure on other states and those states then put pressure on the repressive state from the outside. In short, repression against internal groups can boomerang back and cause new external pressure on the repressive state.
bounded rationality
the idea that leaders want to make rational or logical decisions but are limited by their lack of knowledge or other human factors
brinkmanship
the strategy of escalating conflicts or crises to nuclear threats in order to force the other side to back down.
capitalism
an economic system in which workers sell their labor for wages, there is no central authority over the economy, and market forces determine what is purchased and what is sold.
capitalist class
the owners of businesses, factories, etc., that make profits from the work of laborers but do not work themselves.
centrally planned (or command) economy
an economy that is run by the government rather than private citizens. Examples include the Soviet Union and North Korea
Chinese Communist Party
the only legal political party in the People’s Republic of China. It controls all aspects of the government.
civil society groups
NGOs that promote democracy and human rights on a global basis.
civil society organizations
NGOs that voluntarily work together to serve the greater social and political good within a society; they build the voluntary relationships that bind society and its members together
civil war
armed conflict between competing factions within a country, or between a government and a competing group within that country over control of territory and/or the government.
coercive diplomacy
a strategy that combines threats and the selective use of force with negotiation in a bargaining strategy to persuade an adversary to comply with one’s demand.
Cold War
a period of intense rivalry and competition from 1947–1989 between the United States and its allies on the one hand, and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other.
collective action problem
a condition in which the uncoordinated actions of individuals lead to less than optimal outcomes because, although many individuals would benefit from some cooperative action or actions, few incentives lead any particular individuals to assume the costs of such actions.
collective goods
things that benefit all concerned—whether they participate in their protection and maintenance—and are not owned by any one state actor.
collective security
states join together into a community, ban the use of force by members, and commit themselves to joining together to respond to any attack by one member on any other member.
colonialism
the situation where one country takes over another country and administers it with a local bureaucracy.
Colonies
territories that are legally owned and controlled by another country, typically called the imperial power.
commitment problem
countries have a hard time committing to cooperative courses of action that assure their partners that they will keep their end of the deal for mutual benefit and forego the possibility of their own short-term gains.
communism
the anti-capitalist economic philosophy created by Karl Marx that promoted centralized control of a country and its economy for the equal redistribution of resources to the country’s citizens.
comparative advantage
being more efficient at producing a good or service relative to another good or service. Even if one country has an absolute advantage over another in all products, both countries benefit by specializing in the products they each produce most efficiently (their comparative advantage) and trading for the others.
compellence
the use of military force to stop a foe from doing something it was already doing, or force it to start doing something it was not yet doing.
complexity
the multidimensional issues, actors, and connections that characterize international relations.
compulsory jurisdiction
in international law, the condition in which parties to a dispute must submit the case to a court.
Concert of Europe
a nineteenth century multilateral organization composed of Great Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France to promote stability, cooperation, and multilateral diplomacy
conference diplomacy
large diplomatic meetings of many officials from states, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and other non-state actors.
consociational democracy
a form of government that guarantees representation to the different ethnic or religious groups within the country.
constructivism
a major theoretical approach to international relations emphasizing the importance of ideas, collective identities, and the social construction of reality.
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emphasizes the social construction of identity and the ways that social interactions define ethnicity for groups of people.
consulates
offices other than embassies where diplomatic officials facilitate commerce, travel, and cultural exchanges.
Convention on Genocide
a 1948 UN treaty that both defined genocide and made it a crime whether it occurred in peacetime or in wartime.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, approved by the UN General Assembly in 1979
Conventional war
armed conflict between two or more states in which military forces of each side are used against each other, and in which weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons are not used.
core
the economic zone composed of wealthy countries producing high-end products.
counter-force
targeting an adversary’s nuclear arsenals and other war-fighting abilities for nuclear strikes.
counter-value
targeting an adversary’s cities and industrial centers for nuclear strikes
coup d’état
literally translated as a “strike against the state”; when there is a forceful change in government that overthrows the current leadership.
crimes against humanity
acts of war against a civilian population; these can include, among others, the crimes of murder; enslavement; deportation or forcible transfer; imprisonment; torture; rape, sexual slavery or any other form of enforced sexual violence; persecution on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or other such grounds; enforced disappearance; apartheid; and other inhumane acts that create great suffering or serious mental or physical injury.
cultural exchange
programs involving the exchange of citizens—students, teachers, scientists, artists, and others—between countries to foster cultural understanding and cooperation.
cultural relativism
the idea that human rights are not truly universal and that different cultures have different systems of rights. This term particularly comes into play when non-Western societies argue that international human rights standards have a Western bias and do not reflect non-Western values.
custom
the general practice of states accepted as law; a source of international law.
cyclical theories of war
conflict based on the rise and relative decline of leading powers in the international system in which stability occurs as the victors in major wars assert themselves, and war occurs as a function of the subsequent and inevitable rise of challengers to those dominant powers.
