Exam 1

Question 1

Anarchy:

Answer 1

The absence of a higher order power or government in world politics that could enforce international cooperation.

Question 2

Balancing

Answer 2

The act of a state joining a weaker coalition to counter the influence or power of a stronger coalition

Question 3

Bandwagoning

Answer 3

The act of a state joining a stronger power or coalition

Question 4

Bretton Woods

Answer 4

The monetary order negotiated among World War II allies in 1944 that lasted until 1970s

Question 5

Collective Security

Answer 5

The idea that if one state violates another states’ sovereignty, then all the other states can get together (even those whose sovereignty was not violated) and take on the aggressor

Question 6

Collective Goods

Answer 6

Goods that are non-rival (i.e., one person using the good does not prevent anyone else from using it) and non-excludable (i.e., no one can be prevented from using the good)

Question 7

Collective Goods Problem/ Tragedy of the Commons/ Collective Action Problem

Answer 7

The problem of how to provide collective goods when no one has an incentive to do so

Question 8

Cult of the offensive

Answer 8

The common belief among state leaders that offensive advantages are so great that a defending force would have no hope of repelling the attack

Question 9

GDP

Answer 9

Gross-domestic product: the total value of goods and services produced in a given year in a given country

Question 10

General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT)

Answer 10

An international institution created in 1948 in which member countries committed to reduce barriers to trade and to provide similar trading conditions to all other members

Question 11

International Monetary Fund

Answer 11

A major international economic institution that was established in 1944 to manage international monetary relations

Question 12

League of Nations

Answer 12

A collective security organization formed in the aftermath of WWI

Question 13

Marshall Plan

Answer 13

Also called “the European Recovery Plan,” the Marshall Plan was enacted by the US in 1947 as a way to help rebuild Europe after World War II.

Question 14

Munich Conference

Answer 14

An agreement that took place in 1938 where Russia, Germany, Britain, France, and Italy met in Munich to decide what action to take concerning Germany’s aggression in Czechoslovakia

Question 15

Nation-state

Answer 15

A legally recognized state comprised overwhelmingly of one nation

Question 16

Nation

Answer 16

A group of people who share a common identity based on a shared history, language, culture, etc.

Question 17

Sovereignty

Answer 17

The norm that states have the right to do whatever they like within their own borders, free from interference by other states

Question 18

State

Answer 18

A territorially bound, legalized international entity, controlled by a government and inhabited by a population

Question 19

Treaty of Versailles

Answer 19

The peace treaty between the Allies and Germany that ended World War I on June 28, 1919

Question 20

Treaty of Westphalia

Answer 20

A treaty signed after the Thirty Years War in 1648, which established that states had the right to choose their own religious practices and taxation policies, free from interference by other states

Question 21

United Nations Security Council

Answer 21

Being the main governing body of the UN, the UNSC has the authority to identify threats to international peace and security and to prescribe the organization’s response.

Question 22

United Nations

Answer 22

A collective security organization founded in 1945, consisting of 193 members

Question 23

Agenda-setting power:

Answer 23

State’s ability to set the terms of interaction between itself and other states and amongst groups of states

Question 24

Anarchy

Answer 24

The structure of the international system, which is characterized by a lack of hierarchy and central authority – does NOT mean chaos or disorder

Question 25

Classical Realism

Answer 25

An older form of realism, most prominently that of Hans Morgenthau, which focuses on power and human nature

Question 26

Deterrence

Answer 26

A key example of bargaining based on the policy of persuading an adversary, through the threat of military action, that the costs of an action will outweigh the benefits

Question 27

Free-riding

Answer 27

Since no one can be prevented from using collective goods, no one has an incentive to actually bear the costs and provide these goods. Rather, everyone has an incentive to wait for someone else to bear the costs, and then benefit from the good for free.

Question 28

Hegemony

Answer 28

The domination of international politics, in both security and economic relations, by a single powerful state

Question 29

Idealism

Answer 29

A rival doctrine explaining international relations by placing its emphases on an altruistic common human morality, institutional learning, and the efficacy of international organizations

Question 30

Liberal Institutionalism

Answer 30

A strand of liberalism that emphasizes the role of international institutions in creating and maintaining peace and cooperation

Question 31

Liberal internationalism

Answer 31

A strand liberalism that emphasizes the role of domestic institutions in creating and maintaining peace and cooperation

Question 32

Liberalism

Answer 32

A grand theory of IR that seeks to explain how peace and cooperation are possible

Question 33

Material Power

Answer 33

is tangible power and usually measured in terms of GDP, military forces and natural resources a state has.

Question 34

Offensive Realism

Answer 34

A type of realism that suggests states will behave aggressively and seek territorial expansion whenever they perceive an opportunity for relative gains

Question 35

Polarity

Answer 35

The number of independent centers of power in the international system (e.g., unipolarity, bipolarity, and multipolarity)

Question 36

Prisoner’s Dilemma:

Answer 36

A commonly applied game in IR when individually rational choices leave both actors worse off than if they were able to coordinate a common strategy

Question 37

Rationality

Answer 37

The assumption that states and other international actors can identify their interests, put priorities on various interests, and make their choices accordingly

Question 38

Realism

Answer 38

A doctrine that explains international relations in terms of power

Question 39

Relative gains/Relative power

Answer 39

Gains that are only measured in reference to how they compare to those of other actors

Question 40

Security dilemma

Answer 40

A problem when the actions that one state takes to bolster its security threaten the security of other states, leading to a self-reinforcing spiral that fosters mistrust and arguably increases the likelihood of conflict

Question 41

Soft power

Answer 41

is the ability of a state to get what it wants through the appeal of ideas, values, religions, consumer brands, etc., rather than coercion.

Question 42

Stag Hunt

Answer 42

A game in which two players gain benefits from cooperation, but issues of trust and coordination influence whether they successfully coordinate over a smaller (rabbit) or larger (stag) price

Question 43

Structural realism:

Answer 43

A type of realism starting in the 1980s, which focuses on systemic, international factors, such as power balancing

Question 44

Unitary Actor Assumption

Answer 44

An understanding of states as individual actors, rationally motivated to achieve goals that are strictly in their national self-interest