final review

Question 1

International Institutions:

Answer 1

alliance

collective security organization:

defensive alliance:

bandwagon:

trip-wire:

entrapment:

collective action problem:

Question 2

alliance

Answer 2

A formal, inter-state institution that helps members cooperate militarily in case of war w/ a common foe.

significance: Because the participating states are essentially preparing for war together, and they initially have common interests, Alliances help facilitate peace between the states involved, while discouraging enemy states from attacking by increasing the potential costs of attacking. However, they can also lead to large-scale wars when a state’s ally comes into conflict with other states, as happened in the World Wars.

Question 3

collective security organization:

Answer 3

A multi-lateral institution that seeks to facilitate peace by providing a collective response to aggression. It forbids the use of military force.

significance: Collective security organizations such as UN deter potential threats with collective action, helps enforce settlements and deals, and can keep peace in conflicts such as the Golan Heights, where the UN kept soldiers to keep an eye on both sides so that there is no advantage to one side or the other.

Question 4

defensive alliance:

Answer 4

An alliance formed between two states in order to deter an enemy or potential enemy from attacking

significance: Defensive alliances contribute to what realists call a bipolar international system, where states align with one superpower or another. **Overall, a defensive alliance deters other states from attacking the smaller states. It can also lead to entrapment by making the smaller power more bold in its demands.

Question 5

bandwagon:

Answer 5

When smaller states share the spoils of allying with another state, not necessarily out of defense but during conquest, usually by an alliance formed when a weaker state aligns w/ a stronger state in case they are attacked.

significance: contributes to what realists call a bipolar international system, where states align with one super-power or another

Question 6

trip-wire:

Answer 6

A strategy that guarantees high costs by positioning troops of an ally state in harm’s way so that if the enemy state instigates conflict, intervention is automatically triggered.

significance: This strategy increases the likelihood that parties will fight in case of war and gives credibility to the alliance between the state enacting the trip-wire and the state they are allied with.

Question 7

entrapment:

Answer 7

A situation when an ally commits to an agreement with a weaker state, thereby obligating them to go to their aid when an enemy attacks.

significance: Entrapment is a concern that influences foreign policy, as a state, especially a strong state, wants to avoid entrapment while achieving credibility in the alliance, which often requires an ironclad agreement rather than the ambiguity required for avoiding entrapment.

Question 8

collective action problem:

Answer 8

A situation that arises when all actors will benefit from a public good, creating incentive to “freeride,” or reap all the benefits without contributing or paying the costs.

significance: This situation is especially prominent in Collective Security Organizations such as the UN, which require all the major states to agree in order to take action. This usually means that either no one ends up paying or a state with a particular interest will pay and enforce the action.

Question 9

Non-state Actors:

Answer 9

Strange

norms

boomerang model

issue indivisibility

coercion

provocation

outbidding

spoiling

demonstrative terrorism

suicide terrorism

power vacuum

Question 10

Strange

Answer 10

The markets have a big impact on states, influential in how states behave. Markets are actors in international politics. A political power taken away= economy. Investors can constrain what political actors can do by pulling out investments or pouring in investments. There is a certain level of constraint on political autonomy. Technology is making businesses more mobile, giving them more freedom.

Question 11

norms:

Answer 11

Standards of behavior for actors with a given identity; define what actions are “right” or appropriate under particular circumstances.

significance: Norms affect behavior and, in turn, political outcomes by raising the costs of inappropriate actions and thereby making them less likely (pg 373 ch. 10)

Question 12

boomerang model:

Answer 12

A process through which NGOs in one state are able to activate transnational linkages to bring pressure from other states on their own governments. (pg 376).

significance: the boomerang model explains how TANs can affect the behavior of states and outcomes indirectly by invoking the coercive power of other states.

Question 13

issue indivisibility*:

Answer 13

An indivisible issue is something that cannot be adequately divided (who is king of a country or who controls an island, for example).

significance: If states cannot effectively bargain because issues are indivisible, then war can result. However, states can make side payments to resolve the indivisibility and avoid war. Thus, we treat issue indivisibility as a rationalist explanation for war in theory but not in practice.

From Lecture: a problem where a “Goal or objective may be a “good” that is not divisible such as territorial or national integrity (Vietnam), religion (Jerusalem).”

Question 14

coercion:

Answer 14

A strategy that induces policy change by imposing or threatening to impose costs, usually pain or other harm, on the target (pg 392).

significance: The target may change its policy or offer concessions to avoid the costs of a particular coercive threat. Terrorists use this strategy to intimidate potential victims into making decisions.

Question 15

provocation:

Answer 15

A strategy of terrorist attacks intended to provoke the target government into making a disproportionate response that alienates moderates in the terrorist’s home society or in other sympathetic audiences.

significance: This strategy can cause change of policy in the target state, counterattacks for particularly heinous crimes (9/11), and consequently shifts in support for either the target or the terrorist organizations at home.

Question 16

outbidding:

Answer 16

A strategy of terrorist attacks designed to demonstrate a capability for leadership and commitment relative to another, similar terrorist group (pg 397).

significance: outbidding appears to drive many cases of suicide bombing (pg 297). It is caused by rivalry between two or more terrorist groups, but this can lead to unintended consequences that come from attacking the target, such as retaliation.  Terrorists may compete within themselves to show who is more committed to their cause.

Question 17

spoiling-

Answer 17

if the target state reaches a deal with the moderates, but the extremes won’t agree. a strategy of terrorist attacks intended to sabotage a prospective peace between the target and moderate leadership from terrorists’ home society. purpose is to play on doubts in the target state about whether the opponent can be trusted to implement a peace agreement and abide by it in the future. Pg 396

significance: this is a problem in many peace negotiations, often halting their progress when they are about to happen. Terrorist attacks do this by making it seem as though the moderate leadership is unreliable.

Question 18

demonstrative terrorism:

Answer 18

the use of violence by an organization other than a national government that tries to gain publicity for the actor’s cause by causing intimidation or fear. Usually aims to recruit more activists and gain attention from third parties. (Pape)

significance: forces its targets to construct their policies in ways to defend against it. Pape would say that it “pays” in gaining a political goal for the terrorist group.

Question 19

suicide terrorism:

Answer 19

most aggressive form of terrorism, pursuing coercion even at the expense of losing support among the terrorists’ own community. Seek to kill the largest number of people

• Limits of suicide terrorism: unlikely to accomplish goals, unlikely to succeed

Question 20

power vacuum:

Answer 20

From Strange article, power is being taken away from the state by the market, which is creating a vacuum, because this power is not being replenished or complemented at other levels of government because local, regional, or intl organizations are not getting the power that the state is losing. There is a declining authority of states and that power is being taken by large corporations and financial capital.

Question 21

Nuclear Weapons:

Answer 21

defense

deterrence

second-strike capabilities

physical and psychological credibility

Question 22

defense

Answer 22

Refers to the state defending its territory by fortifying/building its defenses (an action taking place), showing the attackers that it will be tough or costly to meet their goals.

Question 23

deterrence

Answer 23

An effort to preserve the status quo through the threat of force - A deterrent threat takes the form of “don’t do X, or else” (where X is some possible future action that the threatener finds objectionable) and is meant to send the message that a state can and will fight back if provoked. It is a promise of future costs - an aim to stop the attackers from attacking

Question 24

second-strike capabilities

Answer 24

This refers to a state’s assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack with a powerful nuclear retaliation against the attacker. This ability is significant for nuclear deterrence because both states (attacking and defending) know that a nuclear war will mean total annihilation. Leaders of countries therefore become very cautious under these circumstances, which leads to less war according to Waltz.

Question 25

physical and psychological credibility

Answer 25

Waltz says that there must be two components to make a nuclear weapons deterrent strategy believable: The state must have the ability to launch in attack (physically having the weapons) and the willingness, or the appearance of willingness, to use those physical capabilities.

significance: Though Nuclear weapons generally take away the uncertainty of the bargaining range, making a threat credible is important in states’ for the state trying to achieve a goal or deter a threatening state.

Question 26

Rise of China:

Answer 26

commitment problem

status-quo

revisionist

engagement

containment

Question 27

commitment problem

Answer 27

a situation where a state cannot credibly commit to a deal or agreement. The other side does not believe that he will honor that agreement, specifically that he will not use force to revise that settlement in the future.

Question 28

status-quo

Answer 28

the pre-existing conditions of a state before a war. Sometimes, states are not happy or satisfied with the status quo, and if they are a growing power, like China, they are thinking about how to use their newfound power to change the current condition.

Question 29

revisionist

Answer 29

Describes a forward moving state willing to change tradition, or “revise” the rules in international relations.

significance: if a rising power such as China is seen as revisionist, this may cause states, mainly Western states, to follow a policy of containment when dealing with China.

Question 30

engagement

Answer 30

A policy that tries to integrate a state peacefully into the international order.

Significance: This policy is debated within Western states on how to deal with the People’s Republic of China, which is growing economically and gaining political influence, thus causing international relations policy to be formed accordingly.

Question 31

containment

Answer 31

(From Shambaugh) an opposing school of thought to engagement that advocates balance of power tactics to either deter, contain, or constrain China. The policy implication is to delay China’s rise as much as possible, and to prepare for a possible coming conflict

Question 32

Human Rights

Answer 32

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights:

International Criminal Court (ICC)*:

Universal Jurisdiction*

Question 33

Universal Declaration of Human Rights*:

Answer 33

Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, this declaration defines a “common standard of achievement for all peoples” and forms the foundation of modern human rights laws. Although it is not binding on states, its 30 articles identify a diverse set of rights and is today considered to be the authoritative standard of human rights. But we know from Huntington, different societies and cultures have sometimes very diff ideas about what rights individuals are enshrined with.

Question 34

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

Answer 34

The agreement completed in 1966 and in force from 1976 that details the basic civil and political rights of individuals and nations.

Question 35

International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights:

Answer 35

The agreement completed in 1966 and in force from 1976 that specifies the basic economic, social, and cultural rights of individuals and nations.

Question 36

International Criminal Court (ICC)*:

Answer 36

A court of last resort for human rights cases that possesses jurisdiction only if the accused is a national of a state party, the crime took place on the territory of a start party, or the United Nations Security Council has referred the case to the prosecutor.

Significance:  shows that inhumane crimes can be punished and that state governments need to respect the people of their societies.

Question 37

Universal Jurisdiction*

Answer 37

A new and controversial principle in which countries claim the right to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity regardless of the citizenship of the individuals involved and the locationwhere the crimes occurred.

Question 38

Environment

Answer 38

public good

non-excludable

non-rival in consumption

Kyoto Protocol

Question 39

public good

Answer 39

an externality which is non-excludable (available for all) and non-rival in consumption (use or consumption of it by one does not diminish the quantity available to others).

Question 40

non-excludable

Answer 40

a good that is accessible to all. once it’s provided, it’s something that can’t be excluded to certain people. ex) air, You can’t stop certain people from gaining the benefits of the good once you provide it.

Question 41

non-rival in consumption

Answer 41

issue of whether the good provided lasts. ex) clean water. It is still something that is a public good in a sense, but the amount available is limited. actors consumption of the public good does not diminish the quality available for others to consume as well.

Question 42

Kyoto Protocol

Answer 42

An amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which establishes specific targets for reducing emissions of CO2 and 5 other greenhouse gases.

significance: It creates a carbon trading system, which in essence privatizes the public good that previously existed. The ability to pollute is restricted for the advanced industrialized countries bound by the agreement.