International Politics Terms Flashcards
Theory
- Simplifying device to decide which historical/contemporary facts matter more
- Independent Variable: What is used to explain the dependent variable
- Dependent Variable: The thing we want to explain
- Theory connects the IV and the DV
Causal Inference
Nation State: Individual players make a lot of decisions, not the state as a whole
International System: A nation state acting against other
International Relations
- No one government
- Deals with warfare between/among states
- Includes a wider array of actors
- Horizontal Proliferation A wider array of players have nuclear weapons
- Vertical Proliferation: A single-player build up their arsenal of nuclear weapons
Idealist
- The human endeavour can help fix the problems of the international system such as war, poverty, inequality
- The search for power is “the Great Illusion”
- The attempt to increase national security by the military is self-defeating
Assumptions - People are rational
- Humans are good
- War must be avoided at all costs
Realism
- The Book “Twenty Years Crisis” by Elt Carr discussed how idealists missed the mark, coined terms realist & idealist
- Realism was the dominant theory after WWII
Assumptions - War is necessary
- Human beings aren’t good
- We need to see the world how it is
Christian Realism
- Have a real, but limited hope for the work of the state in the world
- Differ from populists in stating that Christians have some responsibilities to preserve world order
- Differ from pacifists thinking that war could be a just option
- Combine the use of power with the defence of both “our own security” and “the global good”
- Taking the world as it is and it’s not as we want it to be
- Accepting the reality that humans are bad
- Avoids utopian impulses
- Denies that national interest is somehow immoral
The Melian Dialogue
- “The strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept”
- Practical people see the standard of justice needing equality of power (You want justice you have to stand up for it)
- You stand up to your equals, stand in deference to your superiors and treat inferiors with moderation
- Thucydides could be the first realist if he changed the dialogue to state his stance on international politics
- Some say this is satire and that he thought this thought process is what destroyed Athens in the Peloponnesian War
- The first time there was an acceptance of the other states rather than those states were just another country yet to be conquered
Machiavelli, The Prince
- The important philosopher in Italy
- A ruler’s chief concern is the security and stability of his own state
- Normal ethics/morals subordinated to the ethical demands of the ruler
- The second realist
- Could potentially be satire, saying this won’t work
The Peace of Westphalia
Date: 1648
War: 30 year War
- The foundation for the international system
- Every country needed (Also used to determine UN participation)
- Territory: Have to have territory to participate
- Sovereignty: Demonstrate you were supreme exclusive power and legal authority in the state
- Who was in charge of the state determined the religion
- Balance of power: No one power should have the ability to take over Europe
- Autonomy: Each recognized that states are entitled to the legitimacy of power
The Congress of Vienna
Date: 1815
War: The Revolutionary & Napoleonic Wars
- Decided there needed to be regular meet-ups: Initially every two years
- All changes to borders had to happen “in concert”
- Four players stated they would overthrow ideas of revolution
- Would work to stop revolutionary ideas
- Called the quadruple alliance
- Britain didn’t commit as they were already a democracy
- The principle was only for the great powers, not for smaller powers
- This was how Europe avoided war for 100 years
- This excludes the Crimean War, the first war when people saw war & started the Geneva Convention about how to do war
The Paris Peace Conference
Date: 1919
War: WWI
- The largest international conference yet held, several treaties signed, most importantly the Treaty of Versailles
- The treaty is only one of many treaties signed to end the war
- Woodrow Wilson (USA) the Fourteen points and principles of international governance: A more liberal international system, operating on rules opening all alliances, & the principle of national self-determination, there were a lot of nations within a country but only one group would dominate
- Regular meetings of the great powers were reinstated
Charter of the United Nations
Date: June 1945
War: WWII
- 51 charter members
- An attempt to combine the Paris Peace Conference & the Congress of Vienna
- Principle of Concert-led Collective Security
- Led by the executive security council dominated by the five powers: US, France, UK, Russia & China
- There are ten other members that serve for two year terms from five different regions
- The five great powers have veto on every resolution: Cannot pass without nine votes from the security council
- UN has six different organs, numerous agencies, funds & programs
- Permanent HQ is in New York, Geneva, the Hague
Bretton Woods Conference
- Economists tried to figure out the economic problems with the war
- Came up with four main economic institutions now referred to as the Bretton Woods economic system
Fixed Exchange System
- The Countries initially kept the gold standard
- Had to abandon the standard in 1930
- There was no fixed system or insurance
International Monetary Fund
- The IMF is an organization of 189 member countries that works to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment & sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world
