international relations Flashcards
1
Q
what is a state?
A
- tangible hardware (people enforcing rules, running gov)
- idea that one single gov has exclusive control over a territory
2
Q
what is a nation?
A
- software
- social construct
- idea that a group of people have something in common (culture, language, tradition)
3
Q
what is nationalism
A
- idea that people relate more to their country than their community
4
Q
what are the concepts of nationalism?
A
- self criticism will deem you a traitor because you are not thinking about the good of the state when you are reasoning and evaluating
- self censoring due to be called a traitor prevents states from acting morally as no one is calling them out
- states benefit from this nationalist behaviour because they frame their dirty work as doing it for the country to get people to do things
- elites benefit from international conflict due to economic benefits
- elites only want stability and harmony in their states so that they can maximise the nationalist behaviour
5
Q
what is the realist theory?
A
- realistic
- does not believe that countries can work together
- there is no world government so there is anarchy in the world which makes states want to protect themselves, which can lead them to acting immorally
- states act on their self-interest so they try to outpower one another to benefit themselves
- states use nationalism to influence their population to do immoral things
- believes that history is cyclical so war and conflict is inevitable and we need to be prepared
- has the strength that it keeps states prepared for the worst
- has the weakness that it makes states act immorally in the name of protecting themselves
- military and defence industries benefit from realist theory
6
Q
what are the concepts of realist theory?
A
- amoral
: world viewed with no moral lenses - balance of threat/balance of power
: alliances being formed between countries to protect themselves (fickle tho cos interests change) - polarity
: uni,bi,multipolar
: refers to great powers that can influence others to do the same (US, China) - interests
: focused on material interests (wealth, military, economy) - balancing
: weak states alliancing tgt against strong states - bandwagoning
: weak states cooperating with strong states - hedging
: friendly but with distance - security dilemma
: feel insecure when other countries are building up their defence, so they do the same but then this is such a waste of resource cos they preparing for nothing - relative over absolute gains
: more focused on whether they are better than the other not whether they are good in isolation - power transition
: great power vs a challenger
7
Q
what is liberal internationalism?
A
- focus on international economy
- believes states can work together to solve problems
- presence of international law
- believes in economic relations like trade and exchanges to promote interdependency
- faith in education; more educated people will wage less wars as they are aware of the consequences and better ways to solve problems
- norms: universal appeal to people
8
Q
what are the concepts of liberal internationalism?
A
- enlightment period - focused on logic and science and rationality
- progress
: should learn from the past and do better not keep repeating the same mistakes - domestic conditions can influence international relationships
: democractic country will not wage war with other democratic country - states working together to solve problems is very much possible (UN/ASEAN)
- focus on non-state actors who can affect
9
Q
what is imperialism?
A
- colonising
- world system divided into poor and rich; rich dominates the poor
- rich get richer, poor get poorer as they continue to be exploited
- rich dominates and is better in terms of wealth and capabilities (military, communication, political, economic, cultural)
- to prevent domination, need to be checked by countervailing structure of powers
: unity amongst the dominated, structured and systematic
: periphery working together collectively
10
Q
what are the concepts of imperialism?
A
- center and periphery
- centre of centre and center of periphery
- periphery of centre and periphery of periphery
- center: rich and successful decision makers
- periphery: poor and oppressed ordinary people - relationship is asymmetrical
: one dominates the other - overall disharmony in living conditions
: inequality increases over time
4.unequal exchange
: raw materials in exchange for manufactured products that is more valuable - center exercises imperialism over periphery
: centers work together to dominate - divide and rule
: division caused between periphery so they dont work against center - multiple forms and stages of imperialism
- division in periphery
: disunity in the periphery of the periphery - models
: periphery emulates center’s models which causes them to be dominated even if the center didnt try to do that
11
Q
what are the 5 main characteristics of liberal tradition?
A
- strong faith in human reason
- humans are logical and reasonable - can reform international relations
- can work together to solve problems - focus on state-society linkage
- domestic politics and international politics are connected; political and social action exist tgt, domestic situation affects probability of war - increasing economic interdependence
- nations depend on one another are less likely to wage war - instituionalising international relations
- international law to keep anarchy away
12
Q
what is a collective security system?
A
system by which states have attempted to prevent or stop wars. Under a collective security arrangement, an aggressor against any one state is considered an aggressor against all other states, which act together to repel the aggressor.
- not successful due to conflicts of interest among states, especially among the major power
- league of nations and united nations found on this principle
13
Q
what are the various currents of liberalism and how do they differ?
A
- interdependence liberalism
- states increasingly dependent on each other due to modernization; achieved through trade and globalisation
: link to economic interdependence; increase in interdependence makes states more senstive to one another, increases cost of conflict making conflict less beneficial
- emphasizes the importance of state and transnational actors
- focus on non-military aspects of world politics like global welfare - republican liberalism
- from immanuel kant
- domestic political cultures impact international relations
- pacific union: individual freedom and common moral values
- spirit of commerce: trade is mutual beneficial (link back to economic interdependence) - neoliberal instituitionalism
- from keohane
- perspective of world politics
- opposes the cooperation under anarchy theory
- assume that state are key actors and examines both the material forces of world politics and the subjective self understanding of human beings
** these currents differ in terms of conception of human nature, politics, the state and international system
14
Q
what are the specific theories of liberalism?
A
- democratic peace theory
- democracies will not wage war with other democracies, but with non-democracies
- zone of peace since cold war - transnationalist theory
- look beyond state state relationships and into society society relationship which is far more impt for world politics - constructivist liberal theory of cooperation
- emphasizes social rather than material structures
- process perspective > state centrism - liberal intergovernmentalism
- history making decisions in the context of intergovernmental conferences on treaty reform
- liberal part is the domestic process of preference formation and the less liberal is the government behaviour and instituitonal design
15
Q
what are some strengths and weaknesses of liberal perspective?
A
