International Relations Flashcards
When was the UN founded?
24th October 1945
What is the purpose of the World Trade Organisation?
Interprets and enforces global trade rules to provide assurance, stability, and help developing countries build their trade capacity.
Which liberal argued that no single state could be blamed for WW1, but instead the lack of an internal system that would require leaders to act with conventional morality?
G. Lowes Dickinson
Who said that the best way to understand the writings of philosophers is to seek out the questions they were attempting to answer?
R. G. Collingwood
What is ‘Realpolitik’?
The approach of conducting diplomacy or political policies based primarily on considering the current circumstances and factors, rather than by following ideological, moral or ethical premises.
What are Kenneth Waltz’s three categories for the major causes of war?
(1) within man
(2) within the structure of the separate states
(3) within the state system
What did Aristophanes say about men’s desire to go to war?
That if the women of Athens denied themselves to husbands and lovers, the men would have to choose between the pleasures of the coach and the exhilarating experiences of the battlefield. He saw this as a foregone conclusion.
What is the philosophical definition of pessimism?
The belief that reality is flawed. Restraints upon the forces of evil may be created, but a ‘pessimist’ would not expect a generally or permanently good result because they are constantly aware of vitiating (spoiling) effects of an essential defect (that reality is flawed).
What is the philosophical definition of optimism?
The belief that reality is good and society is basically harmonious. The difficulties that plague man are superficial and temporary. They continue because history is a succession of moments, but the quality of history can be changed permanently and easily.
Why might the philosophical definitions of a pessimist make them more hopeful than an optimist?
Pessimists do not believe nothing can be done about present issues, and therefore may be more hopeful about postponing the current threat. Optimists, however, may only think an absolute solution that achieves permanent success is worth doing.
What did St. Augustine say about humans’ self-preservation?
It has great importance in the hierarchy of human motivations: even the most wretched ‘fear to die, and will rather live in such misfortune than end it by death, is it not obvious enough how nature shrinks from annihilation?’
What did Benedict de Spinoza say about humans’ self-preservation?
The end of every act is the self-preservation of the actor. The laws of nature are statements of what self-preservation requires. Natural rights are statements of what self-preservation logically permits.
What did Benedict de Spinoza say about human nature due to the primacy of their self-preservation?
Man who follows reason is courageous, high-minded, and strives to unite with other men in friendship. This is for selfish purposes, because mutual assistance and the division of labour is necessary for man’s own sustenance and preservation.
What did Benedict de Spinoza say is the logical outcome of human nature?
Anarchy - man is able to form a single mind and single purpose as they all seek to preserve their own being, and they need to cooperate with each other to do so. Therefore, man can live harmoniously in society with no need for an overarching political authority to control and direct them.
What does St. Augustine (and Spinoza) argue is the impact of original sin?
Human reason and will are both defective.
