International Relations Exam 1 Flashcards
What is International Relations?
The study of interaction among various actors that participate in international politics.
Who are the main actors in the international system?
The main actors are leader/individuals, states, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations.
What is Realism/Neorealism?
Realism/Neorealism focuses on states as most powerful. They are often insecure, selfish and power seeking. The major theorists Thucydides, Saint Augustine, Hobbes, Morgenthau, Waltz, Gilpin, and Mearsheimer.
What is Liberalism?
Liberalism focuses on states, nongovernmental groups, and international organizations. They believe there is good in everything and there is a way to cooperate. Often democratic-libearal or authoritarian-autarkic.
What is Constructivism?
Constructivism focuses on people, elites, and cultures. True identities matter and education is important. Change can be done through socialization. The major theorists are Kratochwill, Hopf, and Wendt.
What is Marxism?
Marxism is the belief in social classes. The proletariat and bourgeois compete against each other. Major theorists are Marx and Hobson.
What is Post Structuralism?
Post Structuralism argues there is no factual knowledge. There needs to be representation and multiple perspectives to get a complete picture.
What is Feminism?
Feminism focuses on social relations, particularly gender relations, rather than anarchy. Promote human security over state security.
What is Post-Colonialism?
Post-Colonialism states that IR is Eurocentric (focusing on Europe when solving issues). IR needs different voices, varied representation, and multiple interpretation of reality.
Why is history important for IR?
History provides context, shows patterns of behavior, learn past of IR systems, the core of concepts, and helps understand the present.
Why is Philosophy important for IR?
Philosophy helps us understand human nature and state.
What is the role of a State?
The state defines territorial base, stable population, effective government, and recognize diplomatic by other states.
Who is Plato?
Plato (427-347 BC)
- Who should govern?
o Philosopher kings
Who is Aristotle?
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
- First to use comparative method
- Analyzed 168 constitutions
- Importance of domestic politics
o States rise and fall due to internal factors
Who is Hobbes?
Hobbes (1588-1679)
- Why give up individual freedom to live within a state?
o Life in the state of nature was, “solitary, nasty, brutish, and short”
o Advocated for a “leviathan” – power is centrally controlled and absolute
Who is Rousseau?
Rousseau (1712-1778)
- Short term self-interest versus long term common interest
- General Will: The only way that state can fulfill its role which is “common good”
Who is Kant?
Kant (1724-1804)
- How do we attain world peace and avoid war?
- Though man is selfish, he can learn new ways of cosmopolitanism and universalism
- Perpetual Peace: Advocated for “federation of states” based on equality
What is the Treaty of Westphalia?
Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
- Ended the 30 year war and established the concept of Sovereignty or modern nation state
What is Colonialism/Imperialism?
Colonialism/Imperialism (15th Century to…)
- Led to forcible rule and exploitation of large parts of the world
- Long term impact of creating an unequal political and economics world system
What is the Concert of Europe?
Concert of Europe
- Laid foundation of state cooperative behavior
Concert of Europe: Period of relative peace (1815-1854) (Crimean War)
- Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia
o Fought no major wars and tried to stay neutral
o Major powers held an HOC meeting to discuss common concerns
- Why
o Elites are united in fear of masses, and domestic concerns are more important than foreign policy.
What is WWI and WWII?
World War I and World War II
- Reasonable punishment to the vanquished
- Bring the vanquished powers into the international system
What is the Cold War?
Cold War
- Bipolar politics
What was 9/11?
9/11
- Power of non-state actors
What is the historical origin of the state?
Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
- Established core group of states that dominated the world until the beginning of the 19th century
o The west underwent an economic revival under capitalism
England, France, and the United Provinces
o The east reverted to feudal practices and lagged in economic development
Prussia and Russia
Why is the Treaty of Westphalia used as a benchmark for IR?
Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
- Development of the modern state and the notion of sovereignty
o Monarchs have political authority, not the Catholic church
o Sovereigns enjoy rights within their own territory
o The right of noninterference in domestic politics
o Permanent national militaries are established
What is Nationalism?
Nationalism
- People’s shared devotion and allegiance to the nation
o Usually based on shared characteristics of the people
Common customs
Cultural practices
Historical experience
- Political impact of nationalism in Europe was unprecedented war in the 19th century
What is Legitimate Power?
Legitimate Power
- John Locke (1632-1704)
o Political power ultimately rests with the people
o Absolutist rule is limited by humankind
o The state is a beneficial institution created by rational people to protect their natural rights and self-interests
- French revolutionary idea of popular consent made other powers uncomfortable
- France embroiled in wars with Austria, Britain, and Prussia
- Rise of Napolean
- Why did the international community feel the need to establish a system of international organizations after the Second World War?
- Massive human rights violations
o Genocide, leading to creation of the Geneva Conventions - First use of nuclear weapons technology
- Emergence of two superpowers
o United States and the Soviet Union - Decline of Europe
- Gradual end of colonialism
- Creation of the United States
- Why was the rivalry between the two super powers in the post second world war period referred to as the cold war?
Domino Theory
- If one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino
Sino-Soviet Split 1960s
- Kissinger visits China in 1972
What is Proxy Wars?
Proxy Wars
- Cold war turn hot
o Competition played out by and within third parties as conflict is globalized
- Cold War in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
o Iran 1953
o Nicaragua 1979
o Afghanistan 1979
o Grenada 1983
- In what way did Gorbachev’s policies contribute to the end of the cold war?
Mikhail Gorbachev institutes policies which unravel the communist system
- Glasnost
o Political openness
- Perestroika
o Economic restructuring
- Lead to changes in Soviet foreign policy
o Withdrawals from Afghanistan and Angola in the late 1980s
- Soviets give up control of European satellite countries
o Begins with Poland
o Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989)
- Soviet Union begins to disintegrate
o Formally ceasing to exist on December 25, 1991
- Why was there increase in ethnic conflicts (Rwanda, Yugoslavia) after the cold war?
Yugoslavia Conflict
- Disintegrates into independent states
- United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) respond
Widespread ethnic conflict arises
- Central and west Africa,
- Central Africa (intrastate)
Rwanda genocide occurs
- No international response
- What are some of the key features of post-cold war world?
The US
- World’s biggest military and economic power
Russia
- Rebuilds after economic and political collapse
US and Russia
- Unprecedented cooperation at the global level
o Iraq invades Kuwait in 1990
The multilateral response unites the former Cold War adversaries
- What led to the rise of terrorism?
Al Qaeda
- Terrorist network commits terrorist acts against the United States and U.S. interest abroad
US and NATO
- Forces respond military in Afghanistan
US Invasion of Iraq
- US and coalition forces invade Iraq
o Alleging preemptive strike against secret weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
Terrorist attacks
- Launched in Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Great Britain
- What was the Arab Spring? Why did it arise and was it successful?
Arab Spring
- Showed that the overthrow of Arab dictators was possible through more than just Islamic revolutions
- Reveals the strength and power of courageous young people when faced with secret services and military might
- What is the purpose of IR theories?
The purpose of IR theories is to understand, explain, and predict state behavior.
- What are the three levels of analysis? Why do scholars pay attention to the levels of analysis problem?
International System Level
- Focuses on systemic characteristics such as power distribution among states
o Unipolar
Single power
o Bipolar
Two powers (US and Russia)
o Multipolar
Three or more powers
What is Security Dilemma?
- A paradox that occurs when the states seeking to improve their own security cause a decrease in security of other states or make other states insecure in the process.
What is Balance of Power?
- Taking actions to offset the power of more powerful states (alliances).
What is Anarchy?
- The fact that in the international system there exists no hierarchically superior, coercive authority that can create laws, resolve disputes, or enforce law and order.
What is Polarity?
- Unipolar, Bipolar, Multipolar
What is Unipolar/Hegemony?
- Single power like the US dominate
What is Bipolar?
- Two powers like the US and USSR during the Cold War
What is Multipolar?
- More than one power (US, Russia, China, and the EU)
What is Historical Materialism?
- Forces of production
o Knowledge + technology = modes of production
Type of economy
What is Relations of Production?
o Economic system determines the social and ethical structure of society
Social classes
What is Change?
o Contradictions between forces of production
Technological development
Relations of production
Class and property relations
What is Neo-Marxism?
- Explains global hierarchy of power
- Why some countries are rich and others poor
What is Intellectual Hegemony?
- Hegemonic grip over social consciousness and identity
- Hegemony is based on consent rather than coercion
What is State Security?
- Armed conflict as core meaning of security
What is Human Security?
- Promoted by feminist
o Domestic violence, rape, poverty
o Gender subordination
o Ecological destruction
o Security from war
How does Marxism explain inequalities within society and in the world?
Marx
- Economic determinism
o Economic is the driving force of world politics
o Social process and historical construction is important
o Relationship between classes affect society and economy
- Capitalism
o Bourgeoise (business)
Capital owning class
o Proletariat (labor)
Wage laborers
Why, according to Marx, are the limitations of capitalism?
Capitalism
- Accomplishes two goals
o Breaks down feudalism
o Creates social and economic foundation for the eventual transition to a higher level of social development
- Contains within itself seeds of its own destruction
o The Law of Falling Profit
Labor saving techs, leads to increase in unemployment and decrease in profit (surplus value)
o Law of Disproportionality of Problem of Under Consumption
Low wages leads to underconsumption & surplus
Over supply & limited demand, leads to cycle of booms and busts
o The Law of Concentration or Accumulation of Capital
Wealth and capital becomes more concentrated with the big capitalists
What is the difference between state security and human security?
State Security
- Armed conflict as core meaning of security
Human Security
- Domestic violence, rape, poverty
- Gender subordination
- Ecological destruction
- Security from war
