lesson 1

Question 1

What is the International System?

Answer 1

A concept for analysis or description of international politics or relations, formed when two or more states have sufficient contact between them to behave as parts of a whole.

Hedley Bull defined it as a system of states.

Question 2

How did Joseph Frankel describe the International System?

Answer 2

As ‘a collection of independent political units, which interact with some regularity.’

It refers to the comprehensive global context in which states operate.

Question 3

What is the structure of the International System?

Answer 3

A set of overarching principles, rules, roles, and constraints that bind actors together into a larger system.

It plays a crucial role in organizing and ordering actors within the system.

Question 4

What are the Material Components of the International System?

Answer 4

Tangible, concrete elements such as military capabilities, economic resources, geography, and technological advantages.

These are constraints on the behavior of actors.

Question 5

What are the Ideational Components of the International System?

Answer 5

Non-material factors such as norms, beliefs, values, ideologies, and shared identities.

These are constitutive characteristics of actors.

Question 6

What is the Peace of Westphalia?

Answer 6

A series of treaties signed in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Dutch.

It is widely regarded as the foundation of the modern international order.

Question 7

What are tangible, concrete elements in international relations?

Answer 7

Military capabilities, economic resources, geography, and technological advantages.

Example: The United States has a strong military capability.

Question 8

What do ideational components encompass?

Answer 8

Non-material factors such as norms, beliefs, values, ideologies, and shared identities.

Question 9

What do constraints refer to in the international structure?

Answer 9

Some aspects that serve as constraints on the behavior of actors.

Question 10

What do constitutive characteristics refer to in the international structure?

Answer 10

Other elements that constitute fundamental characteristics of actors, such as their interests or identity.

Question 11

What was the Peace of Westphalia?

Answer 11

A series of treaties signed in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Dutch. It established the principle of territorial sovereignty.

Example: The Peace of Westphalia led to the coexistence of sovereign states.

Question 12

What was the Congress of Vienna?

Answer 12

An international conference held in 1815 in Vienna, Austria, to reorganize Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. It established a balance of power among major European powers.

Example: The Congress of Vienna aimed to prevent another major war in Europe.

Question 13

What did the Congress of Vienna establish?

Answer 13

The principle of legitimacy, a system of international diplomacy, and a new system of international relations based on cooperation and mutual respect among nations.

Question 14

What was the Concert of Europe?

Answer 14

A series of international meetings held between 1815 and 1914 to maintain peace and stability in Europe. It was based on the principle of balance of power.

Example: The Concert of Europe helped prevent major wars in Europe for almost a century.

Question 15

Highlights of the Congress of Vienna

Answer 15

The Congress reorganized Europe’s political boundaries and restored many of the monarchies that had been overthrown by Napoleon.

Question 16

Highlights of the Congress of Vienna

Answer 16

The Congress established a balance of power among the major European powers, which helped to prevent another major war in Europe for almost a century.

Question 17

Highlights of the Congress of Vienna

Answer 17

The Congress established the principle of legitimacy, which meant that rulers who had been deposed by Napoleon were restored to their thrones.

Question 18

Highlights of the Congress of Vienna

Answer 18

The Congress established a system of international diplomacy that helped to prevent conflicts between nations.

Question 19

Highlights of the Congress of Vienna

Answer 19

The Congress established a new system of international relations based on cooperation and mutual respect among nations

Question 20

Highlights of the Concert of Europe

Answer 20

The Concert of Europe was a series of international meetings held between 1815 and 1914, which aimed to maintain peace and stability in Europe.

Question 21

Highlights of the Concert of Europe

Answer 21

The Concert was based on the principle of balance of power, which meant that no single country could dominate Europe.

Question 22

Highlights of the Concert of Europe

Answer 22

The Concert helped to prevent major wars in Europe for almost a century. It also established a system of international diplomacy that helped to prevent conflicts between nations.

Question 23

Highlights of World War I

Answer 23

The war saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction due to new military technologies and trench warfare.

Question 24

Highlights of World War I

Answer 24

More than 16 million people-soldiers and civilians alike-were dead by the time the war ended with the victory of the Allied Powers.

Question 25

Highlights of World War I

Answer 25

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, imposed heavy penalties on Germany and is widely regarded as a contributing factor to World War II.

Question 26

Highlights of World War II

Answer 26

More than 85 million people–soldiers and civilians alike-were dead by the time the war ended with the victory of the Allied Powers.

Question 27

Highlights of World War II

Answer 27

The war marked the end of several empires and monarchies in Europe.

Question 28

Highlights of World War II

Answer 28

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, imposed heavy penalties on Germany and is widely regarded as a contributing factor to World War II.

Question 29

Highlights of World War II

Answer 29

The Holocaust, a genocide in which millions of Jews were systematically murdered by Nazi Germany, occurred during World War II.

Question 30

Highlights of the Cold War

Answer 30

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from the end of World War II in 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The conflict was waged on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and had only limited recourse to weapons.

Question 31

Highlights of the Cold War

Answer 31

The Cold War began after World War II and lasted until the early 1990s.