Midterm 1 Flashcards
international relations (lower case)
Relations between states and between the international system
International Relations (upper case)
the study of international relations (lower case)
Comparative Politics
How states internal affairs compare to one another
League of Nations
Created by idealists during the interwar period to settle disputes, encourage disarmament and to encourage collective security
Woodrow Wilson
American President who was a big advocate for the League of Nations (despite the fact that the US was not a part of said League)
Idealists
People who believed (particularly during the inter war period) that war/conflict are not inevitable and are preventable
Realists
Anarchy is key to the structure of the international system and because of this conflict is inevitable
E. H Carr
First IR professor in the Woodrow Wilson Chair at what is now the Uni of Wales. Big realist
Twenty Years’ Crisis 1919-1939
Carr’s book about failures of the interwar period – rise of dictatorships with foreign policy ambitions
Balance of Power
Stability can be maintained by counterbalancing powerful countries
Treaty of Westphalia
Considered the start of international relations as it was the first international treaty that established modern day sovereign states
Thirty Years War
War between Catholics and Protestants in Europe ended by 4 years of negotiations used to create the Treaty of Westphalia
Sumerian City States
3.500 BCE near the fertile crescent .. their claim to fame is perhaps have the first international relations / treaties
City States
Established territory but no clear authorities
City Leagues
Coalitions with little clear established territorial boundaries OR clear authorities
Sovereign State
A state which has both territorial boundaries and a clear centralized authority
Polity
Political Unit that is not a state
Nation
Internally recognized as a community through shared culture, language or identity
State
Externally recognized
Nation State
Both internally and externally recognized
Anarchy
in IR refers to the absence of a supra authority. Emerges from Hobbes’s Leviathan
Counter balancing
States working in unison to counter the coercive power of another state
Self Help Principle
Essentially under anarchy, states will make decisions in their own self interests
Rational State
A state that knows what it want and that what it wants is in its best interest
Peloponessian War
War between Spartans and Athens due to Spartan’s fear of Athens increasing importance
International System
Structure of interacting units characterized by anarchy and the self help principle
Structural/NeoRealism
Combination of anarchy and the self help principle to explain international relations - especially after the strength of the post WW2 structure
Power
The ability of one state to make another state do what they would otherwise not do
Polarity
Distribution of power
Pole
Commands an especially large share of resources and capabilities
Bipolarity
When two states have a preponderance of power
Unipolarity
When one state has a preponderance of power AND counterbalancing is not possible
Multipolarity
when 2+ states hold power
Hegemon Stability Theory
Instability under a hegemony only occurs with emergence of a rising competitive power
Defensive Realism
States seek power in order to maintain security and the status quo - maintain positions within a structure
Offensive Realism
Structural positioning is a means to obtaining more power .. goal is power maximization
Institutional Power
power to indirectly influence based on placement in the structure
Compulsory Power
Classic perception of power.. ability of one state to directly force another state to do what that state does not want to do
Productive Power
Power over social relations can influence indirectly
Structural Power
Direct power over another utilizing social pressure
Status Quo States
States seeking to mantain the status quo
Offensive Defensive Balance
Dependent on technology on geography but generally is it cheaper to attack a place or to defend that place
Security Dilemma
Refers to the fact that one states actions to expand their own security may be perceived/ be a threat to the security of another nation
Scleiffen Plan
German plan to attack france than Russia
Allied Powers WW1
UK, France, Russia, US, Japan, italy
Central Powers WW1
Germany, Turkey, Austria-Hungary,Bulgaria
Allied Powers WW2
US, USSR, UK, France, China, Canada
Axis Power WW2
Germany, Italy, Japan
Trustworthy
A state which would rather cooperate than exploit
Mistrust
The belief that a state is likely to not cooperate
Prisoner’s Dilemma
Two untrustworthy states both prefer to defect when the other cooperates which leads them both to defect despite the fact that cooperation might be more beneficial