Midterm Terms Flashcards
UN mission shortfall
The difference between the amount of troops authorized for a mission and the amount that are actually deployed, average is 20%
Yemeni civil war
A religious conflict between the insurgent Houthis who are Shi’ite (supported by Iran) and the government run by Hadi who is Sunni (supported by US and Saudi Arabia)
South Sudanese civil war
Fighting between the Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups, sparked by an accusation of an attempted coup, but hostilities go way back
UN mission composition
The breakdown of forces and people the UN send to a conflicted area: troops are the most effective in limiting battle deaths (Hultman)
UN peacekeeping operations
Not initially in the charter, but cites ch. 7 and threats to international peace as justification for stepping (now the most common intervener)
Mediation
It is non-binding, non-coercive, and nonviolent mediation, meaning that government and rebels must voluntarily come together to negotiate with the aid of a third party
Greed v. Grievance
Theory of causes of civil conflict: either a marterial element that an insurgent group desires to obtain or a dissatisfaction with the state; however, tends to over predict civil conflicts
Lootable resources
Resources an autocratic nation may get involved in a civil conflict; wants to take those resources to give to their winning coalition that keeps them power; provides incentive to make war last
Non-military/humanitarian intervention
The involvement of one or more non-warring parties to try to help state and insurgent halt violence, focus on helping civilians (UN, US, Catholic Church)
Sana’a
Capital of Yemen, taken peacefully by Houthis in 2014 who disliked Hadi as president because he refused to step down–religious tensions; Hadi fled to Aden
Military intervention in civil conflict
(Koga) Democracies get involved on behalf of their constituents co-ethnics or when the rebels are particularly strong and will bring decisive victory while autocracies get involved when lootable resources are available
Saleh
Former president of Yemen, ousted in the 2012 Arab Spring, aligned with Shi’ite Houthi but killed by them when he broke away
Houthi
An Islamic political and religious group of Shi’ites, backed by Iran, who are unhappy with Hadi ruling Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Serves as a de facto government in many parts of rural Yemen because they are able to perform public services; capitalized on the bombing campaigns of US and Saudi Arabia
Nuer
Insurgent ethnic group in South Sudan, led by Riek Machar
Dinka
Ethnicity of the government, led by president Salva Kiir in South Sudan
anarchy
the absence of a higher authority with the ability to reliably/effectively regulate state behavior
Relative vs. absolute gains
Liberalists believe in absolute gains (doing better than you were regardless of others) while realists believe in relative gains (it’s only better if you’re also doing better than others)
Hard vs. soft power
Hard power: military might
Soft power: diplomatic influence
Levels of analysis: lenses through which we can study IR
Individual: looks at the influence of leaders and influential people
Dyadic: looks at pairs of states and their common or different attributes
State: looks at the domestic characteristics of a state
Global/systemic: looks at how the resources are distributed throughout the entire system
Realism
• An approach to international affairs that emphasizes the importance of power as a means of state survival
Liberalism
An approach to international affairs that emphasizes international cooperation and how institutions can help mitigate anarchy
Constructivism
An approach to IR that emphasizes how social interactions shape state identities and interests, and social history between states matters
Power cycles theory
Hegemon’s can’t stay in power forever and usually rise and wane over a 100-year period
Misperception
Belief that another state is weak in capability or resolve can lead to more risk-accepting behavior and result in conflict
Peace through strength
Realist idea that military strength can create a unipolar system and a hegemon can enact leadership by serving as almost a central authority
Offense/defense balance
Offense advantage world: it is easier to take land than hold land, creates intense arms races and wars are often shorter and more frequent
Defense advantage world: it is easier to hold land than take, we can easily identify between defensive and offensive weapons and it is easy to identify revisionist states (Jervis)
Quantitative arms control
focus on number and reduction or limitiation
Qualitative arms control
focuses on what kinds of weapons, ex. ICBMs, ABMs, MRVs
SALT I
1972, limited ABMs and ICBMs
SALT II
1979, limited multiple re-entry vehicles
START I
NewSTART
1991, reduced the amount of arms the US and USSR had.
More limits, effective until 2021
trade war
The imposition of retaliatory tariffs between at least 2 economies
Retaliatory tariffs
A tax on one country’s imports in response to them taxing your imports
Rationality
Realism assumes that state leaders are able to logically think about how to survive in the system and further their own interests
Sovereignty
A state’s right to do whatever it wants within it’s borders
UN Security Council
Made of the P5 and 10 rotating members, elected regionally every 2 years, make binding resolutions
Security dilemma
A situation where one state’s actions to make itself more secure are perceived as a threat to the security of other states
Militarized interstate dispute (MID)
the threat, display, or use of force short of war and explicitly directed at another state (Jones, Brenner, Singer)
Balance of power
State’s balance each other’s power by either internally building up their military or externally allying with other states
Polarity
Denotes the balance of power in the international system
Hegemon
unipolar; one power (promotes peace because they can act as the central authority)
Bipolar
two powers (no great power wars, but many small wars)
multipolar
3 or more powers, very unstable
Power transition theory
Conflict is more likely when a hegemon is waning in power and another state is a rising power (and must also dislike status quo)
Collective security organization
A group of states agree to renounce use of force to settle disputes with one another and promise to use force against any member that violates that agreement
Collective defense organization
States join together and agree to use force in response to attacks from outside the group
structural democratic peace
a system of checks and balances and the need to maintain the support of the people makes it hard for chief executives to declare war (Moaz and Russet)
normative democratic peace
democracies have internal norms of peaceful conflict resolution that they externalize when dealing with other democracies (Moaz and Russet)
Economic/capitalist peace
Trade provides economic incentives that prompt democracies to pursue peaceful resolutions to conflicts
Kantian tripod
International organizations lead to democracy, lead to economic interdependence, lead to international organizations and all contribute to peace
Bargaining models of war
(Walter) incentives to conceal information and issues of commitment are key reasons to bargaining failure
“Strategic patience” strategy
Obama’s foreign policy strategy in regard to North Korea: wait for North Korea to come to the US
Juche
North Korean policy of self-reliance
Time-technology dilemma
The more bargaining delay the more time North Korea has to get strong, making the US relatively weaker
Juba and Malakal
Juba is the capital of South Sudan where Salva Kiir stays; Malakal is a city on the White Nile and rebel control of it would block state access to oil fields
selective violence
appears as assassinations, executions, and targeting HQ; more likely from rebels who have an information advantage
indiscriminate violence
more likely from government because they can’t easily ID the insurgents (info issue) and also serves as deterrence to anyone who wants to join the rebels - can sometimes backfire and incentivize them to join
zones of control
(Kalyvas) In zones where the government has more control, they can more easily use selective violence, and denunciations of rebels will be high; in zone 3, violence will be low because both sides have an info problem
asymmetrical warfare
an uneven balance of power exists between the two conflicting groups (usually rebels are weaker than state)
conventional warfare
two armies meet each other and attempt to win by defeating the other on the battlefield
unconventional warfare
guerrilla warfare, sneak attacks, being unable to identify the enemy among the civilians
arms embargo
in South Sudan, the embargo prevents anyone from bringing arms into the country; in Yemen, the embargo prevents only those arming Houthis from bringing in arms (so targeted at Iran and lets US slip through)
interstate war
sustained, coordinated violence between political organizations
