Test 1

Question 1

Realism

Answer 1

An IR theory that explains international relations mainly in terms of power

Question 2

International Relations

Answer 2

The relationships among the world’s state governments and the connection of those relationships with other actors (such as the United Nations, multinational corporations, and individuals), with other social relationships (including economics, culture, and domestic politics), and with geographic and historical influences.

Question 3

Collective Goods Problem

Answer 3

A tangible or intangible good, created by the members of a group, that is available to all group members regardless of their individual contributions; participants can gain by lowering their own contribution to the collective good, yet if too many participants do so, the good cannot be provided.
- available to all, non excludable
- non-rival
- free rider problem
- good is overused

Question 4

Reciprocity solution

Answer 4

A response in kind to another’s actions; a strategy of reciprocity uses positive forms of leverage to promise rewards and negative forms of leverage to threaten punishme
- solution to collective goods problem (reward those who help and hurt those who don’t)
- base of most IR systems

Question 5

Identity solution

Answer 5

A principle for solving collective goods problems by changing participants’ preferences based on their shared sense of belonging to a community
- changes participants presences is that they want to contribute for the good of the community

Question 6

Dominance solution

Answer 6

Solution to collective goods problem
- establishes power hierarchy to create order of good

Question 7

International Politics Economy (IPE)

Answer 7

The study of the politics of trade, monetary, and other economic relations among nations, and their connection to other transnational forces

Question 8

State

Answer 8

An inhabited territorial entity controlled by a government that exercises sovereignty over its territory

Question 9

International System

Answer 9

The set of relationships among the world’s states, structured by certain rules and patterns of interaction

Question 10

Nation-state

Answer 10

States whose populations share a sense of national identity, usually including a language and culture

Question 11

Gross Domestic Product

Answer 11

The size of a state’s total annual economic activity

Question 12

Non-state actors

Answer 12

Actors other than state governments that operate either below the level of the state (that is, within states) or across state borders
- NGOs, IGOs, etc.

Question 13

Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)

Answer 13

An organization (such as the United Nations and its agencies) whose members are state governments.
-non state actor

Question 14

Nongovernmental organization (NGOs)

Answer 14

A transnational group or entity (such as the Catholic Church, Greenpeace, or the International Olympic Committee) that interacts with states, multinational corporations (MNCs), other NGOs, and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)
- non state actor

Question 15

Individual Level of Analysis

Answer 15

Analysis of choices and perceptions of individuals

Question 16

Domestic level of analysis

Answer 16

Events that happen domestically that affect the international system

Question 17

System Level of Analysis

Answer 17

Concerns the influence of international system on outcomes

Question 18

Globalization

Answer 18

The increasing integration of the world in terms of communications, culture, and economics; may also refer to changing subjective experiences of space and time accompanying this process
3 concepts:
- one view globalization is the fruition of liberal economic principles
- one views is skeptic of globalization, (world no more integrated today before WW1)
- one view sees globalization as in between both the other ideas

Question 19

North-South Gap

Answer 19

The disparity in resources (income, wealth, and power) between the industrialized, relatively rich countries of the West (and the former East) and the poorer countries of Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia and Latin America.

Question 20

Idealism

Answer 20

An approach that emphasizes international law, morality, and international organizations, rather than power alone, as key influences on international relations.

Question 21

Power

Answer 21

The ability or potential to influence others’ behavior, as measured by the possession of certain tangible and intangible characteristics.
- long and short term

Question 22

Geopolitics

Answer 22

The use of geography as an element of power, and the ideas about it held by political leaders and scholars

Question 23

Sovereignty

Answer 23

A state’s right, at least in principle, to do whatever it wants within its own territory; traditionally, sovereignty is the most important international norm.

Question 24

Norms

Answer 24

The shared expectations about what behavior is considered proper.

Question 25

Security dilemma

Answer 25

A situation in which actions that states take to ensure their own security (such as deploying more military forces) are perceived as threats to the security of other states.
- creates arms race
- states don’t know others interests, so everything is taken as a threat

Question 26

Balance of power

Answer 26

The general concept of the power of one or more states being used to balance that of another state or group of states. The term can refer to (1) any ratio of power capabilities between states or alliances, (2) a relatively equal ratio, or (3) the process by which counterbalancing coalitions have repeatedly formed to prevent one state from conquering an entire region.

Question 27

Great powers

Answer 27

Generally, the half dozen or so most powerful states; the great power club was exclusively European until the twentieth century. See also middle powers.

Question 28

Middle powers

Answer 28

States that rank somewhat below the great powers in terms of their influence on world affairs (for example, Brazil and India)

Question 29

Neorealism

Answer 29

A version of realist theory that emphasizes the influence on state behavior of the system’s structure, especially the international distribution of power.

• international distribution of power

Question 30

Multipolar system

Answer 30

An international system with typically five or six centers of power that are not grouped into alliances.
- many wars
- more reciprocity

Question 31

Bipolar

Answer 31

System with two main powers dominated the others
-reciprocity between powers
-dominance within powers
-very stable

Question 32

Unipolar (hegemony)

Answer 32

One power in charge of system
- steep hierarchy, dominance

Question 33

Tripolar system

Answer 33

Three powers
- fear is that two tend to gang up on one, so less common

Question 34

Power transition theory

Answer 34

A theory that the largest wars result from challenges to the top position in the status hierarchy, when a rising power is surpassing (or threatening to surpass) the most powerful state

Question 35

Hegemony

Answer 35

The holding by one state of a preponderance of power in the international system so that it can single-handedly dominate the rules and arrangements by which international political and economic relations are conducted

Question 36

Hegemonic stability theory

Answer 36

The argument that regimes are most effective when power in the international system is most concentrated
- when one power is in charge

Question 37

Alliance

Answer 37

Coalition of states that coordinate their actions for some end
- fluidity of alliances
- alliances are productive, not because they like each other
- 40-60% of alliances are broken

Question 38

Coalition

Answer 38

Short term alliance

Question 39

Alliance cohesion

Answer 39

The ease with which the members hold together an alliance; it tends to be high when national interests converge and when cooperation among allies becomes institutionalized

Question 40

Burden sharing

Answer 40

The distribution of the costs of an alliance among members; the term also refers to the conflicts that may arise over such distribution.

Question 41

Nonaligned movement

Answer 41

A movement of third world states, led by India and Yugoslavia, that attempted to stand apart from the U.S.-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War.

Question 42

Statecraft

Answer 42

The art of managing state affairs and effectively maneuvering in a world of power politics among sovereign states

Question 43

Compellence

Answer 43

The threat of force to make another actor take some action (rather than, as in deterrence, refrain from taking an action)

Question 44

Rational actors

Answer 44

Actors conceived of as single entities that can “think” about their actions coherently, make choices, identify their interests, and rank the interests in terms of priority.

Question 45

National interest

Answer 45

The interests of a state overall (as opposed to particular parties or factions within the state)

Question 46

Neoliberal

Answer 46

Shorthand for “neoliberal institutionalism,” an approach that stresses the importance of international institutions in reducing the inherent conflict that realists assume in an international system; the reasoning is based on the core liberal idea that seeking long-term mutual gains is often more rational than maximizing individual short-term gains.

Question 47

International regime

Answer 47

A set of rules, norms, and procedures around which the expectations of actors converge in a certain international issue area (such as oceans or monetary policy)

Question 48

Collective security

Answer 48

The formation of a broad alliance of most major actors in an international system for the purpose of jointly opposing aggression by any actor; sometimes seen as presupposing the existence of a universal organization (such as the United Nations) to which both the aggressor and its opponents belong

Question 49

Postmodernism

Answer 49

An approach that denies the existence of a single fixed reality and pays special attention to texts and to discourses—that is, to how people talk and write about a subject

Question 50

Militarism

Answer 50

The glorification of war, military force, and violence

Question 51

Positive peace

Answer 51

A peace that resolves the underlying reasons for war; not just a cease-fire but a transformation of relationships, including elimination or reduction of economic exploitation and political oppression.

Question 52

Liberal feminism

Answer 52

A strand of feminism that emphasizes gender equality and views the “essential” differences in men’s and women’s abilities or perspectives as trivial or nonexistent

Question 53

Postmodern feminism

Answer 53

An effort to combine feminist and postmodernist perspectives with the aim of uncovering the hidden influences of gender in IR and showing how arbitrary the construction of gender roles is.

Question 54

Difference feminism

Answer 54

A strand of feminism that believes gender differences are not just socially constructed and that views women as inherently less warlike than men (on average)

Question 55

Postmodern feminism

Answer 55

Seeks to deconstruct realism with the specific aim of uncovering the persuasive hidden influences of genders in IR