Ch 15 - Conflict, War, and Terrorism

Question 1

War

Answer 1

Organized armed violence aimed at a social group in pursuit of an objective

Question 2

State

Answer 2

The organization of the central government and government agencies such as the military, police, and regulatory agencies.

Question 3

Cold War

Answer 3

The state of military tension and political rivalry that existed between the US and the former Soviet Union from the 1950s through the late 1980s

Question 4

Dual-use Technologies

Answer 4

Defense-funded technological innovations with commercial and civilian use

Question 5

Military-Industrial Complex

Answer 5

A term first used by Dwight D Eisenhower to connote the close association between the military and defense industries

Question 6

Constructivist Explanations

Answer 6

Those explanations that emphasize the role of leaders of ethnic groups in stirring up hatred toward others external to one’s group

Question 7

Primordial Explanations

Answer 7

Those explanations that emphasize the existence of “ancient hatreds” rooted in deep psychological or cultural differences between ethnic groups, often involving a history of grievance and victimization, real or imagined, by the enemy group.

Question 8

Security Dilemma

Answer 8

A characteristic of the international state system that gives rise to unstable relations between states; as State A secures its borders and interests, its behavior may decrease the security of other states and cause them to engage in behavior that decreases A’s security

Question 9

Terrorism

Answer 9

The premeditated use or threatened use of violence by an individual or group to gain a political objective

Question 10

Transnational Terrorism

Answer 10

Terrorism that occurs when a terrorist act in one country involves victims, targets, institutions, governments, or citizens of another country

Question 11

Domestic Terrorism

Answer 11

Sometimes called insurgent terrorism, occurs when the terrorist act involves victims, targets, institutions, governments, or citizens from one country

Question 12

Geneva Conventions

Answer 12

A set of international treaties that govern the behavior of states during wartime, including the treatment of prisoners of war

Question 13

Guerrilla Warfare

Answer 13

Warfare in which organized groups oppose domestic or foreign governments and their military forces; often involves small groups of individuals who use camouflage and underground tunnels to hide until they are ready to execute a surprise attack

Question 14

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Answer 14

Chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons that have the capacity to kill large numbers of people indiscriminately

Question 15

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Answer 15

A set of symptoms that may result from any traumatic experience, including crime victimization, war, natural disasters, or abuses.

Question 16

Nuclear Winter

Answer 16

The predicted result of a thermonuclear war whereby thick clouds of radioactive dust and particles would block out vital sunlight, lower temperature in the northern hemisphere, and lead to the death of most living things on earth.

Question 17

Arbitration

Answer 17

Dispute settlement in which a neutral third party listens to evidence and arguments presented by conflicting groups and arrives at a decision that the parties have agreed in advance to accept

Question 18

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Answer 18

A Cold War doctrine referring to the capacity of two nuclear states to destroy each other, thus reducing the risk that either state will initiate war

Question 19

Nuclear Nonproliferation

Answer 19

Efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, or the materials and technology necessary for the production of nuclear weapons

Question 20

Clash of Civilizations

Answer 20

A hypothesis that the primary source of conflict in the 21st century has shifted away from social class and economic issues and toward conflict between religious and cultural groups, especially those between large-scale civilizations such as the peoples of Western Christianity and Muslim and Orthodox peoples.