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International Relations Exam 1 > International Relations Exam 1 > Flashcards

International Relations Exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is International Relations?

A

The study of interaction among various actors that participate in international politics.

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2
Q

Who are the main actors in the international system?

A

The main actors are leader/individuals, states, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

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3
Q

What is Realism/Neorealism?

A

Realism/Neorealism focuses on states as most powerful. They are often insecure, selfish and power seeking. The major theorists Thucydides, Saint Augustine, Hobbes, Morgenthau, Waltz, Gilpin, and Mearsheimer.

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4
Q

What is Liberalism?

A

Liberalism focuses on states, nongovernmental groups, and international organizations. They believe there is good in everything and there is a way to cooperate. Often democratic-libearal or authoritarian-autarkic.

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5
Q

What is Constructivism?

A

Constructivism focuses on people, elites, and cultures. True identities matter and education is important. Change can be done through socialization. The major theorists are Kratochwill, Hopf, and Wendt.

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6
Q

What is Marxism?

A

Marxism is the belief in social classes. The proletariat and bourgeois compete against each other. Major theorists are Marx and Hobson.

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7
Q

What is Post Structuralism?

A

Post Structuralism argues there is no factual knowledge. There needs to be representation and multiple perspectives to get a complete picture.

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8
Q

What is Feminism?

A

Feminism focuses on social relations, particularly gender relations, rather than anarchy. Promote human security over state security.

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9
Q

What is Post-Colonialism?

A

Post-Colonialism states that IR is Eurocentric (focusing on Europe when solving issues). IR needs different voices, varied representation, and multiple interpretation of reality.

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10
Q

Why is history important for IR?

A

History provides context, shows patterns of behavior, learn past of IR systems, the core of concepts, and helps understand the present.

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11
Q

Why is Philosophy important for IR?

A

Philosophy helps us understand human nature and state.

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12
Q

What is the role of a State?

A

The state defines territorial base, stable population, effective government, and recognize diplomatic by other states.

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13
Q

Who is Plato?

A

Plato (427-347 BC)
- Who should govern?
o Philosopher kings

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14
Q

Who is Aristotle?

A

Aristotle (384-322 BC)
- First to use comparative method
- Analyzed 168 constitutions
- Importance of domestic politics
o States rise and fall due to internal factors

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15
Q

Who is Hobbes?

A

Hobbes (1588-1679)
- Why give up individual freedom to live within a state?
o Life in the state of nature was, “solitary, nasty, brutish, and short”
o Advocated for a “leviathan” – power is centrally controlled and absolute

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16
Q

Who is Rousseau?

A

Rousseau (1712-1778)
- Short term self-interest versus long term common interest
- General Will: The only way that state can fulfill its role which is “common good”

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17
Q

Who is Kant?

A

Kant (1724-1804)
- How do we attain world peace and avoid war?
- Though man is selfish, he can learn new ways of cosmopolitanism and universalism
- Perpetual Peace: Advocated for “federation of states” based on equality

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18
Q

What is the Treaty of Westphalia?

A

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
- Ended the 30 year war and established the concept of Sovereignty or modern nation state

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19
Q

What is Colonialism/Imperialism?

A

Colonialism/Imperialism (15th Century to…)
- Led to forcible rule and exploitation of large parts of the world
- Long term impact of creating an unequal political and economics world system

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20
Q

What is the Concert of Europe?

A

Concert of Europe
- Laid foundation of state cooperative behavior

Concert of Europe: Period of relative peace (1815-1854) (Crimean War)
- Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia
o Fought no major wars and tried to stay neutral
o Major powers held an HOC meeting to discuss common concerns
- Why
o Elites are united in fear of masses, and domestic concerns are more important than foreign policy.

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21
Q

What is WWI and WWII?

A

World War I and World War II
- Reasonable punishment to the vanquished
- Bring the vanquished powers into the international system

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22
Q

What is the Cold War?

A

Cold War
- Bipolar politics

23
Q

What was 9/11?

A

9/11
- Power of non-state actors

24
Q

What is the historical origin of the state?

A

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
- Established core group of states that dominated the world until the beginning of the 19th century
o The west underwent an economic revival under capitalism
 England, France, and the United Provinces
o The east reverted to feudal practices and lagged in economic development
 Prussia and Russia

25
Q

Why is the Treaty of Westphalia used as a benchmark for IR?

A

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
- Development of the modern state and the notion of sovereignty
o Monarchs have political authority, not the Catholic church
o Sovereigns enjoy rights within their own territory
o The right of noninterference in domestic politics
o Permanent national militaries are established

26
Q

What is Nationalism?

A

Nationalism
- People’s shared devotion and allegiance to the nation
o Usually based on shared characteristics of the people
 Common customs
 Cultural practices
 Historical experience
- Political impact of nationalism in Europe was unprecedented war in the 19th century

27
Q

What is Legitimate Power?

A

Legitimate Power
- John Locke (1632-1704)
o Political power ultimately rests with the people
o Absolutist rule is limited by humankind
o The state is a beneficial institution created by rational people to protect their natural rights and self-interests
- French revolutionary idea of popular consent made other powers uncomfortable
- France embroiled in wars with Austria, Britain, and Prussia
- Rise of Napolean

28
Q
  1. Why did the international community feel the need to establish a system of international organizations after the Second World War?
A
  • Massive human rights violations
    o Genocide, leading to creation of the Geneva Conventions
  • First use of nuclear weapons technology
  • Emergence of two superpowers
    o United States and the Soviet Union
  • Decline of Europe
  • Gradual end of colonialism
  • Creation of the United States
29
Q
  1. Why was the rivalry between the two super powers in the post second world war period referred to as the cold war?
A

Domino Theory
- If one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino
Sino-Soviet Split 1960s
- Kissinger visits China in 1972

30
Q

What is Proxy Wars?

A

Proxy Wars
- Cold war turn hot
o Competition played out by and within third parties as conflict is globalized
- Cold War in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
o Iran 1953
o Nicaragua 1979
o Afghanistan 1979
o Grenada 1983

31
Q
  1. In what way did Gorbachev’s policies contribute to the end of the cold war?
A

Mikhail Gorbachev institutes policies which unravel the communist system
- Glasnost
o Political openness
- Perestroika
o Economic restructuring
- Lead to changes in Soviet foreign policy
o Withdrawals from Afghanistan and Angola in the late 1980s
- Soviets give up control of European satellite countries
o Begins with Poland
o Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989)
- Soviet Union begins to disintegrate
o Formally ceasing to exist on December 25, 1991

32
Q
  1. Why was there increase in ethnic conflicts (Rwanda, Yugoslavia) after the cold war?
A

Yugoslavia Conflict
- Disintegrates into independent states
- United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) respond
Widespread ethnic conflict arises
- Central and west Africa,
- Central Africa (intrastate)
Rwanda genocide occurs
- No international response

33
Q
  1. What are some of the key features of post-cold war world?
A

The US
- World’s biggest military and economic power
Russia
- Rebuilds after economic and political collapse
US and Russia
- Unprecedented cooperation at the global level
o Iraq invades Kuwait in 1990
 The multilateral response unites the former Cold War adversaries

34
Q
  1. What led to the rise of terrorism?
A

Al Qaeda
- Terrorist network commits terrorist acts against the United States and U.S. interest abroad
US and NATO
- Forces respond military in Afghanistan
US Invasion of Iraq
- US and coalition forces invade Iraq
o Alleging preemptive strike against secret weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
Terrorist attacks
- Launched in Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Great Britain

35
Q
  1. What was the Arab Spring? Why did it arise and was it successful?
A

Arab Spring
- Showed that the overthrow of Arab dictators was possible through more than just Islamic revolutions
- Reveals the strength and power of courageous young people when faced with secret services and military might

36
Q
  1. What is the purpose of IR theories?
A

The purpose of IR theories is to understand, explain, and predict state behavior.

37
Q
  1. What are the three levels of analysis? Why do scholars pay attention to the levels of analysis problem?
A

International System Level
- Focuses on systemic characteristics such as power distribution among states
o Unipolar
 Single power
o Bipolar
 Two powers (US and Russia)
o Multipolar
 Three or more powers

38
Q

What is Security Dilemma?

A
  • A paradox that occurs when the states seeking to improve their own security cause a decrease in security of other states or make other states insecure in the process.
39
Q

What is Balance of Power?

A
  • Taking actions to offset the power of more powerful states (alliances).
40
Q

What is Anarchy?

A
  • The fact that in the international system there exists no hierarchically superior, coercive authority that can create laws, resolve disputes, or enforce law and order.
41
Q

What is Polarity?

A
  • Unipolar, Bipolar, Multipolar
42
Q

What is Unipolar/Hegemony?

A
  • Single power like the US dominate
43
Q

What is Bipolar?

A
  • Two powers like the US and USSR during the Cold War
44
Q

What is Multipolar?

A
  • More than one power (US, Russia, China, and the EU)
45
Q

What is Historical Materialism?

A
  • Forces of production
    o Knowledge + technology = modes of production
     Type of economy
46
Q

What is Relations of Production?

A

o Economic system determines the social and ethical structure of society
 Social classes

47
Q

What is Change?

A

o Contradictions between forces of production
 Technological development
 Relations of production
 Class and property relations

48
Q

What is Neo-Marxism?

A
  • Explains global hierarchy of power
  • Why some countries are rich and others poor
49
Q

What is Intellectual Hegemony?

A
  • Hegemonic grip over social consciousness and identity
  • Hegemony is based on consent rather than coercion
50
Q

What is State Security?

A
  • Armed conflict as core meaning of security
51
Q

What is Human Security?

A
  • Promoted by feminist
    o Domestic violence, rape, poverty
    o Gender subordination
    o Ecological destruction
    o Security from war
52
Q

How does Marxism explain inequalities within society and in the world?

A

Marx
- Economic determinism
o Economic is the driving force of world politics
o Social process and historical construction is important
o Relationship between classes affect society and economy
- Capitalism
o Bourgeoise (business)
 Capital owning class
o Proletariat (labor)
 Wage laborers

53
Q

Why, according to Marx, are the limitations of capitalism?

A

Capitalism
- Accomplishes two goals
o Breaks down feudalism
o Creates social and economic foundation for the eventual transition to a higher level of social development
- Contains within itself seeds of its own destruction
o The Law of Falling Profit
 Labor saving techs, leads to increase in unemployment and decrease in profit (surplus value)
o Law of Disproportionality of Problem of Under Consumption
 Low wages leads to underconsumption & surplus
 Over supply & limited demand, leads to cycle of booms and busts
o The Law of Concentration or Accumulation of Capital
 Wealth and capital becomes more concentrated with the big capitalists

54
Q

What is the difference between state security and human security?

A

State Security
- Armed conflict as core meaning of security
Human Security
- Domestic violence, rape, poverty
- Gender subordination
- Ecological destruction
- Security from war

International Relations Exam 1 (1 decks)

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