IR authors & Primary Sources

Schmidt

History of IR + 3 great debates, sovereignty etc

Krishna

IR has a western bias

Kristensen

US dominated IR theory and journals, but is declining

Spruyt

Sovereign states are the most sucessful in IS

Acharya

Refutes myth that greece is western and the originator of the liberal world order

Waltz

Anarchy defines the IS, based on a self-help system

Sjolberg

Critique of Waltz, his theory excludes women & IS agression is because its male centered

Milner

Critiques neo-realist understanding of anarchy, leads to oversimplification, also erases interdependence in the system

Barnett and Duvall

Taxonomy of power

Wohlforth

Unipolarity is best: bandwagoning, no direct competition.

Jervis

Security dilemma

Merze Tate

Mandate system repacked colonial control

Kydd

Trust above a threshold, theory of signaling trust/mistrust

Kennan

USSR views communism as inevitable, can’t coexist with Lib democracy & is expansionist

Schultz

Threats from democracies are more credible because of accountability/audience costs

Rosato

Critique that DPT has weak causal mechanisms (bad logic behind it)

Barnett and Finnemore

IO’s are not just tools but individual actors

Mearsheimer

IOs fail to intervene in balance of power interests & are extentions of states

Klein

(Mark Carney) Davos conference speech end of the Liberal world order

Axelrod and Keohane

Game theory and theories about regimes (hegemonic stability) are related

Gartzke

Captialist peace theory

Treaty of Versailles

Document that ended WW1, german reparations & complete blame for war

Daviad & Kryztof

During times of widespread economic crisis, countries avoid tariffs more than during periods of isolated economic hardship

Norloff

US dollar remains the world currency

Monteiro

(Declinists vs Primacists)  Unipolarity is durable under conditions- containment economically not militarily   

Schmidt & Williams

Neoconservatives got the US into the Iraq war, realists objected

Martin et al.

Globalization is breaking down, flawed system that ignores developmental inequality

Doha Agreement (2020)

Peace deal between the USA and the Taliban, US withdrawal from Afghanistan

Rodman Memorandum (2006)

US engaged in sunk cost fallacy in Iraq and sent more troops

Fearon

Rational war happens bc of asymmetric information, issue indivisibility, commitment problems (mistrust)

Debs and Monteiro

Rapid power shifts are basis for war, rising and falling power preventative war

Wendt

Anarchy is what states make of it & Constructivism

Finnemore and Sinnyk

Process of norm adoption in the IS

Goddard

Legitimacy prevents counterbalancing- both power and norms are essential

Maastricht Treaty (1992)

Document that created the EU and built a new set of norms

Boix

Civil war happen bc of uneven wealth distribution, commitment problems (no mediation), weak states create uneven protections for civilians & NOT because of ethnic heterogeneity 

Fearon & Laitin

Civil war due to weak states and civil violence

Lawrence

Civil violence results from internal contestation for supremacy among nationalist actors

Paris

Limitations of R2P include mixed motive problem- not purely altruistic, conspicuous harm problem- perception skewed to cost, how to withdraw without extra harm, inconsistent responses to international emergency (political motive not altruism and the success of humanitarian aid

Betts

Intervention is ultimately not politically impartial

Resolution UNSC 1973 (2011)

First time UN authorized military intervention via R2P- Libya under Gaddafi

Shirk

China more likely to cooperate when theres internal disagreement

Fravel

China compromises on land treaties more than delay or escalation

Weiss

Conflict between the U.S. and China is not inevitable and future relationship relies on policy, strategic decisions, and domestic politics,

Mearshimer (China)

China’s rise will lead to a security competition between China and the United States

Christansen

SEA is stabilized by the USA but power perception could create unstable mulitpolarity

Schelling

War occurs when there is uncertainty and fear- risk is high involving nuclear weapons  

Tannenwald

Non-use of nukes is due to norms in the international system

Sagan

Reasons why states build nukes, elite consensus, bureaucratic and institutional interest 

Gheorghe

More countries acquired nukes during the early cold war bc of bipolar rivalry

Waltz (nuclear proliferation)

Iran should have nukes bc it would combat Israeli nuke monopoly in the region

Slayton

Cyber operations are less costly for the defense than the offense (cyber offense/defense cost)

Non-proliferation treaty

Akdag

Offensive realism is still relevant in cyberspace

Fey and Peeters

Private companies are actors within space technology and exploration

Beckley

USA not declining because it controls the international system

Economy

China is targeting new frontiers including the arctic, space, and the ocean

Lind

We are currently in a bipolar China/USA system

Belém Climate Change Conference (2025)

USA doesn’t attend this event while China does- pulling out of hegemonic responsablity?

Treaty of Westphalia

Establishes an IS among sovereign powers

Thucydides

the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

Sykes-picot agreement (1916)

Agreement between UK/France dividing Turkey into imperial spheres of influence