Review Sheet, Third Midterm Exam, GOV 312L: U.S. Foreign Policy

What is terrorism

Terrorism is the use or threatened use of violence against non-combatants in pursuit of some political aim or goal.

What are the (3) distinguishing features of terrorist organizations?

Terrorism is designed to achieve some larger political goal, it is not random violence. Terrorists target non-combatants and avoid direct conflict with states and their militaries. Terrorists are not state actors, having weaker capabilities and limited goals. They tend to work underground and have no address of residence.

What is the "terrorists dilemma"?

The communication and coordination required to organize attacks that furthers the group's goals also make the group vulnerable to detection by authorities, which diligently use surveillance to detect suspected terrorist activities. But, developing into a network of relatively autonomous cells, to avoid surveillance allows lower-level operatives to make decisions about targets and tactics. This can lead to poor choices that harm the organization and its goals, or failed operations due to poor planning or execution.

What are some of the broader global patterns in terrorist attacks?

Since 2001, the targets of terrorist groups have tended to be non-Western states and the nature of the threat has been decidedly local rather than transnational. Over the past 15 years the total number of terrorist attacks and deaths rose tenfold, sharply increasing in 2011.

Which countries are the main targets of terrorist attacks?

Terrorism has been centered in contexts of civil war and failed states in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria. India, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, and Sudan, also are marked by lower rates of economic development and higher levels of political instability.

Why do terrorist organizations resort to political violence to achieve their political goals? (Psychological vs. Strategic)

Psychological: The decision to become a terrorist has been attributed to feelings of frustration, narcissism, or having belief systems that see the world in stark dichotomies of good and evil. Alternatively, terrorists tend to be social outcasts who join extremist organizations primarily to experience a strong social attachment to a tight-knit group rather than their commitment to the political ideology or goals of the group. Strategic: The leaders who decide on the targets and mastermind the attacks do so because they believe it is the best course of action to attain their political goals.

Discuss (5) specific strategic uses of political violence by terrorist organizations such as provocation, outbidding, and spoiling potential peace negotiations.

(1) Terrorist organizations cannot defeat a state's military on the battlefield; they attack the civilian populations these militaries are meant to protect. This could produce popular pressure on the target state's government to change policy in ways that correspond with their demands. (2) Terrorist organizations use violent attacks to provoke an overreaction from an adversary. A long war could weaken the state by forcing it to expand enormous resources and lose public support in the face of mounting casualties. It could also increase a terrorist group's support among moderates. (3) In the context of civil war, terrorist organizations can use violent attacks to sabotage a potential peace agreement between moderate opposition forces and the government. This can resume fighting, cause public distrust, or end peace talks. (4) Terrorist organizations use violence to achieve political objectives. Demonstrative terrorism is used to gain attention to recruit additional followers and support from moderates. (5) Terrorism can arise from competition between rival groups for the same pool members and supporters.

What are the (3) dilemmas of counterterrorism

(1) Counterterrorism measures that are perceived as treating the whole community as a threat rather than only those members involved in terrorist activities can increase rather than diminish support for the terrorist group's cause. Moreover, torture and enhanced interrogation methods contravene the values of human rights and the moral legitimacy of the state. They can even provide terrorist groups with recruitment propaganda. Domestic surveillance can undermine citizens' privacy or freedom of speech and association, even censoring or marginalizing certain ideas. Increased security faces challenges of cost and effectiveness. Increased security may only shift the targets of terrorist attacks rather than prevent their occurrence. (2) Foreign military intervention can produce widespread disillusionment within foreign populations, that inadvertently produce widespread disillusionment within foreign populations. These wars stretch military resources and exhaust domestic political capital. (3) Less-committed members or financial donors of terrorist organizations may be deterred from attacking. States may deter terrorists by threatening to deny sought-after benefits if they strike or by retribution - a threat to something terrorists value, such as family members.

Why are terrorist organizations hard to deter?

Terrorists are committed to their goals, sacrificing their lives to achieve them. Terrorist groups have no permanent home base that can be destroyed.

What are the tradeoffs of targeting terrorist leaders with weapons such as drone strikes?

Drone strikes offer a significant reduction in the number of American casualties and less collateral damage in the form of civilian casualties. However, drone strikes also produce opposition within the target states due to civilian casualties and violations of state sovereignty. Moreover, domestic critics cited violations of American values and potential emulation of this warfare by states counter to America.

Discuss how the attack on 9/11 led to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

President Bush viewed the attack as war and entered the conflict as such. His goals were to topple the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and establish a "US-friendly" government.

How did the decision not to distinguish between terrorists and states that harbor terrorists play into this decision?

This decision would serve to motivate the decision for war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and force several countries, like Pakistan, to make decisions about what to do in this rapidly changing environment. The US believed there were two sides to the war, those with the US and those against.

How did considerations of domestic reaction and the possibility of another attack affect this decision?

An inability to prevent another attack coupled with a delayed response against the Taliban, could provoke a deep crisis of confidence in the US and its government.

How did we get from the attack on 9/11 and war in Afghanistan to war in Iraq?

Within the Bush Administration, pressure rose to invade Iraq immediately after 9/11. The decision to go to war in 2003 was overdetermined - multiple justifications, no single cause. One justification focused on Sadam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, threatening the US and rise of terrorism in the Middle East. Another placed Iraq in the axis of evil, threatening the US through Hussein's connection to Al Qaeda. The administration also seized on Iraq as a crucial leverage point to transform the Middle East. Regime change in Iraq could lessen the appeal to join radical political organizations and channel frustrations into non-violent democratic organizations.

What are tradeoffs associated with using external military force abroad such as in Afghanistan and Iraq to counter terrorism?

The US intervened in civil conflicts it did not understand - ethnic nuances, the failure of democracies to create a power vacuum. The US underestimated how casualties and damage to the target state could increase local support for terrorist organizations. The US didn't comprehend how costly the wars were - real costs, harm to reputation, harm to alliances, harm to international support. The US didn't have an exit strategy.

What are institutions?

Institutions are the humanly devised constraints that structure incentives and interaction.

What is the difference between institutions and organizations?

Organizations are formal, inter-governmental bodies that possess agency or the capability to make decisions and issue directives. Institutions are rules, organizations are political actors.

What are some examples of institutions in domestic and international politics?

Domestic - Governing laws & the Electoral College. International - Sovereignty & the taboos of Chemical Warfare.

Understand, explain, and give examples of how international institutions shape international politics through the following mechanisms: a) guiding behavior and shaping expectations; b) providing information about state interests and incentives to comply; c) allocating and generating power for states.

(a) Institutions provide clues as to how a broader international society has defined what is appropriate behavior. These rules are designed to minimize conflict in the international system. Ex. Sovereignty - The recognition of sovereign rights is designed to be reciprocal. (b) Institutions provide information about states in the international system. Once specified as an international institution or norm, these codes of conduct can be used to assess the behavior, interests, and threat posed by a state or actor in the international system. (c) International organizations facilitate cooperation among states by reducing the transaction costs associated with making agreements.

How does U.S. membership in international organizations like the UN, NATO, and WTO demonstrate the ability of international institutions to solve a fundamental problem of international politics - to create and preserve coercive power and, at the same time, constrain that same power?

Because international organizations are multilateral, other states can check US economic and military power. This system of checks constrains the US military to use legitimate and authoritative coercive power. By allocating these powers to a supranational organization, it gives these coercive powers authority.

Describe the tradeoffs associated with participation in international organizations and national sovereignty.

Participation in international organizations requires some delegation of responsibility and authority for policymaking outside of the domestic government. Ex. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is granted the authority to establish international trade policy among the states in their organization.

What are the two main political bodies of the UN?

The General Assembly - all member states; although it is difficult to reach consensus, the assembly provides a powerful political vehicle to secure international legitimacy or political acceptance for some foreign policy action. The Security Council - the US, UK, China, Russia, and France are permanent members who may veto or block any matter that comes before the council. It also includes ten rotating members.

Which (5) states have the most power within these political bodies?

US, UK, China, Russia, France.

Why does the United States participate in the United Nations and often abide by its decisions when it could just ignore it instead (because it possesses much greater military capacity than the UN)?

The United Nations has some capacity to bestow political legitimacy from the global community on some set of foreign policy actions. For the US, securing international legitimacy can reduce the costs associated with implementing some action - Ex. less resistance, new coalition partners. The UN can also shape public opinion in the US - UN approval heightens public approval.

What is interstate cooperation?

Interstate cooperation refers to the agreement of disagreement between states or actors about how to implement solutions to international problems.

What are some of the primary impediments state face when trying to reach cooperative settlements with each other?

Externalities - the costs or benefits that accrue to parties that are not directly involved in the interaction. Distributional stake - the degree to which an actor has a stake in the cooperative outcome. Transaction costs - the costs associated with negotiating and establishing an agreement.

What are the incentives for global governance through international institutions?

Global governance mitigates negative externalities, facilitates joint solutions to complex challenges, and generates rules that help govern interactions.

How are efforts at global governance confronted by the collective action problem?

The collective action problem occurs when everyone agrees about the benefits of a common goal, but there are few incentives for an individual actor to pay the costs of achieving that goal. The creation of multilateral governance structures that provide incentives to contribute to the public good can help solve this problem.

Once international agreements are established, what types of problems of compliance and enforcement do international organizations face?

Cooperation to provide enforcement suffers from the same collective action problem as cooperation to provide any public good - each country would like to enjoy the benefits of enforcement without having to pay the cost.

What are the Cold War origins of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO

NATO's chief function was to provide military security for Western Europe against the possibility of a Soviet military attack.

What did Lord Ismay mean when he said the goal of NATO was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down"?

Keeping the Russians out referred to NATO's chief function to provide protection against a potential Soviet conventional and nuclear attack on Europe. Keeping the Americans in referred to NATO as a binding mechanism for American military power. By establishing an American-led alliance system, NATO provided a hegemon for the collective security arrangement and forced the US to act multilaterally. Keeping the Germans down referred to NATO's role of maintaining peace between democratic powers in Europe, by enforcing the Peace Treaty of 1945 and integrating them into a Western Alliance.

What are the two main dilemmas facing NATO and how has the Trump administration addressed these dilemmas?

The US believes they carry the burden of NATO's collective security obligations. They suggest that other NATO members shirk their responsibilities to provide for their own military security, by not spending enough on defense during and after the Cold War. The US has been a reluctant hegemon, resisting the larger economic costs of leading the Western alliance. The Trump administration stated that it may not honor Article 5 of NATO - an attack against one member, is an attack against all members - if the other members did not increase their defense spending.

What is democracy?

If a country has competitive elections, it is a democracy

Describe Robert Dahl's three "procedural minimal" conditions of democracy.

Dahl's conditions of democracy are public contestation, inclusion, and democratic sovereignty. Public contestation describes a country with multiple parties competing in elections and citizen rights to freely express themselves, form associations, and receive information from the media. Inclusion describes universal and equal participation by all segments of society. Democratic sovereignty describes elected powerful decision-making bodies, such as legislatures and chief executives.

What are the major historical expansions of voting rights during American history and how have expanded voting rights affected descriptive representation of women and ethnic minorities?

Mid 19th century - white males earned universal suffrage, as opposed to white male property owners. They ushered in Jacksonian democracy, that promised to be more responsive to the common man. Post-Civil War - Black men earned universal suffrage from the 15th amendment outlawing racial discrimination in voting rights. They elected 16 Black men to Congress in the following decade and helped elect President Ulysses Grant. By the 1870s, Southern states had nullified the amendment. 1920 - Women earned universal suffrage from the 19th amendment outlawing gender discrimination in voting rights. It was earned through the Women's Suffrage Movement, beginning in the 1870s. Women of color were largely disenfranchised for decades after. 1960s - Black people earned universal suffrage through the Civil Rights Movement and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Both vote denial (ie. Literacy tests) and vote dilution (ie. Gerrymandering) were effectively banned. Vote dilution created majority-minority districts, which have been instrumental in electing people of color to Congress. Native Americans earned universal suffrage in 1924, after earning citizenship through the Indian Citizenship Act. However, individual state laws continued to prohibit those living on reservations or without residential addresses to vote until 2020. Asian Americans earned universal suffrage in 1952, after earning citizenship through the McCarran-Walter Act. In 1975, revisions to the Voting Rights Act allowed voting materials to be written in other languages. In 1971, the voting age was lowered to 18, previously 21, through the 26th amendment as a response to the draft age set at 18. American citizens living in US island territories cannot vote for the president and do not have representation in Congress. American citizens convicted of a felony cannot vote.

How has universal suffrage affected election outcomes?

A political system gains greater legitimacy, domestically and internationally, when all members of the citizenry can participate. Legitimacy produces popular acceptance of political decisions and inclusion produces identity and loyalty to the polity. Descriptive representation, electing representatives who look like "you", supports legitimacy.

How does democracy affect foreign policy? Explain how mass participation through elections expands the range of societal interests that can affect foreign policy. Explain how competitive elections create a punishment mechanism that influences foreign policy.

By enabling political participation through elections, democracy expands the societal interests within a state that can be represented in its foreign policy. Democracies are less likely to implement foreign policies that disproportionately benefit small sections of society because their more open political systems allow more groups a say in policymaking. Democracies find it hard to impose the broader costs of imperial expansion on large portions of the electorate because they have to face voters in regular elections. If governments pursue policies opposed to their interests, their citizens can vote them out of office in the next election.

What is the democratic peace theory?

Military conflict should be less likely among democracies than among all other combinations of regimes.

How do the factors that contribute to democracy's influence over foreign policy in general - electoral constraints, institutional constraints on power such as checks and balances, and a shared democratic identity - help to explain peaceful relations between democracies?

Elections raise the political costs of going to war, encouraging politicians to seek peaceful settlements. Secondarily, democracies are especially tough military adversaries. The settlements constructed by democracies tend to be more robust because they are hard to change domestically (checks and balances). Democracies share a democratic identity that fosters expectations of nonviolent compromise and reciprocal democratic respect.

What are some critiques of the democratic peace theory?

The absence of military conflict between democracies may be due more to chance than any casual ramifications of democracy on international relations (ie. shared interests or a historical absence of democracies). Secondarily, trade can deter military conflict because trading partners do not want to allow such conflict to disrupt reliable and profitable markets. Finally, states undergoing democratization may be more conflict-prone than both established democracies and stable authoritarian regimes.

How and why has Democracy Promotion been a more or less important element within U.S. foreign policy over the years?

The Democratic Peace Theory has long justified American efforts to expand democracy - expanding alliances, trade, and peace. The post-Cold War era favored a new justification, the spread of democracy provides greater security for the US. This idea has penetrated US foreign policy over the years.

Describe some of the efforts by the United States to promote democracy around the world.

Woodrow Wilson - facilitated a democratic transition in Germany and supported national self-determination to empower local groups demanding democratic rule, after WWI. Cold War - facilitated a promotion of democracy over communism; in action, US policy during the Cold War was anti-communism, utilizing authoritarian regimes and undermining democracies counter to the US. End of Cold War - the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union legitimized the global spread of democracy, through the US influence on citizens of anti-democratic regimes. Post Cold War - Bill Clinton intervened on the Yugoslavian genocide with the goal of democracy promotion. George Bush intervened in the Middle East, enforcing regime change and democracy, to counter terrorism post-9/11.

What are the political challenges associated with American efforts to promote democracy?

The global order is wary of US democracy, from historic conflict with the US to the failure of the US in Iraq. The Obama administration's commitment to liberal values and withdrawal from the Middle East, softened global skepticism. The Trump administration drew back further, diminishing global democracy promotion and US hegemony.

What are the benefits and drawbacks associated with promoting democracy around the world?

Benefits - democracy promotes peace and supports other democracies. Drawbacks - the historic enforcement of democracy is achieved through military intervention. The US has a poor reputation in the global order, ie. US intervention in Latin American elections. Democracy promotion is expensive. Enforcing regime change lessens the autonomy and sovereignty of a state.

Describe historical waves of democracy and the possible causes of these waves such as demonstration effects, neighborhood effects, conditionality of international organizations, and the influence of hegemons.

Historic waves: 19th-20th century - partial democracies emerged in Europe and the US, followed by a reverse wave in the interwar period of WWI and WWII. 1940s - democracies emerged in West Germany, Italy, Austria, Japan, and Latin America, followed by a reverse wave in Latin America in the 60s and 70s. 1970s-80s - democracies emerged in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union, followed by a reverse wave in the 21st century. Causes: Diffusion - the spread of common policy across space and time. Demonstration effects - mass events, the fall of the Berlin Wall, cause people to emulate similar actions and their outcomes. Neighborhood effect - states emulate the democracy efforts of their neighboring states. Conditionality - powerful incentives for elites to adopt democratic reforms to enjoy the economic and political benefits of membership in political organizations. Hegemons - the actions of international hegemons to diffuse democracy globally.

According to the Krasner reading, what are the two main tendencies within US foreign policy regarding democracy promotion and dealing with authoritarian regimes?

Transforming dictatorships into liberal democracies or demonstrating the virtues of democracy by example through a well-functioning US political system. The first devotes US resources into a historically unsuccessful project. The second threatens US security, by allowing radical regimes to strengthen.

What third option does Krasner propose in how the U.S. should deal with long-standing dictatorships

Promoting good enough governance emphasizes greater security, economic growth, and provision of services. For consolidated democracies, the US must maintain its alliances and trade commitments, to sustain successful democracies. For transitional countries, the US must work with other democracies to identify good, local leaders to support. For despotic regimes, democracy is not viable in the short-term. The US must identify good, local leaders and provide assistance to improve security, economic growth, and provision of services.

What are the chief indicators of the increase of globalization since World War II?

It has been fueled by a global trading regime, centered on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organization, that has encouraged and sustained dramatic reductions in political barriers to trade. Technological developments associated with the Internet have made it possible to trade services, like accounting, financial advising, education, and medical diagnostics, across great distances. Multinational firms can outsource important services and stages of production to different locations around the world, to drive down their costs and consumer prices. Manufacturing operations in Western Europe and North America over 100 years ago have steadily moved to lower-wage economies in the developing world. Growing levels of economic flows or transactions across national boundaries demonstrate the integration of multiple national markets into a single global market - exports and imports.

What is comparative advantage and how does it contribute to aggregate economic gains for states from trade?

Comparative advantage is a relative efficiency in the production of some good or service compared to the production of some other good or service.

How does trade contribute to the economic sources of order in the international system?

This principle implies that countries can grow wealthier by specializing in the production of those goods in which they hold a comparative advantage relative to all other goods.

What is the Ricardian model of trade?

The growth of international trade through globalization can increase the national income of all countries that participate in it.

Describe the processes by which it suggests that trade and specialization can increase aggregate national income.

By narrowing the range of economic tasks for which an asset or resource is used, specialization enables them to be deployed in their most efficient function. This heightened efficiency helps to maximize the output an economic asset can generate. A surplus can be transformed into a greater quantity of economic goods that increases wealth through exchange or trade.

If trade makes states wealthier, why is there political resistance to globalization?

(1) States may limit international trade for a range of economic benefits. Tariffs have historically acted as an important source of public revenue, particularly for developing countries. States also protect new domestic industries that are trying to gain a foothold or market share in the global economy. (2) States must protect their citizens and territory from physical threats, this requires a robust military capacity. States may protect economic sectors vital for defense, like armaments manufacturing, to ensure access to these products during wartime from domestic sources likely to support the national security goals of the state. Trade also serves as a substitute for military action. Sanctions pressure an adversary to change its foreign policies through the imposition of economic penalties. (3) States control the competitive forces of global economic integration for domestic political reasons. They may implement commercial policies that disproportionately benefit politically important constituencies to ensure their continued support.

What are the domestic distributional consequences of globalization?

The holders of abundant resources are likely to pressure their government to eliminate trade barriers because globalization increases their real income. The holders of scarce factors of production are more likely to support governments that implement protectionist trade policies.

Which groups win and lose from globalization inside the United States?

While the holders of abundant factors see their incomes increase from globalization, holders of scarce factors will see their incomes fall from the same set of market pressures.

What is the Heckscher-Ohlin model of trade?

A model of international trade that makes a series of theoretical claims linking a country's factor endowments to its patterns of exports and imports. The model shows how greater exposure to international trade redistributes income within an economy.

What does the H-O model of trade demonstrate about the relationship between access to the international market and redistribution of income within countries?

The model predicts that states will export goods that intensively use locally abundant factors, and that international trade will increase the returns to owners of locally abundant factors of production. Holders of scarce factors in production will see their incomes fall from globalization.

Why did the United States launch a trade war against China in 2018?

The election of President Trump promoted a reorientation in US grand strategy and trade policy that helped escalate the US-China conflict. China's economic rise and shift in the global distribution of power threatened the US as the unilateral great power and economy. Additionally, China's unfair trading practices and government support for Chinese firms were at odds with the US economy and its management. The Trump Administration's America First policy promised to reduce imports and exports, and to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.

What are some of the important stages in this trade war between China and the United States?

China and the US repeatedly responded to tariff increases by the other with a new round of tariff increases. The Chinese government intentionally targeted sectors and regions of the US economy that were more likely to vote for President Trump, to leverage elections and pressure the Trump Administration. The administration responded by gifting subsidies to those impacted in the US and did not concede to Chinese demands. In 2020, a phase one trade deal was signed by both parties that eased access for American exports into China. This deal failed to succeed as the Covid-19 pandemic began.

What is an exchange rate?

Exchange rates measure the value of one currency in terms of another.

How do shifts in exchange rates alter patterns of imports and exports?

Importers and exporters often exchange their home currency for the currency preferred by their trading partner to complete a transaction. If the dollar is worth more than the Euro, European products will be cheaper for Americans, and American products will be more expensive for Europeans.

How can exchange rate changes influence trade policy?

A central bank concerned about inflation may reduce the money supply; this will raise the value of the currency, because there is less of it in circulation, and slow inflation. The currency will appreciate, and its country's exports will be more expensive. The country will import more and export less. During periods of recession and unemployment, the opposite process will occur.

What is the Mundell-Fleming Trilemma?

The tension between monetary policy autonomy (the ability to use government policy to affect the money supply and outcomes in the economy, especially inflation and unemployment), exchange rate stability (the absence of volatility in currency values) and capital mobility (the unfettered flow of investment capital and money in and out of countries) is known as the Mundell-Fleming Trilemma.

How does this trilemma highlight the tradeoffs for states as they strive to achieve three goals: monetary policy autonomy, exchange rate flexibility, and capital mobility?

The trilemma states that governments must choose two based on the relative tradeoffs involved. In practice, the trilemma often reduces to a choice for governments between a fixed or floating exchange rate. Governments have to choose whether to give up monetary policy autonomy for stability by having a fixed exchange rate, or the opposite by opting for a floating exchange rate.

What is a trade deficit?

A trade deficit occurs when a country imports more than it exports

How are trade deficits related to foreign capital inflows and investment in the United States?

The balance of payments states that the current account, or ratio of exports to imports, must balance with the capital account, which is the ratio of capital outflows to inflows. The balance of payments dictates that when a country runs a current account deficit, it must compensate by running a capital account surplus - the country borrows more money than it lends.

What is the political significance of the dollar's reserve currency status in the global economy?

The dollar as a reserve currency describes the international transactions that occur using American dollars. Investors believe in the American dollar and banks. Secondarily, US financial decisions are met with fewer consequences. The American dollar's value and stability affects the domestic and global economy. The international order benefits from supporting America.

How can global capital markets discipline or influence the economic policy of governments?

When foreign capital holders lose confidence in a government's monetary policy, they tend to sell assets denominated in that currency. International capital markets can constrain a country's monetary policy, limiting discretion of elected officials and forcing them to push their economy into a recession to assure creditors.

What emergency actions did the Federal Reserve undertake to help prevent a broader global financial crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic?

It has extended unprecedented credit to businesses, banks, and governments. It dropped the Federal Fund's rate target from 0 to 0.25. It participated in multiple rounds of quantitative easing - asset purchases that increase the size of the balance sheet. It lended directly to large corporations and indirectly to all others.

How does the status of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of the global economy help the Federal Reserve to take such dramatic steps during the pandemic to support the U.S. economy?

The FED can exchange US dollars to central banks to dissuade them from selling US treasuries. They can print more money to increase economic stability.

How is this related to the Hegemonic Stability Theory?

The US leadership role in the global economy means that the stability of other economies rests on the stability of the US economy. The benefits of American hegemony outweighs the costs as the entire world is supported or helped by US economic recovery.

What is the Bretton Woods economic order?

Forty-four nations met to discuss how to manage economic cooperation in the post-world war era.

What were the main forces that served as an impetus for the U.S. to construct the Bretton Woods order?

The collapse of the First Era of Globalization in 1914 with the onset of WWI and the unraveling of economic cooperation in the interwar period that lead to the onset of WWII.

What are the main organizations that emerged from Bretton Woods?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) emerged. The IMF was created to act as a lender of last resort. The World Bank was created to assist in longer-term economic development goals. In lieu of the International Trade Organization, the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade was created, replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995.

How might international economic organizations, like the WTO and the IMF, facilitate economic cooperation among states and higher levels of international trade?

Institutions may provide channels for governments to communicate credibly, which can help ameliorate problems of cooperation that arise from distrust or misinformation about a government's motivations. Institutions may impose rules or structure on the interaction that would increase the actors' ability to credibly commit to cooperate - ie. actors will be punished for defection or rewarded for cooperation. Institutions may act as advocates for certain ideas and influence how policymakers thank about the benefits of cooperation.

What is the GATT and what is the WTO?

The GATT was a multilateral international organization designed to support the reduction of trade barriers on a reciprocal basis among states. The WTO is an organization that ensures states uphold existing trade concessions negotiated through the GATT or WTO.

How do these organizations differ?

The WTO institutionalized a dispute settlement mechanism with established procedures for filing grievances, investigating complaints, and punishing defection.

What are some of the norms, principles, and rules associated with the GATT and WTO?

The GATT/WTO system is structured around the principles of nondiscrimination - "like" products should not be treated differently based on country of origin - and reciprocity - member countries are expected to extend similar concessions when one receives greater market access from their trading partners. Trade rules under the system are negotiated through a series of multilateral meetings, sometimes lasting for years. These negotiating rounds typically focus on areas of trade that have yet to be liberalized or that pose obstacles to cooperation.

How does the dispute settlement mechanism in the WTO support international trade?

Its enforcement capacity keeps the global economy open by punishing states pursuing protection.

What is the International Monetary Fund?

Emerging from the Bretton Woods negotiations, the fund acts like a bank. It oversees a pool of capital that's been given to it by its member countries.

What are its main functions?

Its purpose is to manage the system of monetary commitments under the Bretton Woods gold standard and to serve as a lender of last resort to provide countries with injections of liquidity to stave off default and avoid financial crises.

What is conditionality and how does the IMF use it to promote economic reforms within countries?

To access funds, borrowing countries will have to commit to a set of austerity measures, such as reducing government spending, privatizing state-owned industries, and cutting social programs.

Why does the U.S. have so much influence within the IMF?

Each member of the IMF has a quota - an amount denominated in the IMF's currency. Members pay their quota to the fund and receive vote shares on the Executive Board proportional to their quote. The US maintains the largest quota.

What is the basic scientific claim about the causes and extent of climate change?

Carbon dioxide is a heat-trapping gas. The volume of carbon dioxide has increased significantly since the industrial revolution (280 ppm in 1800 to 400 ppm in 2015). Scientists predict the average global temperature will rise by 5.5 degrees F. from 1800 to 2050. In part, the rise in deforestation has lessened the capacity of carbon absorption.

What are the main environmental consequences that scientists fear will result from climate change?

Extreme heat waves will rise; subsequently, extreme drought or precipitation will rise. Extreme weather will harm agricultural production, threaten water supplies, and increase wildfires. Melting arctic ice sheets will raise ocean levels, endangering coastal communities. Scientists predict ocean levels will rise by 3 to 6 feet by the end of the century.

What countries and regions will be most affected by climate change?

Areas with low variability (temperature fluctuation) and hot temperatures - often, tropical regions close to the equator - are likely to see the largest changes in their ecosystems. Sequentially, global warming will have a more severe local impact in poorer countries.

What is the tragedy of the commons?

Tragedy of the commons encourages overuse of common pool resources - the atmosphere, bodies of water, fisheries, etc. The tragedy emerges with public property or resources for which it is costly to restrict their consumption. Common pool resources are nonexcludable but rivalrous.

Why is it rational for individuals to overuse public goods

Individuals making consumption or use decisions of the resources do not bear the full social costs of overuse.

How does this phenomenon help to explain the difficulty of managing the sustainable use of commonly held public property?

The absence of property rights creates externalities (costs or benefits of some transaction by people not involved in transaction). The long term damage of overuse does not outweigh the immediate benefits to the individual responsible.

What is an externality?

An externality is a spillover cost borne by actors not directly involved in a process.

What is the collective action problem?

The collective action problem describes the failure to cooperate because of competing or conflicting interests.

How might it be applied to the challenges of managing climate change

It is applicable to global warming because states do not want to implement environmental protection policies that will curb economic growth, despite the danger of climate change.

What are some of the political solutions to the collective action problem in the case of carbon dioxide emissions?

Large actors could provide the public good by reducing their carbon emissions. International agreements could punish noncompliance.

What are the three different distributional struggles related to the problem of climate change?

(1) Government policy can make some groups more competitive by altering their costs of business while making other groups less so. Government efforts to use regulations or incentives to reduce carbon emissions often run into intense opposition from coalitions of interests that stand to lose. (2) How to apportion the burden of emission reductions across countries involves a fairness issue. (3) The process of allocating pollution rights is fraught with political implications.

What is the Paris climate accord?

The Paris climate accord is a treaty under the UNFCCC that aims to reduce average global temperature increase to below two degrees above preindustrial levels.

How might it operate to reduce carbon emissions and limit the increase of average temperatures?

Nationally determined contributions that are voluntary and not legally binding. (Designed to work through the politics of naming and shaming).

How did it navigate the tension between developed and developing countries?

Fund to transfer $100 billion dollars from developed to developing countries. (Designed to help developing countries pay costs and as compensation for the fact that developed countries are more responsible for this problem due to their earlier industrialization).

Which group of countries will be the recipients of foreign aid under the Paris Climate Accord?

Developing countries will receive foreign aid.

How did this aid help facilitate the construction of this international agreement? And how might this aid help countries fulfill their emission targets?

The aid serves as compensation for larger countries, who are more prepared to reduce carbon emissions. The aid allows these countries to reduce their emissions and sustain their economies.

What is a Nationally Determined Contribution?

The voluntary target that a country sets for itself, regarding carbon emission reduction.