POL S 7 Midterm terms

1. anarchy

absence of a central, overarching authority or global government above sovereign states. It is a structural condition, not necessarily meaning chaos, where no higher power exists to enforce laws, resolve disputes, or protect states, creating a "self-help" system

2. sovereignty

A states claim to its right to exist independently of others and govern itself that is either recognized or not recognized by other states

3. Treaties of Westphalia

ended the 30 years war in Europe, ended rule by religious authorities, creation of permanent militaries, establishment of state sovereignty, ——→ states should not be meddling in the actions of other states

4. Thucydides Trap

dangerous structural tension when a rising power threatens to displace an established ruling power, often leading to war.

→ when states are intimidated by other states growing power in contrast to theirs some kind of war is inevitable

5. balance of power

a theory and strategy where states protect themselves against dominant powers by matching their military and economic strength, ensuring no single nation can dominate others.

concept that adversaries are less likely to wage war or fight someone who seems equal to them either in their own power or their combined power with allies

6. security dilemma

States build up their own independent military for extraneous reasons, neighboring states seek to grow their militaries because they see this as a threat of war and then the first country increases their military as well in a positive feedback loop

7. prisoners' dilemma

lack of ability to communicate between eachother (states or prisoners) leads to both individuals potentially choosing what is best for them because they doubt that the other individual will do the same and they cannot check with them. very significant in climate change and tragedy of the commons

8. tit-for-tat

game theory approach where a state cooperates on the first move and subsequently mimics the opponent’s previous action, balancing cooperation and retaliation. - seen in the game example of the prisoners dilemma, if you bomb me I will bomb you in retaliation

9. relative gain

related to a zero sum game where any win for one state equals a loss for another state, → only one state gets the kind of cookie that everyone likes and therefore all the other states are at a loss

10. absolute gain

not a zero sum game where wealth can be expanded rather than divided up in a way only one state wins, each country gains in a way through cooperation → every state gets different kinds of cookies based on what they like so everyone wins.

11. offense-defense balance

is it easier to take or defend territory? The ratio of forces an attacker needs to take territory compared to the cost of forces the defender has deployed. used to hypothesize about the potential outcomes of a war.

12. democratic peace

established liberal democracies rarely, if ever, go to war with one another. While democracies still fight non-democracies, this "dyadic" peace is considered one of the most robust empirical findings in international relations (IR), often attributed to shared norms, institutional checks and balances, and economic interdependence

13. complex interdependence

neoliberal theory that argues that states have many avenues (economic, social, cultural) that connect them and create dependence between them that are in addition to military. there is no hierarchy of needs where survival trumps all.

→ globalization and shared vulnerabilities (climate change) make war less efficient and cooperation more likely

14. collective security

premise that security is shared globally and an attack on any state is an attack on all, main example is the United Nations, greater than regional alliances. preventative universal system that creates more unity by including all nations.

15. correlation vs. causation

the fact that democracies dont frequently fight eachother does not mean that all democracies will never fight eachother. requires further research without an unknown compounding factor

16. behavioralism

Emphasizes that IR should be studied similarly to natural sciences, focusing on objective, observable behaviors rather than subjective interpretations. → statistics, surveys, and mathematical modeling, such as game theory, to understand strategic choices and international conflicts.

17. hegemon

Dominant state or actor with the strongest military, financial, cultural power. → Pax Americana post Cold War

often establishes and enforces certain norms or ideals nationwide

18. polarity (bipolar, unipolar, multipolar)

the difference between two dominant powers fighting for greater influence (Cold War) in international relations vs a singular power being dominant above all in all traits (post CW USA), or many different powers vying for the most influence (current relations)

19. League of Nations

international organization put forward by Wilson to prevent war, United States voted against joining and was unable to prevent WW2

→ replaced by the UN

20. NATO

Alliance created by western ideology states in opposition with communist and eastern ideologies, still exists today.

created to defend the Western European nations from the influence and aggression of the Soviet Union post ww2

21. Warsaw Pact

alliance headed by the USSR and the soviet bloc n opposition with NATO during the cold war. both states viewed their own growing alliances as potential signs of war

22. nationalism

the concept of a subgroup of people arguing for the sovereignty of their own nation, seen in the splitting of many countries in E. Europe such as Czech Republic and Slovakia

23. imperialism

formal/ informal economic and political domination by one state over another, can exist without colonialism

→ Hawaii

can occur without mass settling, can just be a form of influence and political pressure

24. colonialism

country exerts complete control over another state in every way, cannot exist without imperialism

→ British colonies

typically associated with mass populations settling

25. the “color line”

system of social legal or economic segregation that separates people of color from white people and prevents equal access to opportunities. stated by Douglass and WEB Du Bois famously

→ implications in housing public facilities

26. norms

collective expectations for the proper behavior of actors within a given identity.

→ shaking hands in business in the US vs bowing in Asian countries

→ provide international expectations as well such as democratic countries expecting others to practice the same human rights and transparency

27. identities

sense of self based on certain qualities that define a person or group. Central for understanding interactions on the international system because they very much influence the behaviors of states in the modern era

→ ethnicity, language, religion, food, culture, politics

28. stag hunt

Trust dilemma or Common Interest game, situation where states would be better off cooperating to achieve a better goal (hunting a stag together) rather than working independently to achieve personal smaller goals (hunting hares)

→ very applicable to issues related to climate change (Paris Agreement)

29. cold war

era between the end of ww2 and the 1990s that was marked by economic cultural military and political rivalry between the US and the USSR

→ proxy wars (Vietnam) developing WMD Space race East vs West Germany

30. containment

foreign policy based on blocking an adversaries expansion of influence and power into other regions either through material or immaterial forces

→ US policy towards the Soviet Union especially when it came to South American regions and Asia

31. détente

the easing of previously tense and tenuous relationships between states —→ seen in summits

Ex. The US and USSR relaxation of threats near the end of the Cold War

33. false consciousness

concept within Marxism that describes how material ideological and institutional processes in capitalist societies mislead the proletariat. legitimizes inequality because it convinces lower classes that capitalism is the only way in opposition to class consciousness

34. bourgeoise

social class of business owners managers and capitalists who use and abuse the means of production

35. proletariat

36. soft power

states attempt to persuade other actors to do the things it wants based on the legitimacy of its actions values or policies

→ European countries setting an example by adopting policies for climate change in the hope other countries will follow suit

37. levels of analysis

38. material power

39. weapons of mass destruction

weapons such as nuclear chemical biological and radiological weapons that can bring mass harm upon a civilization

→ hiroshima and Nagasaki display the devastating impact of them

→ fear of Iran and middle eastern countries developing them spurs much western invasions

40. balancing

taking action to offset the power of powerful states

41. bandwagoning

when states that may have opposed a threatening state choose to ally with it instead to protect itself

→ Malaysia and other southeast asian countries allying and becoming supported by china to fend off a potential war or invasion

42. international institutions/organizations

set of rules and connections such as international treaties and the United Nations that are supposed to serve as scaffolding of the international law to maintain peace.

→ UN or the Vienna Convention for the protection of the Ozone Layer

43. prospect theory

44. anchoring effect

45. availability heuristic

46. rational decision-making

Domino Effect

concept that states that one states loss of influence over another state to an adversary leads to further loss of neighboring states

→ grounds for the proxy wars that occurred between the US and USSR over places like Vietnam

War On Terror

declaring to use ones material and non material resources to defeat those a state dubs bringing terrror

-→ entering Afghanistan post 9/11 to get Osama bin Laden and Al Quada

Populism

politicians and figures that appeal to those angry about the state of something within a nation often appealing to nostalgia, nationalism, scapegoating, and the decline of traditional values

→ MAGA campaign

Multinational Corporations (MNCs)

private enterprises that span state borders and have a presence and investment in countries that are not their own. heavily furthers globalization and connection between states

Realism

IR theory that posits that due to a lack of overarching authority in the international system states must act in their own best interest and focus solely on the development of power and military in order to survive

→ states as unitary actors pushing their own singular interest of power/survival

rational Actors

states make decisions by weighing the costs and benefits of various options against the goals to be achieved

Internal Balancing

state building up its own military resources and capabilities in order to protect against other states independently

External Balancing

allying with other states to offset the power of more powerful states and defend against them via deterrence

Liberalism

highlights the value of intra state organizations and the people in influencing their states behavior and the potential cooperation between states via complex interdependence and goodness

→ anarchy bridged by interdependence and order

→ self interest managed by institutions and rational decision making

Neoliberal Institutionalism

branch of liberalism: states continually cooperate in an international system because of the globalization and connectivity between them

Complex interdependence

States are connected through multiple channels, informal interactions between actors (MNCs) connect states, no hierarchy of issues where survival trumps all - decline in use of military force

→ cooperation arises because states are consistently interacting making them not solely focused on relative gains

Constructivism

events in international politics can be explained by an ever changing development of norms and identities in states and individuals

→ explains events such as the discourse between sunni and shiite muslims in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran or the discourse between different ethnicities/cultures within the post-soviet bloc that insisted on their own nationhood notably Czechoslovakia

Radicalism - Marxism

theories that place most emphasis on economics in influencing IR, emphasis on Marxist ideals the interaction between the proletariat and the bourgeois in influencing a states behavior

Radicalism - Dependency Theory

emphasis on the systemic underdevelopment of the dominated states and the impact of that on certain states. dynamic between dominant states and dominated states controls state behavior on both ends

Hard power

states exploitation of the various sources of power to coerce other states into adopting actions in its interest

→ China’s domination of the South China Sea through naval patrols island building and military installations to legitimize its authority over the region

Smart Power

the usage of both soft and hard power to persuade

→ Russia holds hard power over Italy by suppling much of its natural gas, Russia exerted soft power by sending materials to disinfect vehicles and spaces during covid even calling it the “from Russia with love” campaign