Poly Sci 140 Midterm 2: Vocab

Hegemonic war

War for control of the entire world order - the rules of the international system as a whole. Also called world war, global war, general war, or systematic war

Total war

Warfare by one state waged to conquer and occupy another; modern total war originated in the Napoleonic wars, which relied on conscription on a mass scale

Limited war

Military actions that seek objectives short of the surrender and occupation of the enemy

Civil war

A war between factions within a state trying to create, or prevent, a new government for the entire state or some territorial part of it

Guerrilla war

Warfare without front lines and with irregular forces operating in the midst of, and often hidden or protected by, civilian populations

Truth commissions

Governmental bodies established in several countries after internal wars to hear honest testimony and bring light to what really happened during these wars, and in exchange, to offer most of the participants asylum from punishment

Conflict

A difference in preferred outcomes in a bargaining situation

Cycle theories

An effort to explain tendencies toward war in the international system as cyclical, for example, by linking wars with long waves in the world economy

Infantry

Food soldiers who use assault rifles and other light weapons (mines, machine guns)

Counterinsurgency

An effort to combat guerrilla armies, often including programs to “win the hearts and minds” of rural populations so that they stop sheltering guerrillas

Landmines

Concealed explosive devices, often left behind by irregular armies, that kill or main civilians after wars end. Such mines number more than 100 million, primarily in Angola, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Cambodia. A movement to ban landmines is underway; more than 100 states have agreed to do so

Power projection

The ability to use military force in areas far from a country’s region or sphere of influence

Drones

Another term for unmanned aerial vehicles; these small flying vehicles, which can be armed or unarmed, are increasingly used in combat and reconnaissance operations

Stealth technology

The use of special radar-absorbent materials and unusual shapes in the design of aircraft, missiles, and ships to scatter enemy radar

Chain of command

A hierarchy of officials (often civilian as well as military) through which states control military forces

Civil-military relations

The relations between a state’s civilian leaders and the military leadership. In most countries, the military takes orders from civilian leaders. In extreme cases, poor civil-military relations can lead to military coups

Coup d’etat

French for “blow against the state”; a term that refers to the seizure of political power by domestic military forces - that is, a change of political power outside the state’s constitutional order

Military governments

States in which military forces control the government

Irredentism

A form of nationalism whose goal is to regain territory lost to another state; it can lead directly to violent interstate conflicts

Ethnic cleansing

Euphemism for forced displacement of an ethnic group or groups from a territory, accomplished by massacres and other human rights violations; it has occurred after the breakup of multinational states, notably in the former Yugoslavia

Territorial waters

The waters near states’ shores are generally treated as part of national territory. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for a 12-mile territorial sea (exclusive national jurisdiction over shipping and navigation) and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ; covering exclusive fishing and mineral rights but allowing for free navigation by all)

Airspace

The space above a state that is considered its territory, in contrast to outer space, which is considered international territory

Nationalism

Identification with and devotion to the interests of one’s nation. It usually involves a large group of people who share a national identity and often a language, culture, or ancestry. The concept implies a definition not just of who is in that nation but who is out, an inherent “othering” of those outside the group

Ethnic groups

Large groups of people who share ancestral, language, cultural, or religious ties and a common identity

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to see one’s own group (in-group) in favorable terms and the out-group in unfavorable terms

Dehumanization

Stigmatization of enemies as subhuman or nonhuman, leading frequently to widespread violence

Genocide

An international and systematic attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part. It was confirmed as a crime under international law by the UN genocide Convention

Islam

A broad and diverse world religion whose divergent populations include Sunni Muslims, Shi’ite Muslims, and many smaller branches and sects from Nigeria to Indonesia, centered in the Middle East and South Asia

Terrorism

Refers to political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately

State-sponsored terrorism

The use of terrorist groups by states, usually under the control of a state’s intelligence agency, to achieve political aims

Weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)

Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, all distinguished from conventional weapons by their enormous potential lethality and their relative lack of discrimination in whom they kill

Fissionable material

Uranium-235 and plutonium-239, whose atoms split apart and release energy via a chain reaction when an atomic bomb explodes

Ballistic missiles

The major strategic delivery vehicle for nuclear weapons; it carries a warhead along a trajectory (typically rising at least 50 miles high) and lets it drop on the target

Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)

The longest-range ballistic missiles, able to travel 5,000 miles

Cruise missile

A small winged missile that can navigate across thousands of miles of previously mapped terrain to reach a particular target; it can carry either a nuclear or a conventional warhead

Missile Technology Control Regime

A set of agreements through which industrialized states try to limit the flow of missile-relevant technology to developing countries

Chemical Weapons Convention (1992)

An agreement that bans the production and possession of chemical weapons and includes strict verification provisions and the threat of sanctions against violators and nonparticipants in the treaty

Biological Weapons Convention (1972)

An agreement that prohibits the development, production, and possession of biological weapons but makes no provision for inspections

Proliferation

The spread of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons) into the hands of more actors

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) (1968)

A treaty that created a framework for controlling the spread of nuclear materials and expertise, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN agency based in Vienna that is charged with inspecting the nuclear power industry in NPT member states to prevent secret military diversions in nuclear materials

Mutually assured destruction (MAD)

The possession of second-strike nuclear capabilities ensures that neither of the two adversaries could prevent the other from destroying it in an all-out war

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

A U.S. effort, also known as Star Wars, to develop defenses that could shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, spurred by President Ronald Reagan in 1983

Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty (1972)

A treaty that prohibited either the U.S. or the Soviet Union from using ballistic missile defense as a shield

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) (1996)

A treaty that bans all nuclear weapons testing, thereby broadening the ban on atmospheric testing negotiated in 1963

International norms

The expectations held by participants about typical interactions among states

International organizations (IOs)

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) such as the UN and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

UN Charter

The founding document of the UN; it is based on the principles that states are equal, have sovereignty over their own affairs, enjoy independence and territorial integrity, and must fulfill international obligations. The Charter also lays out the structure and methods of the UN

UN General Assembly

A body composed of representatives of all states that allocates UN funds, passes nonbinding resolutions, and coordinates programs in the Global South and various autonomous agencies through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

UN Security Council

A body composed of five permanent great power members (each of which can veto resolutions) and ten rotating members that makes decisions about international peace and security, including the dispatch of UN peacekeeping forces

UN Secretariat

The UN’s executive branch, led by the Secretary General

Peacebuilding

The use of military peacekeepers, civilian administrators, police trainers, and similar efforts to sustain peace agreements and build stable, democratic governments in societies recovering from civil wars. Since 2005, the UN Peacebuilding Commission has coordinated and supported these activities

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

An institution established in 1964 to promote development in the Global South through various trade proposals

World Health Organization (WHO)

An organization based in Geneva that provides technical assistance to improve health conditions in the third world and conducts major immunization campaigns

Supranational

Larger institutional and groupings, such as the EU, to which state authority or national identity is subordinated

International integration

The process by which supranational institutions come to replace national ones; the gradual shift of some sovereignty from the state to regional or global structures

Neofunctionalism

A theory that holds that economic integration (functionalism) generates a “spillover” effect, resulting in increased political integration

Security community

A situation in which low expectations of interstate violence permit a high degree of political cooperation - as, for example, among NATO members

European Union (EU)

The official term for the European Community (formerly the European Economic Community) and associated treaty organizations. At the beginning of 2023, the EU had 27 member states, after Great Britain exited the organization

Treaty of Rome

The founding document of the European Economic Community (EEC), or Common Market, now subsumed by the European Union

Euratom

An organization created by the 1957 Treaty of Rome to coordinate nuclear power development by pooling research, investment, and management

Free trade area

A zone in which there are no tariffs or other restrictions on the movement of goods and services across borders

Customs union

A free trade area in which participating states adopt a unified set of tariffs on goods imported from countries that are not members

Common market

A zone in which labor and capital (as well as goods) flow freely across borders

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

An EU policy based on the principle that subsidies extended to farmers in any member country should be extended to farmers in all member countries

European Commission

A EU body whose members, while appointed by states, are supposed to represent EU interests, supported by a multinational civil service in Brussels, the Commission’s role is to identify problems and propose solutions to the Council of the EU

Council of the European Union

An EU institution in which the relevant ministers (foreign, economic, agriculture, and finance) of each member state meet to enact legislation and reconcile national interests. Formerly known as the Council of Ministers. When the meeting takes place among the state leaders, it is called the “European Council.”

European Parliment

A quasi-legislative body of the EU that operates as a watchdog over the European Commission and has limited legislative power

European Court of Justice

A judicial arm of the EU, based in Luxembourg. The court has actively established its jurisdiction and its right to overrule national law when it conflicts with EU law

Single European Act

An act that set a target date of the end of 1992 for the creation of a true common market (free cross-border movement of goods, capital, people, and services) in the European Community (EC)

Maastricht Treaty

A treaty signed in the Dutch city of Maastricht and ratified in 1992; it commits the EU to monetary union (a single currency and European Central Bank) and to a common foreign policy

Euro

Also called the ECU (European currency unit); a single European currency used by 20 members of the EU

Lisbon Treaty

An EU agreement that replaces a failed attempt at an EU constitution with a similar set of reforms, strengthening central EU authority and modifying voting procedures among the EU’s expanded membership