International Relations Quiz 1

Mercantilism

Economic doctrine where military power and economic power reinforce each other. Colonial powers controlled trade to enrich themselves at the expense of colonies.

Sovereignty

The legal and political authority a state has within its own borders. Other states are not supposed to interfere. Established by the Peace of Westphalia (1648).

Hegemon / Hegemony

When one state dominates all others. Britain was hegemon during Pax Britannica; US became hegemon after Cold War.

Peace of Westphalia

1648 treaty that ended the Thirty Years' War. Created the modern state system based on sovereignty and non-interference.

Gold standard

Monetary system (~1870–1914) where currencies were tied to gold at fixed rates. Created stability and predictability for global trade.

Pax Britannica

"British Peace" — 1815 to 1914. Period of relative peace under British hegemony.

League of Nations

International organization created after WWI to maintain peace. Failed — US never joined, couldn't prevent WWII.

Non-aligned movement

Group of developing nations (India, Egypt, etc.) that refused to join either the US or Soviet blocs during the Cold War.

Glasnost

Gorbachev's policy of political openness in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.

Perestroika

Gorbachev's policy of economic restructuring in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.

Deterrence

Nuclear weapons made direct war between superpowers too costly — each side could destroy the other, so neither attacked directly.

Decolonization

The rapid end of European colonial empires, mostly in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean between the 1940s and 1960s.