international relations final

Anarchy

refers to the lack of a central political authority in the international sphere, which means that states must pursue their own interests

Sovereignty

States have the right to rule and produce as they see fit

Security Dilemma

implies that under anarchy and inevitable uncertainty about states' future intentions, being as powerful as possible is the best way to survive

Autarky

economic independence or self-sufficiency

International orders

are made up of multiple political units. Whether these units are empires, city-states, or nation-states, forced to

coexist in the absence of an overarching authority.

Hegemon

a supreme leader

Empire

an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority

Decolonization

refers to the processes of formal colonial and impe-

rial withdrawal from many countries in Asia, Africa,

the Caribbean, and South America, especially in the

twentieth century

Detente

the easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries

Containment

American political strategy for resist-

ing perceived Soviet expansion,

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)

Treaties that limit the spready of nuclear weapons

Unipolar

System in which the United States would now

shape international politics almost completely

Bipolar

The Second World War ended with a bipolar equilibrium between the United States and the Soviet Union

Multipolar

There is no global hegemon or Western

hegemony, but instead multiple powers

Reason the US chose to go to Iraq after 9/11

US' dependency on oil and its desire to maintain access

to oil

Russian History

Some historians date the origins of the cold war to

the Russian Revolution of 1917, while most focus on

events between 1945 and 1950.

Institutions created after the end of WW2

United Nations, IMF & World Bank NATO, and the precursor to the European Union

BRICS

Brazil,Russia, India, China, South Africa

Liberalism

self-restraint, moderation, compromise and peace

constructivism

Remake the social world so there is much more of a role

for human agency than realism and liberalism allow

Realism

human beings are at best selfish and domineering, and probably much worse

Classical realism

perceive power struggle between states as an important factor in shaping international relations

neorealism

sees the anarchic structure of the international system as the main constraint on state behaviour.

International Political Economy

view the global system as a capitalist structure driven by profit, exploitation, andclass struggle, where powerful transnational elites benefit from unequal relations between core (wealthy) and periphery (poorer) nations, shifting focus from states to global capital and its impact on inequality, dependency, and resistance

End of History

Celebrated the triumph of liberalism over all other ideologies, contending that liberal states were more stable internally and more peaceful in their international relations

Democratic peace theory

liberal polities exhibit restraint in their relations with other liberal polities (the so-called separate peace), and second, that they are imprudent in relations with authoritarian states.

Historic Materialism

argues that society's economic structure—how people produce necessities (food, shelter)—forms the foundation (base) for everything else, including laws, politics, culture, and ideas (superstructure)

Idealism

observes that the meaning and construction of that material reality is dependent on ideas and interpretation

Materialism

material forces, including tech-

nology, are the bedrock of society.

Poststructuralism

concerned with distrusting and exposing any account of human life that claims to have direct access to 'the truth'

Postcolonial theory

a critical framework analyzing the lasting cultural, political, and psychological impacts of colonialism,

OPEC

organization created in 1960 by the major

oil-producing countries of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi

Arabia, and Venezuela, and later expanded in member-

ship to include states such as Nigeria, Mexico, and Libya,

to coordinate oil-production policies in the interest of

market stability and profit for producers.

feminists

work at the intersection of class, race, and gender on a global scale, and especially analyse the gendered effects of transnational culture and the unequal division of labour in the global political economy

populist nationalism

political ideology blending populism's "people vs. elite" narrative with nationalism's focus on national interest, prioritizing the nation's culture, economy, and borders against perceived threats

nationalism

the ideology prioritizing a nation's interests, identity, and unity over others

aysmmetric warefare

conflicts between unequally matched sides (states vs. non-states, weak vs. strong) using different strategies

guerilla warefare

core tactic within it, involving small, irregular groups using ambushes, sabotage, and hit-and-run attacks to harass a stronger conventional enemy, aiming to erode their will rather than win direct battles

Clausewitz philosophy of war

"a continuation of politics by other means," an act of violence to compel an opponent to our will, driven by political goals, not an end in itself, but a tool shaped by rational policy, chance (fog of war), and passion (the people's spirit) through his famous "Trinity" concept

Revolutionary military affair

a fundamental, often technologically-driven, transformation in how warfare is conducted, involving new tech, tactics, doctrines, and organization that create a paradigm shift

Private military war

corporations selling military/security services (training, logistics, combat support, security) to states/entities, blurring lines in "privatized war" by offering states plausible deniability, raising issues for International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

GATT

General Agreement on Tariffs

and Trade

Globalization

The end product of a long running, progressive transformation of world politics.

Washington consensus

10 free-market economic policies promoted by Washington-based institutions (IMF, World Bank, U.S. Treasury) in the 1980s/90s, advocating for fiscal discipline, privatization, trade liberalization, deregulation, and opening to foreign investment, primarily for Latin American nations, to foster economic growth and stability through market-driven principles

Structural adjustment

programmes imposing major economic policy

reform packages on developing countries—made com-

pliance with these Washington Consensus

Invented liberalism

cooperation, institutions (UN, EU), law, economic interdependence, and democratic values can foster peace and prosperity, moving beyond pure state power to build a cooperative world order, not just a power struggle

Norms

is a shared expectation about what constitutes appropriate behavior for actors (like states, organizations, individuals) in specific international contexts, acting as unwritten rules that guide actions, build identities, and shape global politics beyond formal laws, influencing everything from diplomacy to human rights

Permanent 5 of the security council

China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US

What theory r2p is based on

is a global political norm of international relations that reconceptualizes state sovereignty as a responsibility to protect populations from mass atrocity crimes

How terrorists conduct distant learning

through the internet via a "resource bank" of online materials for radicalization, recruitment, and training

when terrorism became multinational

due to advances in communications and information technology, which allowed individuals and networks to operate globally and across borders

What has improved terrorists capabilities

the technologies

associated with globalization

poverty

as severe deprivation of basic needs (food, water, health, shelter, education) and lack of capacity to participate in society, impacting stability, security, migration, and state-society relations

Securitization

the political process by which an issue acquires security status and thus becomes distinct from everyday politics

Human security threats

anything harming people's core survival, livelihood, and dignity—like poverty, disease, climate change, conflict, and repression—requiring comprehensive, preventive, and people-centered solutions beyond traditional military security

nation

a cultural group sharing common identity (language, history, ethnicity, culture)

state

a political entity with defined territory, population, government, and sovereignty