International Politics S1

Adviser

Adviser

A person who gives advice to a decision-maker

Advocate

Someone who publicly supports and recommends a case, a cause or a policy.

Conciliatory

Intended or likely to make something less angry or hostile

Policy

A course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an organization or individual.

Contain

To limit to one area; to control or to restrain

Predict

To say or estimate that something will happen in the future or will be a consequence of something

Human Rights

A right which is believed to belong to every person; a right viewed as basic and necessary

Surplus

An abundance of something

Implied

suggested but not directly expressed

Booming Market

A market with elevated or increased growth in a short period of time

Deficit Spending

When government spending exceeds revenue

Foreign

Of another country

Domestic

Of one’s own country

Candidate

A person who applies for an election

Alleviate

To make something less severe

Allies

A person or organization that cooperates with or helps another in a particular activity.

Scenario

A suggested sequence or development of events.

High Stakes

A situation that has a lot of risk and in which someone is likely to either get or lose an advantage, a lot of money, etc.

Aid

Help, often practical.

Ethics

Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity; Moral correctness of a specified conduct.

Quandary

A state of uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation.

Dilemmas

A situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially ones that are equally undesirable.

Bureaucracy

A system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives.

NGOs

(Non Governmental Organizations) nonprofit entities independent of governmental influence

Sanctions

a threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule.

Oust

expel someone from a position or a place; to take away in a matter of jurisdiction

Repress

to subdue by force; restrain, prevent, and inhibit.

Regime

a system or ordered way of doing things; typically governmental

Theory

generalized explanation for a set of essentially similar phenomena

Globalization

the connection and integration of the world through trade and technology.

Degradation

treat or regard with contempt or disrespect.

Ambiguity

the quality of being open to more than one interpretation

Fundamentalism

strict adherence to the basic principles of any subject or discipline.

Inevitable

certain to happen

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; intergovernmental military alliance

Assertions

a confident and forceful statement of fact or belief.

Scrutinize

analyze in detail

Analysis

detailed examination of the elements or structure of something.

Skepticism

doubt as to the truth of something.

Political Science

a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and laws.

Methodology

a system of methods used in a particular area of study or activity.

Rhetoric

language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect, but which is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.

Macroeconomics

branch of economics that studies how an overall economy—the markets, businesses, consumers, and governments—behave

Skew

more developed on one side or in one direction than another

Conventional Wisdom

a generally accepted theory or belief.

Prominent

important; most noticable

Statistics

mathematical body of science that pertains to the collection, analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data

Variables

something whose associated value may be changed

Variants

a form or version of something that differs in some respect from other forms of the same thing or from a standard.

Credible

able to be believed

Consensus

a general agreement

Assumption

something that you accept as true without question or proof

Dubious

not to be relied upon; suspect.

Supposition

a belief held without proof or certain knowledge; an assumption or hypothesis.

Utility

the state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial.

Plausible

seeming reasonable or possible

Grievances

a real or imagined cause for complaint, especially unfair treatment

Nomads

a person with no settled home, moving from place to place as a way of obtaining food, finding pasture for livestock, or otherwise making a living.

Concession

a thing that is granted, especially in response to demands.

“Unequal Treaties”

any of a series of treaties and agreements in which a nation was forced to concede many of its territorial and sovereignty rights; Happened a lot with China

Atrocities

an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or injury

Mao Zedong

formally proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China

World Trade Organization

an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade

Sovereign State System

independent state having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states

City-States

independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory; Florence, Milan, Venice (Renaissance time)

Thucydides

Author of History of the Peloponnesian War; “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”; International politics depends on distribution of power and is beyond morality

Imbalance

lack of proportion or relation between corresponding things.

Ambitions

goals of someone or something

Roman Empire

Empire between Greek city-states and nation-states; Dominated international politics until 500 A.D.

Feudal System

a vassal received a piece of land in return for serving a lord or king, especially during times of war; System of hierarchy

Church of Rome

High political and religious power in Europe; led by the Pope; controled aspects of daily life for people

Westphalian System

System which codified the basis for sovereign states; a state has complete control over their land; After the Thirty Years War (1618-1648).

Thirty Years War

Series of religious wars in 1618-1648; fought in phases; war between Catholics and Protestants; ended with the Treaty of Westphalia and started the Westphalian System.

Illegitimate

not authorized by the law; not in accordance with accepted standards or rules.

Consolidation

the action or process of combining a number of things into a single more effective or coherent whole; often related to power.

Interference

intervene in a situation without invitation or necessity

Pluralism

the presence of a number of competing actors or ideas

Segmented

divided into parts

Trait

a distinguishing quality or characteristic

Recognition

the acceptance by the international community of a stat’s sovereignty over its territory

Balance of Power

A system in which no state is allowed to become powerful enough to defeat the others; power is adequately distributed

Anarchy

the absence of a higher political authority over states; not chaos

Prudence

cautiousness, care, etc.

Policy

a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an organization or individual

Mercenaries

small, professionally trained armies

Law of War

moral objections to unlimited war

Noncombatants

a person who is not engaged in fighting during a war, especially a civilian, army chaplain, or army doctor.

Analogous

comparable in certain respects, typically in a way that makes clearer the nature of the things compared.

Adjacent

next to or adjoining something else.

Caliphate

the political-religious state consisting of the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion; Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Marauders

Someone who raids and searches for things to steal or people to attack.

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Ideology

doctrine; a set of beliefs about one thing or another, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

Protestant

A movement of Christianity that separated itself from Catholicism; believed in justification by grace alone through faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the supremacy of Holy Scripture in matters of faith and order.

Pious

devoutly religious

Embodied

be expressed in a tangible way; including or containing something as a constituent part.

Nationalism

identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations; brought to rise by Napoleon Bonaparte and the Revolts of 1830+1848;

Self-determination

a combination of attitudes and abilities that lead people to set goals for themselves, and to take the initiative to reach these goals.

Democracy

the doctrine that the entire population of a nation, rather than a small elite or a single monarch, should control government

The French Revolution

Revolution in France starting in 1789, which sought to overthrow the monarchy and gain rights for Frenchmen; ended with the Napoleonic Wars