PSC 124 - Final Exam (Short Answer)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Definition

The IMF is an international economic institution established in 1944 to manage international monetary relations especially during debt and currency crises

International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2nd Sentence

One instance in which it acted was when they loaned Argentina money during their monetary crisis of increased inflation, instability, and currency devaluation.

Austerity Definition

Apply policies to reduce consumption, typically by cutting government spending, raising taxes, and restricting wages.

Austerity 2nd Sentence

In IR, countries often go into debt but with enough austerity and use of austerity measures, any country can pay back their debts.

Default Definition

To fail to make payments on the debt.

Default 2nd Sentence

An example of a country defaulting is Russia, who couldn’t pay back their debts in 2022 because of the sanctions that other countries put on it.

Official Development Assistance (ODA) Definition

Voluntary transfer of public resources from one government to another government, NGO, or international organization with the goal of improving human condition in the receiving country.

Official Development Assistance (ODA) 2nd Sentence

In IR, not everybody gives ODA/aid, it’s mostly from Western industrialized countries, other developed countries, and recently some middle-income countries like Brazil and China.

Delegation Definition

The degree to which 3rd parties or mediators are given authority to: mediate, interpret, and apply international legal rules; resolve disputes over rules; and make additional rules.

Delegation 2nd Sentence

Delegation is one of the 3 design features of international law, something that is crucial in IR.

Norms Definition

Standards of behavior for actors with a given identity that define what actions are “right” and appropriate in specific circumstances.

Norms 2nd Sentence

The 3rd IR paradigm, constructivism, argues that norms and other non-material factors bound actors in IR.

Transnational Advocacy Network (TAN) Definition

Group of individuals and NGOs acting in pursuit of a normative objective (ex. HR & environment)

Transnational Advocacy Network (TAN) 2nd Sentence

An example of a time when TAN efforts were successful was when it was used to end apartheid in South Africa

Boomerang Model Definition

A process through which NGOs in one state can activate transnational linkages to bring pressure from other states on their own state.

Boomerang Model 2nd Sentence

An example of it in action was how NGOS in South Africa were blocked from influencing their own government and instead gave information to NGOs in the US, which pressured the US, then the UN, then back to South Africa.

Constructivism Definition

An argument by Alexander Wendt saying that states are bound by non-material factors (ideas, culture, norms) rather than materialistic ones, like Realism or Liberalism, and states only act that way because they’re socially condtioned to do so.

Constructivism 2nd Sentence

Constructivism is incredibly significant to IR because it is one of the 3 IR paradigms.

Genocide Definition

The deliberate extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.

Genocide 2nd Sentence

An example of a genocide is the Holocaust, which is recognized as the largest in history.

Apartheid Definition

Institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination where the racial minority rules over the majority.

Apartheid 2nd Sentence

An example of Apartheid is the Apartheid in Namibia from 1948-1990s.

Humanitarian Intervention Definition

An armed intervention in a state, without that state’s consent, to address a humanitarian disaster.

Humanitarian Intervention 2nd Sentence

An example of a time this was successful was when the UN requested NATO airstrikes against Serbian forces during the war between them and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Definition

A new UN-initiated HR norm to address international community’s failure to prevent and stop genocides, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) 2nd Sentence

An example of when it was applied was in the Libyan civil war in 2011.

Tragedy of Commons (ToC) Definiton

When independent, rational individuals deplete a shared resource even if they don’t want to, because they feel that others would use if even if they stopped.

Tragedy of Commons (ToC) 2nd Sentence

ToC is significant to IR because often, “commons” are international, and to solve these tragedies, international cooperation is needed.

Externalities Definition

Costs or benefits resulting from an actor’s economic decision that affect stakeholders other than the actor.

Externalities 2nd Sentence

They are important to IR because they can happen across borders and the solution needs international cooperation

Populism Definition

A broad array of political movements that claim to speak on behalf of “the people” in opposition to corrupt elites, both domestic and foreign.

Populism 2nd Sentence

Recent examples populist movements are the rise in right-wing populists in the US and the UK.