IIR Chapter 9 Y1S1

1. Classical Realism

A theoretical approach that explains international politics through human nature, political ambition, and the pursuit of power, emphasizing the role of political leaders and their decisions.

2. Neorealism (Structural Realism)

An approach that explains state behaviour primarily through the structure of the international system, particularly the distribution of power and the absence of a central governing authority.

3. Defensive Neorealism

A realist approach arguing that states seek sufficient power to ensure their security and survival, rather than maximizing power without limits.

4. Offensive Neorealism

A realist approach arguing that states seek to maximize their relative power and achieve superiority because uncertainty about other states makes dominance the most reliable way to ensure survival.

5. Neoclassical Realism

An approach that combines international systemic pressures with domestic factors, including political leadership, state institutions, and leaders’ perceptions, to explain foreign policy decisions.

6. Security Dilemma

A situation in which one state’s efforts to improve its own security unintentionally threaten other states, prompting countermeasures that increase mutual insecurity and the risk of conflict.

7. Balance of Power

A condition or process in which states build military and economic capabilities or form alliances to counter a powerful rival and prevent one state from achieving dominance.

8. Internal Balancing

A strategy through which a state strengthens its own military, economic, and other national capabilities to counter external threats.

9. External Balancing

A strategy through which a state forms alliances with other states to increase its collective power against a stronger rival.

10. Hegemony

A condition in which one state possesses predominant power and influence within an international system or a particular region.

11. Relative Gains

The concern states have with how the benefits of cooperation are distributed in comparison with other states, especially when a rival’s greater gains could increase its future power.

12. Status Quo State

A state that seeks to preserve the existing distribution of power and the established international order rather than fundamentally transform it.

13. Revisionist State

A state that seeks to change the existing international order or distribution of power in pursuit of greater influence, territory, or strategic advantage.

14. Geopolitics

The study of how geographical conditions, including territory, natural resources, population distribution, and physical location, influence international politics and foreign policy.

15. Heartland Theory

Halford Mackinder’s geopolitical argument that control of the central Eurasian landmass could provide a decisive strategic advantage in global power competition.

16. Sea Power Theory

Alfred Thayer Mahan’s argument that naval strength and control of maritime routes are essential to national power, international influence, and overseas expansion.

17. Nicholas Spykman

A geopolitical thinker who emphasized the importance of geographical conditions in shaping political strategy and the distribution of international power.

18. Hans Morgenthau

A leading classical realist who argued that international politics is fundamentally a struggle for power and developed six principles of realism emphasizing human nature, political interest, and the autonomy of politics.

19. Kautilya’s Circle of States

A geopolitical and strategic model in which neighbouring states are generally regarded as potential enemies and states beyond immediate neighbours as potential allies, with relationships determined by strategic interests.

20. Offence–Defence Theory

A theory explaining how the relative advantages of attacking or defending influence the likelihood of war; conflict is more likely when offensive action is easier than effective defence.

21. Positive Realist Theory

An approach that seeks to describe and explain international politics as it operates in practice, focusing on observable political behaviour and the pursuit of power.

22. Normative Realist Theory

An approach that develops recommendations for how political leaders should act, drawing on realist assumptions about power, political constraints, and the pursuit of national interests.

23. Relative Power

A state’s power understood in comparison with the capabilities of other states, rather than solely through its own resources or absolute strength.

24. Politics as an Autonomous Sphere

Morgenthau’s principle that politics operates according to its own logic and must be analysed in terms of political interests and power, rather than being reduced entirely to economics, religion, or morality.

25. Merze Tate’s Geopolitical Perspective

An alternative, anti-racist approach to geopolitics that challenged racial hierarchies and identified racism and domination as sources of potential global conflict.