International relations theory

Terms

Epistemology

why we do or should believe things

Ontology

what a theory ‘sees’/prioritises

Paradigm

shared concepts, theories, commitments

Positivism

Law is valid because its based on authority rather than morality

Hobbesian

Realist

Hobbesian ethics

States prioritise self interest in their state of nature, and are therefore always in conflict

Kantian

Universalist

Kantian ethics

System united by federation (UN) to promote peace. Create a cosmopolitan community with high moral imperatives

Cosmopolitanism

Moral community of all human beings

Grotian

Internationalists

Grotian ethics

Combination of natural and human law, where rules and morals are flexible upon situation 

Natural law

universal moral principles can be discovered through human reason

Divine law

system of laws by God

Positive international law

Rules created in voluntary acts (eg treaties)

Chauvanism

excessive or prejudiced support for one's own cause or group

Annalistes

French school studying long-term social and economic history

Gesellschaftsgeschichte

approaches historical processes from a social history perspective, organized under the themes of demographics, economics, and social equality

Idiographic

Understanding individuals through their specific experiences and contexts

Nomothetic

Identifying general principles across large groups

Hegemonic cycle

The rise, fall, and replacement of world powers

bandwagoning

When weaker state pairs with stronger state

 International legal sovereignty

the practices associated with mutual recognition (usually between territorial entities that have formal judicial independence)

Westphalian sovereignty

political organisation based on the exclusion of external actors from authority structures within a given territory

Domestic sovereignty

the formal organisation of political authority within the state and the ability of public authorities to exercise effective control within the borders of their own polity

Interdependence sovereignty

“the ability of the public authorities to regulate the flow of information, ideas, goods, people, pollutants, or capital across the borders of their state

Anachronistic

Belonging to that of another period other than the one portrayed

Compulsory power

the relations of interaction that allow one actor to have direct control over another

Institutional power

indirect power through position in institution enabling long term advantages

Structural power

The constitution of social capacities and interests of actors in direct relation to one another.

Productive power

The socially diffuse production of subjectivity in systems of meaning and signification.

Barnett definition of governance

the matter of resolving conflicts, finding common purpose, and/or overcoming inefficiencies between actors in situations of interdependent choice

War definition Scott

an event involving the organised use of military force by at least 2 parties that satisfies some minimum threshold of severity

Bargaining

A class of interactions in which actors may try to resolve disputes over the allocation of a good

Incomplete information

A situation in which parties in a strategic interaction lack information about the other parties’ interests and/or capabilities

Resolve

the willingness of an actor to endure costs in order to acquire some good

Risk-return tradeoff

In crisis bargaining, the tradeoff between trying to get a better deal and trying to avoid war

Brinkmanship

A strategy in which adversaries take actions that will increase the risk of accidental war, with the hope that the other will “blink” first and make concessions.

Audience costs

Negative repercussions for failing to follow through on a threat or to honour a commitment

Preventative war

A war fought with the intention of preventing an adversary from becoming stronger in the future. States whose power is increasing cannot commit not to exploit that power in future bargaining interaction.

First strike advantage

when military technology, strategies or geography give an advantage to the first attacker in a war

Compellence

The effort to change the status quo through the threat of force

Deterrence

Efforts to preserve the status quo by threatening the other side with unacceptable costs if it seeks to alter the current relationship

General deterrence

Effort to protect one’s country from attack

Extended deterrence

Effort to protect an ally from attack

Indivisible good

A good that cannot be divided without diminishing its value

Clausewitz paradoxical trinity

Blind natural force, chance, reason