Global Politics Midterm Multiple Choice

A “theory” is a…

Formal model with hypotheses and assumptions, and a simplifying device that helps the analyst decide which facts matter and which facts do not.

After the First World War, many scholars of international politics believed the goal of their studies should be to make the world a better place. This is known as a(n)

Normative Orientation

Multinational corporations, human rights groups, and environmental organizations can be examples of…

Transnational Actors

According to the text, a person's worldview theory…

Is something the person might not even be aware of, might come from family, friends, and the news media, might seem like “common sense” or not at all like a theory.

A __________ theorist believes that state is the result of class forces.

Marxist

A(n) __________ theory is a standard of the correct moral and ethical behavior about how the world should be.

Normative

Constructivist scholars tend to assert that

There is no single historical narrative; therefore, no single perspective holds the truth.

A __________ theorist believes that ideas about the world are not fixed but change over time.

Constructivist

The inter-paradigm debate, according to the text, was not so much four different views of the same world, but instead

four views of different worlds.

“Nation-state” is a problematic term because

few states comprise only one nation, so the term is confusing at times.

In July 1914 most people of each of the belligerent states:

had nationalist beliefs and patriotic values and as a result wanted war to prove that their nation was best

In the case of the First World War “total war” meant

the people and resources of entire societies were mobilized for the common purpose.

In which region did the Cold War have its origins?

Europe

Many international relations experts believed that __________ during the Cold War more or less produced a stable international system.

Bipolarity

The First World War

A.

was characterized by trench warfare and attrition.

B.

began to end in November 1918 with allied advances.

C.

mobilized whole European societies.

The NATO alliance initially represented an important United States commitment to

the defense of Western Europe after 1949.

The Peace of __________ ended the Thirty Years' War.

Westphalia

The term “appeasement” is usually connect with which person and which event or place?

Hitler and Czechoslovakia

The term “state system” means

the regular patterns of interaction between states, but without implying any shared values between them.

The year 1648 represents a dividing line in European history because

the Thirty Years' War ended that year, bringing with it a new template for relations in the international system.

What is the core value of the post-1648 international society that Europeans created?

sovereign equality

What is the term used to describe the retreat from empire throughout most of Asia and Africa after 1945?

decolonization

What key policy was associated with the Truman Doctrine?

Containment

What term best describes the dominance of a particular state in relation to all other states in the international system?

hegemony

What was the term used to describe the reestablishment of friendlier relations between China and the United States?

rapprochment

According to the text, many historians contend that __________, also called the __________, helped to cause the Second World War.

Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty . . . War Guilt Clause

Khrushchev's policy towards the West was a mixture of seeking coexistence and sometimes pursuing

ideological confrontation.

The book asserts that the effects of __________ helped to end the era of European colonialism

the Second World War

The text argues that the Cold War

was not “cold” at all for the millions of people who died around the world.

Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points included which of the following?

A.

a call for open diplomacy

B.

a call for national self-determination

C.

a call for a supranational assembly of states

According to the book, a theory is

a proposed explanation for an event or behavior.

According to the text, Kenneth Waltz tries to overcome the problem of realism's weak definition of the meaning of power by shifting the focus from power to

capabilities

Classical realism represents power politics as a result of beliefs about

human behavior.

Defensive realism proposes that states are generally more concerned with

security.

Structural realists like Waltz argue that states are more concerned about __________ than __________ gains.

security . . . power

The academic perspective called __________ realism developed after the end of the First World War during the period 1919 to 1939.

classical

The academic realism that emerged after the end of the First World War was based on an interpretation of the works of which writers?

Machiavelli and Hobbes

The arena with no overarching central authority above the individual collection of sovereign states within which international politics takes place is known as

anarchy

Which of the following is not a pillar of what the book calls essential realism?

ideational prospects

__________ proposes that the structure of the international system compels states to maximize their relative power position.

Offensive realism

According to the text, foreign policy includes determining

the national interests and selecting the methods that will best achieve those goals.

At the basic level citizens want the state to protect the borders, provide internal security, and support and maintain a means of exchange or a marketplace. These are often called

national interests.

Nationalism has served as an important component of state-building and for the formation of __________ within societies.

a common identity and consciousness

Realist Hans Morgenthau believed the “pursuit of power” was

the essence of politics.

The methods and tools that national leaders use to achieve the national interests of a state are called

statecraft.

The rise of nationalism from the late eighteenth century nationalized this state order, later extending beyond Europe

until the whole world was organized as a series of nation-states.

Zimbabwe is an example of a

fragile state

__________ is/are usually related to what citizens expect from their governments.

National interests

A foreign policy tradition is an example of a(n) __________ level of analysis.

national

According to the text, factors such as pollution, pandemics like HIV/AIDS, SARS, and the swine flu, and weather patterns that can affect foreign policy are examples of the __________ level of analysis.

global

A(n) __________ institution represents the basic norms and practices that sovereign states employ to facilitate coexistence and cooperation under conditions of international anarchy.

fundamental

A(n) __________ is an authoritative international organization that operates above the nation-state:

supranational global organization

According to the textbook, the UN Secretary-General

provides administrative guidance.

According to the UN Charter, in the General Assembly voting is on the basis of

one vote for each member-state.

Developing countries criticize international law as

based on Western European historical experience.

Global governance:

A.

describes formal and informal processes and institutions;

B.

guide and control the activities of both state and nonstate actors in the international system

C.

global governance does not mean the creation of a world government

The concept of “sovereignty” is an example of a(n) __________ institution.

constitutional

The organ of the UN charged with maintaining international security and order is the

Security Council.

The principal mechanism modern states employ to “legislate” international law is

multilateral diplomacy.

__________ are becoming increasingly important in the development and codification of international legal norms.

Nongovernmental actors

A conflict that turns on one side's ability to force the other side to fight on their own terms is __________ war.

asymmetric

According to constructivists, the fundamental structures of international politics are __________ rather than __________.

social . . . material

According to the text, academic disagreements about definitions of terms like “war” and “security” matter because

scholars often make policy recommendations to politicians.

According to __________ war is an act of violence intended to compel one's opponent to fulfill one's will.

Clausewitz

Collective security arrangements are designed to provide

deterrence through the promise of mutual protection.

Human interest should take priority over national interest is a tenet of which school of thought?

global humanist

Kaldor's "new wars" concept seems to be supported by evidence that shows __________ of conflicts have occurred within states during the last decade.

95%

Structural realists writers see __________ as the essential source of conflict between states.

the security dilemma and anarchy

Until recently, for both academics and politicians the main area of interest regarding security tended to involve

military capabilities.

Which of the following is/are seen as evidence of the obsolescence of war?

security communities such as those in Europe and democratic peace theory