POLS170: International Politics Midterm Exam

World Politics: Interests, Interactions, Institutions 5th edition (chapters 1-5)

Interests

What actors want to achieve through political action

Main categories: power/security, economic/material, ideological/cultural

Interactions

The ways in which actors engage with one another in the international system, often influencing political outcomes and relationships. Forces us to consider what others want.

Institutions

Sets of rules (known and shared by the relevant community) in a political system that structure interactions

Four functions: Setting standards of behavior, verifying compliance, reducing the costs of joint decision making, resolving disputes

Mercantilism

An economic doctrine based on a belief that military power and economic influence complement each other; applied to colonial empires in the 16th-18th centuries.

Sovereignty

The expectation that states have legal or political supremacy—or ultimate authority—within their territorial boundaries

Hegemony

The political, economic, cultural, or military dominance of one group, state, or nation over others

Pax Britannica

“British Peace”—a century-long period, beginning with Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815 and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, during which Britain’s economic and diplomatic influence contributed to economic openness and relative peace

Gold Standard

The monetary system that prevailed between about 1870 and 1914, in which countries tied their currencies to gold at a legally fixed price

League of Nations

A collective security organization founded in 1919 after World War I through the Treaty of Versailles. The League ended in 1946 and was replaced by the United Nations.

United Nations

An international organization founded 1945, to maintain global peace, security, and human rights. It replaced the League of Nations

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

An alliance formed in 1949 among the United States, Canada, and most of the states of Western Europe in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance requires its members to consider an attack on any one of them as an attack on all

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed in 1955 to bring together the Soviet Union and its Cold War allies in Eastern Europe and elsewhere; dissolved on March 31, 1991, as the Cold War ended

Bretton Woods System

The economic order negotiated among allied nations at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944, which led to a series of cooperative arrangements involving a commitment to relatively low barriers to international trade and investment

Decolonization

The process of colonial possessions winning independence, especially during the rapid end of the European empires in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean between the 1940s and 1960s

Actors

The basic unit for the analysis of international politics; can be either individuals or groups of people with common interests

State

A central authority that has the ability to make and enforce laws, rules, and decisions within a specified territory

National interests

Interests attributed to the state itself, usually security and power

Coordination

A type of cooperative interaction in which actors benefit from all making the same choices and subsequently have no incentive not to comply

Collaboration

A type of cooperative interaction in which actors gain from working together but nonetheless have incentives not to comply with any agreement

Public goods

Products that are nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption, such as national defense

Collective action problems

Obstacles to cooperation that occur when actors have incentives to collaborate but each acts with the expectation that others will pay the costs of cooperation

Free ride

(Free rider problem): to fail to contribute to a public good while benefiting from the contributions of others

Iteration

Repeated interactions with the same partners

Linkage

The linking of cooperation on one issue to interactions on a second issue

Power

The ability of Actor A to get Actor V to do something that B would otherwise not do; the ability to get the other side to make concessions and to avoid having to make concessions oneself

Coercion

A strategy of imposing or threatening to impose costs on other actors in order to induce a change in their behavior

Outside options

The alternatives to bargaining with a specific actor

Agenda setting

Actions taken before or during bargaining that make the reversion outcome more favorable for one party

War

An event involving the organized use of military force by at least two parties that reaches a minimum threshold of severity

Interstate war

A war in which the main participants are states

Civil war

A war in which the main participants are within the same state, such as the government or a rebel group

Security dilemma

A dilemma that arises when efforts that states make to defend themselves cause other states to feel less secure; can lead to arms races and war because of the fear of beinf attacked

Crisis bargaining

A bargaining interaction in which at least one actor threatens to use force in the event that its demands are not met

Coercive diplomacy

The use of threats to advance specific demands in a bargaining interaction

Bargaining range

The set of deals that both parties in a bargaining interaction prefer over the reversion outcome. When the reversion outcome is war, the bargaining range is the set of deals that both sides prefer over war

Compellence

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

Deterrence

An effort to preserve the status quo through the threat of force

Incomplete information

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

Capabilities

The observable, tangible resources and material attributes that a state possesses to exert power, influence outcomes, and defend its interests

Resolve

The willingness of an actor to endure costs in order to acquire a particular good

Credibility

Believability — a credible threat is a threat that the target believes will be carried out. A credible commitment is a commitment or promise that the recipient believes will be honored

Brinksmanship

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

Tying hands

A strategy where a state leader deliberately makes it costly or impossible to back down from a foreign policy threat or commitment

Paying for power

A situation in which states take costly steps to increase their military capabilities or readiness

Audience costs

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

Preventive war

A war fought with the intention of preventing an adversary from becoming stronger in the future. Preventative wars arise because a state whose power is increasing cannot commit not to exploit that power in future bargaining interactions

Preemptive war

A war fought with the anticipation that an attack by the other side is imminent

First-strike advantage

The situation that arises when military technology, military strategies, and/or geography give a significant advantage to whichever state attacks first in a war

Indivisible good

A good that cannot be divided without destroying its value

Unitary state assumption

The concept that treats a sovereign state as a single, coherent decision-making entity rather than a collection of competing domestic groups, leaders, and bureaucracies

Nationalism

A political ideology that prioritizes attachment to one’s nation, where nations are groups defined by common origin, ethnicity, language, or cultural ties

Bureaucracy

The collection or organizations—including the military, diplomatic corps, and intelligence agencies—that carry out most tasks of governance within a state

Interest groups

Groups of individuals with common interests that organize to influence public policy in a manner that benefits their members

Rally effect

People’s tendency to become more supportive of their country’s government in times of dramatic international events, such as crises or wars

Diversionary incentive

The incentive that state leaders have to start international crises in order to rally public support at home

Military-industrial complex

An alliance between military leaders and the industries that benefit from international conflicts, such as arms manufacturers

Democratic Peace

The observation that there are few, if any, clear cases of war between mature democratic states

Democracy

A political system in which candidates compete for political office through frequent, fair elections in which a sizable portion of the adult population can vote

Autocracy

A political system in which an individual or small group exercises power with few constraints and no meaningful competition or participation by the general public

Accountability

The ability to punish or reward leaders for the decisions they make, as when frequent, fair elections enable voters to hold elected officials responsible for their actions by granting or withholding access to political office

Alliances

Institutions that help their members cooperate militarily in the event of war

Balance of power

A situation in which the military capabilities of two states or groups of states are roughly equal

Bandwagoning

A strategy in which states join forces with the stronger side in a conflict

Entrapment

The condition of being dragged into an unwanted war because of the opportunistic actions of an ally

Collective security organizations

Broad-based institutions that promote peace and security among their members

Examples: League of Nations, United Nations

Genocide

Intentional and systematic killing aimed at eliminating an identifiable group of people, such as an ethnic or religious group

Humanitarian interventions

Interventions designed to relieve humanitarian crises stemming from civil conflicts or large-scale human rights abuses, including genocide

Security Council (UNSC)

The main governing body of the UN, which has the authority to identify threats to international peace and security and to prescribe the organizations response, including military and/or economic sanctions

Permanent five (P5)

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC): the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), and China

Veto power

The ability to prevent the passage of a measure through a unilateral act, such as a single negative vote

Peace-enforcement (operation)

A military operation in which force is used to make and/or enforce peace among warring parties that have not agreed to end their fighting

Peacekeeping (operation)

An operation in which troops and observers are deployed to monitor a cease-fire or peace agreement