International Relations Flashcards

Separatist civil wars

A rebel group desires to create an independent state

Irredentist conflicts

the desire to detach a region from one country and attach it to another; usually due to ethnic/religious ties

Governmental conflict

rebel groups try to seize control of the central government

Greivance

poverty breeds desperation and makes rebel recruitment easier

State Capacity

Weak states have fewer security forces to put down insurgent groups

Population size

larger population, more wars

Proxy wars

: conflicts in which two opposing states “fight” by supporting opposite sides in a war

Preemption

attempting to destroy terrorists and their networks before the attack

Negotiation and compromise

strike a deal with terrorist group via negotiation

Stolper-Samuelson Theorem

while land is not scare in the US, the areas in which sugar are grown are small, increasing demand for protection

Ricardo Viner Theorem

collusion between labor and owners in the sugar industry

Hechsher Ohlin theory

a country will export goods that make use of its most abundant factor of production and important scarce ones

Absolute advantage

the ability of a country or firm to produce more of a good or service than other countries/firms using the same effort and resources

Comparative advantage

the ability of a country or firm to produce a particular good or service more efficiently than other goods or services

Gravity model

depends on economic size of each state and distance between them

Protectionism

: the use of specific measures to shield domestic producers from imports

Trade barriers

impediments to the import of foreign goods

Tariff

a tax on imports levied at the border and paid by the importer

Quota

limits the quantity of a foreign good that can be sold domestically

Nontariff barriers to trade

regulations targeted at foreign goods

Redistributive effect

income is redistributed from domestic consumers to the protected domestic industry

Winners

protection creates returns above the normal rate of profit for domestic industries by artificially restricting competition and supply

Yet three groups lose from trade production

-Consumers

Exporters

Politicians

 

Films based trade theory

largest firms dominate trade policies

Institutions created at Bretton Woods

1.        International monetary fund

2.        International bank for reconstruction and development

3.        General agreement on tariffs and trade

FPI

FPI is investment in a foreign country via the purchase of stocks (equities), bonds, or other financial instruments

Sovereign lending

loans from private banks to sovereign governments

FDI

: investment in a foreign country via the acquisition of a local facility or establishment of a new facility

Concessional finance

money lent to developing countries by government agencies or international organizations (IGOS), $150 billion/year+

Commitment problem

the possibility of default is a problem for the borrower who must reassure the creditor that it will honor its commitment

Information problem

creditor might not know debtors’ ability to pay

Criticisms of the IMF

1.)    It is a tool of international financers

2.)    It is driven by US interests

3.)    It is driven by domestic politics in the US

Exchange rate

the price of a national currency relative to other national currencies

Fixed exchange rate

: a government promises to keep the national currency at a constant value

Floating exchange rate

a currency’s value fluctuates freely, driven by markets or other factors

Three kinds of benchmarks:

-Commodity standard

-Commodity-backed paper standard

-National paper currency standard

Result:

these actions devalued the dollar

Coercion

induces policy change by imposing costs, usually civilian deaths, on the target

spoiling

Is to make a target state believe that the moderate leadership is not sincere about making peaceuto

outbid

to demonstrate its superior leadership and devotion

provoke

a response from the target government

Defensive measures

(e.g, medal detectors) reduce terrorism by raising the costs to the groups of carrying out attacks

Criminalization

making terrorism a crime and pursuing individual terrorists and groups through law enforcementa

Austerity

polices of government budget cuts and tax increases to reduce a budget deficit (trying to hurt a state)

Losers

individuals, groups, or nations that are negatively impacted by global economic shifts like trade liberalization and globalization