International Relations Theory Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing IR theories, concepts, and key terms from Liberalism, Marxism, Realism, and Neoliberal Institutionalism.

Republican Liberalism

A branch of liberal theory rooted in European Enlightenment thought that emphasizes human rationality, the possibility of progress, and the feasibility of domestic and international cooperation to sustain peace.

Kantian Triangle

A liberal framework demonstrating how international organizations, democracy, and economic interdependence/independence mutually reinforce one another to foster peace.

Democratic Peace Theory (DPT)

The theory that democracies are less likely to go to war due to domestic norms favoring peaceful resolution and domestic institutions like voting, checks, and balances.

Monadic Democratic Peace Theory

Also known as Strong DPT, the proposition that democratic states are inherently less war-prone in general due to domestic preferences and constraints.

Dyadic Democratic Peace Theory

Also known as Weak DPT, the proposition that democracies are specifically less likely to go to war with other democracies because of shared norms of conflict resolution.

Cod Wars

A series of disputes in the 1960s–1970s between Iceland and the UK over economic control of North Atlantic cod resources, which were resolved peacefully through negotiation.

Capitalist Peace Theory

A theory asserting that higher levels of international trade, free markets, and economic interdependence create win-win situations, predictability, and shared gains that reduce fighting.

McDonald's Peace Theory

A popular hypothesis stating that no two countries with McDonald's franchises have fought a war against each other, though it was disproven by conflict involving Russia in 2008, 2014, and 2022.

Liberal Interventionism

The view that peace is not a natural condition and must be constructed through proactive measures, internationalism, self-determination, free trade, and institutional mandates.

Treaty of the Open Sky

An agreement permitting mutual aerial surveillance among member states to share data, increase transparency, build credibility, and reduce the security dilemma.

Neoliberal Institutionalism

An IR theory focusing on state actors and rational utility maximization, asserting that institutions facilitate cooperation under anarchy by enabling information exchange and lowering compliance costs.

Formal International Institutions

Multilateral organizations formally established by states with specific budgets, staff, locations, and structures, such as the UN, ICC, WTO, and IMF.

Informal International Institutions (Regimes)

Implicit or explicit sets of expectations, rules, and norms where state expectations converge in specific issue areas without formal organization structures, such as diplomatic immunity.

Liberal International Order (LIO)

The post-1945 international order structured around fundamental liberal principles embedded in the UN Charter, managing trade, financial flows, collective security, sovereign equality, and human rights.

Historical Materialism

The Marxist core idea that political and social change reflects underlying economic development, where the economic base dictates the superstructure.

The Base (Marxism)

The economic foundation of a society comprised of the forces and relations of production that determines the visible legal, political, and cultural superstructure.

The Superstructure (Marxism)

The visible surface structures of society, including states, laws, and international institutions like the WTO, that arise from and reinforce the economic base.

The Dialectic (Marxism)

A dynamic social process wherein situated agents and structures interact through a repeating cycle of thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis.

World System Theory (WST)

A theory describing global capitalism as an extractive system divided into core, semi-periphery, and periphery regions that entrench wealth disparities between rich and poor states.

Core (World System Theory)

Democratic states with high wages and welfare systems that export manufactured goods and import raw materials extracted from the periphery and semi-periphery.

Semi-periphery (World System Theory)

Authoritarian states with low wages that export mature manufactures and raw materials, serving as a buffer to counteract upward wage pressure in the core.

Periphery (World System Theory)

Non-democratic states with below-subsistence wages and no welfare services that export raw materials to feed the core and semi-periphery.

Gramscian Hegemony

The combination of coercive tools and manufactured consent via civil society institutions used by ruling classes or states to maintain power and sustain the superstructure.

Problem-solving Theory

A theoretical approach aligned with Realism and Liberalism that focuses on solving specific issues within the existing societal framework without challenging its underlying structures.

Critical Theory

A theoretical approach aligned with Marxism and Gramscianism that analyzes systemic contradictions and seeks emancipatory change to move beyond existing oppressive structures.

Statism

The realist concept holding that sovereign states are the primary actors in global politics, possessing internal authority over territory and external autonomy in foreign affairs.

Relative Gain

A realist concept measuring a state's gain relative to its own previous absolute standing.

Relational Gain

A realist concept where a state's gains are measured in direct comparison to a competitor's gains to evaluate who remains overall more powerful.

Security Dilemma

A self-reinforcing cycle where defensive steps taken by one state to increase its security are perceived as threats by rival states, causing them to arm and ultimately reducing the security of all involved.

Classical Realism

A realist tradition that roots international conflict and state behavior primarily in human nature, viewing humans as inherently selfish and egotistical.

Structural Realism (Neorealism)

A realist tradition arguing that system-level factors—specifically anarchy and the distribution of power—dictate state behavior regardless of internal regime types or human nature.

Defensive Realism

A structural realist theory asserting that states should pursue only enough power to defend their security, because accumulating excessive power causes rival balancing and exacerbates the security dilemma.

Offensive Realism

A structural realist theory asserting that states should maximize their relative power to achieve survival because balancing is unreliable and conquest can pay.

Neoclassical Realism

A realist approach that opens the systemic 'billiard ball' by incorporating domestic leadership, internal coalition building, and perceptions to explain foreign policy choices constrained by structural factors.

Hegemonic Stability Theory (HST)

The theory that a unipolar distribution of power, controlled by a dominant global state (hegemon), creates a less anarchic and more stable international system.

Power Transition Theory

A realist framework asserting that global power is distributed in a hierarchical pyramid, where major conflicts arise when a rising state challenges a declining hegemon.