International Relations: Exam 1 Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering topics from the International Relations Exam 1 Study Guide, including war theories, foreign policy decision-making, alliances and international organizations, colonial histories, and South-South cooperation.

Hegseth's Attack Objectives on Iran

The three military objectives cited for the strike: destruction of the Iranian navy, destruction of its ballistic arsenal, and destruction of Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon.

Mojtaba Khamenei

The Iranian leader who replaced Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his assassination.

Correlates of War Project (COW)

An academic project that defines war as sustained combat resulting in at least $1000$ battle-related deaths among all participating states (or an annual average of $1000$ battle-related deaths for wars lasting longer than one year).

Deterrence

The practice of discouraging bad behavior through the credible threat of punishment.

Deterrence Model

A theoretical framework arguing that war occurs when deterrence fails, specifically when a state lacks the military capabilities to threaten a sufficiently costly response or when its threat lacks credibility.

Kenneth Waltz

The political scientist who developed the levels of analysis framework in International Relations.

Bipolar System Stability (Structural Realism)

The argument that a bipolar system is more stable than a multipolar one because the large power disparity between the two poles lets them focus on each other and anticipate responses, prevents small crises from escalating to violence, and encourages bandwagoning rather than shifting alliances.

Defensive Realism

A realist theory arguing that anarchy itself does not force conflict, states balance against the greatest threat rather than the strongest power (Walt), domestic variables explain aggression, and states should exercise military, diplomatic, and economic restraint.

Offensive Realism

A realist theory arguing that international anarchy is hostile and a source of predation, uncertainty about adversary intentions is inherent, the credible threat of conquest causes others to bandwagon, and demonstrating willingness to wage war enhances reputation.

War (Levy & Thompson's Definition)

Sustained, coordinated violence between two political organizations.

Predatory War

A realist path to war occurring when two states have a direct conflict of interest, and at least one decides its interests are best achieved through military force, launching deliberate, unprovoked aggression.

Inadvertent War

A realist path to war where a status-quo, security-seeking state defensively builds up power in response to an adversary's strength, leading the adversary to view the buildup as threatening and triggering a conflict spiral.

Security Dilemma

The paradoxical situation in which actions taken by a state to increase its own security prompt an adversary to respond in ways that ultimately decrease the first state's security.

System Polarity

The distribution of capabilities among states in the international system, measured by the number of power poles where capabilities are concentrated.

Multipolar System

An international system characterized by three or more great powers, such as Europe in 1914.

Bipolar System

An international system concentrated around two fairly equal rival poles, such as the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Unipolar System

An international system dominated by a single hegemon, such as the United States in the post-Cold War era.

Power Transition Theory (Organski 1958)

A theory positing that the likelihood of war rises when a challenger approaches power parity with the dominant state (especially if dissatisfied with the status quo), with the weaker state being more likely to act as the aggressor.

Hobson's Conditions for Imperial Expansion

Three internal domestic conditions in developed economies driving imperialist expansion: overproduction of goods/services, underconsumption by workers due to low wages, and over-savings by the bourgeoisie/upper class.

Democratic Peace

The empirical observation that democracies rarely go to war with one another, explained by leaders depending on public support and entering only winnable, high-commitment wars, which prompts other democracies to negotiate.

Democratic War Victory (Bueno de Mesquita et al. 2003)

The argument that democratic leaders have large winning coalitions and rely on successful policies to stay in power, causing them to enter only wars they can win with high resource mobilization; autocrats face less public accountability and thus fight and lose more wars.

Rearmament Model (Narizny 2003)

A model showing that leftist/labor governments favor progressive taxation that easily funds military buildup during external threats, whereas rightist/conservative governments favor regressive taxation, struggle to finance rearmament without alienating coalition partners, and prioritize alliances and appeasement.

Nonpersonalist Machines

An authoritarian regime type identified by Jessica Weeks where the leader is accountable to a powerful domestic audience composed primarily of civilian regime insiders.

Nonpersonalist Juntas

An authoritarian regime type identified by Jessica Weeks where the leader faces a powerful domestic audience composed primarily of military officers.

Personalist Strongmen

An authoritarian regime type identified by Jessica Weeks where the leader personally commands the state and military apparatuses and uses that direct control to thwart potential rivals.

Personalist Bosses

An authoritarian regime type identified by Jessica Weeks where the leader exercises personal control over state and military apparatuses to suppress and neutralize political competitors.

Machines (Authoritarian War Decision-Making)

The authoritarian regime type whose war behavior mirrors democracies because leaders initiate military conflicts infrequently, prevail in the conflicts they start, and face domestic punishment when they miscalculate.

Soft Power

A concept coined by Joseph S. Nye Jr. referring to the ability to affect others to obtain desired outcomes through attraction rather than coercion or payment (e.g., Hollywood popularizing American culture).

Public Diplomacy

The instrument governments use to communicate with and mobilize resources to attract foreign publics and governments via broadcasting, cultural exports, and exchange programs.

Dimensions of Public Diplomacy

The three components of state public diplomacy: daily communications, strategic communications, and the development of lasting relationships with key individuals over many years.

Hard Power

The capacity of a state or actor to coerce others into compliance through military or economic force.

Smart Power

The capacity of an actor to combine elements of hard and soft power in a mutually reinforcing way to advance its objectives effectively and efficiently.

Hierarchy of Foreign Policy Belief Systems (Tetlock & Breslauer)

A three-level cognitive model consisting of fundamental assumptions and policy objectives (alterable only through massive personnel shifts), strategic policy beliefs/preferences (alterable through repeated failure), and tactical beliefs (alterable through repeated failure).

Early Formative Experiences (Jervis)

Four early career experiences shaping political beliefs: events establishing autonomy/worth, early professional stands advancing career position, the pervasive values and problems of that era, and generational effects.

Rational Decision-Making (Levy & Thompson 2010)

An individual-level cognitive process where leaders define goals, identify potential strategies, and estimate consequences probabilistically rather than deterministically.

Collective Security

A system assuming all states share a common interest in preventing war, under which any aggression by one state triggers an automatic and collective reaction from the rest to preserve peaceful change (e.g., the United Nations).

Alliance

A formal, binding institution where two or more states agree to cooperate militarily in the event of war to shift bargaining outcomes in favor of member states (e.g., NATO).

Entente

A weaker form of alliance based on mutual understandings of consultation and coordination without a binding treaty commitment to provide military assistance (e.g., the Triple Entente).

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

A defensive alliance established in 1949 between the US, Canada, and Western European nations, primarily designed to protect Western Europe against internal and external threats.

NATO Pre-2001 Challenges (Forster & Wallace 2001)

Three critical issues facing the alliance prior to 2001: expansion of membership, member commitments to the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), and prospective US troop reductions in Europe.

Offensive Alliance

An agreement in which two or more states pledge to fight together to launch an attack against another state.

Defensive Alliance

An agreement in which two or more states pledge to come to each other's defense if any member is attacked.

Chain-Ganging

A strategic hazard where unconditional alliance commitments allow the aggressive actions of a small number of states to drag their allies into war.

Principal Organs of the United Nations

The six core bodies established by the UN charter: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, Secretariat, and International Court of Justice.

UN Security Council Composition

A $15$-member body consisting of $10$ rotating members and $5$ permanent members: the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and France.

United Nations Main Office Locations

The headquarters and primary duty stations located in New York City (US), Geneva (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), Nairobi (Kenya), and The Hague (Netherlands).

Trump Administration Multilateral Withdrawals (Emmanuel & Tanis 2026)

An executive order withdrawing the US from $66$ international organizations, agencies, and commissions under the claim of protecting sovereignty and saving taxpayer funds, leaving openings for Chinese dominance and forfeiting climate leadership.

Haiti's "Double Debt"

A colonial financial penalty where France forced Haiti to pay $30\text{ million}$ francs annually for $5$ years as compensation for 'lost property,' followed by high-interest private bank loans taken out to pay the original indemnity.

1914 US Invasion of Haiti

A military occupation prompted by National City Bank of New York pressure, during which the US seized $\$500,000$ in gold, established forced labor, and occupied the country for $19$ years.

George Washington Williams

The first person to use the term 'crimes against humanity,' applied in the context of King Leopold II's Congo Free State.

Edmund Dene Morel

The shipping clerk who exposed exploitation in the Congo Free State after observing that ships arrived with valuable rubber and ivory but returned only with arms and ammunition.

Mobutu Sese Seko

The Congolese president who renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Republic of Zaire.

Patrice Émery Lumumba

The first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

DRC Raw Material Exploitation Sequence

The chronological sequence of five primary commodities extracted from the Democratic Republic of Congo: ivory, rubber, cotton, uranium, and coltan.

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta

The Arabized Amazigh traveler who covered almost five times the distance of Marco Polo and recorded his travels in the book The Rihla.

University of al-Qarawiyyin

Recognized as the oldest university in the world, founded by Fatima al-Fihriya and located in Fez, Morocco.

South-South Cooperation (SSC)

A collaborative development framework between developing countries in the Global South grounded in political solidarity, horizontality, non-interference in domestic affairs, and mutual benefit.

Development Assistance Committee (DAC)

A body of traditional Western donors providing vertically structured development assistance, which lacks representation from regions such as Africa, South America, and the Caribbean.

SSC Historical Epochs (Mawdsley 2019)

Three development periods: SSC 1.0 (early 1950s–late 1990s; Third Worldist solidarity), SSC 2.0 (late 1990s–about 2015; boom in financing and visibility), and SSC 3.0 (2015–present; emphasis on effectiveness, outcomes, and shared global agendas).

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) African Debate

The policy debate over Chinese engagement: accommodationists cite infrastructure gap reduction and mutual trade benefits, while critics warn of debt-trapping, environmental harms, and replicating colonial trade patterns.

Debt-Trapping (Asante 2018)

The practice in which a donor nation knowingly extends loans beyond a recipient country's capacity to pay, entrapping the state in accumulating debt and strategic vulnerability.

"Angola-Model" Loan

A bilateral financing structure where China funds infrastructure projects in resource-rich African states and receives repayment directly in natural resources needed for its manufacturing industry.

Triangular Cooperation (Brazil)

South-South partnership projects where Brazil collaborates alongside three traditional partner nations: Japan, Spain, and Germany.

Yevgeni Primakov

The Russian Prime Minister who formulated the foreign policy doctrine of multipolarity that helped foster the rise of the BRICS grouping.