Quiz 1 NOTES FOR EXAM 231 international relations

International relations involves the study of:

how states and non-state actors interact, often involving competition for power and influence

The three most prominent approaches that are used to understand international relations are

 

realism, liberalism, and constructivism.

The comparative method of analysis

involves identifying similarities and differences across cases

The concept of legitimacy, which emerged in the aftermath of the American and French revolutions, implies that political power ultimately rests with the

People

The authority of a state to govern matters within its own borders and be free from external interference is known as

 

sovereignty

Polarity refers to the distribution of power among states. A period characterized by a ________ distribution of power ended with the end of the Cold War.

bipolar

Institutions can moderate the effects of anarchy by facilitating cooperation among states.

liberalism

States are primarily concerned with maximizing their power relative to other states.

realism

State's behaviors are influenced by economic factors, including class conflict.

radicalism

Socialization is an important concept for explaining international relations.

constructivism

States recognize mutual benefits through cooperation in international relations.

Liberalism

International relations is more likely to be characterized by conflict because when one state gains, all others necessarily lose.

Realism

Ideas and interests relating to international relations may change over time

constructivism

From the perspective of liberalism in international relations,

states generally cooperate despite anarchy.

Which of the following is most consistent with liberalism as an approach to understanding international relations?

cooperation may be mutually beneficial

The constructivist perspective posits that

ideas matter

The realist perspective posits that

states exist in an anarchic international system.

Self-help in international relations refers to states' need to

protect their own interests in the absence of any alternative guarantor

From the constructivist perspective, two of the most important factors are

norms and identities

Consistent with realism and liberalism, states seek to maximize

power

The objective of the Correlates of War project has been to

identify patterns that could help explain the causes of wars.

The behavioral revolution in American social sciences was spawned primarily by scholars’

belief that a more scientific study of social (and political) phenomena would lead to the identification of underlying patterns of behavior.

Postmodernists seek to find the voices of "the others" in international relations. Which of the following represent(s) such voices?

the voices of members of marginalized communities

One reason political scientists develop theories is to

understand the causes of political outcomes.

Drawing insights from Thomas Hobbes, anarchy in international relations refers to:

the absence of authority in the international system above that of states.

One of the major motives for colonialism was

a desire for economic gains.

________ represents a people's love for their state (note distinctions in definitions of nation and state).

patriotism

Which of the following is associated with the period following the Treaties of Westphalia (1648)?

creation of states as distinct political entities

European states embarked upon divergent paths to economic development following the 1648 Treaties of Westphalia. Which type of economic development remained in Eastern parts of Europe and was most closely associated with that region's economic stagnation leading into the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

feudalism

Political liberalism refers to:

protections for political rights and civil liberties

Providing support for his ideas associated with free trade and capitalism, Scottish economist Adam Smith posited that the wealth of states and of the international system increases when

individuals are allowed to pursue their rational self-interests, unfettered by state regulation.

Economic liberalism is associated with:

an open economy and free trade

The League of Nations was an international organization that was

not joined by the United States or Russia.

The balance of power in 19th Century Europe (1800s) refers to a time when:

Europe's powerful states formed alliances to prevent the rise of a dominant state.

The alliance between the United States and predominantly Western and Western European states in the post–World War II era was the:

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Although the Cold War did not involve direct military confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union, it can be characterized as a period during which

conflicts between the two were played out indirectly using proxies on third-party stages.

There was an expectation during the Cold War that:

the war-making capabilities of the two superpowers and their allies were roughly equal, such that neither would expect to win a direct confrontation.

The Cold War-era policy of preventing further Soviet expansion

Containment

The lessening of tensions between the United States and Soviet Union beginning in the late 1960s

Detente

The plan to push the Soviet Union out of Central and Eastern Europe

Rollback

The fear that communism spreading to one state would foreshadow communism spreading to more states

Domino effect

Two sets of policies were implemented in the Soviet Union during the mid-1980s: ____________ refers to political opening; ____________ refers to economic restructuring.

glasnost; perestroika

Hobbes' “state of nature” is associated with which of the following?

the challenges of survival under conditions of anarchy

The United States' engagement in the Vietnam War was an attempt to prevent the spread of communism.

True

The Soviet Union collapsed shortly after its failed attempt to occupy and control Iran.

False

Unlike many European states, the United States has not been an imperial power and has had no colonies.

False

Which of the following is an example of what Huntington referred to as a “clash of civilizations”?

violent conflict, including civil war, involving the former Yugoslav republics, where the Orthodox, Western, and Islamic civilizations intersect.

Which of the following states is internally divided by a civilizational "fault line" as described by Huntington in his "Clash of Civilizations"?

Nigeria

In the “Clash of Civilizations,” Samuel Huntington argues that

conflicts in the post-Cold War era will be between states belonging to distinct civilizations.

In his “End of History?” discussion, Fukuyama made the case that

the world would become more economically and politically liberal

For Fukuyama, the "end of history" refers to:

an uncontested beneficial status that can be achieved

Which example poses the most significant challenge for Fukuyama's description of an "end of history"?

China, with its illiberal alternative for political and economic organization