World Politics Key Words

Midterm Preparation

Realism

States only focus on their own self- interest

Hans Morgenthau & Kenneth Waltz

Liberalism

States can cooperate under anarchy; non state, trade, and institutions matter

Robert Keohane & Michael Doyle

Constructivism

Foreign policy and international relations are shaped by ideational factors; identities, norms rather than material power

Alexander Wendt

Neorealism

States behavior is driven by structure of international anarchy

Kenneth Waltz

Marxism

WP is defined by class struggle, economic exploitation and the global expansion of capitalism, rather than interstate anarchy

Conservatism

Keeps traditions, values, and institutions. Slow change over big revolutions

Ronald Reagan & Margaret Thatcher

Socialism

State control everything so wealth is shared evenly

Karl Marx & Bernie Sanders

Anarchism

Rejects all governments and forced authority, humans can self-organize peacefully

Peter Kropotkin & Noam Chomsky

Fascism

Opposes democracy and suppress all oppositions

Benito Mussolini & Adolf Hitler

Globalization

A process of the widening, deepening and acceleration of worldwide connectivity

David Held & Anthony Giddens

Poststructuralism

Language as a non-neutral social system, deconstructing sovereignty and visual politics

Michel Foucault & Roland Bleiker

Postcolonial & Decolonial Theories

Sum of formal and informal ways public and private institutions manage common affairs, resolve conflict and organize cooperative action

Thomas Weiss & Rorden Wilkinson

Globalism

Emphasizes connecting nations and working together through international cooperation to solve global problems

Dependency Theory

Response to modernization theory, structural inequalities

Immanuel Wallerstein

Neorealism

war and conflict stem from the structure of the international system rather than human nature

Waltz & Mearsheimer

Neoclassical Realism

Combines anarchy with state-society relations to explain state behavior

Imperialism

Claims “giving” independence to former subjects, to be followed by “aid” for their development

Feminist IR Theory

Critiques gender blindness and exposes how gender roles structure international political economy, security and war

Cynthia Enloe & J. Ann Tickner