ints y1 sem1

describe westphalia.

1648, ended the 30 years war, some IR-ists say it is the origin of sovereignty and modern international relations critical theories.

‘The Great Divergence’ and Why?

1820: Asia = 60% of global GDP; West = 34%.

1913: West = 68%; Asia = 25%

industrialisation, imperialism, racism

According to Tilly (1990), why did the modern state win?

It combined capital-intensive and coercive-intensive resource mobilization more effectively than rivals.

What three internal transformations did the modern state undergo?

absolutism → nationalism → democracy

What was the purpose of post-war colonial development spending?

To increase raw material exports (earn dollars), assist metropolitan recovery, and maintain great-power status—but it generated social unrest that fuelled nationalism.

What was the Congo Crisis?

1960–1963

Belgian intervention and Katanga secession; Lumumba appealed to UN; turned to USSR when UN was too slow; assassinated January 1961; dragged on until Katanga was defeated.

What were the key colonial legacies for African states?

Shortage of professionals; patronage/clientelism; autocratic state apparatus; indirect rule; urban-rural divide; artificial boundaries; religious divides.

What did Gar Alperovitz (1965) argue about the atomic bomb?

Truman dropped the bomb to coerce Moscow in pursuit of post-war American interests, not just to end the war.

ww1 and ww2 and cold war

1914-1918
1939-1945
1945-1991

Truman Doctrine?

1947, US would support those threatened by Soviet subversion or expansion; containment policy.

Marshall Plan?

1947, US economic recovery program for Europe; essential to rebuilding Western Europe.

Berlin Blockade

1948-49, Stalin cut communications to West Berlin; US/UK airlift supplied city; blockade ended May 1949.

NATO

1949, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, collective self-defense (Article 51 UN Charter); cornerstone = US nuclear commitment to defend Europe.

What was Ostpolitik

Willy Brandt's policy of recognition and reconciliation with East Germany; recognized existing borders.

What was SDI

Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative; research into space-based missile defences; Soviets took seriously; technology didn't materialize.

What were glasnost and perestroika?

Gorbachev's policies: glasnost = openness; perestroika = restructuring of Soviet society/economy.

What was the "Sinatra Doctrine"?

Gorbachev's policy that Eastern Europeans could "do it their way" – no more Soviet force to maintain communist regimes.

What did the INF Treaty (1987) do?

banned intermediate-range nuclear missiles (Cruise, Pershing II); eliminated entire category of weapons.

What was the NPT (1968)?

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: nuclear states commit to halting arms race; non-nuclear states forswear development.

What was the peak of nuclear arsenals?

~64,600 warheads in 1985.

What is realism in IR?

A family of theoretical approaches emphasizing power, statism, anarchy, self-help, survival, and pessimistic human nature as enduring features of international politics.

What are the six core concepts of realism?

Human nature (selfish/egoistic), statism (states are main actors), power (relational/relative), anarchy (no central authority), survival (primary goal), self-help (states rely on themselves).

What is the security dilemma?

States cannot be certain of others' intentions; defensive measures appear threatening to others, creating spirals of mistrust and potential war (Herz, Butterfield, Jervis).

What is the balance of power?

Core realist proposition that hegemonies do not form because states balance against threats through internal (military/economy) and external (alliances) means.

What did Machiavelli argue about morality?

Leaders must prioritize state survival over conventional morality ("reason of state"); men are self-interested; glory tied to state power.

What was Morgenthau's key argument?

"International politics, like all politics, is a struggle for power"; six principles of realism; power is universal and objective. (classical realism)

What was Waltz's contribution to realism?

structural realism/neorealism; anarchy determines state behaviour; focus on capabilities, not human nature.

What is defensive neorealism?

States seek moderate/restrained policies for security; international system has inherent balancing tendency (Waltz).

1. How does defensive neorealism explain Russia's Ukraine actions?

2. How does offensive neorealism explain Russia's Ukraine actions?

3. How does neoclassical realism explain Russia's Ukraine actions?

1. Russia responding to NATO/EU expansion; defensive move to maintain balance of power and security.

2. Russia as revisionist power seeking hegemony; offensive-realist spiral of mutual aggression.

3. Domestic factors (authoritarianism, nationalism, humiliation of Soviet collapse) shape threat perception; historical/cultural ties to Ukraine amplify insecurity.

What is offence-defence theory?

When attack is easy, war more probable; when defence has advantage, war less probable (Jervis, Van Evera).

What did Stanley Hoffmann mean by "international affairs have been the nemesis of Liberalism"?

Liberalism values self-restraint, moderation, compromise, and peace – but international politics is characterized by troubled peace and state of war.

What are the three waves of liberal internationalism?

Enlightenment/nineteenth century (Kant, Bentham, Mill); 2. Inter-war idealist moment (League of Nations); 3. Post-1945 American-led liberal order (now in crisis).

What is the Democratic Peace Thesis? (Doyle 1986)

Liberal states have created a "separate peace" with each other; they rarely if ever fight each other

What was Fukuyama's "End of History?" thesis (1989)?

Liberalism had triumphed over all other ideologies; liberal states are more stable internally and more peaceful internationally.

How does collective security differ from collective defence?

Collective security = universal response to any aggression; collective defence = alliance against specific external threat.

Why did the League of Nations fail?

US didn't join; USSR excluded; Germany reoccupied Rhineland (1936); Manchuria (1931); Ethiopia (1935); idealists were conservative and unwilling to challenge colonial order.

What are Ikenberry's three phases of liberal internationalism?

1.0 = inter-war idealist moment (failed); 2.0 = post-1945 American-led order; 3.0 = future post-American global institutions (unrealistic).

Why is liberal internationalism in crisis today?

US relative decline; rising powers resist; loss of legitimacy; interventions seen as regime change; Trump rejected multilateralism; return to sovereignty.

What is the imperial impulse in liberal internationalism?

Tendency to use liberal values to justify domination; from Mill to Bush's "freedom's war" to "empire lite" arguments.

What is constructivism in IR?

A social theory focusing on human consciousness and the role of ideas, norms, identity, and knowledge in shaping world politics.

What two commitments define constructivism (Wendt 1999)?

Idealism (ideas shape meaning) and Holism (structures are irreducibly social).

What does "anarchy is what states make of it" mean?

Wendt's claim that anarchy's meaning depends on shared beliefs and practices – not a fixed material condition.

What is a norm (Finnemore and Sikkink)?

"A standard of appropriate behavior for actors with a given identity."

What are the three stages of the norm life cycle?

Norm emergence (norm entrepreneurs); 2. Norm cascade (spreads); 3. Norm internalization (taken for granted).

Why did constructivism rise in the 1990s?

The end of the Cold War – mainstream theories (neorealism/neoliberalism) couldn't explain it because they had jettisoned ideas and norms.

What is international ethics?

The study of what actors ought to do in world politics – offering moral guidance, not explaining the world.

What are the two central questions of international ethics?

1.Should outsiders be treated as moral equals to insiders?
2. What does treating outsiders as equals mean in practice?

What is cosmopolitanism?

Morality is universal; fundamental duties derive from shared humanity; national borders are morally irrelevant.

What is statism/communitarianism?

Morality is local/particular; duties to fellow nationals take priority; borders have significant ethical status.

What is the difference between positive and negative duties?

Positive: duty to act (aid, assistance). Negative: duty to stop/avoid harming others.

What is the distinction between thick and thin cosmopolitanism?

Thick: extensive duties; global egalitarianism. Thin: minimal duties (not harm, emergency aid); state remains primary.

What is realist ethics (Morgenthau, Kennan)?

Survival is primary duty in anarchy; self-help is moral duty; universal morality is delusion or mask for power.

What is historical materialism?

Economic development is the motor of history; material conditions shape ideas, politics, and culture.

What is the base-superstructure model?

Economic development is the motor of history; material conditions shape ideas, politics, and culture.

What are Wallerstein's three zones of the world economy?

Core (dominant), semi-periphery (hybrid, stabilizes), periphery (exploited, supplies raw materials).

What is Gramsci's concept of hegemony?

Ruling class maintains power through consent (not just coercion); operates through civil society (media, education, churches).

What is a "historic bloc" (Gramsci)?

Mutually reinforcing relationship between socioeconomic relations (base) and political/cultural practices (superstructure).

What does Linklater argue about emancipation in IR?

Expansion of moral boundaries of political community; same duties to non-citizens as to fellow citizens.

What is feminism fundamentally rooted in?

Analysis of global subordination of women and its elimination; equality and justice for all women.

What is liberal feminist IR?

Extend rights/representation granted to men to women; focus on institutions/laws; gender inequality = violence linked to war.

What is critical feminist IR?

Draws on Marxism; critiques capitalism/patriarchy; studies paid/unpaid labour; "triad analytics" (reproductive, productive, virtual economies).

What is "embedded feminism"?

Use of feminism to justify US wars in Iraq/Afghanistan (Bush); "saving" Muslim women; obscured agency and distracted from violence

What is postcolonial feminist IR?

Links local gendered contexts to transnational capitalism/imperialism; "white men saving brown women from brown men" (Spivak); critiques Eurocentric feminism.

What is poststructural feminist IR?

Gender performativity (Butler); sex constructed by gender; gender is what we do, not what we are.

What does Belkin argue about masculinity and the military?

Masculinity = not-feminine, not-weak, not-queer, not-emotional; men who aren't soldiers must justify their masculinity. therefore: war is inherently masculine.

What is the core tension in humanitarian intervention?

Sovereignty/order vs. human rights/justice.

What is the human security argument for intervention?

States are often the main source of insecurity (262 million killed by own governments in 20th century); focus should be on individuals, not states.

What is the counter-restrictionist legal argument?

UN Charter commits states to human rights (Preamble; Articles 1(3), 55, 56); customary international law permits intervention.

What is the restrictionist legal argument?

No legal basis; only Article 51 self-defence exception to Article 2(4); Charter's architects intended no exception.

What is the moral case for intervention?

Sovereignty derives from responsibility; common humanity creates duties; just war tradition; global interconnectedness.

What are the seven objections to humanitarian intervention?

No legal basis; 2. States don't intervene for humanitarian reasons; 3. Shouldn't risk soldiers' lives; 4. Abuse; 5. Selectivity; 6. Moral disagreement; 7. Doesn't work.

What did Mill argue about democracy?

Democracy cannot be imposed; must be achieved through domestic struggle.

What is R2P?

Responsibility to Protect – adopted 2005 UN World Summit; three pillars: state responsibility, international assistance, timely action.

What are the four crimes under R2P?

Genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity.

What are the three pillars of R2P?

Pillar 1: state responsibility; Pillar 2: international assistance; Pillar 3: timely action (peaceful means first; force as last resort).

What are the four purposes of the UN?

Maintain peace/security; develop friendly relations; cooperate on international problems/human rights; centre for harmonizing actions.

What is the core tension in the UN?

Great power politics (Security Council veto) vs. universalism (General Assembly equality).

What is Article 2(7) of the UN Charter?

UN cannot intervene in matters essentially within domestic jurisdiction of states.

What are the five permanent members of the Security Council?

US, UK, France, Russia (formerly USSR), China – each has veto power.

the Uniting for Peace 1950 An Agenda for Peace 1992, Peacebuilding Commission (2005)

General Assembly can act if Security Council deadlocked (used in Korean War).

Boutros-Ghali's report outlining preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peace enforcement, peacekeeping, post-conflict peacebuilding.

Intergovernmental body coordinating post-conflict recovery strategies; created after High-Level Panel recommendations.

What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

17 goals, 169 targets, 2030 deadline; universally applicable; replaced MDGs.

What was the Paris Agreement (2015)

Legally binding global climate deal; goal: keep temperature increase below 2°C (preferably 1.5°C)

what is the globalisation paradox?

We need more global rules/institutions to solve collective problems, but world government is infeasible and undesirable.

what is the governance tri-lemma?

Need global rules without centralized power; need government actors accountable; must interact with NGOs but maintain distinct responsibilities.

What is the "disaggregated state"?

States are composed of distinct institutions (courts, regulators, legislatures) that increasingly reach beyond borders to interact with foreign counterparts.

What are the five proposed constitutional principles for a disaggregated world order?

Global deliberative equality, legitimate difference, positive comity, checks and balances, subsidiarity.

What is an NGO?

Voluntary, independent, non-profit organization working for the common good; no international legal personality.

What are the four NGO strategies (Keck and Sikkink)?

Information politics, symbolic politics, leverage politics, accountability politics

What is UN consultative status?

ECOSOC status (Article 71) granting NGOs access to UN meetings, documents, and statements; eligibility requirements (democratic, accountable, not government-established).

What are the four criticisms of NGO accountability?

Not elected; not representative (Global North bias); internal decision-making undemocratic; estranged from constituents.

What are the four arguments that NGOs enhance democracy?

Give voice to voiceless; increase transparency; introduce ethics; create global civil society.