POLS 330: Political Science Vocabulary Terms & Definitions

Sources of civil war (internal conflict) and what factors civil wars longer

A "bad neighborhood"-internal conflicts can diffuse across borders, political instability or a new regime has come to power, lower levels of economic development, and the pressure of "lootable" resources such as gems, drugs, gold, and valuable commodities such as oil.

Relative Deprivation

A common cause of civil conflict, resulting when people feel deprived relative to others or relative to their own expectations.

Equilibrium

In game theory, a stable outcome in which all sides have made their best moves in response to each other; also called "Nash equilibrium."

Failed States

A state whose government, if it exists at all, cannot provide citizens with the minimum level of security and well-being expected of a sovereign state.

ethnopolitical conflict

Conflict between ethnically and often culturally distinct peoples; also called "communal conflict." It is more likely to occur within a state if there is economic and political discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, etc.

Colonialism and ethnic conflict

Arbitrary colonial boundaries later produced independent states in which multiple ethnic groups sometimes competed for power or sought autonomy

In some further colonies, certain ethnic groups were in power under colonial rule. These groups were faced with losing power and influence. Other ethnic groups were denied access to economic and political resources and sought to increase their access to these resources after independence

Seville Statement

Suggested that wars do not arise from an inherent aggressive tendency in humans

State and Nation Boundaries and conflict

can be caused by a number of issues including disputes over resources, national or ethnic ties, superimposed borders, changing borders, and disconnects within the state or nation.

Human aggression and conflict

Psychological impulses cause humans to commit violent crimes all the time. Perhaps natural selection has conditioned humans toward a predisposition to be selfish or aggressive

Lenin and Hobson on Sources of Conflict

Suggested that capitalist states needed outlets for their excess capital and would seek to create colonies as areas of investment. This would eventually lead to competition with other capitalist states as they competed for investment opportunities in the developing world.

Polarity, balance of power and conflict

Bipolar systems are less prone to great power wars than multipolar ones. When power is balanced, war is less likely

power transition theory

The point is that the level of a states power changes over time As two states power approach each other, the chance of conflict rises

Long Cycle theory

A theory created by George Modelski that describes the connection between war cycles, economic supremacy, and the political aspects of world leadership.

Types of issues/source of disputes that cause conflict between states

territorial disputes are the most important source of conflict between states. The creation of new states, acquisition of colonies, and later decolonization were also sources of many of these conflicts

Wars fought over economic issues were more common in the 17th and 18th centuries

Wars of ideology followed after the WWII as did conflicts over ethnicity. Sometimes fought to protect a fellow ethnic group in another state.

Some wars are fought as an attempt to destroy another state

Guerilla(unconventional warfare)

typically used when a weaker force is unable to fight a symmetrical conflict (fighting pitched battles). These forces often operate in enemy controlled territory, they may also attempt to control more remote areas as a safe base of operations

Sources of Support for guerillas

Guerilla forces can be supported by local resources as well as by outside actors External assistance, especially during the Cold War (Afghanistan, Vietnam, Syria), Lootable resources (Drugs, diamonds, oil), Rebel groups

unconventional conflict: terrorism

Is typically used when a group does not possess the capabilities to engage in guerilla warfare. It is undertaken by non-state actors who often engage in indiscriminate attacks(attacks against noncombatants or civilians). They attempt to achieve political goals through fear.

Terrorism

Shocking acts of violence in which the principal purpose is not destruction itself but the dramatic and psychological effects on populations and governments.

State Terrorism

A state's use of terror against its own populations to gain or increase control through fear.

state-sponsored terrorism

International terrorist activity conducted by states or with state support through the provision of arms, training, safe haven, or financing.

information warfare

used to mean the use of information and communication technology on battlefield. has also come to encompass cyber warfare and cyber terrorism

Cyber Warfare(cyber terrorism)

Programs designed to cause damage to heavily computer dependent economies

arms race

An action-reaction process of acquiring arms in response to the arms acquisitions of an adversary.

guns versus butter

A way to summarize the presumed trade-offs between military preparedness and economic performance during peacetime.

radicals and their perspective on the purpose of armaments

elites use defense spending to stimulate the economy and prevent a collapse of the capitalist system, as late capitalism is theorized to have an under-consumption problem.

opportunity costs

by undertaking an activity, you lose the opportunity to undertake a different activity

Transition Costs

Many areas within the United States are dependent upon defense spending and if there were to be a transition into different industries it would be very costly.

Imperial overstretch

the leading state in global society (similar to the leading state in the long cycle theory), accelerates its relative decline by spending too much on defense. Other states can spend less on defense by free-riding on the security provided by the overstretched leading state

Defense spending and economic performance

The effects of defense spending may be more nuanced. Some research, on the US economy, indicates that defense spending during peacetime can increase income inequality, whereas spending during wars reduces income inequality

Dependency of local economies on defense industries and transition costs

Some regions of the US are heavily dependent on defense spending. Cutting these programs would be harmful for these local economies, even if it is better for the US as a whole.

nuclear weapons

Weapons that use massive amounts of energy released by atomic nuclei when split (fission) or combined (fusion).

Fission Weapons

Is the uncontrolled chain reaction in which the nuclei of atoms are split resulting in the release of energy. These were the types of atomic bombs that were used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Fusion Weapons

Made up a large part of both the United States and USSR arsenals. These Hydrogen bombs and other fusion weapons were mostly worked on for different delivery methods which would become strategic nuclear weapons

ICBMs

Inter Continental Ballistic Missile. They have the power to shoot a missile from one country to another. This makes it easier to attack a country without getting to close to them.

MIRVS (Multiple Independently-targeted Reentry Vehicles)

a nuclear warhead that can be carried on an ICBM and released to hit multiple targets

National Missile Defense (NMD)

Is a system that would protect a states homeland from a ballistic missile strike from a "rogue state", but is not so elaborate as the be able to shield from an attack from a more established state.

weapons of mass destruction(WMD)

Immensely destructive weapons, including nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, designed to dis- tribute their effects over large areas.

Strategic Nuclear Weapons

designed to threaten a large population or damage the enemy's ability to wage war for general deterrence purposes

Tactical Nuclear Weapons

These are small nuclear weapons(1-25 Kilotons) designed to be used on battlefield targets

First-strike Capability

The ability to launch an initial nuclear attack on an opponent and greatly reduce its ability to retaliate.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

A situation in which neither state can launch a nuclear attack without suffering enormous damage from a retaliatory attack.

Second Strike Capability

The capacity to absorb an enemy's initial nuclear attack and have enough weapons remaining to inflict unacceptable dam- age in retaliation.

Minimum Deterrence

A nuclear strategy requiring only a second-strike capability that can be achieved with a relatively small nuclear stockpile.

National Missle Defense

A system designed to protect a state's homeland from a ballistic missile strike.

Proliferation

The increase in the number of state, and potentially non-state, actors that possess a certain class of weaponry.

Problems in nuclear proliferation

Chemical Weapons

Weaponized chemical agents designed to attack the body's nervous system, blood, skin, or lungs.

Biological Weapons

Weaponized biological agents, including living organisms, viruses, and toxins derived from them, designed to cause disease and death.

Security Dilemma

A situation in which one state's security is seen as another state's insecurity, leading to a vicious circle of competitive power accumulation.

Defensive and offensive dominant and the security dilemma

Security Dilemma can be reduced if defensive weapons are superior to offensive weapons

If the technology of the international system is firepower intensive, it is usually more defense dominant. If the technology of the international system favors mobility, it is usually more offense dominant

Offense and defense differentiated and the security dilemma

If you can differentiate between the purpose of arms, this would enable a state to determine whether arms being acquired by another state pose a threat. If weapons can be differentiated, then less arms may have to be acquired to

Geopolitics and the security dilemma

the geopolitical features can also help to mitigate the severity of the security dilemma. Switzerland due to mountains. Great Britain separated by the English channel

Prisoner's Dilemma

A game in which the best strategy for both opponents is to defect, but that yields an outcome worse than the one achieved by mutual cooperation.

Dominant Strategy

In game theory, a move or series of moves that is best for a player no matter what the other players do.

Tit for Tat

A strategy of cooperating after an opponent cooperates and defecting after the opponent defects.

Iterated Play and cooperation

More than one interaction means that states can move toward cooperation understanding that if you do defect, this reduces the likelihood for the benefits of cooperation in the future

Deterrence

An effort to preserve the status quo through the threat of force

Nuclear Triad

A nuclear force structure consisting of bomb-carrying aircraft, land-based missiles, and submarine- based missiles

Chicken

A game in which each of two opponents threatens the other with great harm or death in an effort to force capitulation.

Brinkmanship

A strategy of taking a contest to the point in which both opponents are threatened with great harm or death.

Arms Control

A process that produces agreements to limit the production or use of weapons, or agreements on their management.

Disarmament

A process aimed at the reduction in number or total elimination of weapons.

Disarmament(examples)

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Anti-personnel Landmine Treaty, the Arms Trade Treaty, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW

Realists and ethics in war

Realists tend to take a pessimistic view of global society and put high value on serving the national interest

Consequentialism

an ethical system based upon the goals of a policy rather than on the means that are being used to achieve this end. A kind of Machiavellian morality, which emphasizes the security of the state and the attendant wellbeing of the population

Pacifism

A viewpoint that rejects in principle the use of force as an instrument of national policy; a philosophical or moral predilection for nonviolence.

Individuals who helped develop just war theory

Augustine, and later Thomas Aquinas, both attempted to reconcile the morality of Christianity with the needs of governing a state or empire. The concept of just war was further developed by several philosophers over the years, including Grotius in the 17th century

Just War Tradition

A set of principles that identify the circumstances justifying the resort to war (jus ad bellum) and, once begun, the requirements for just conduct (jus in bello).

self-defense

In international law, the right that permits a state to use military force to reverse an act of armed aggression.

Last Resort

every other avenue to resolving the conflict peacefully has been exhausted before a state resorts to war.

Reprisals

An action that is itself unlawful but is taken in response to a previous unlawful act with the intent of persuading the initial law breaker to change its ways.

Preemptive use of force

to take military action in response to an opponents clear intention to undertake offensive military action.

Legitimate Authority

historically meant states, as states have a legal right to use force in the Westphalian state system

Public Declaration

wars should be publicly declared in order to prevent private wars and vigilante actions. Also so legal processes of the state are followed

Discrimination

In just war doctrine, the requirement that combatants respect the immunity of noncombatants from direct, deliberate attack.

Treatment of POWs

Soldiers who have surrendered and who thereby receive special status under the laws of war. Following the Third Geneva Conventions, torture and other unethical practices on POWs became internationally illegal.

International

Proportionality

In just war doctrine, the requirement that the legitimate aims sought by a state resorting to war outweigh the harm resulting from the prosecution of the war.

double effect

In just war doctrine, the requirement that noncombatant deaths be unintended and proportional to the legitimate end sought through military action.

International Law

serves a similar purpose to domestic law, to provide order and constrain behavior, but international law more decentralized and less institutionalized

Realist view of international law

international law facilitates interactions between states. International law serves to conceal the self-interests of states and does not have an independent effect on the behavior of states

Natural Law

Those rights and responsibilities presumed to apply to all

members of the community of humankind, irrespective of their status as citizens of states.

Legal Positivism's view of international law

takes the view that rather than looking to the natural rights, religious or philosophical authorities establishing legal precedents, instead laws were established by states themselves and form the basis for legal precedent

Legal Positivism

A viewpoint suggesting that international law consists of nothing more than the customs, agreements, and treaties that states actually make.

treaty

A formal agreement signed by states that specifies their rights and obligations in some area of international interaction.

charter/statute

a treaty that creates an international institution. Once the requisite number of states have ratified a charter, it goes into effect.

Hague Conventions

These treaties and declarations establish the rules for conducting war, such as the laws and customs of war, the conduct of hostilities, and the occupation of territory. The Hague Conventions are based on the principle of reciprocity

Geneva Convention

These agreements protect the victims of war, such as civilians, aid workers, health workers, prisoners of war, and wounded or sick soldiers. The Geneva Conventions are considered to be at the core of international humanitarian law.

Customary Law

Customary practice regarded as binding because a majority of states feel a legal obligation to conform.

International Court of Justice

Is a court that is affiliated with the United Nations and has been hearing cases between states. Compliance is often within the interest of the state. However, realists believe that states will do what they want even if it doesn't comply with others.

IGOs and NGOs and their role in promoting human rights

spreading of information regarding violations is one of the ways that NGOs and IGOs influence international relations

Negative Human Rights

require government to not do something, example: Freedom from government interference in political and civil activities

Positive Human Rights

require action from government, example: free public education

Human Rights

Rights possessed by individuals because they are human, not because they are citizens of one state or another.

Soft Law

International treaties, declarations, or covenants that are aspirational but have little or no binding force on the parties to the agreement.

Humanitarian Intervention

The use of military force, without the consent of the target state, in which the main purpose is to relieve human suffering. Must be approved by UN in order to be undertaken.

Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals(types of war crimes)

Following World War II, the victorious Allied governments established the first international criminal tribunals to prosecute high-level political officials and military authorities for war crimes and other wartime atrocities.

Universal Jurisdiction

The claimed authority to try an accused individual whether or not the accused is a national or committed crimes against nationals.

sovereign immunity

the immunity of state leaders from prosecution by other states for their official public actions.

International Organization

Broadly defined, the ways states arrange themselves for purposes of promoting cooperative and collaborative practices in world politics.