International Relations - Chapter 5

hegemonic war

a war for control of the international system as a whole (examples: WWI, WWII, Napoleonic Wars)

total war

warfare waged by one state to conquer and occupy another state (often implies extreme mobilization of society for a war effort by at least one side) (examples: WWII, Ukraine’s resistance to Russian invasion)

limited war

military actions that seek objectives short of the conquest and occupation of another state (examples 2006 Russia-Georgia, 1991 war against Iraq, Korean War)

military intervention

military action by a state in support of a faction in a civil war (examples: US, Russian, Iranian, Saudi Arabian actions in Syria)

civil war

a war between factions within a state over control of all or some part of the state (examples: US Civil War, Syrian Civil War, Iraqi Civil War)

insurgency

a military force that draws support and assistance from the population to resist an entrenched adversary (state, invading army, colonial power). (examples: KKK actions following the US civil war, resistance to US occupation of Iraq, Chinese COmmunists during the Chinese civil war and Japanese occupation)

guerrilla warfare

a tactic of small groups engaging in hit and run strikes to inflict pain on a far stronger adversary (examples: special forces conducting sabotage actions, Mumbi style terrorist attacks, IEDs in Iraq)

truth commissions

governmental bodies established in several countries after internal wars to hear honest testimony and bring to light what really happened during thes

conflict

cycle theories

an effort to explain tendencies toward war in the international systems as cyclical, for example, by linking wars with long waves in the world economy (Kondratieff cycles)

nationalism

identification with and devotion to the interests of one’s nation. It usually involves a large group of people who share a national identity and often a language, culture, or ancestry

ethnic groups

large groups of people who share ancestral, language, cultural, or religious ties and a common identity

ethnocentrism

the tendency to see one’s own group (in-group) in favorable terms and an out- group in unfavorable terms

dehumanization

stigmatization of enemies as subhuman or nonhuman, leading frequently to widespread violence

genocide

an intentional and systematic attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part. it was confirmed as a crime under international law by the UN Genocide Convention (1948)

secular

created apart from religious establishments and in which there is a high degree of separation between religious and political organizations

Islam

a broad and diverse world religion whose divergent populations include Sunni Muslims, Shi’ite Muslims, and many smaller branches and sects from Nigeria to Indonesia, centered in the Middle East and South Asia

Islamist

describing a political ideology based on instituting Islamic principles and laws in government. a broad range of groups using diverse methods come under this category

irredentism

a form of nationalism whose goal is to regain territory lost to another state; it can lead directly to violent interstate conflicts

ethnic cleansing

euphemism for forced displacement of an ethnic group or groups from a territory, accompanied by massacres and other human rights violations'; it has occurred after the breakup of multinational states, notably in the former Yugoslavia

territorial waters

the waters near states’ shores generally treated as part of national territory. the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for a 12-mile territorial sea (exclusive national jurisdiction over shipping and navigation) and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ; covering exclusive fishing and mineral rights but allowing for free navigation by all)

airspace

the space above a state that is considered its territory, in contrast to outer space, which is considered international territory