international affairs exam 1

mercantilism

An economic doctrine based on a belief that military power and economic influence complemented each other; applied especially to colonial empires in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. Mercantilist policies favored the mother country over its colonies and over its competitors.

Peace of Westphalia

The settlement that ended the Thirty Years’ War in 1648; often said to have created the modern state system because it included a general recognition of the principles of sovereignty and nonintervention.

sovereignty

The expectation that states have legal and political supremacy—or ultimate authority—within their territorial boundaries.

hegemony

The predominance of one nation‐state over others.

Pax Britannica

“British Peace,” a century‐long period, beginning with Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815 and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, during which Britain’s economic and diplomatic influence contributed to economic openness and relative peace.

gold standard

The monetary system that prevailed between about 1870 and 1914, in which countries tied their currencies to gold at a legally fixed price.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace treaty between the Allies and Germany that formally ended World War I on June 28, 1919.

League of Nations

A collective security organization founded in 1919 after World War I. The League ended in 1946 and was replaced by the United Nations.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

An alliance formed in 1949 among the United States, Canada, and most of the states of Western Europe in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance requires its members to consider an attack on any one of them as an attack on all. Compare Warsaw Pact.

Bretton Woods System

The economic order negotiated among allied nations at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944, which led to a series of cooperative arrangements involving a commitment to relatively low barriers to international trade and investment.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed in 1955 to bring together the Soviet Union and its Cold War allies in Eastern Europe and elsewhere; dissolved on March 31, 1991, as the Cold War ended. Compare North Atlantic Treaty Organization

decolonization

The process of shedding colonial possessions, especially during the rapid end of the European empires in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean between the 1940s and the 1960s.

interests

What actors want to achieve through political action; their preferences among the possible outcomes that might result from their political choices.

actors

The basic unit for the analysis of international politics; can be either individuals or groups of people with common interests.

state

A central authority that has the ability to make and enforce laws, rules, and decisions within a specified territory.

sovereignty

The expectation that states have legal and political supremacy—or ultimate authority—within their territorial boundaries.

anarchy

The absence of a central authority with the ability to make and enforce laws that bind all actors.

national interests

Interests attributed to the state itself, usually security and power.

interactions

The ways in which the choices of two or more actors combine to produce political outcomes.

cooperation

An interaction in which two or more actors adopt policies that make at least one actor better off relative to the status quo without making others worse off.

bargaining

An interaction in which two or more actors must decide how to distribute something of value. In bargaining, increasing one actor’s share of the good decreases the share available to others.

coordination

A type of cooperative interaction in which actors benefit from all making the same choices and subsequently have no incentive not to comply.

collaboration

A type of cooperative interaction in which actors gain from working together but nonetheless have incentives not to comply with any agreement.

public goods

Products that are nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption, such as national defense or clean air or water.

collective action problems

Obstacles to cooperation that occur when actors have incentives to collaborate but each acts with the expectation that others will pay the costs of cooperation.

free ride

To fail to contribute to a public good while benefiting from the contributions of others.

iteration

Repeated interactions with the same partners.

linkage

The linking of cooperation on one issue to interactions on a second issue.

power

The ability of Actor A to get Actor B to do something that B would otherwise not do; the ability to get the other side to make concessions and to avoid having to make concessions oneself.

coercion

A strategy of imposing or threatening to impose costs on other actors in order to induce a change in their behavior.

outside options

The alternatives to bargaining with a specific actor.

agenda setting

Actions taken before or during bargaining that make the reversion outcome more favorable for one party.

institutions

Sets of rules (known and shared by the relevant community) that structure interactions in specific ways.

It is where the norm of state sovereignty emerged.

The Peace of Westphalia is often marked as the start of the modern state system because

1. It is where the norm of state sovereignty emerged.

2. It is where states formed the United Nations.

3. It was the source of a system-wide surge in democratization.

4. It led to a global push for decolonization.

The potential challenges to the existing order from rising powers such as China and Russia.

The future of the international system is likely to be shaped by

1. The potential challenges to the existing order from rising powers such as China and Russia.

2. The growing pressure for the creation of a world government.

3. The dominance of multinational corporations relative to states.

4. The growing consensus that international institutions are working for everyone around the world.

The number of international institutions grew as both the US-led bloc and the Soviet-led bloc created their own institutions.

The division of the world into two competing spheres of influence during the Cold War affected international institutions in which way?

1. The number of international institutions grew as both the US-led bloc and the Soviet-led bloc created their own institutions.

2. There was some institutional growth, but mostly in terms of regional trade agreements.

3. The institutions were exclusively bilateral rather than truly international.

4. The number of institutions declined overall as states moved toward isolationist positions.

The war contributed to the US and Soviet Union becoming superpowers and each had its own set of interests, interactions, and institutions.

World War II fundamentally shaped the post-war international system because

1. The war contributed to the US and Soviet Union becoming superpowers and each had its own set of interests, interactions, and institutions.

2. The war created a unified agreement that power politics should no longer shape states' foreign policies.

3. The war contributed to countries of the Global South being much more influential in terms of international relations.

4. The war did not prompt the creation of international institutions like World War I had generated support for the League of Nations.

A more globalized system.

The end of the Cold War revealed that the international system had become 

1. A more globalized system.

2. Increasingly autarkic as states isolated themselves from each other.

3. Much more like the Mercantilist Era than many states had realized.

4. Dominated by the interests of states in the Global South.

When states interests are power and security, the most common type of interaction is conflict.

One of the patterns that emerges after looking at the five historical eras is that 

1. When states interests are power and security, the most common type of interaction is conflict.

2. When a hegemon exists there is no cooperation.

3. There are no patterns across the eras, as they all had their own interests, interactions, and institutions.

4. International institutions have been on the decline since the Mercantilist period.

Decolonization occurred during this period.

The Cold War helped generate new ideas about international relations because there was tremendous growth in the number of sovereign states. This increase in states happened primarily because

1. Decolonization occurred during this period.

2. Large states broke up into smaller states quite frequently.

3. States began to form supranational institutions like the European Union.

4. None of the above.

Security through power and control of foreign markets.

The Mercantilist Era was characterized by which set of state interests/goals?

1. Security through power and control of foreign markets.

2. Cooperation and conflict.

3. Building international institutions to generate free trade opportunities.

4. Promoting ideological positions in foreign territories.

All of the above.

The Hundred Years' Peace was supported by British hegemony through which means?

1. British naval protection of trade routes. 

2. British-led use of the Gold Standard.

3. British promotion of free trade and investment.

4. All of the above.

The United States refused to join the League of Nations, thus reducing the institution's legitimacy.

The attempt to build a multilateral framework to prevent war was negatively affected because

1. The United States refused to join the League of Nations, thus reducing the institution's legitimacy.

2. The increase in free trade after World War I ended, which made other institutions unnecessary.

3. The rise of China as the world's hegemon.

4. The decline of war as a tool of foreign policy, which made institutions to prevent war unnecessary.

That involves the division of a fixed value.

Bargaining is a type of interaction:

1. That involves the division of a fixed value.

2. In which no one loses.

3. In which zero-sum calculations do not apply.

4. In which new value is created.

When an actor moves first in the interaction and thus shapes the options available to the opponent.

Agenda setting is important for understanding who "wins" and who "loses" in bargaining. What is agenda setting?

1. When an actor moves first in the interaction and thus shapes the options available to the opponent.

2. Setting standards for universal behavior

3. A norm that establishes unilateral decision making as the golden rule of international relations

4. Deciding which issues the Security Council will address during a given term

It is rational for states to free ride on other actors' cooperation.

Public goods are often underprovided because:

1. It is rational for states to free ride on other actors' cooperation.

2. Our global institutions cannot agree on the most pressing issues in the international system.

3. Capitalism is a system that emphasizes private goods.

4. The hegemon makes cooperation more costly and so other actors simply drop out.

Subject to policy bias which makes some states benefit from institutions more than others

Institutions work to promote cooperation in many ways, but all institutions are

1. Subject to policy bias which makes some states benefit from institutions more than others

2. Equally beneficial to all states who join them

3. Limited to helping only those states that are democratic

4. Generally structured in exactly the same way with the same voting rules and memberships

a type of interaction in which at least one side is better off and no side is worse off when the interaction takes place.

Cooperation is defined as:

1. A type of interaction in which at least one side is better off and no side is worse off when the interaction takes place.

2. A type of institution that makes conflict less likely for actors.

3. A type of interaction where two actors try to divide a good.

4. A type of institution that sets rules for interactions between states.

The US and Mexico sign an agreement to reduce pollution off the Pacific coast.

In which case is cooperation most likely to be effective?

1. The US and Mexico sign an agreement to reduce pollution off the Pacific coast.

2. Twenty Mediterranean countries sign an agreement to reduce pollution in the Mediterranean Sea.

3. Over 180 countries sign an agreement to reduce pollution in the oceans.

4. Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Ukraine sign an agreement to reduce pollution in the Danube River.

Some interactions consist of both cooperation and bargaining

Agreeing to reduce the number of nuclear warheads two states have and then deciding precisely how many each side will eliminate indicates that 

1. Some interactions consist of both cooperation and bargaining

2. Cooperation never occurs on issues of international security

3. The UN Security Council works at disarmament

4. Cooperation can actually make both sides worse off

The norm that states have total control over their own domestic politics

Sovereignty is a key concept in understanding international relations. It is defined as

1. The norm that states have total control over their own domestic politics

2. The norm that established the United Nations

3. International law that says nations and states must be perfectly aligned within territorial borders

4. The set of human rights norms that makes individuals equal even in foreign countr

An increase in how much of the good one state gets inherently decreases the amount of the good that the other state gets

Bargaining is about how two states divide a good. This means that

1. An increase in how much of the good one state gets inherently decreases the amount of the good that the other state gets

2. Both states are better off after they bargain

3. War is always likely because bargaining is hard to do

4. We need international institutions to oversee the bargaining process

In strategic interactions, each actor's plan has to take into account what it expects the other actor to do.

Why are some interactions considered to be strategic interactions?

1. In strategic interactions, each actor's plan has to take into account what it expects the other actor to do.

2. In strategic interactions, actors have a set of preferences that determine their strategy.

3. In strategic interactions, an actor has to prepare a main strategy that will be enacted no matter what the other side does.

4. In strategic interactions actors are unlikely to consider the future consequences of their choices.