PolSci 160 - Midterm Vocab etc

Sovereignty and its four Core Elements

• Expectation that states have legal and political supremacy within their territorial boundaries; ultimate authority over political processes and polilcies; and no international systematic central authorities can make and enforce rules binding states as states bind their citizens.
  
  

• (1) the sovereign possesses ultimate authority over the people and territory of a given realm,

• (2) other states and religious bodies are excluded from exercising political authority over a sovereign people or territory,

• (3) sovereignty is indivisible, and

• (4) all sovereign units are formally equal or have the same legal status.

Are sovereignty’s core principles often violated in practice?

Yes

State (3 bullet points to know)

Central authority holding the ability to make and enforce laws, rules, and decisions within their specific territory.

The Central government of a state is the only body that can “legitimately use” force against its citizens and other states.

Territorially bound.

Peace of Westphalia

Enshrined (if not invented, i guess, idk i think we’re giving white people way too much credit with that) the concept of sovereignty as a way to constrain the destructive behavior seen in the Thirty Years’ War (eu-wide affair that kind of just ignored sovereignty bc it wasn’t a thing yet).

Analysts often group interested into the three categories of…

1. Ideological

2. Economic or material

3. Power or Security

Interactions

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

Strategic Interactions

Interactions (that happen regularly in int’l politics) as actors try to get their way while also avoiding costly collisions like shooting wars or trade wars.

In these scenarios, each actor’s strategy/plan of action depends on the anticipated strategy of others.

Two assumptions we make in studying interactions:

1. Actors behave with the intention of producing a desired result.

2. Actors adopt strategies according to what they believe to be the interests and likely actions of others, or the best responses to the anticipated strategies of others.

Cooperation

When 2+ actors adopt policies making at least one actor better off, without making any other actor worse off.

May hurt other parties, not always an unmitigated good.

Bargaining

Interactions in which actors must decide how to distribute or divide something of value.

Characterized by distributional conflict.

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.

Efforts to produce collective goods always face what…. and why?

• Face collective action problems.

• Actors can enjoy public goods regardless of whether they contribute to the provision of those goods, meaning each actor prefers that others pay for the good production. This way, the actor itself will get to enjoy the good for free.

Free Riding

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

Causes for public goods to be provided at a lower level than that desired by the actors.

Iteration

Repeated interactions with the same partners.

Actors can prevent one another from cheating by threatening to withold cooperation in the future, and even when an actor has incentives to defect in the current interaction, knowing the other actor will refuse to cooperate with it in the future can offset those temptations.

Linkage

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

Enables victims to retaliate by witholding cooperation on other issues.

Coercion

One mechanism of exercising power.

The threat or imposition of costs on other actors to reduce the value of the reversion outcome (no agreement) and change their behavior.

Can therefore use this ability to demand a more favorable bargain than they would otherwise receive.

Outside Options

The second mechanism (alongside coercion) for exercising power.

Attractive alternatives to bargaining with a specific actor, which can be used as a reason for actors to walk away from a bargain more easily than an actor without such options.

Reversion Outcome

What will occur automatically if two parties do not successfully bargain/fail at their bargaining.

Institutions

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

Can be embodied in laws or organizations, like the US Congress.

International Institutions are institutions that regulate actors in at least two states, a good example is the UN.

Interstate War

A war in which the main participants are states.

Civil War

War in which the main participants are within the same state, such as the government and a rebel group.

Security Dilemma

Dilemma that arises when efforts that states make to defend themselves cause other states to feel less secure; can lead to arms races and war because of the fear of being attacked.

Crisis

When one state (at least) invokes a threat of military force in an attempt to influence the outcome of bargaining.

May involve a combination of deterrent and compellent threats.

Crisis Bargaining

A bargaining interaction in which at least one actor threatens to use force in the event that its demands aren’t met.

Threats used in this manner like “do x, OR ELSE” can be referred to as coercive diplomacy.

Compellence

An effort to change the status quo through the threat of force; intended to coerce the target state into making a concession or changing a current policy.

“Give me y, or else'“

Deterrence

A strategy aiming to preserve the status quo by threatening the other side with unacceptable costs if some undesirable behavior is made.

“Don’t do x, or else.”

Territory has…

been the source of most conflicts over the last 300 years.

Incomplete Information

One of three conditions that can lead to bargaining failure.

A situation in which actors in a strategic interaction lack information about the other actors’ interests and/or capabilities.

Capabilities

Factors that determine the state’s physical capability to prevail in war; number of troops it can mobilize, number and quality of armaments, economic resources it has to sustain the war effort.

Resolve

A more abstract concept that refers to a state’s willingness to bear the costs of fighting and how much a state values the object of dispute relative to the costs. How much are they willing to lose in blood and money to get what they want?

Risk-return tradeoff

Trade-off between trying to get a better deal and avoiding a war in crisis bargaining.

Think about if Ukraine avoided war to give up its territory.

Credibility

Are the threats credible? Refers to the beliefs of the target, not the actual intentions of the state issuing the threat.

Hard to achieve because following through on threats is costly (war is costly, targets of threats may appreciate the costs of carrying them out), and because there are conflicting interests (in avoiding war which is often common, and each state wants the best deal for itself, and so states have incentives to hide info) in bargaining interactions.

Brinksmanship

A strategy in which adversaries take actions that increase the risk of accidental war, with the hope that the other will “blink” (lose its nerve) first and make concessions.

May be used to make threats more credible.

Tying Hands

Making threats that would make backing down difficult.

Another way in which states can signal credibility of their threats. ‘

Audience Costs

Negative repercussions for failing to follow through on a threat or to honor a commitment.

Typically more observed in countries in which there is a democratic process.

We can also see this, however, in international audiences and perceptions of a state’s credibility.

This can create Tying Hands.

Paying For Power

A final mechanism used to signal resolve in a crisis.

Involves states taking costly steps to increase their capabilities, like mobilizing and deploying a large military force, increasing military manpower, and/or spending large sums of money.

Preventive War

A war fought with the intention of preventing an adversary from becoming stronger in the future. Preventative wars arise because a state whose power is increasing cannot commit not to exploit that power in future bargaining interactions.

First-Strike Advantage

The situation that arises when military tech, strategies, and/or geography give a significant advantage to whichever state attacks first in a war.

Preemptive War

War fought with the anticipation that an attack by the other side is imminent.

Commitment Problems

When a state fears that its bargaining partner(s) will not honor their claims or deals.

War of Regime

Conflict driven by ideological differences between governments (like democracy v. autocracy).

Indivisible Good

A good that can’t be divided without destroying its value.

Can include binary conditions that are difficult to share in a meaningful way!! Like, for example, whether a state has nuclear weapons. This can make negotiations difficult.

Why do we see less war today?

International institutions like the UN, Int’l Atomic Energy Agency, and other regional orgs have helped reduce uncertainty, share info, and enforce agreements. This helps to resolve bargaining issues that might’ve otherwise led to war.

The military, in terms of its influence in foreign policy decision-making, wields…

unique coercive capabilities because of its ability to quickly and efficiently use force. This makes it a pivotal actor in foreign policy decisions related to war, deterrence, crisis response.

Battle deaths and war support relationship

Typically, military operations start with high support, but that support decreases as battle deaths increase. They generally have an inverse relationship, therefore.

The Boer War is…

An example of a military-industrial complex, as british arms manufacturers and military leaders had overlapping interests in imperial war.

The Democratic Peace

There are few, if any, clear cases of war between mature democratic states.

Bureaucracy

The collection of organizations—including the military, diplomatic corps, and intelligence agencies—that carry out most tasks of governance within a state.

Interest Groups

Groups of individuals with common interests that organize to influence public policy in a manner that benefits their members.

Rally Effect

People’s tendency to become more supportive of their country’s government in times of dramatic international events, such as crises or wars (ex: 9/11 and bush’s approval rating going from 56 to 81).

Diversionary Incentive

The incentive that state leaders have to start international crises in order to rally public support at home.

Military-Industrial Complex

An alliance between military leaders and the industries that benefit from international conflict, such as arms manufacturers.

Democracy

A political system in which candidates compete for political office through frequent, fair elections in which a sizable portion of the adult population can vote.

Autocracy

A political system in which an individual or small group exercises power with few constraints and no meaningful competition or participation by the general public.

Accountability

The ability to punish or reward leaders for the decision they make, as when frequent, fair elections enable voters to hold elected officials responsible for their actions by granting or witholding access to political office.

Alliances

Institutions that help their members cooperate militarily in the event of a war.

Balance of Power

A situation in which the military capabilities of two states or groups of states are roughly equal.

Bandwagoning

A strategy in which states join forces (alliance) with the stronger side in a conflict (eg Soviet Union aligning with Nazi Germany during Poland invasion)

Entrapment

The condition of being dragged into an unwanted war because of the opportunistic actions of an ally.

NATO

An alliance formed in 1949 among the US, Canada, and most Western European states in response to the threat posed by the USSR. The alliance requires the members to consider an attack on any one of them as an attack on all.

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.

League of Nations

A collective security organization founded in 1919 after WWI. The League ended in 1946 and was replaced by the UN. UN

UN

A collective security organization founded in 1945 after WWII. With over 190 members, the UN includes all universally recognized states.

Collective security organizations

Broad-based institutions that promote peace and security among their members.
EX: League of Nations, UN

Genocide

Intentional and systematic killing aimed at eliminated an identifiable group of people (such as an ethnic or religious group_

Humanitarian interventiosn

Interventions designed to relieve humanitarian crises stemming from civil conflicts or large-scale human rights abuses (including genocide)

UNSC (UN Security Council)

The main governing body of the UN, which has the authority to identify threats to international peac eand security and to prescribe the organization’s response, including military and/or economic sanctions.

Permanent Five (P5)

The five permanent members of the UNSC; US, Great Britain, France, Russia (formerly USSR), and China.

Veto power

The ability to prevent the passage of a measure thru a unilateral act, such as a single negative vote.

Peace-enforcement operation

Military operation in which force is used to make and/or enforce peace among warring parties that haven’t agreed to end their fighting.

Peacekeeping operation

An operation in which troops and observers are deployed to monitor a ceasefire or peace agreement.

What is the most common cause for bargaining failures in civil war?

Commitment problems!

Especially acute in civil wars, as rebel groups and governments often struggle to trust that the other side will uphold agreements, particularly because they will have to live together after the conflict ends. The fear of future exploitation or betrayal makes settlements difficult.

What kind of conflict led to South Sudan’s inception?

Separtist.
A distinct group sought to break away from the existing state in order to form its own sovereign entity. The roots of this movement stemmed from ethnic, religious, and political differences between the South and central Sudanese government.

Civil War

A war in which the main participants are within the same stae, such as the government and a rebel group.

Terrorism

The use or threatened use of violence against noncombatant targets by individuals or nonstate groups for political ends. A

Asymmetrical warfare

Armed conflict between actors with highly unequal military capabilities, like when rebel groups or terrorists fight strong states.

Separtist

An actor that seeks to create an independent state on territory carved from an existing state.

Irredentist

An actor that seeks to detach a region from one country and attach it to another, usually because of shared ethnic or religious ties.

Proxy Wars

Conflicts in which two opposing states fight by supporting opposite sides in a war, such as the government and rebels in a third state.

Insurgency

A military strategy in which small, often lightly-armed units engage in hit-and-run attacks against military, government, and civilian targets.

Extremists

Actors whose interests aren’t widely shared by others; individuals or groups that are politically weak relative to their demands.

Coercion

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

Provocation

A strategy of terrorist attacks, specifically, intended to provoke the target government into making a disproportionate response that alienates moderates in the terrorists’ home society or in other sympathetic audiences.

Spoiling

A strategy of terrorist attacks intended to sabotage a prospective peace between hte target and moderate leadership from the terrorists’ home society.

Outbidding

A strategy of terrorist attacks designed to demonstrate superior capability and commitment relative to other groups devoted to the same cause.

What are our two concepts of a state?

1. The actions taken by political decision-makers within the country, or in the country’s name; “States-as-actors” approach. View the state as a collection of actors with their own interests, acting in the name of the state.

2. The actions taken by a single, collective entity with a single set of interests. “State-as-independent-entities” approach.

Explain (theorize); A scientific explanation identifies…. (in terms of Y, X, and hypothesis)

A scientific explanation identifies the effect (Y) of a cause (X), in the form of a hypothesis that X=>Y (X Caused Y) and notX caused notY/the absence of X caused the absence of Y, all else equal.

Ex: (WAR) of Cause (X); in the form of hypothesis that X caused WAR and Not X caused Not War, or the absence of X caused the absence of WAR. All else equal.

What reasons do bargaining processes fail for?

1. Incomplete Information

2. Credible-commitment

3. Issue-indivisibility

Status quo

The current state of the allocation of a good; how territory is divided, the current policy issue, the current state of the government.

Bargaining theory

• War is costly.

• Both winners and losers may suffer military casualties, see civilians harmed, and suffer economically if war breaks out.

• As a result of costs, a bargained solutions that both sides prefer to war is generally available.

• THe costs and likely outcome of war influence the outcomes that each side considers acceptable in crisis bargaining.

Hypothesis

B: “A hypothesis is a testable, falsifiable statement. It predicts the

relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable.

It comes from a concept-level explanation, but it is stated in construct

terms so it can be checked against data. For example, ‘incomplete

information increases the chance of war’ is a hypothesis.”

Greed and Grievance

The literature on civil wars generally classifies these conflicts as stemming from two different sources: grievances and greed.

• Grievances can arise when government policies discriminate against members of a particular group, whether by repressing their language or culture, blocking their access to jobs or political office, or denying them government services, such as education, health care, and public infrastructure. These kinds of policies can lead to vast inequalities in wealth and quality of life among groups.

• Greed is a group’s desire to control more of the country’s economic resources. For instance, groups may want a greater share of the profits from natural resource extraction (such as oil or minerals) or privileged access to jobs and government largesse.