International Relations Theory and Global Politics

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental terms, historical milestones, theoretical perspectives, and analytical frameworks in International Relations as presented in the lecture materials.

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

The treaties of Osnabrück and Münster ending the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) that established state sovereignty, replacing medieval vertical/hierarchical authority with horizontal/anarchical structure.

Balance of Power

A core pillar of the post-Westphalian order consisting of temporary coalitions formed by states to counter and restrain the hegemonic ambitions of a single dominant power.

International Law

Universal rules defining the legality and ethics of warfare, famously formulated in Hugo Grotius's 1625 work Law of War and Peace.

Billiard-Ball Model

A classical realist conceptual model describing states as closed, impermeable units interacting strictly through external collisions, focusing on state-centric military and strategic issues.

Cobweb Model

A conceptual model associated with Keohane and Nye's complex interdependence theory that depicts states as linked within a dense network of economic, social, and institutional connections.

Hyperglobalist

A perspective in the globalization debate holding that globalization is an inevitable, revolutionary transformation creating a borderless world where global markets replace national economic sovereignty.

Sceptic

A perspective in the globalization debate viewing globalization as an exaggerated myth ("globalony"), asserting that economic activities remain dominated by the domestic realm.

Transformationalist

A middle-ground perspective in the globalization debate arguing that globalization drives deep, non-linear changes to which states adapt as "entrepreneurial states" rather than disappearing.

International Society

An English School concept, highlighted by Hedley Bull in The Anarchical Society (1977), holding that states form a society bound by shared interests, values, diplomacy, and international law.

Asian Values

A cultural challenge to Western liberal-democratic universalism based on Confucian principles emphasizing collectivity, harmony, and consensus.

Clash of Civilizations

Samuel Huntington's thesis positing that post-Cold War international rivalries and conflicts would primarily stem from cultural and civilizational divides.

Explanatory Theory

An IR theory consisting of simplified, general claims built on explicit or implicit assumptions that answer 'why' and 'how' questions using induction and deduction.

Predictive Theory

An IR theory aimed at forecasting outcomes under specific circumstances by inferring patterns across multiple cases, operating under the principle that correlation does not prove causation.

Prescriptive Theory

An IR theory that recommends specific policy choices or actions needed to achieve a desired political or strategic objective.

Empirical Theory

Theory derived from observable facts and data external to the observer, rooted in the European Enlightenment, which can be tested and replicated independently.

Interpretive Theory

Theory seeking to understand the meanings actors assign to events and actions, focusing on belief systems, norms, institutions, and historical-cultural contexts.

Normative Theory

Theory assessing whether political behavior is morally 'right' or 'wrong' based on subjective beliefs, logic, and values rather than objective empirical facts.

Induction

A theoretical reasoning process that derives general principles or theories from specific observed facts or reality.

Deduction

A theoretical reasoning process that applies established general principles to explain specific cases or make particular predictions.

Systemic Level of Analysis

A level of analysis examining global system-wide features, including power distribution, alliance structures, economic interdependence, and international organizations.

State Level of Analysis

A level of analysis focusing on domestic factors within a country, such as government type, economic development, public opinion, and political culture.

Individual Level of Analysis

A level of analysis evaluating leader characteristics, including personal beliefs, psychological values, cognitive biases, and decision-making styles.

Positivism / Rationalism

A meta-theoretical paradigm encompassing Realism, Liberalism, and Marxism that emphasizes human reason, science, state power, international law, and a linear view of history.

Post-positivism / Reflectivism

A meta-theoretical paradigm encompassing Poststructuralism, Feminism, and Postcolonialism that rejects objective power, viewing power as a human and discursive construction.

Constructivism

An IR approach bridging rationalism and reflectivism, summarized by Alexander Wendt's statement "anarchy is what states make of it," which emphasizes social interaction, norms, and shared identities.

Classical Realism

A 20th-century realist theory, led by Hans Morgenthau in Politics Among Nations (1948), asserting that international politics is governed by laws rooted in human nature's pursuit of power.

Structural Realism (Neorealism)

An IR theory pioneered by Kenneth Waltz in Theory of International Politics (1979) positing that the anarchic structure of the international system compels states to maximize security through self-help.

Offensive Realism

A branch of neorealism articulated by John Mearsheimer in Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001) claiming that international anarchy forces states to maximize relative power positions.

Neoclassical Realism

A realist perspective, exemplified by Fareed Zakaria in From Wealth to Power (1998), arguing structural realism must be supplemented by unit-level variables like power perception and leadership execution.

Neoliberal Institutionalism

A theoretical perspective associated with Keohane and Haas emphasizing that international institutions, regimes, and complex interdependence facilitate state cooperation for absolute gains.

Marxism

A 19th-century perspective analyzing global politics through economic base and superstructure, class struggle between bourgeoisie and proletariat, capitalism, and imperialism.

Neomarxism

A theoretical tradition including dependency theory (dependencia) and Wallerstein's World Systems Theory that structures the global political economy into core/metropole, semi-periphery, and periphery.

Critical Theory

An approach originated by the Frankfurt School and Robert Cox that contrasts traditional problem-solving theory with critical analysis to promote human emancipation and expose cultural hegemony.

Feminism in IR

A critical perspective using a "gender lens" to analyze global politics, policy making, patriarchy, gender subordination, and economic inequality between men and women globally.

Poststructuralism / Postmodernism

A post-positivist perspective employing deconstruction, discourse analysis, binary oppositions, and metanarratives (Derrida, Foucault) to examine power-knowledge dynamics.

Postcolonialism

A theoretical perspective (Said, Fanon, Spivak) examining orientalism, subaltern marginality, hybridity, and the lasting impacts of colonialism on global identity and culture.