POLI/INTL 105: Exam 2 Master Study Guide Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts, theories, and scholars from the POLI/INTL 105: Exam 2 Master Study Guide.

Computer Revolution

A technological era spanning the 1930s–40s, 1970s, and 1990s to the present, propelled by exponential computing power, rapid global communications, instant information sharing, and globalized finance and travel.

Erosion of the State Monopoly

The systemic loss of absolute nation-state control over four traditional domains: violence (asymmetric/cyber warfare), ideas and information (social media bypassing censors), communications (instant encrypted messaging), and wealth and finance (cryptocurrency and offshore digital finance).

Carl von Clausewitz's Definition of War

A formulation defining war as "a continuation of political intercourse, carried on with other means," establishing war as a deliberate, rational political instrument utilized by states when diplomacy fails.

Thomas Hobbes's Causes of War

The three inherent human drivers identified in Leviathan that produce conflict in the state of nature: Insecurity/Diffidence (fear of attack), Greed/Gain (competition for resources), and Glory/Reputation.

Leviathan (Hobbes)

A sovereign, strong central governing authority proposed by Thomas Hobbes to enforce law and order, ending the chaotic state of nature where life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

The Stag Hunt Game (Rousseau)

A metaphor demonstrating the tension between short-term individual self-interest (defecting to hunt a hare for an immediate, small payoff) and long-term mutual cooperation (cooperating to hunt a stag for a large payoff that enables civilization).

Balance of Power Theory

A structural realist theory positing that power imbalances or sudden power shifts cause war, whereas peace is maintained through a stable equilibrium across poles and effective alliances.

Balancing

A realist alliance strategy in which states align together to form counter-alliances against a rising or dominant power, exemplified by the QUAD.

Bandwagoning

An alliance strategy wherein a state decides to align directly with a dominant or rising power rather than attempting to balance against it.

Hedging

A diplomatic strategy of refusing to choose sides between competing Great Powers by maintaining economic partnerships with one while cultivating security ties with another.

Nine-Dash Line

China's expansive maritime territorial boundary covering nearly the entirety of the South China Sea, which was rejected by international tribunals.

Power Transition Theory

A realist theory asserting that peace is created by an imbalance of power maintained by a dominant hegemon, whereas war is triggered when a rising challenger approaches parity with the declining hegemon across a cyclical pattern of approximately $100$ years.

BRICS

A coalition initially comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (alongside new members) that functions as a rising challenger bloc seeking to revise Western-dominated international rules.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

A nuclear revolution concept wherein both sides possess guaranteed, catastrophic second-strike retaliatory capabilities, effectively deterring direct major war between Great Powers.

Extended Deterrence

A security policy where a nuclear superpower extends its nuclear protective umbrella over non-nuclear partner states and allies.

Interdependence Theory (Commercial Liberalism)

A liberal theory arguing that open free trade and deep economic integration make war economically ruinous and unprofitable, whereas protectionism, tariffs, and autarky sever ties and elevate conflict risk.

UN General Assembly (UNGA)

The universal body of the United Nations comprising all 193 member states under a one-state, one-vote rule, requiring a simple majority ($50\% + 1$) for standard resolutions and a $\frac{2}{3}$ majority for important questions.

UN Security Council (UNSC)

A 15-member UN body consisting of 10 rotating members elected for two-year terms and 5 permanent members (P5), requiring 9 affirmative votes without a P5 veto to adopt resolutions.

Permanent 5 (P5) Veto

The absolute negative vote held by the five permanent UNSC members (US, UK, France, Russia, China), where any single "no" vote completely defeats a resolution regardless of total affirmative votes.

UN Secretariat

The extensive international civil service branch of the United Nations, staffed by administrators appointed under national quotas who compile objective research reports so member states do not depend on biased intelligence from major powers.

Horizontal Enforcement

A decentralized method of upholding international law in the absence of a global police force, operating through reciprocity, bilateral pressure, or state-imposed sanctions.

Collective Security

A collective pact where an act of aggression against one member state is treated as an attack on all member states ("all for one, one for all").

Chapter 6 of the UN Charter

The UN Charter framework focusing on the Pacific Settlement of Disputes through non-coercive measures including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and consensual peacekeeping.

Chapter 7 of the UN Charter

The UN Charter section authorizing compulsory enforcement actions against aggressors, including diplomatic penalties, economic sanctions, and authorized military intervention.

Peacekeeping Operations (PKO)

Traditional Chapter 6.5 missions deploying lightly armed UN "Blue Helmets" as an impartial buffer or interpositioning force following a ceasefire, dependent upon host-state consent.

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

An international norm that overrides the Article 2 non-interference principle to grant the global community authority to intervene when a sovereign state commits mass atrocities such as genocide or war crimes.

Nation-State Fit

The degree of geographical and cultural alignment between a sovereign political border (the state) and a socio-cultural identity group (the nation), where misalignment often fuels ethno-nationalist conflict.

Asymmetric Warfare

Conflict between belligerents possessing vast disparities in military power, in which the structurally weaker party turns to unconventional tactics, guerrilla fighting, terrorism, and IEDs.

Short War Fallacy

The erroneous strategic assumption that overwhelming conventional military and technological superiority will ensure a fast, uncomplicated victory.

Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs)

Cross-border nongovernmental networks that advocate for international norms, mobilize information, and coordinate pressure on state governments.

Boomerang Model

A advocacy tactic wherein repressed domestic civil groups bypass an unyielding home government to connect with international TANs, which then lobby outside states and IGOs to apply external pressure back onto the domestic regime.

Norms Life Cycle (Finnemore & Sikkink)

A three-stage framework detailing the evolution of global norms: Norm Emergence, Norm Cascade, and Internalization (where the norm is widely accepted as taken for granted).

India's Multi-Alignment Strategy (Tanvi Madan)

India's foreign policy approach that eschews rigid military alliances in favor of strategic hedging, balancing cheap Russian energy imports and Chinese trade alongside US technological and security cooperation via the QUAD.

Western Hypocrisy Critique (Matias Spektor)

The argument by Global South nations explaining their neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, citing Western double standards in demanding adherence to international law in Europe while ignoring violations in Yemen and Gaza.

Decay of the US-Led Liberal Order (Cooley & Nexon)

The structural unraveling of the American-led order caused by domestic "America First" retrenchment and the rise of revisionist powers constructing alternative multilateral institutions like BRICS and the AIIB.