POSC Exam 1

Battle of Somme

4 month battle in 1916 where the British and French gained 6 miles of German territory, 600,000 casualties, conditions worsened by chemical weapons and attempts to starve the opposing populations

Treaty of Versailles

Germany was forced to give up territory, pay reparations, limit future armaments, and admit guilt for WWI

Munich Agreement

symbol of the failed policy of appeasement, allowed Nazi Germany to occupy Czech and resulted in further German expansion instead of peace

Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack on the U.S. Navy by Japan, seizure of territories, response to U.S. cut off of oil exports to Japan

D Day

Battle of Normandy, successful invasion of German Occupied Western Europe

Bedford Boys

Town of boys killed on D Day from the same town

Marshall Plan

US financial aid to rebuild Europe and Japanese economies

Containment

policy to halt expansion of Soviet Union through military, political, ideological, and economic, maintained extensive military base network, communism fails without expansion, many proxy wars although no “war”

Cuban Missile Crisis

Superpower crisis, Soviet Union installation of a medium range nuclear missiles in Cuba, closest US SU point to war.

Vietnam War

between north and south Vietnam, independence movement, Us involvement to stop spread of communism

Westphalian System

Modern great power system, provided each state sovereignty over its own territories with principle of non interference from other states, balance of power among the 6 most powerful states

30 Year War

Habsburg countries were defeated by protestant countries and created the principle for Westphalian system

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, U.S led military alliance formed with mostly Western European members to oppose and detect Soviet powers

Chernobyl

Nuclear accident in 1986 that released radioactive material into the atmosphere, largest nuclear disaster, in April 1986, lingering effects

United Nations Charter

all members must have sovereign equally, must obey charter, states must settle differences peacefully, must avoid using force/threatening force, UN cannot interfere with domestic affairs, states should assist UN

Stockholm Conference

1st conference in Sweden in 1972, created diplomatic foundation for international enviornmental issues, established legal beginings of international enviornmental law

1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Core UN document on human rights, although it lacks the force of international law, sets forth international norms regarding behavior by governments toward their own citizens and foreigners.

1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Ensure the protection of economic, social, and cultural rights such as freedom from discrimination, right to mens and womens equality

1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial

1979 Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Amnesty International:

influential nongovernmental organization that operates globally to monitor and rectify glaring abuses of political human rights

International Committee of the Red Cross

NGO that provides support such as medical care, food, and letters from home, to civilians caught in wars and prisoners of war

collective goods

Anything that is not owned and not being preserved, benefits entire groups regardless of individual contributions, ex: atmosphere, air, water.

free rider problem

How to provide something that benefits entire groups regardless of individual contribution.

global commons

describes global resource domain where common pool resources are found

tragedy of the commons

Common are not owned, people do it when they please but it affects others, rational decisions lead to suboptimal outcomes.

defining power

Ability to get another actor to do what it would have not done otherwise (or not do what it would have done), powerful to the extent that they affect others more than others affect them

measuring power

Varying amounts of population, territory, military forces, and so forth

elements of power

GDP, economics, population, nature resources, territory, geography, urbanization, imperial overreach, hubris

Liberal Institutionalism

How places can work together without violence, how peace can evolve, ability of states to develop and follow mutually advantageous rules, international institutions monitor

International Regime

set of rules, norms, and procedures around which two expectations of actors converge in a certain issue area, could help solve collective goods problem by increasing transparency

Collective Security

formation of a broad alliance of most major actors in international system for the purpose of jointly opposing aggression by actors, ex: League of Nations

Demoncratic Peace

Lasting peace depends on states being republics with legislation to check on monarch's power, theory of democracy being more peaceful than authoritarian, but transition to democracy might be violent

Prisioner’s Dilemma

Paradox in decision analysis in which two individuals acting in their own self interests result in a less than optimal outcome

Security Dilemma

aggression makes aggression, small fights create big outcomes, based on insecurity

Ethnocentrism

in group bias, own group is better, stronger when groups have physical differences, leads to dehumanization

Genocide

systematic extermination of groups in whole/part, used to destroy political scapegoats/rivals

Counterinsurgency

rule of war, 20 troops per 1000 people in countries to control

Landmines

concealed explosive devices often used by irregular armies, known to kill or hurt civilians after warfare ends

Power projection

ability of military forces to use force in areas far from home region

Proliferation

spread of weapons of mass destruction into the lands of more actors

Coup d’etat

French for “blow across the state”, term that refers to seizure of political power by domestic military forces

Economic Liberalism

cooperation is necessary to achieve common gains, governments should avoid interfering in market, open markets, cooperation for mutual gain

Economic Mercantalism

economic theory that opposes free trade, each state must protect own interests without seeking mutual gains through international organizations, reciprocity between wealth and power

Comparative Advantage

Different states produce different jobs and goods because they differ in production by labor, tech, and resources.

Wealth of Nations

Talks about an economic system with little unnecessary government interference so people can serve their self interests

Autarky

Policy of self reliance, avoiding or minimizing trade and trying to produce needs by self

Invisible Hand

Drives supply and demand, and equilibrium

Nontariff Barriers

restricting imports other than tariffs, such as quotas anf subsides, form of economic nationalism

OPEC

oil, petroleum exporting countries

Monopoly

possession of a supply of trade

Oligarchy

few actors control everything

Proxy wars

wars where powerful states compete with each other by supplying and aiding opposing factors without direct intervention

War Crimes

violations of law governing the conduct of warfare, mistreatment of prisoners of war or unnecessary targeting of civilians

Crimes Against Humanity

Category of legal offenses created at trials after WWII to encompass genocide and other acts committed by the political and military leaders

Gold Standard

System in international monetary relations, value of currency pegged in value of gold, how currency was tied.

Convertible Currency

Currency that can be freely traded for currency in other countries.

Fixed exchange rate

Official rates set by government.

Floating Exchange Rate

determined by global currency markets

Central Bank

intitution to maintain value of currency and controls inflation, appointed by politicans.

Federal Reserve

The U.S. central bank

World Bank

Source of world loans, established in 1944.

International Monetary Fund

international exchange, balance of payments, national accounts, gives financial advices, US is largest donor.

Multinational Corporations

Company based in one state with affiliations elsewhere. Serve political agendas.