POLI/INTL 105 Fall 2008
Review Sheet: EXAM 1:
The following list of terms is really just an outline of the lectures I've given. It will also include some terms selected from the readings; these are terms that I think are particularly important, but they are not the only things from the reading that you will need to know. (Which is a polite way of saying, if you are not doing the reading, you better start doing the reading). The readings support things we've talked about in class, explain them, and flesh out some concepts. Terms that are dealt with primarily in the readings will be designated with an (*).
This looks big, BUT remember most of these are things that can be defined in one sentence; they are bits and pieces of larger ideas and concepts. And if you've been in class and have done the readings there should be nothing new here.
The test consists of 70 multiple-choice questions. It is designed to take you about 40-50 minutes, though usually when I give tests of similar length and content most people don't need all the time I allow.
If you have any questions, feel free to call me, or come to office hours.
List of terms:
The nature of the International System:
*A definition of the international system
Domestic Politics (DP) vs. International Politics (IP):
DP as hierarchy
DP compared with IP:
1. Central Authority:
DP: Centralization of power
IP: no central authority:
every nation for itself
sovereignty
self-reliance
On the other hand: *laws, treaties, institutions (UN, WTO)
Do powerful states create an informal central authority?
2. Conflict Resolution and Force:
DP: regulated conflict, political and legal processes
Force is illegitimate except by authorized officials
IP:
conflict unregulated, resort to self-reliance, the use of force. If you win the war your use of force was legitimate.
On the other hand: powerful make rules for resolving conflict, rules to create justice, trend toward negotiation not violence
For IP, two views
1. anarchy: might makes right
2. institutionalization: world is evolving toward nation-state cooperation through institutions
Basic Points:
Anarchy vs. institutionalization
Domestic political systems evolve
The international system is evolving
Evolution of the International System:
definition of the international system
*integration and disintegration
1. Age of Empires
*European (western) domination of the world
*example of Africa during and after colonial era
*importance of industrial revolution in European dominance
*popular sovereignty vs. monarchies
2. Creation of Nation-State system
*Holy Roman Empire
*Rise of nationalism and Protestantism in Europe
*Thirty Years War
*Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
*sovereign states
power in the hands of the state (individual monarchs), not religion or empire
Napoleon's challenge to the system and defeat
3. Concert of Europe
Congress of Vienna
*Multipolar system
Great Powers (5)
*colonialism
*Balance of Power
Rules of Balance of Power
*Prussian/German challenge to Balance of Power
WWI
4. Interwar period and WWII
Changes in power balance/fate of the old great powers -- England, Germany, France, A-H, Russia
U. S. rise to power
1920s' economic boom and the Depression
*Fascism
Japanese/Italian/German aggression
*Munich Conference and appeasement
Axis vs. Allies: WWII
5. Cold War
*Superpowers
1. Bipolar Balance of Power
*
dividing the world/collecting allies
2. Regional Conflict
In what parts of the world?
Rules (2)
nations asked to choose sides; competition for allies
3. Nuclear Weapons
4. Ideology
Gorbachev and the end of the Cold War
*The collapse of the USSR and its future
Collapse of Cold war international system
Reasons why the Cold War ended?
Post-Cold War system:
1. unipolarity
2. New Bipolarity -- US vs. China
3. Multipolarity -- US, Russia, Japan, E. U., China, India?
4. Nation-states losing power to IGOs and NGOs
5. Globalization and Interdependence
6. Nation-state v. religious nationalism
Ideas:
Realism
1. the goal -- power
2. morality, ideas, domestic politics?
3. cause of the quest for power?
i. human nature
ii. anarchy
4. foreign policy?
5. and peace achieved through?
6. Unipolarity will not last
Definition of power
What makes a state powerful?
*Elements of power (many listed in Rourke; be familiar with them)
*Traditional views
*Power as capabilities
*Characteristics of Power
Idealism
1. more than competition exists in the international system
2. common interests?
3. morality, ethics, values
4. commerce
5. global marketplace
6. law
7. institutions
*Roots of Law: theological and naturalist
*functional relations
*Sovereignty
good and bad aspects
Nazi Germany
*treaties
Enforcement
*International Court of Justice
Constructivism
1. nation-states are not all alike
2. political culture influences foreign policy
3. form of government influences foreign policy
4. history, political context matter
5. domestic politics matters
states have an identity that shapes the way they interact with other states
Examples
Nationalism:
definition
*state (characteristics of a state)
*authoritarian vs. democratic
*nation
government
*civilization -- cultural entity
*positive and negative aspects of nationalism
*xenophobia
Interaction among characteristics (nation-state fit)
*nation-state fit and nationalism
*Palestinians and Israelis
*self-determination
Ethno-nationalist wars
Failed states
South Africa vs. Yugoslavia – the importance of leadership
Transnationalism:
religion
Social theories
Economic theories
Political theories
Transnational actors
Global marketplace
pros and cons of transnationalism
nationalism and transnationalism as challengers to the nation-state system
*Diplomacy