Ir Midterm 2 - Chapter 10

Front 1

demography

Back 1

the study of population changes, their sources, and their impact

Front 2

carrying capacity

Back 2

the maximum number of humans and living species that can be supported by a given territory

Front 3

tragedy of the commons

Back 3

a metaphor, widely used to explain the impact of human behavior on ecological systems, that explains how rational self-interested behavior by individuals may have a destructive collective impact

Front 4

ethics

Back 4

the criteria by which right and wrong behavior and motives are distinguished

Front 5

politics

Back 5

the exercise of influence in an attempt to resolve controversial issues in one's favor

Front 6

replacement-level fertility

Back 6

one couple replacing themselves with two children, so that a country's population will remain stable if this rate prevails

Front 7

fertility rate

Back 7

the avareage number of children born to a woman (or group of women) during her lifetime

Front 8

least developed of the less-developed countries (LLDCs)

Back 8

the most impoverished members of the Third World in the Global South

Front 9

demographic transition

Back 9

an explanation of population changes over time that highlights the causes of declines in birth and death rates so that a country's population achieves a stable level

Front 10

modernization

Back 10

a view of development population int he GLobal North's liberal democracies which argues that wealth is created through efficient production, free enterprise and free trade and that countries' relative ability to create wealth depends on technological innovation and education

Front 11

population implosion

Back 11

a rapid reduction of population that reverses a previous trend toward progressively larger populations

Front 12

human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Back 12

a virus that can lead to the lethal acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

Front 13

human development

Back 13

the extent to which humans' ability to develop to their individual potential is protected, so that they are provided with sufficient schooling, income, and opportunity to live a full life

Front 14

multilateral aid

Back 14

assistance provided through more than two states or other international acotrs for the puprpose of collective action to combat perceived problems

Front 15

low politics

Back 15

the category of global issues related to the economic, social, demographic and environmental aspects of relations between governments and people

Front 16

neo-Malthusians

Back 16

pessimist who warn of the global ecopolitical implications of uncontrolled population growth

Front 17

cornucopians

Back 17

optimists who question limits-to-growth analyses and contend that markets effectively maintain a blanace between population, resources and the environment

Front 18

genetic engineering

Back 18

research geared to discover seeds for new types of plant and human life for sale and use as substitutes for those produced naturally

Front 19

transgenetic crops

Back 19

new crops with improved characteristics created artificially through genetic engineering that combine genes from species that would not naturally interbreed

Front 20

food security

Back 20

access by all people at alltimes to enough food for an active, healthy life

Front 21

mercantilism

Back 21

a government strategy for accumlating state wealth and power by active government management of the state's economic, population and environmental policies

Front 22

ecopolitics

Back 22

how political actors influence perceptions of, and policy responses to, changing environmental conditions, such as population density

Front 23

realist theory

Back 23

the view that states are unitary global actors in relentless competition with one another for position and prosperity in the international hierachy, dedicated to the promotion of their own interests at the expense of other states

Front 24

high politics

Back 24

geostrategic issues of national and international security that pertain to matters of war and peace

Front 25

neoliberalism

Back 25

a perspective that accoutns for the way international institutions promote global change, cooperation, peace and prosperity through collective reform approaches

Front 26

politics of scarcity

Back 26

the view that the unavailability of resources required to sustain life, such as food, energy or water can undermine security in degrees similar to military agression

Front 27

environmental security

Back 27

a concept recognizing that environmental threats to global life systems are as dangerous as the threat of armed conflict

Front 28

liberalism

Back 28

the school of thought stressing the need for international cooperation through institutions to manage global problems and promote progress

Front 29

epistemic community

Back 29

a group of experts from around the world who, basedo n their knowledge, develop a shared undersatanding of a problem on the global agenda and a set of preferences for responding to it

Front 30

sustainable development

Back 30

economic growth that does not deplete the resources needed to maintain growth

Front 31

relative gains

Back 31

a measure of how much some participants in an exchange benefit in comparison with others

Front 32

absolute gains

Back 32

a condition in which all participants in exchanges become better off

Front 33

cartel

Back 33

an organization of the producers of a commodity that seeks to regulate the pricing and production fo that commodity to increase revenue

Front 34

coercive diplomacy

Back 34

the use of threats or limited armed force to persuade an adversary to alter its foreign and/or domestic policies

Front 35

externalities

Back 35

the external and often unforseen negative consequences that can result from policy choices that were intended to produce benefits

Front 36

greenhouse effect

Back 36

the phenomenon producing planetary warming when gasese released by burning fossil fuels act as a blanket in the atmosphere, thereby increasing temperatures

Front 37

behavioralism

Back 37

an approach to the study of human and international behavior relying on scientific methods to test hypotheses to provide evidence about the questions investigated; the accepted theory is the one that repeated tests show to be valid (that is, in which confidence can be placed)

Front 38

acid rain

Back 38

precipitation that has been made acidic through contact with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides

Front 39

ozone layer

Back 39

the protective layer of the upper atmosphere over the earth's surface that shields the planet from the sun's harmful impact on living organisms on the planet

Front 40

regime

Back 40

norms, rule, and procedures for collective, cooperative action agreed to by a set of states

Front 41

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Back 41

a UN agency created in 1972 to study environmental deterioration and propose regulations to protect the global environment

Front 42

biodiversity

Back 42

the variety of plant and animal species living in the earth's diverse ecosystems

Front 43

deforestation

Back 43

the destruction of forests

Front 44

desertification

Back 44

the creation of deserts due to soil erosion, overfarming, and deforestation, which converts cropland to nonproductive, arid sand

Front 45

enclosure movement

Back 45

the claiming of commonproperties by states or private interests

Front 46

collective goods

Back 46

goods, such as safe drinking water, from which everyone benefits

Front 47

information age

Back 47

the era in which the rapid generation and transfer of information globally through mass communication and the Internet are contributing to the globalization of knowledge