Ir Midterm 2 - Chapter 11

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war

Back 1

a condition arising within states or between states when actors use violent means to destroy their opponents or coerce them into submission

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conflict

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discord, often arising in international relations over perceived incompatabilities of interest

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politics

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activities aimed at gettinga nother actor to do somethign it would not otherwise do

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armed conflict

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combat between the military forces of two or more states or groups

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behavioralism

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the methodological research movement to incorporate rigorous scientific analysis into the study of world polticis so that conclusions about patterns are based on measurement, data, and evidence rather than on speculation and subjective belief

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constructivism

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a scholarly approach to inquiry emphasizing the importance of agents (people and groups) and the shared meanings they constrcut to interpret what is perceived to be occurring

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long peace

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long-lasting periods of peace between any of the militarily strongest great powers

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levels of analysis

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the interpretation of the sources of international phenomena that looks separately at the influences of individuals, the characteristics of states, or the global system

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intraspecific aggression

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killing memebers of one's own species

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interspecific aggression

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killing members of species other than one's own

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realism

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the theory that states are driven to compete for power through war and imperialism because of human nature, which is flawed by the urge to sin that can rationalize killing

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pacifism

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the liberal idealist school of ethical thought that recognizes no conditions that jsutify the taking of another human's life, even when authorized by a head of state

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survival of the fittest

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a realist concept derived from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution that advises that ruthless competition is ethically acceptable to survive, even if the actions violate moral commands not to kill

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nature versus nurture

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the controversy over whether human behavior is determiend more by the biological basis of "human nature" than it is nurtured by the enviornmental conditions that humans experience

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socialization

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the processes by which people learn to accept the beliefs, values, and behaviors that prevail in a given society's culture

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territorial imperative

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the term coined by anthropoligst Robert Ardrey to popularize the proposition that people and nations will defend to the death their territory, just like animals instinctively

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national character

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the collective characteristics ascribed to the people within a state

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ecological fallacy

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the error of assuming that the attributes of an entire popuation -- a culture, a country or a civilization -- are the same attributes and attitudes of each person within it

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individualistic fallacy

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the logical error of assumingt hat an individual leader, who has legal authority to govern, represents the people and opinions of the popualtion governed, so that all are necessarily accoutnable for the vices and virtues (to be given blame or credit) of the leaders authorized to speak for them

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rational choice

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the assumption that decision makers make choices through cool-headed caluculations of costs and benefits and pick the options that have the best chance of realtiing preferred goals, rather than making choices ont he bases of uninformed snap judgements and psychological impulses

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groupthink

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the propensity for members of a decision-making group to accept and agree wtih the group's prevailing attitudes, rather than speaking out for what they believe would be teh most rational choice

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state level of analysis

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an analytical approach to the study of world politics that emphasizes howt he internal attributes of states explain their foreign policy behaviors

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neorealism

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the so-called structural version of realism that explains state conduct as a function of changes int he global system's structure, such as shifts in the distribution of states' military capabilities

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sovereignty

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the legal doctrine that states ahve supreme authority to govern their internal affairs and manage their foreign relations with other states and IGOs

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intervention

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external interference by one state or nonstate IGO in a sovereign state's internal affairs

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feminist theory

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a body of scholarship emerging from the social feminist movement to promote teh poltiical equality of women with men, critquing sexual biases and challenging masculine gender roles that encourage female subordination and warfare

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cultural conditioning

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the impact of antional traditions and societal values on the behavior of states, under the assumption that culture affets national decision making about issues such as teh acceptability of aggression

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communist theory of imperialism

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the Marxist-Leninst economic interpretation fo imperialist wars of conquest as driven by capitalism's need for foreign markets to generate capital

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laissez-faire economics

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free markets in which goods are exchanged with minimal management by the state

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globalization

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the integration of states, through increasing contact, communication and trade, to create a single cosmopolitan,global system in whciht eh process of change increasingly binds people and states together in a common fate and culture

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realtive gains

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a sitution in which some participants to an exchange benefit more than others

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neoliberal theories

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stersses the critical impact of free governments and free trade in promoting peace and propserity through democratically managed institutions, following the liberal world politics philosophies of Immanuel Kant, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Woodrow Wilson

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human rights

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the political rights and civil liberties recognized by the international community as inalienable and valid for individuals in all coutnries by virtue of their humanity

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democratic peace

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the liberal theory that lasting peace depends ont hee deepening of liberal democratic institutions within states and their diffusion throughout the globe, given teh "iron law" that democracies do not wage wars against one another

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nationalism

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sentimental devotion to the welfare of one's own nation-state without concern for the common interest of all nations and states int he global community

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ideology

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a set of beliefs about teh importance of particular ideas and values that organizes peoples' constructed images of reality to give meaning to their lives

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behaviorialism

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an approach to the study fo human and internatinoanl behavior using the methodologies of science to test theories against data to estimate their validity

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global level of analysis

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an analytical approach to world politics that emphasizes teh impact of glboal conditions on states' foreign policy behavior

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self-help

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the principle that in anarchy states in the global system must rely on themselves for defense of their sovereignty, security and the promotion of their values

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security dilemma

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the tendency of states to view the defendisve arming of adversaries as threatening, and when they arm in response, everyone's security declines

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anarchy

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at the global level, the absence of insitutions for global governance with the power to enforce rules and regulate disuputes between states to ensure that international relations are peaceful

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bargaining model of war

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an interpretaion of war's onset as a choice by the initiator to bargain through aggression with an enemy in order to win on an issue or to obtain things of value, such as territory or oil

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power transition theory

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the theory that war is likely when a dominant great power is threatened by the rapid growth of a rival's capabilities, which reduces teh difference in their relative power

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structural realism

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a neorealist theory which emphasizes that the structure of world power, and changes in the great power's military capaibilties relative to their closest rivals, strongly influences the behavior of the states within the global system

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long-cycle theory

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an interpreation of world history that focuses on repeating patterns of itnerstate behavior, such as the outbreak of systemwide general wars at different intervals, after long periods during which other patters (global peace) were dominant

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hegemon

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a single dominant military and economic state that uses its unrivaled power to create and enforce rules aimed at preserving the existing world order and its own position in that order

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war weariness hypothesis

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the proposition that fighting a major war is costly in terms of lost lives and income, and these costs greatly reduce a country's tolerance for undertaking another war until enough time passes to lose memory fot hose costs, at which time leaders tend to once again view a new war against a new enemy as a relatisitc option that will not provoke public opposition

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civil wars

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wars between factions within the same country

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relative deprivation

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inequality between the wealth and status of individuals and groups, and the outrage of those at teh bottom about their perceived exploitation by those at the top

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ethnic warfare

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violence resulting from wars between two or more ethnic groups or from state-sponsored violence to terrorize or destroy an ethnic minority

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displaced people

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people involuntarily uprooted from their homes but still living in their own countries

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failing states

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those governments that are in danger of losing the loyalty of their citizens, who are rebelling against corruption and administatrive failure, and, in the process, tearing the country into separate political parts

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Human Development Index (HDI)

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a scale that uses life, expectancy, literacy, average number of years of schooling and income to assess a country's performance in providing for its citizens' welfare and security

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bipolarity

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a division of military capabilities between two dominant competing centers of pwer, each led by a superpower and joined by its allies against the other

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diversionary theory of war

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the hypothesis that leaders initiate conflict abroad as a way of increasing their citizens approval of them and antional cohesion at home

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terrorism

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premeditated politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually inteded to influence an audience

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state-sponsored terrorism

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formal assistance, training, and arming of foreign terrorists by a state in order to achieve foreign policy goals

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just war

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the theory popularized in the Middle Ages that identifies the conditions under which it is morally permissible for a state to go to war and the methods by which it may be fought

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information age

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the era in which the rapid creation and global transfer of information through mass communication, the Internet, and podcasting contribute to the globalization of knowledge

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postmodern terrorism

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to Walter Laqueur, the terrorism practiced by an expanding set of diverse actors with new eweapons "to sow panic in a society, to weaken or even overthrow the incumbents, and to bring about political change"