17 42 Causes Prevention of War Exam date Wednesday May 20 1 30 4 30 Stephen Van Evera FINAL EXAM STUDY QUESTIONS Please bring this list to the exam You may outline your answers on these study question sheets but will not be permitted to consult other materials You will be asked to answer t w o from a choice of three questions drawn for the list below plus some shorter identifications Total exam time 2 5 hours 1 hour for each essay 30 minutes for the shorter IDS You are encouraged to study together as you prepare your answers 1 If you were designing a world of states best able to co exist without war what would your states be like You may comment on the nature of their political systems their economic systems their administrative and educational institutions their national cultures ideas values their foreign and defense policies or any other national attributes you believe are relevant However confine your remarks to a few 2 5 attributes and explain why you think they matter most Also please indicate how much you think war would diminish if all the world s states followed your design Use historical examples and evidence drawn from course readings and lectures 2 In Perception and Misperception in International Politics chapter 3 Robert Jervis notes that sometimes unyielding policies cause war by provoking a conflict spiral while sometimes concessions cause war by encouraging aggressors to make more demands and to falsely expect that the other will grant these demands a Which problem occurs more often in international history Comment on the cases covered in this course b What policy prescriptions follow from your answer How could past policy makers have avoided the spirals or deterrence failures that you discuss 3 What has been the single most potent and preventable cause of war during the last hundred years Explain why your war cause is both potent and preventable Also identify the second and third most potent and preventable war causes and explain why they are less potent and or less preventable than the prime cause you identify 4 What foreign policy should the United States adopt to keep itself and the world at peace Some people argue an activist U S foreign policy only leads to U S entanglement in wars like World War I World War II Korea and Vietnam In this view few wars are prevented while more are caused or intensified by U S activism Others argue that an isolationist U S policy permits wars among other states then the U S is eventually drawn in as in 1917 1941 and 1950 to settle wars that it could have prevented by early action They suggest a paradox To preserve peace we must threaten war Still others argue that both an active or isolationist policy can cause war or peace depending on specific policies and circumstances Discuss these views with reference to relevant history This history could include past American policies or the policies of other powers covered in this course 5 Many later observers have seen their own times reflected in the work of Thucydides and have perceived close parallels between the Peloponnesian War and conflicts they observed first hand Others argue that the Peloponnesian war was different in important ways from most wars and should not be used to infer lessons about managing foreign policy or war today Who is right Of the wars studied in this course which were most similar to the Peloponnesian War in their causes and conduct Which were most different Of those that were similar what were the most important common features between the Peloponnesian War and the similar wars you identify What lessons can be drawn from Thucydides account for the conduct of policy today 6 What is the future of war Will warfare be more or less common during the next century than it was before 1945 Will it be more or less violent than pre 1945 warfare In developing your answer clearly state your factual and theoretical assumptions You may wish to offer different answers for different regions of the globe 7 Is national misperception curable or incurable Discuss ways to address misperception and explain how successful you think these measures would be Refer to historical cases to support your argument own v1ew on ene mateer uSlng the wars covered in this course as cases Finally state any policy prescriptions that follow from your analysis For purposes of your answer assume that a war was inadvertent if the decisions or policies that produced the war were adopted by governments or societies that did not expect or desire that these policies would produce war 9 Consider three possible future international nuclear orders 1 Nuclear weapons are banned No states have any nuclear weapons 2 A few states perhaps 5 8 maintain nuclear arsenals All other states have no nuclear weapons 3 Nuclear weapons spread to many more states than possess them today until scores of states have nuclear arsenals Which of these nuclear orders would be best for the United States Which would be best for the world Is your preferred nuclear order feasible to achieve Could it be sustained What means would best achieve and sustain your preferred nuclear order 10 Some scholars view the Arab Israeli conflict as a tragedy that stems from the security dilemma In this view neither side can secure itself without making the other insecure creating an endless struggle for safety In a second view the conflict stems from an inexorable clash of two nationalist movements who both claim the same land and whose claims cannot be reconciled In a third view the conflict stems from historical myths and illusions that fuel hatred fear and arrogance on one or both sides In this view the conflict could be dampened by new historical narratives Still others blame European colonialism Arab anti semitism Jewish religious extremism or European anti semitism Which explanation is strongest What prescriptions for ending the conflict follow from your answer Please offer evidence for your argument MIT OpenCourseWare http ocw mit edu 17 42 Causes and Prevention of War Spring 2009 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use visit http ocw mit edu terms