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PSC 1003 Final Exam Terms Professor Henry Farrell 1 Realism a Definition Realism is the idea that our international political system is anarchic which means that it is lacking a central government and that means that states are the central actors and are always looking out for their self interests and self preservation through the use of military force and war b Significance This is significant because when states fear for their survival they have difficulty agreeing with each other and would rather rely on their most important form of power military power 2 Liberalism a Definition Liberalism is the belief that while anarchy makes it much harder to solve problems international institutions and collective agreement can force states to solve problems through the guise of common interests b Significance Its significance is for international organizations to create a basis for which countries can cooperate with each other as opposed to compete against one another in order to attain common interests and peace 3 Constructivism a Definition Constructivism primarily seeks to demonstrate how core aspects of international relations are socially constructed that is they are given their form by ongoing processes of social practice and interaction b Significance Its significance for international relations is that it is mostly driven by social norms within individual countries as opposed to power struggles among nations or international institutions 4 Levels of Analysis you need to be able to list them a Definition The ways of looking at situations from the following three perspectives Individual State and System Level This is done on the idea of war and is looking at the motivations and reasons that one might want to do something b Significance Being able to look at things from different perspectives 5 Individual level a Definition Identifies war as caused by human nature all war is a magnification of individual human flaw b Significance The significance of this is that war is unavoidable as it it human nature Greed lust passion desire all things emotions that humans go through on a daily basis that can lead to conflict and then war 6 State Level a Definition States may have their own rationale entirely apart from individual motivations States may behave in different ways in world politics but states should have interest in behaving well to those much weaker than themselves b Significance This is significant as it makes states likely to routinize goals and behaviors and thus make war either more or less likely depending on the state a Definition If war is a product of the international system then it is hard to see how to eliminate it without changing the system itself 7 System Level b Significance This is significant as it may push states to be fearful of others and to be more aggressive and seek hegemony 8 Security Dilemma a Definition Measures taken to enhance state security can lead to destructive spirals for example by seeking to increase one s military to defend oneself one may make other states worry that you seek to invade them ie nuclear proliferation in Cold War era b Significance This is significant for international relations because it creates a higher incentive to engage in preemptive strikes as well as for states around the globe to continuously militarize thus leading to less of a chance for peace 9 Offense Defense Balance a Definition The offense defense balance is the amount of resources that an attacker must invest in offensive weapons to offset an adversary s investment in defense b Significance Its significance in cybersecurity is that many argue it favors offense over defense as defenses are inherently patchy and uncertain and attack capabilities are relatively cheap 10 Hypocrisy in International Relations a Definition The hypocrisy of the United States in international relations revolves around its commitments to the rule of law democracy and free trade embedded in its institutions b Significance In order to ensure that the world order continues to be seen as legitimate the US must promote these principles yet are often unable to abide by the values that it trumpets in order to do so the US often decries the cyber attacks from other countries even while it conducts cyber attacks against China bugs European institutions and monitors global Internet communications 11 Self Help a Definition The underlying theory of realism that States cannot trust rely on each other as they can not be certain of their intentions therefore they will always rely on themselves for their own survival instead b Significance This is significant because it leads to less of an incentive for states to cooperate and thus fuels the security dilemma It also encourages states to maintain moderate and reserved policies in order to attain security a Definition Waltzian Realism suggests that states just want to defend themselves and their main concern does not revolve around power b Significance This leads weaker states to militarize or ally themselves with other like minded states in response to the threat of another state gaining an inordinate amount of power to maximize their own prospects for survival 12 Waltzian realism neorealism 13 Offensive realism a Definition Mearsheimer s theory of offensive realism states that in a dangerous world states will act aggressively and seek regional hegemony as only by being the strongest can a state be secure b Significance This aggression leads to states not trusting one another as all states are trying to gain as much power as they can in order to maintain their own security and achieve hegemony for power and control 14 Motivational realism a Definition In a sometimes dangerous world states want to figure out who they can trust to work with to achieve greater security b Significance This leads states to forming alliances based on security and economical interests 15 Anarchy a Definition The state of disorder that occurs in the international system due to the lack of an overall governing body to act as an organizer or police system between the states b Significance This is significant in international relations as realists argue that anarchy leads to security fears and self help while liberals says it makes problems harder to solve because there is no overarching institution a Definition Organizations in which states have membership that attempt to solve b Significance In liberalism their role is providing order in an anarchic 16 International Institutions


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GWU PSC 1003 - Final Exam Terms

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