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REALISM (political realism)A broad intellectual tradition that explains international relations mainly in terms of power
IDEALISMan approach that emphasizes international law, morality, and international organization, rather than power alone, as key influences on international relations
LEAGUE OF NATIONSorganization after WWI and a forerunner of UN; was weakened by the absence of the US membership and by its own lack of effectiveness in collective security
MUNICH AGREEMENTsymbol of the failed policy of appeasement, this agreement, signed in 1938, allowed Nazi Germany to occupy Czechoslovakia. Cause further German expansions
POWERthe ability or potential to influence others; behavior, as measured by the possession of certain tangible and intangible characteristics
GEOPOLITICSuse of geography as an element of power, and the ideas about it held by political leaders and scholars
ANARCHYthe term implies not complete chaos but lack of central government
NORMSthe shared expectations about what behavior is considered proper
SOVEREIGNTYstate's right to do whatever it wants within its own territory; most important international norm
SECURITY DILEMMAsituation in which states' actions taken to assure their own security are perceived as threats to the security of other states
BALANCE OF POWERgeneral concept of one or more states' power being used to blance that of another state or group of states
GREAT POWERSthe half dozen or so most powerful states; the great-power club was exclusively European until the 20th century
MIDDLE POWERSStates that rank somewhat below the great powers in terms of their influence on world affairs
NEOREALISMversion of realist theory that emphasizes the influenceo n state behavior of the system's structure, especially the international distribution of power
HEGEMONYholding by one state of a preponderance of power in the international system, single handedly dominate the rules and arrangements by which international politics and economic relations are conducted
HEGEMONIC STABILITY THEORYargument that regimes are most effective when power in the international system is most concentrated
ALLIANCE COHESIONthe ease with which the members hold together an alliance
BURDEN SHARINGdistribution of the costs of an alliance among members; the term also refers to the conflicts that may arise over such distribution
NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION(NATO)US led military alliance formed in 1949 to oppose and deter soviet power in europe
WARSAW PACTsoviet led eastern euopean military alliance. Opposed the NATO alliance
US-JAPANESE SECURITY TREATYbilateral alliance between the US and Japan,created in 1951 against the potential Soviet threat to Japan
DETTERENCEthreat to punish another actor if it takes a certain negative action
COMPELLENCEthe use of force to make another actor take some actions
ARMS RACEreciprocal process in which two or more states build up military capabilities in response to each other
RATIONAL ACTORSactors conceived as single entities that "think" about their actions coherently, make choices, identify their interests, and rank the interest in terms of priority
NATIONAL INTERESTthe interests of a state overall
COST BENEFIT ANALYSISa calculation of the costs incurred by a possible action and the benefits it is likely to bring
GAME THEORYbranch of mathematics concerned with predicting bargaining outsomes. Include Prisoner's Dilemma and Chicken
ZERO SUM GAMSa situation in which one actor's gain is by definition equal to the others loss
PRISONER'S DILEMMAsituation modeled by game theory in which rational actors pursuing their individual interests all achieve worse outcomes than they would have by working together
INTERDEPENDENCEpolitical and economic situation in which two states are simultaneously dependent on each other for their well being
NEOLIBERALapproach that stresses the importance of international institutions in reducing the inherent conflict that realists assume in an international system
INTERNATIONAL REGIMEset of rules, norms, and procedures around which the expectations of actors converge in a certain international issue area
COLLECTIVE SECURITYformation of a broad alliance of most major actors in an international system for the purpose of jointly opposing aggression by an actor
DEMOCRATIC PEACEproposition, strongly supported by empirical evidence, that democracies almost never fight wars against each other
POSTMODERNISMapproach that denies the existence of a single fixed reality, and pays special attention to texts and to discourses- how people talk and write about a subject
SUBTEXTmeanings that are implicit or hidden in a text rather than explicitly addressed
ECONOMIC CLASSEScategorization of individuals based on economic status
MARXISMbranch of socialism that emphasizes exploitation and class struggle and includes both communism and other approaches
MEDIATIONuse of a third party in conflict resolution
POSITIVE PEACEpeace that resolves the underlying reasons for war
WORLD GOVERNMENTcentralized world governing body with strong enforcement powers
PEACE MOVEMENTSmovements against specific wars or against war and militarism in general, usually involving large numbers of people and forms of direct action such as street protests
DIFFERENCE FEMINISMstrand of feminism that believes gender differences are nto just socially constructed and that views women as inherently less warlike than men
LIBERAL FEMINISMstrand of feminism that emphasizes gender equality and views the "essential" differences in men's and women's abilities or perspectives as trivial or nonexistent
POSTMODERN FEMINISMeffort to combine feminist and postmodernist persepectives with the aim of uncovering the hidden influences of gender in IR and showing how arbitrary the construction of gender roles is
GENDER GAPrefers to polls showing women lower than men on average In their support for military actions



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