Drezner - Zombies
Core assumptions of Constructivism, their two main tenets.
What is the social construction of reality?
What is the importance of identity for understanding world politics?
What is soft power?
What is leading someone to want what you want through non-violent means (norm-setting, for example)?
According to Wendt, what three assumptions about states does he say he shares with neorealists?
That international politics is anarchic, states possess offensive capabilities, and states wish to survive.
According to Huntington, what is the highest level of cultural identity that shapes major global conflict?
What is civilization?
In Mamdani’s title distinction, who are “good Muslims” and who are “bad Muslims” in the context he describes?
“Good Muslims” are those the state tolerates or incorporates (often seen as apolitical or compliant), while “bad Muslims” are treated as suspects, extremists, or enemies of the state.
Constructivists' main explanation for why zombies are a greater security threat than hungry bears, sharks, leopards, etc.
What is violation of the human norm (cannibalism)?
What is a "norm cascade"?
What is, when people witness others adhering to a particular standard of behavior, they are more likely to conform to that standard of behavior also?
Wendt lists three elements that make up social structures. What are they?
What is Shared knowledge (ideas), material resources (capabilities), and practices (repeated interactions)?
Name three of the major civilizations Huntington lists as central to future global politics.
What is Western, Islamic, Confucian (also acceptable: Japanese, Hindu, Slavic‑Orthodox, Latin American, African)
What historical/legal framework does Mamdani identify as underpinning the modern “good/bad Muslim” binary?
The colonial and post‑colonial legal and political framework that separated citizens (subject to civil law) from subjects treated as security threats (governed by emergency/exceptional law).
Constructivists' argument for why nuclear weapons have not been used in combat since 1945?
What is transnational norm (nuclear weapons became a taboo)?
How do norms acquire general acceptance?
What is, acquiring general acceptance through a combination of greater numbers and the intrinsic appeal of the practices themselves?
Summarize Wendt’s main critique of neorealism’s conception of structure in one sentence.
Neorealism treats structure purely as distributions of material capabilities, while Wendt argues structure also consists of social relationships—shared ideas and practices that constitute identities and interests.
Huntington says the "clash of civilizations" occurs at two levels. What are they?
Micro-level — violent struggles between adjacent groups along civilizational fault lines; Macro-level — competition between states of different civilizations over military/economic power, institutions and values.
How does Mamdani link the post‑9/11 global security response to domestic governance in Muslim‑majority societies?
He argues global securitization after 9/11 amplified a governance model that criminalizes dissent and treats political actors as terrorists, reinforcing the good/bad Muslim split and enabling authoritarian rule under the guise of security.
Constructivists' prediction of humans' response to the zombie apocalypse: more similar to realism or liberalism, and why?
What is liberalism? Constructivists posit that governments would be more likely to share sovereignty and resources to combat a zombie menace..
How does identity operate through mutual recognition on the global stage (world politics)?
What is legitimacy through mutual recognition in the international community; not only because they define themselves as legitimate, but because other states recognize them as legitimate too?
How does Wendt explain the difference between anarchy as such and the effects of different anarchies?
By arguing “anarchy is what states make of it”: the same anarchic setting can produce different outcomes (security communities or security dilemmas) depending on the social structure of shared understandings and practices among states.
What is the "kin‑country syndrome" and give one historical example Huntington uses to illustrate it.
The tendency of states or groups to rally support from co‑civilizational “kin” in conflicts; example: Arab/Muslim popular support for Iraq during the Gulf War and Islamic support for Bosnian Muslims.
According to Mamdani, what is the political cost of treating Islamism primarily as a security problem rather than a political one?
It depoliticizes legitimate grievances, forecloses political solutions, legitimizes exceptional measures and repression, and fuels radicalization by denying political channels for dissent.
Name at least three psychological mechanisms that can affect policy responses in IR and describe them.
Possible answers:
1. What is confirmation bias?
2. What is a fundamental attribution error?
3. What is rational choice theory?
4. What is prospect theory?
How does Sinicization reshape state identity and affect regional norm diffusion?
Sinicization means China shapes its politics and society using Chinese cultural ideas like harmony and strong state authority. That creates a national identity that puts state control and sovereignty first. Nearby countries may copy Chinese economic ways but usually keep different political values, so they cooperate on trade but disagree about rights and democracy.
Explain how Wendt reframes the causal role of material capabilities and give his illustrative example.
Material capabilities have no intrinsic meaning apart from the social structures that interpret them; their effects depend on intersubjective meanings (e.g., 500 British nuclear weapons are less threatening to the U.S. than 5 North Korean weapons because friendship and shared understandings change the weapons’ significance).
Huntington argues economic regionalism often depends on shared civilization. Explain his argument and give one example he uses where cultural commonality drives regional economic integration.
He argues successful regional economic blocs are rooted in shared culture and civilizational identity, which facilitate trust and cooperation; example: the European Community (Western Christianity/European culture) and Greater China economic network (mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, overseas Chinese).
How do Western policies and local elites each help create “bad Muslims,” and what alternative does Mamdani propose?
Western security policies treat Muslim politics as terrorism and local elites exploit that fear to crush rivals; together they label opponents as "bad Muslims." Mamdani urges returning politics to normal channels: include Islamist actors in regular politics, enforce equal rule of law, and address real social and political grievances.