Perspectives + Policy writing
Why is knowing your audience critical when writing a memo?
You need to know what they care about and what they know, so you can tool the memo to their interests and avoid unnecessary details.
What is a historical example of a multipolar system?
Warring states period in China
WW1/WW2
Sumerian city-states
What is the key difference between a supranational organization and an international organization?
Supranational organizations require member states to surrender some degree of autonomy over specific policy areas; international organizations typically don't.
What factors, which don't typically figure into short-term interventions, cause long-term interventions to fail?
They lack a clear "day-after" plan for how to follow up on immediate military successes and require massive commitments of time, resources, and personnel.
The idea that democracies are less likely to go to war with each other is dyadic, whereas the idea that democracies are less likely to go to war in general is...
Monadic.
What do critics often point to as a key flaw in the constructivist perspective?
Ambiguity/vagueness
Better at explaining the past than predicting future behavior
What is the difference between unipolarity and hegemony?
Unipolarity refers to a system in which one powerful state has no credible competitors to serve as a counterbalance; unipolarity still typically exists in a context of an anarchical global system. A hegemony goes a step further, being capable of reducing anarchy and uncertainty and ordering global affairs and relations.
This US president pioneered the concept of the international organization as a forum for peacefully resolving disputes (bonus points if you can tell me the office he held before he became President)
Woodrow Wilson (formerly governor of New Jersey)
What does "mission creep" refer to in the context of an intervention?
Mission creep occurs when the objectives and thus the operational needs of an intervention change, necessitating new resources and new rules of engagement.
Which form of autocracy is the least war-like? Why?
Single party regimes are less warlike than personalized autocracies and military regimes; they tend to have more pluralistic, sophisticated processes for decision-making, set up strong governing institutions internally, and require buy-in from the party organization broadly rather than a single individual.
What is the difference between relative and absolute gains, and which perspectives are associated with each?
Relative gains (realism) prioritize the balance of power; states seek to gain advantages in power over one another in a zero-sum game. Absolute gains (liberalism) prioritize maximizing overall benefits (economic, political, military) irrespective of how it benefits other states in turn.
What are the 3 main approaches to measuring power?
2. Control over actors
3. Control over events and outcomes
1. They reduce transaction costs for all parties, including weaker states.
2. IOs create consistent procedures that at least offer an opportunity to hold stronger states accountable.
3. They provide a stable, sometimes apolitical or specialized platform for states to discuss issues.
Under what circumstances does Robert Jarvis argue states are most likely to escape the security dilemma?
2. States can easily differentiate between offensive and defensive weapons and intentions.
What are the three ingredients Kant says are necessary for perpetual peace?
1. All states must adopt democratic/republican forms of government.
2. All states must, of their own volition, join a federation of free states.
3. All states must recognize the right of all people to hospitality and dignity (but not more than that).
What are the 3 types of memo, and what questions do they seek to answer?
1. Descriptive: what's happening and why does it matter?
2. Evaluative: what's working and what isn't?
3. Prescriptive: what should we do?
Proponents of hegemonic stability theory argue that hegemonies promote peace and encourage cooperation rather than conflict. What arguments do they make in support of this claim?
1. Hegemony reduces anarchy and uncertainty in the global system; the hegemon is able to establish and enforce rules that make interactions more predictable.
2. The presence of the hegemon secures public goods; the hegemon protects trade and ensures a stable economic environment, facilitating cooperation.
What is the transaction-based theory, and how does it explain the formation of supranational organizations?
As cross-border transactions and communications increase, the absence of system-wide regulations and rules increases the costs of these transactions. Thus, SNOs arise out of an existing need for the creation of rules and for institutions to monitor and enforce those rules.
How can the phenomenon of securitization increase the risk of conflict?
Political leaders transform political issues into security issues to justify aggressive policies, raising tensions with neighbors. Moreover, by framing issues as security threats, policymakers may limit opportunities for dialogue and peaceful resolution.
What are audience costs, and why do they make democracies more peaceful than non-democracies?
Audience costs refer to the tendency of domestic populations to punish their leaders politically for escalating crises and then backing down; democratic leaders tend to be more vulnerable to audience costs, causing democracies to be more reluctant to escalate conflicts.
Both liberalism and realism tend to see the state as the fundamental unit of politics. How does their understanding of the state differ?
Realists tend to see the state as a unitary, rational actor. Liberals see the state as a collection of disparate interests that sometimes contradict each other and push the state towards irrational actions.
Many scholars argue US hegemony is unique in its sheer scale and scope. In 1870, at the height of British hegemony, the UK controlled 32% of global industrial production. In 1948, the US controlled what percent of global industrial production?
50%
Why is strategic cacophony a problem for international organizations?
When different states in an organization have conflicting priorities and threat perceptions, it makes it harder for them to agree on a security strategy.
What is the difference between deterrence and compellence as strategies used during interventions?
Deterrence represents the threat of force by an intervening state to discourage an action or behavior before it begins; in compellence, the intervening state uses force or the threat of force to apply pressure until a certain action is taken.
Peace produces democracy, not the other way around; states need stable, secure borders and an absence of internal and external security threats to democratize.