Review Sheet, Second Midterm Exam, GOV 312L: U.S. Foreign Policy
Module 8: Violence and the International Political Order
1. What is politics (as
... [Show More] defined in lecture)? What are the two central components of
this definition?
a) Use of authority to allocate scarce resources; coordinate social behavior
b) Authority- direct behaviors of others; relies on coercion and legitimacy
c) Allocation- competition/ social conflict; there are not enough resources for
everyone to get something which causes inequality
2. How does violence shape political order? Give an example of how the use of
coercion by a legitimate authority helps to establish political order.
a) Stable patterns or regularities of social behavior induced by authority
relationships
b) Violence necessary to enforce rules
c) 6
th street and police men – the threat of violence by police men keep people safe
on 6th street; without police no one would keep their own behavior in check
3. What is the coercion dilemma? How does it shape the construction of a domestic
political order? How does this same dilemma frame the problem of war and
political order in the international order?
Coercion dilemma: government or org strong enough to enforce its directives is strong
enough to leverage authority for its own gain
a) Ability to enforce rules also means a government has the ability to use violence
for its own means (predation-using violence to gain resources from someone else)
b) Regulate violence so it is not used for arbitrary means
c) Violence for predation is self-sustaining (gaining more resources causes you to go
after more resources); go to war to limit violence
4. How did the U.S. address the international variant of the coercion dilemma after
World War II? What role did international organizations play in constraining U.S. military
power?
a) Bound its own power into institutions i.e. NATO
b) Western Europe was too weak to counter the Soviet Threat- pushed security
responsibilities on the US
c) Force US to gain approval of other nations with different national interests
5. According to Ikenberry (cited in lecture), why was the 2003 invasion of Iraq so
problematic for the constraint of U.S. military power?
a) Takes away legitimacy from the institutions and of American power outside of the
US
b) No longer an ally because they continue to push their own agenda on other
countries
Allies and UN say no to Iraq, but US does anyway
Show America unbound and question whether power still legitimate outside of US
Makes question if power regulated, even if world needs US as military power
6. According to this module’s reading, what are some of the domestic consequences of
war? How can war expand a state’s authority and how can war weaken a state’s
authority?
Module 9: Great Power politics I, US-Russian relations
1. How did great powers structure international politics after great power wars like
World War I and World War II? Describe the main changes in the international
system that occur in the aftermath of these wars and the peace settlement that
follows.
a) Change the main political actors; agents and rules that guide interactions
b) Victors write rules- membership, territorial boundaries, regime type, military
power, enforcement
2. What were the main pillars of the peace settlement after World War I? How did
President Woodrow Wilson influence the international system in 1919?
a) National self-determination and democracy
b) Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations/ reparations from Germany
c) Democracy promotion and support, nation building in Germany and Japan
d) Collective security and promotion of globalization
e) United States becomes an indispensable power in Europe as protection against the
communist threat
f) Created diplomatic avenues for great power conflict
3. What were the main elements of the peace settlement after World War II and how did
the United States influence the political order after 1945?
Democracy promotion and support
Nation building in Germany/Japan (reintegrate into W order)
Collective security through NATO (military)
Creation of new international orgs (UN, Int. monetary fund, GATT, World Bank)
New international economic order around promoting globalization
4. How was the Cold War similar to a great power conflict and how did the end of
the Cold War resemble a peace settlement following a great power war? What
“losses” did Russia suffer at the end of the Cold War and what “gains” did the
U.S. and the West achieve?
a) Conflict between the two great world powers; did not have a direct military
conflict (proxy war)
b) Territorial and regime change, military power, NATO and EU expanded
c) Russia seen a successor of the Soviet Union, so they are now motivated to end
American hegemony
d) West became dominant power and could spread ideology
5. What explains the absence of great power war since the mid-20th century? [Show Less]