College Government Final Exam Study Guide Chapter 17

9. What is the nuclear triad and how does it work?

A nuclear triad is a three-pronged military force structure that consists of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-missile-armed submarines and strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles. This provides second-strike capability.

6. Explain the difference between multilateralism and unilateralism. A:

Multilateralism is the idea that major nations should act together in response to problems and crises. Unilateralism is the situation in which one nation takes action against another state or states.

3. Explain what containment is and how it was used during the Cold War. What was the basis for this policy? A:

Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge its communist sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. The idea of containment was to stop the spread of communism with providing aid to war torn countries or to stabilize them or by providing military aid to anti-communist countries.

8. What is the policy of deterrence based on? A:

Deterrence theory holds that nuclear weapons are intended to deter other states from attacking with their nuclear weapons, through the promise of retaliation and possibly mutually assured destruction.

List and explain the importance of the State Department in developing and implementing foreign policy. A:

The US Department of State functions as the diplomatic wing of the federal government, handling matters of foreign affairs with other nations and international bodies. The State Department's primary job is to promote American foreign policy throughout the world. The State Department, originally known as the Department of Foreign Affairs when it was created in 1789, is the oldest of the cabinet-level agencies in the Executive Branch.

4. Explain what the Cold War was, how did it get stated, who participated in it, and why did it end? A:

The cold war was between the United States and the Soviet Union. They were not directly engaged in combat but were locked in deep-seated hostilities that lasted about 45 years. It started because of rivalry and ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

2. Explain the following terms: Isolationism; Interventionism; and Internationalism. A:

Isolationism: The view that the country should deliberately avoid a large role in world affairs and instead concentrate on domestic concerns. Interventionism: is a policy of non-defensive activity undertaken by a nation-state, or other geo-political jurisdiction of a lesser or greater nature, to manipulate an economy and/or society. Internationalism: the view that the country should involve itself deeply in world affairs.

5. Explain the central reasons why the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991? A:

The Soviet Union was collapsing under the weight of its heavy weight of its heavy defense expenditures, its isolation from Western technology and its ineffective centralized economy.

7. Identify the longest war in U.S. history. A:

The war in Afghanistan.