International Politics Quiz (Up to 6) Questions
The concept of legitimacy, which emerged in the aftermath of the American and French revolutions, implies that political power ultimately rests with
The people.
T or F: The behavioral approach to the study of international relations draws on the scientific method.
True
________ refers to annexing distant territory and its inhabitants to an empire, and ________ refers to the settling of people from a home country among indigenous peoples of a distant territory.
imperialism; colonialism
Which theoretical perspective posits that states generally cooperate?
liberalism
The League of Nations was an international organization that was
not joined by the United States and Russia.
Which factor contributed to Napoleonic France's military victories?
The French army was united by passionate nationalism.
The ultimate failure of the League of Nations to accomplish its mandate can be attributed to which of the following factors?
The League lacked the needed political weight, legal instruments, and legitimacy.
Thucydides concluded that the underlying cause of the Peloponnesian War was
The changing distribution of power between Athens and Sparta.
Realism posits that _____ determines the structure of the international system.
The distribution of power among states
Which of the following is true of constructivists?
The use discourse analysis to answer foundational questions in the study of international relations
Which of the following is true of the relationship between international relations and history?
They are so intertwined that there was no separate international relations subfield until the early twentieth century.
Which of the following is true of the Treaties of Westphalia?
They codified the rights of states to determine their own domestic policies after the Thirty Years' War.
Pinker and Dempsey drew different conclusions on whether contemporary international relations is more peaceful than it was in the past because ...
They were examining different data
T or F: Despite the fact that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had been the principal architect of the League of Nations, the United States refused to join.
True
T or F: During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union supported opposing groups in wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
True
T or F: In a popular referendum in 2016, Great Britain voted in favor of leaving the European Union.
True
T or F: In addition to Germany, Japan and Italy also played a major role in the breakdown of interstate order in the 1930's.
True
T or F: In the early 1900s, Britain joined an alliance with Japan (a non-European power) against Russia (a European power).
True
T or F: Philosophy has made both substantive and methodological contributions to the study of international relations.
True
T or F: Realist and liberal theories argue that the key structures in the international system are material, while constructivists argue that they are social and dependent on ideas
True
One reason political scientists develop theories is to
Understand the causes of events.
Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Europe's five major powers
Ushered in a period of relative peace in the international political system.
Which of the following is true regarding the approaches to the study of international relations?
Using a multi-method approach can help us answer key questions in international relations.
One major motive for colonialism was...
a desire for economic gains
As part of the nineteenth-century balance-of-power system in Europe,
alliances were formed to counteract potentially more powerful factions
Philosopher Thomas Hobbes described what he calls the "state of nature." What does this concept illustrate?
anarchy
The idea that states will hesitate to start a war with an adversary whose power to fight and win wars is similar to their own underpins the concept of
balance of power.
Critiques of the behavioral approach argue that
behaviorism focuses too much on data, and different data may lead to different conclusions.
What differentiates liberalism and neoliberal institutionalism?
beliefs about what causes states to cooperate
In the balance of power in Europe following the Napoleonic Wars, Russia played the role of ________ while Britain played the role of ________.
builder of alliances; balancer
What is one reason that students of international relations should study history?
core concepts in the field, such as sovereignty, were developed and shaped by historical events.
Although the Cold War did not involve direct military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, it can be characterized as a period during which
differences between the two were played out indirectly using proxies on third-party stages
In order to keep the balance of power in Europe following German unification, the European great powers
divided up Africa, giving Germany a sphere of influence on the continent to appease its great power aspirations.
T or F: Unlike European states, the United States was not an imperial power and had no colonies.
false
The objective of the Correlates of War project was to
find patterns among a number of different wars.
The Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I
fueled German dissatisfaction by making the country pay the economic cost of the war.
One of the significant outcomes of World War I was the
increased nationalism and new states following the demise of three major European empires.
Scottish economist Adam Smith posits that the wealth of states and of the international system is increased when
individuals are allowed to pursue their rational self-interests, unfettered by state regulation.
The comparative method of analysis
involves looking at both similarities and differences between states.
International Relations:
is the study of the behavior and interaction of actors
Why did the advent of the railroad begin to upset the balance of power in Europe?
it gave continental countries like Germany an enhanced level of strategic mobility equal to that of maritime powers such as Britain.
How did the League of Nations respond to Italy's invasion of Ethiopia?
it imposed sanctions, but those sanctions were not enforced.
Posing foundational questions and seeking normative answers are characteristic of a ________ approach to the study of international relations.
philosophical
In Europe following the 1648 Treaties of Westphalia, in states in the west, such as England and France, ________ , while in states in the east, such as Prussia and Russia, ________.
private enterprise was encouraged; serfs remained on the land
As an approach to the study of international relations, historical analysis
provides useful background to many contemporary issues
________ posits that states define their interests in terms of power, while ________ argues that states' interests are malleable and ever-changing.
realism; constructivism
The idea that informal meetings, such as the one between heads of state Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at Merkel's country retreat in 2017, can help to foster cooperation between those states is an argument consistent with ________.
the concept of complex interdependence.
The most important outcome of World War II was
the emergence of two superpowers and the decline of Europe as the epicenter of world politics.
Among the factors leading to an end to Europe's balance-of-power system under the Concert of Europe was
the solidification of previously flexible alliances between the European powers.
Which of the following methods are used in the behavioral approach to international relations?
the use of empirical methods
Saying that the international system is characterized by "anarchy" means
there is no international authority.
T or F: All of the following actors affect international relations in important ways: heads of state, central governments, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and individuals.
true
Theories are developed to help us
Describe, explain, and predict interactions.
The ancient Greek historian Thucydides used diplomatic history to
Examine the causes of war.
T or F: By the end of the nineteenth century, China was the only Asian country that was not under direct European or U.S. influence.
False
T or F: Important questions of international relations today can be answered with exclusive reliance on the behavioral approach.
False
T or F: The 1648 Treaties of Westphalia are important because they marked the rise of religious authority uniting Europe.
False
T or F: The Correlates of War project in the behavioral tradition has proven all of its hypotheses on the causes of war.
False
T or F: The Korean War in the 1950s was conducted by the United States without UN authorization because of the Soviet veto.
False
Using the comparative method, Aristotle concluded that states rise and fall due to
Internal factors
What does Rousseau's story of the stage and the hare illustrate?
That states follow their short-term self-interests
Which of the following studies is an example of the behavioral approach to the study of international relations?
The Correlates of War project.
T or F: The peacefulness witnessed during the Concert of Europe was surprising given that there were major economic, technological, and political changes in Europe during this period.
True
T or F: The postmodern approach to international relations calls for the inclusion of traditionally "voiceless" actors such as the women of the Greenham Common Peace Camp.
True
Which of the following was the alliance between the Soviet Union and several East European states in the post-World War II era?
Warsaw Pact
During the Cold War, ________ was the strategic idea to push the Soviet Union out of Eastern Europe and back to its own borders, and ________ was the strategic idea to protect the status quo from further Soviet expansion.
rollback; containment
The authority of a state to govern matters within its own borders free from external interference is known as
sovereignty.
What are hypotheses?
specific statements positing a particular relationship between two or more variables
When studying international relations, constructivists
trace the impact of ideas and cultural factors on shaping identities.
Which approach to the study of international relations involves suggesting hypotheses about patterned interactions and empirically testing them?
Behavioralism.
The behavioral revolution in American social sciences was spawned primarily by scholars'
Belief that more scientific study of international relations would find underlying patterns of behavior.
Which country exerted control over Palestine post-World War I?
Britain
What political consequences did industrialization have?
It gave new power to the European middle classes.
Why is competition between theories important?
It helps us identify their strengths and weaknesses.
Why is 1648, marked by the creation of the Treaties of Westphalia, a seminal year for scholars of international relations?
It marked a decrease of religious authority in Europe and the rise of secular authority in the form of sovereign states
Which of the following is true of Behavioralism?
It proposes that both individuals and groups act in patterned ways
By the end of the nineteenth century, ________ and ________ were the only Asian countries not under direct European or U.S. influence.
Japan; Siam (Thailand)
Following the Treaties of Westphalia,
Leaders in Europe began to establish permanent militaries.
The theoretical perspective most focused on the idea that human nature is basically good is _______.
Liberalism
The three most prominent theoretical approaches used to study international relations are
Liberalism, realism, and constructivism
________ is a group's identification with their common history, language, customs, and practices.
Nationalism
The theory that addresses the ethical content of international affairs and explores what "should be" is known as _____ theory.
Normative
The theory that addresses the ethical content of international affairs and explores what "should be" is known as ________ theory.
Normative
What is a problem that stems from using history to study contemporary state interactions?
One's theoretical orientation may determine one's interpretation of history.
Which of the following is true of the relationship between philosophy and the study of international relations?
Philosophy provides both substantive and methodological contributions to the study of international relations.
Which international relations perspective rose to dominance around the time of World War II?
Realism
Which theoretical perspective might draw the lesson that had the United States used all its military might in Vietnam, the outcome may have been different?
Realism
Realists argue that states' concern with relative gains will undermine international cooperation. What do they mean by this?
States will be reluctant to cooperate even for mutual gain, because their partners may benefit more, gaining additional power to use against them in the future.
When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany,
Germany's economy was in crisis
Philosophers help us understand international relations by
Highlighting relationships between individuals and society as well as between societies.
Constructivism argues that the key structures of the international system are dependent on...
Ideas
The comparative method of analysis ...
Involves looking at both similarities and differences between states
Which of the following is true of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis?
It ended with an agreement that the Soviets would remove its missiles from Cuba and the United States would remove similarly capable missiles from Turkey.
Why, following World War II, did the Soviet Union use its newfound superpower status to solidify control over Eastern European states like Poland and Czechoslovakia?
It feared another invasion from the West and wanted a buffer zone of friendly nations to protect it.
Being sovereign entities means that states
Are legally equal participants in the international system, regardless of size.
Which factor contributed to the absence of major war on the continent under the Concert of Europe?
Colonialism allowed rivalries to be played out in distant places
Which theoretical perspective focuses on how social and cultural factors shape policy?
Constructivism.
Which of the following strategic policies did the United States adopt vis-à-vis the Soviet Union during the Cold War?
Containment
T or F: The goals of the United States in the Vietnam War and the 2003 Iraq War were the same, making the analogy between them an accurate one.
False
T or F: Today's key issues can be easily understood without any reference to history.
False.