Revision 2

Question 1

sovereignty in IR

Answer 1

Sovereignty = supreme authority within a territory, indivisible, recognised legally and politically. Thinker: Jean Bodin (1576) – defined sovereignty as absolute and perpetual power of the commonwealth.

Question 2

anarchy in IR

Answer 2

Anarchy = absence of central authority above states. Thinkers: Kenneth Waltz (neo‑realism) – anarchy forces states into self‑help. Liberals argue institutions mitigate its effects.

Question 3

security dilemma

Answer 3

When one state’s defensive build‑up is seen as offensive, leading to spirals of insecurity. Thinker: John Herz (1950) coined the term.

Question 4

realism

Answer 4

States are main actors, system is anarchic, survival and power are priorities. Thinkers: Thucydides (Peloponnesian War), Machiavelli (The Prince), Hobbes (Leviathan), Kenneth Waltz (neo‑realism), John Mearsheimer (offensive realism).

Question 5

liberalism

Answer 5

Cooperation possible, non‑state actors matter, institutions reduce anarchy, democratic peace theory. Thinkers: John Locke (optimism), Immanuel Kant (perpetual peace), Robert Keohane (neoliberal institutionalism), Joseph Nye (complex interdependence).

Question 6

neo‑liberalism (institutionalism)

Answer 6

States are main actors, but institutions enable cooperation and absolute gains. Thinker: Robert Keohane (After Hegemony).

Question 7

collective security

Answer 7

UN‑based system: aggression against one = aggression against all. Universality, impartiality, deterrence. Thinker: Woodrow Wilson (League of Nations vision).

Question 8

collective defence

Answer 8

Alliance‑based system: NATO Article 5 – attack on one = attack on all. Thinker: NATO founding (1949 Washington Treaty).

Question 9

human security

Answer 9

Focus on individuals: freedom from want, fear, and to live in dignity. Thinker: UNDP (1994 Human Development Report).

Question 10

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

Answer 10

Sovereignty as responsibility; if states fail to protect, international community may intervene. Thinker: UN World Summit (2005) – formal adoption of R2P.

Question 11

humanitarian crisis

Answer 11

Large‑scale threat to life, dignity, or health, overwhelming local capacity. Examples: Darfur genocide, Haiti earthquake.

Question 12

genocide

Answer 12

Intentional destruction of a group (UN Genocide Convention, 1948). Thinker: Raphael Lemkin coined the term (1944).

Question 13

ethnic cleansing

Answer 13

Forced removal of an ethnic group to create homogeneity. Thinker: UN Commission of Experts (1990s Yugoslavia reports).

Question 14

Marxism in IR

Answer 14

Global politics shaped by capitalism and class struggle; institutions protect capitalist interests. Thinkers: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Justin Rosenberg (critique of globalization).

Question 15

post‑colonialism

Answer 15

Colonial legacies shape identity, marginalisation, and power hierarchies; critiques Eurocentrism. Thinkers: Edward Said (Orientalism), Gayatri Spivak, Homi Bhabha, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.

Question 16

feminism in IR

Answer 16

Gendered lens on global politics; patriarchy marginalises women; women/children disproportionately affected in conflict. Thinker: Cynthia Enloe (The Big Push), V. Spike Peterson.

Question 17

constructivism

Answer 17

Ideas, norms, and identities shape state behaviour; nationalism and identity drive conflict. Thinker: Alexander Wendt (Anarchy is what states make of it).