CSS International Relations International Relations Paper I: Theory and Concepts Syllabus

What are the core claims of Neo-liberalism (Neoliberal Institutionalism)?

Even under anarchy, states can cooperate; international institutions and regimes reduce transaction costs, provide information, and facilitate cooperation; and interdependence makes absolute gains possible.

Who are leading theorists of Neoliberal Institutionalism and 'complex interdependence'?

Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye, who developed complex interdependence in 'Power and Interdependence' (1977); Keohane elaborated regime theory in 'After Hegemony' (1984).

What is the key difference between neo-realism and neo-liberalism regarding cooperation and gains?

Neo-realists stress relative gains and see cooperation as difficult and fragile; neo-liberals stress absolute gains and argue institutions enable durable cooperation despite anarchy.

What is the central claim of Constructivism in IR?

International reality is socially constructed; states' identities and interests are shaped by ideas, norms, and shared understandings rather than fixed by material structure. As Wendt put it, 'anarchy is what states make of it.'

Who coined the phrase 'anarchy is what states make of it' and what does it mean?

Alexander Wendt; it means anarchy has no fixed logic of its own—its meaning (conflictual or cooperative) depends on the intersubjective ideas, identities, and social relationships states construct.

What are 'reflectivist' (post-positivist) theories in IR?

Approaches that reject positivist, value-free science and emphasize interpretation, language, identity, and power/knowledge—including Critical Theory, Postmodernism, Feminism, and Postcolonialism.

What is the focus of Critical Theory (Frankfurt School / Robert Cox) in IR?

It questions how existing power structures are produced and maintained, distinguishes 'problem-solving' theory (which accepts the status quo) from 'critical' theory (which seeks emancipatory change). Cox: 'theory is always for someone and for some purpose.'

What does Feminist IR theory contribute to the discipline?

It exposes how gender shapes world politics, critiques the masculine assumptions in concepts like power and security, and highlights women's roles and experiences in war, peace, and the global economy.

How has the concept of security broadened in the twenty-first century beyond traditional military security?

It now includes non-traditional dimensions—economic, environmental, food, health, energy, cyber, and societal security—shifting from a purely state-centric/military focus toward human security.

What is 'human security' as conceptualized in the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report?

A people-centered concept of security defined as 'freedom from fear' and 'freedom from want,' covering economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security of individuals.

What is 'securitization' in the Copenhagen School of security studies?

The process by which an actor frames an issue as an existential threat through a 'speech act,' justifying extraordinary measures beyond normal politics; associated with Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver.

How does Hans Morgenthau define power in international politics?

Power is control over the minds and actions of other men; in international politics it is the ability of a state to make other states do what they otherwise would not, central to the pursuit of national interest.

What are the main tangible elements of national power?

Geography, natural resources, population, economic/industrial capacity, military strength, and technology.

What are the main intangible elements of national power?

National morale, quality of leadership and government, diplomacy, national character, ideology, and the quality of a society's political system.

What is the difference between 'hard power' and 'soft power'?

Hard power is coercion through military and economic means (sticks and carrots); soft power, coined by Joseph Nye, is the ability to attract and co-opt others through culture, values, and policies.

What is 'smart power'?

A term popularized by Joseph Nye for the strategic combination of hard power (coercion/payment) and soft power (attraction) to achieve foreign policy goals effectively.

What is the 'balance of power' in international relations?

A condition or policy in which power is distributed among states so that no single state or coalition can dominate the others, preserving the independence of states and stability of the system.

What are the main methods states use to maintain a balance of power?

Forming alliances and counter-alliances, internal arms build-up (military expansion), divide and rule, compensation/territorial adjustment, intervention, and the role of a 'balancer' (e.g., historically Britain).

What is the difference between 'balance of power' and 'balance of terror'?

Balance of power refers to equilibrium of overall national capabilities preventing domination; balance of terror refers specifically to nuclear deterrence, where mutual capacity for devastating retaliation prevents war.

How is foreign policy defined?

The set of goals, strategies, and actions a state adopts to guide its relations with other states and international actors in order to advance and protect its national interests.

What are the main determinants of a state's foreign policy?

Internal factors (geography, economy, military, public opinion, leadership, ideology) and external factors (international system structure, alliances, regional environment, global power distribution).

What are the three 'levels of analysis' in International Relations identified by Kenneth Waltz?

The individual (human nature/leaders), the state (domestic structure/society), and the international system (structure/anarchy)—often called the three 'images' from 'Man, the State, and War' (1959).

How is sovereignty defined in International Relations?

The supreme, absolute, and final legal authority of a state over its territory and population, free from external control; it has an internal aspect (supremacy within) and an external aspect (independence from outside).

What is the distinction between 'internal' and 'external' sovereignty?

Internal sovereignty is the state's supreme authority over all persons and groups within its territory; external sovereignty is its independence and equality in relation to other states, with no superior authority above it.

How is national interest defined in International Relations?

The set of fundamental objectives and goals—survival, security, economic well-being, and prestige—that guide a state's foreign policy and are pursued in relation to other states.

How does Thomas Robinson classify types of national interest?

Into primary, secondary, permanent, variable, general, and specific interests (and complementary vs. conflicting interests), distinguishing vital survival interests from changeable, situational ones.

How is 'war' commonly defined in IR (after Clausewitz)?

Carl von Clausewitz defined war as 'the continuation of politics by other means'—organized, large-scale armed conflict between political units to compel an opponent to fulfill one's will.

What is the typology of war by scope and means (e.g., total vs. limited war)?

Total war mobilizes all of a society's resources and seeks the enemy's complete defeat; limited war restricts objectives, weapons, geography, or targets to avoid escalation.

What is the difference between conventional war and unconventional war?

Conventional war uses regular armed forces and standard weapons in open battle between states; unconventional war includes guerrilla warfare, insurgency, terrorism, and hybrid tactics, often involving non-state actors.

What is 'proxy war'?

A conflict in which opposing major powers do not fight each other directly but support different sides (states or non-state actors), as was common between the superpowers during the Cold War.

What is 'strategic culture'?

The set of shared beliefs, attitudes, historical experiences, and norms within a state that shape how its elites think about the use of force, security, and strategy in foreign and defense policy.

What is deterrence in strategic studies?

The use of threats of retaliation or punishment to persuade an adversary not to take an action (such as attacking), by convincing them the costs would outweigh any gains.

What is the difference between 'deterrence by punishment' and 'deterrence by denial'?

Deterrence by punishment threatens unacceptable retaliation (e.g., nuclear retaliation) to raise the cost of attack; deterrence by denial seeks to convince the adversary that an attack cannot achieve its objectives.

What is the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)?

A Cold War doctrine in which two nuclear-armed states each possess secure second-strike capability, so any nuclear attack would result in the total destruction of both—deterring either from striking first.

What are the three main theoretical approaches in International Political Economy (IPE)?

Liberalism (free markets and mutual gains from trade), Mercantilism/Economic Nationalism (state-directed economy for national power), and Marxism/Structuralism (economy as a site of class and core-periphery exploitation).

What does Mercantilism (economic nationalism) claim in IPE?

That the state should direct economic activity to maximize national wealth and power, favoring protectionism, trade surpluses, and self-sufficiency, because international economics is a zero-sum struggle among states.

What is the core argument of the Marxist/Structuralist approach to IPE?

The global economy is structured by capitalist class relations that produce exploitation and a hierarchical division between dominant (core) and dependent (periphery) regions, perpetuating inequality.

What is the classical Marxist-Leninist theory of imperialism?

Lenin's 'Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism' (1916) argues imperialism arises when monopoly finance capital, needing markets and outlets for surplus capital, drives advanced capitalist states to colonize and divide the world.

What does Dependency Theory argue about imperialism and underdevelopment?

It argues that underdevelopment in the periphery is actively produced by its dependent integration into a world economy dominated by the core; the 'development' of the core causes the 'underdevelopment' of the periphery.

What is Immanuel Wallerstein's World-Systems Theory?

A theory dividing the capitalist world-economy into core, semi-periphery, and periphery zones, where the core exploits the periphery through unequal exchange, sustaining a single global system of accumulation.

What is 'collective security' and how does it differ from a balance-of-power alliance?

Collective security is a system (e.g., League of Nations, UN) where all states agree that aggression against one is aggression against all and respond collectively; unlike alliances, it is directed against any aggressor from within the group, not a fixed external enemy.