UGC NET Political Science International Relations Syllabus

Name the key treaties governing each category of WMD.

Nuclear: NPT (1968) and CTBT (1996); Chemical: Chemical Weapons Convention (1993/1997); Biological: Biological Weapons Convention (1972/1975).

Define deterrence and distinguish its two main types.

Deterrence is preventing an adversary's action by threatening unacceptable retaliation. Deterrence by punishment threatens devastating reprisal (e.g., nuclear MAD); deterrence by denial makes the attack unlikely to succeed.

What does the nuclear doctrine MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) hold?

That if two adversaries each have a secure second-strike capability, neither will launch a first strike because both would be annihilated, producing a stable balance of terror.

Differentiate conflict resolution from conflict transformation.

Conflict resolution seeks to end a specific dispute and reach a settlement of incompatible goals; conflict transformation (John Paul Lederach) seeks to change the underlying relationships, structures and root causes that generate conflict.

In conflict studies, distinguish peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding.

Peacemaking = diplomacy/negotiation to halt fighting; peacekeeping = deploying neutral forces to monitor a ceasefire; peacebuilding = post-conflict reconstruction of institutions and reconciliation to prevent relapse.

What are the stated aims and objectives of the United Nations under its Charter?

To maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation in solving economic/social/cultural/humanitarian problems, and promote human rights (Article 1).

List the six principal organs of the United Nations.

General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the Secretariat.

How is the UN Security Council composed and how does its veto work?

15 members: 5 permanent (P5: US, UK, France, Russia, China) and 10 elected non-permanent (2-year terms). Substantive decisions need 9 affirmative votes including no negative vote (veto) from any P5 member.

What does evaluation of the UN's working commonly identify as its main successes and failures?

Successes: peacekeeping, decolonization, humanitarian aid, norm-setting (human rights, development). Failures/criticisms: Security Council paralysis by veto, unrepresentative structure, inaction in genocides (Rwanda, Srebrenica), funding dependence.

What distinguishes the 'peace' from the 'development' perspective in global politics?

The peace perspective (negative vs positive peace, Galtung) addresses violence and its prevention; the development perspective links peace to socio-economic justice, holding that structural violence and underdevelopment are root causes of conflict.

What is Johan Galtung's distinction between negative and positive peace?

Negative peace = the absence of direct/physical violence (no war); positive peace = the absence of structural and cultural violence, i.e., the presence of justice, equity and harmonious social structures.

Define humanitarian intervention and the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P).

Humanitarian intervention is coercive action (often military) across borders to stop mass human-rights abuses. R2P (2005 World Summit) holds states must protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and the international community may act if they fail.

What are the principal sources of international law under Article 38 of the ICJ Statute?

(1) International treaties/conventions, (2) international custom (general practice accepted as law), (3) general principles of law recognized by nations, and (4) judicial decisions and teachings of jurists as subsidiary means.

What is the International Criminal Court (ICC) and what treaty established it?

A permanent court at The Hague established by the Rome Statute (adopted 1998, in force 2002) to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

How does the ICC differ from the International Court of Justice (ICJ)?

The ICC tries INDIVIDUALS for international crimes and is a treaty-based body independent of the UN; the ICJ settles legal disputes between STATES and gives advisory opinions, and is a principal organ of the UN.

Define globalisation and name its main dimensions.

Globalisation is the intensifying interconnectedness and interdependence of societies across borders. Its main dimensions are economic, political, cultural, technological and ecological.

What is global governance?

The sum of formal and informal institutions, rules, norms and processes through which states, international organizations and non-state actors manage transnational issues in the absence of a world government.

What was the Bretton Woods system and which institutions did it create?

The 1944 post-war monetary order (fixed exchange rates pegged to a gold-backed US dollar) that created the IMF (monetary stability/balance-of-payments) and the World Bank/IBRD (reconstruction and development); GATT followed in 1947.

What is the North-South Dialogue?

Negotiations between the developed industrialized 'North' and the developing 'South' over global economic inequality, most notably the South's 1970s demand for a New International Economic Order (NIEO).

What is the WTO and when and from what did it emerge?

The World Trade Organization, established in 1995 from the Uruguay Round, succeeding GATT (1947). It administers multilateral trade rules, hosts negotiations, and has a binding Dispute Settlement Body.

What are the core principles of the WTO trading system?

Non-discrimination via Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) treatment and National Treatment, progressive trade liberalization, predictability/binding, fair competition, and special and differential treatment for developing countries.

What is the G-20 and why was it elevated in 2008?

A forum of 19 major economies plus the EU (and from 2023 the African Union) covering ~80% of world GDP; it was elevated to leaders' summit level in 2008 to coordinate the response to the global financial crisis.

What is BRICS — its members and key institution?

An inter-governmental grouping originally Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS, term coined by Jim O'Neill 2001); it created the New Development Bank (NDB) and a Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), and expanded membership from 2024.

What is the European Union and which treaty formally created it?

A supranational and intergovernmental union of European states with a single market, established by the Maastricht Treaty (1993); it features the euro, the Schengen area, and institutions like the Commission, Parliament and Council.

What is the African Union (AU), and what did it replace?

A continental body of 55 African states founded in 2002, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963); it promotes integration, peace and development under Agenda 2063.

What is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)?

A Eurasian political, economic and security organization founded in 2001 (from the 'Shanghai Five'); members include China, Russia, the Central Asian states, India and Pakistan (2017) and Iran (2023), focused on counter-terrorism and regional security.

What is ASEAN — its founding and members?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, founded by the Bangkok Declaration (1967) with 5 states, now 10 members; it promotes regional economic integration, security and the 'ASEAN Way' of consensus and non-interference.

Why is defining international terrorism difficult, and what is a working definition?

Because 'one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter' there is no agreed legal definition. A common working definition: the use or threat of violence against civilians by non-state actors to instil fear and achieve political objectives.

Which framework governs international action on climate change, and what is the Paris Agreement's central goal?

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 1992) and its Kyoto Protocol (1997). The Paris Agreement (2015) aims to hold global warming well below 2°C, pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C, via nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

What are the 'three generations' of human rights?

First generation: civil and political rights (liberty); second generation: economic, social and cultural rights (equality); third generation: collective/solidarity rights (e.g., to development, peace, a clean environment).

In migration studies, how does a refugee differ from a migrant under the 1951 Convention?

A refugee is someone outside their country with a well-founded fear of persecution (race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion) who cannot return, protected by non-refoulement; a migrant moves chiefly by choice, often for economic reasons, without that fear.

What is Amartya Sen's 'capability approach' to poverty and development?

It defines development as the expansion of people's real freedoms and capabilities to live lives they value, viewing poverty as capability deprivation rather than merely low income; it underpins the Human Development Index (HDI).

How do religion, culture and identity politics shape contemporary international relations?

They drive identity-based mobilization and conflict — illustrated by Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations' thesis — fuelling ethno-religious nationalism, communal violence and contestation over secularism, while also informing diplomacy and transnational solidarities.