PSCI 350 Midterm Review

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PSCI 350 Midterm Review
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Section I (chapter 1)

• What conclusions should one draw from looking at
  headlines from the Cold War and post-CW eras?
• What do the authors say about the different
  analytic models (theories and analogies) used
  respectively by analysts and policymakers?
• Why might George H.W Bush use the Munich analogy
  while George W. Bush might use the Vietnam
  analogy?

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Section I (chapter 1)

• What theories have we discussed thus far?
• What are the main distinctions between
  Realpolitik (political realism) and
  neo-Liberalism (or what the book unfortunately
  calls idealism)?
• students must integrate thinking about
  Realpolitik as theory vs. Neo-liberalism as
  theoryunderlying assumptions, how they simplify
  reality, and the likely sort of hypotheses
  associated with either

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Section I (chapter 1)

• Differences between Cold War and post-Cold War
  periods
• IPiACW and my slide that was supplemental
• What is the Munich analogy? The Vietnam analogy?
  So on?

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Section I (chapter 2)

• The situation following the end of WWII
• Cold Warwhen was it? What was it? What
  differentiated it from todays international
  politics?
• Early cold war events that provided the impetus
  for the Cold War
• Truman Doctrine
• Containment the famous ananymous (X) telegram
  from the US embassy in Russia

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Section I (chapter 2)

• Though the US and the USSR did not formally
  declare rules for the Cold War, a set of rules
  emerged that caused stabilitywhat did they
  include?
• One parity was reached MAD
• Trade was intra-bloc rather than inter-bloc
• Proxy wars avoided direct confrontation which
  could have resulted in nuclear war
• Spheres of influence

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Section II, Chapter 3

• Power What is it? What are its sources? What
  makes one state powerful and another weak?
• Books definition
• My definition
• Characteristics of power
• Sources of Power
• Measuring power

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Section II, Chapter 4

• Systems historic uses of systems the authors
  projection of future systems
• Zones of prosperity . . .
• Return to the future
• Clash of civilizations
• Critiques of Huntingtons controversial thesis
• What constitutes a system
• Ration-Choice DM (redux)

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Section II, Chapter 6

• Conflict why do nations go to war? Have wars
  become too cost prohibitive? How has complex
  interdependency changed the stakes?
• Causes of War linked to levels of analysis

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Section II, Chapter 7

• Why do state cooperate?
• Absolute vs. relative gains
• interdependency
• How have states augmented the anarchical
  international system to obviate conflict?
• International law
• International organizations
• IOs and IGOs
• IOs and NGOs

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Section II, Chapter 7

• Universal norms (reciprocity, Just War theory. .
  .)
• Integration Theory (still part of neo-Liberalism)
• Functionalism and neo-functionalism

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Section III, Chapter 10

• At the end of WWII as the UN was createdby
  relatively few statesthe UN passed the Universal
  Declaration of Human Rights (Dec. 1948).
• Since much of whats considered in this chapter
  is a function of IOs discussed in chapter 7 (NGOs
  and IGOs), its included in this section