Deck 9: Causes of War

Question 1

Which of the following claims is correct?

A) The number of wars between states is increasing in global politics.
B) There are fewer civil wars than in the past.
C) The number of wars between states is decreasing in global politics.
D) Today, we have about the same number of wars between states as in past centuries.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which theorists argue that international institutions and democratization can reduce, and possibly even eliminate, wars?

A) Realists.
B) Liberals and neoliberals.
C) Constructivists.
D) Marxists.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which theorists argue that war is a consequence of capitalist rivalries and class conflict?

A) Realists.
B) Liberals.
C) Constructivists.
D) Marxists.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which theorists argue that efforts to achieve disarmament and arms control are useful in creating precedents that may promote a future consensus in favor of additional steps to reduce tension?

A) Realists.
B) Liberals.
C) Constructivists.
D) Marxists.

Question 5

What political philosopher is most closely associated with democratic peace theory?

A) John Locke.
B) Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
C) Immanuel Kant.
D) Thomas Jefferson.

Question 6

Which US president's policies seemed to reflect democratic peace theory?

A) George H. W. Bush.
B) Bill Clinton.
C) George W. Bush.
D) Barack Obama.

Question 7

What is the "scapegoat hypothesis"?

A) Governments provoke war to divert public attention from domestic problems.
B) Countries at war blame other countries for starting the war.
C) Governments blame minorities at home for losing a war.
D) Leaders blame political opponents for the domestic unpopularity of wars like Vietnam.

Question 8

Which of the following is a research finding about the relationship between democracy and war?

A) Parliamentary democracies are more peaceful than presidential democracies?
B) Countries undergoing a transition to democracy are prone to go to war.
C) Countries grow more peaceful when they begin to hold elections.
D) Countries that allow the press to operate freely are more likely to go to war than countries that impose some limits on press freedom.

Question 9

Why do liberals believe interdependence produces peace?

A) It makes wars costly for societies.
B) It increases dependence of leaders on political parties.
C) It creates understanding in countries about the problems confronted by potential foes.
D) The benefits of trade do not require military capability

Question 10

Who was Sir Norman Angell?

A) British realist who viewed war as inevitable.
B) A British field marshal in World War One.
C) A British liberal who believed that no country could profit from war.
D) The British ambassador to Germany before World War Two.

Question 11

What political leader argued that underconsumption and overproduction were root causes of imperialism and that, once the world was fully divided among capitalist states, expansion could only come at someone else's expense, thereby producing war?

A) Friedrich Engels.
B) Leon Trotsky.
C) Joseph Stalin.
D) Vladimir Lenin.

Question 12

Which group of theorists focus on war in forming states and generating nationalism?

A) Neo-Marxists like Immanuel Wallerstein.
B) Historical sociologists like Michael Mann.
C) Postmodernists like Richard Ashley.
D) Foreign policy specialists like Graham Allison.

Question 13

Which country voluntarily relinquished its nuclear weapons?

A) South Africa.
B) Pakistan.
C) Iran.
D) Iraq.

Question 14

Which group of theorists emphasize the global system level in explaining war?

A) Liberals.
B) Neorealists.
C) Constructivists.
D) Critical theorists.

Question 15

Which of the following reflects how the global system can affect the behavior of states?

A) If states are the dominant units in a global system, other actors, such as international organizations and transnational corporations, will have little influence.
B) If a system has a hierarchical structure, the more powerful may limit the autonomy of weaker units.
C) If a system is unipolar, the hegemon will face few constraints on its behaviour, can determine rules in the system, and may restrict the autonomy of other actors.
D) All of the above.

Question 16

Which form of deterrence seeks to create an atmosphere in which foes will not contemplate aggression?

A) Immediate deterrence.
B) Extended deterrence.
C) General deterrence.
D) Primary deterrence.

Question 17

Which form of deterrence seeks to prevent an imminent threat to its interests?

A) Immediate deterrence.
B) Extended deterrence.
C) General deterrence.
D) Primary deterrence.

Question 18

Which form of deterrence seeks to prevent an attack on its homeland?

A) Immediate deterrence.
B) Extended deterrence.
C) General deterrence.
D) Primary deterrence.

Question 19

Which form of deterrence seeks to prevent an attack on its allies?

A) Immediate deterrence.
B) Extended deterrence.
C) General deterrence.
D) Primary deterrence.

Question 20

Which model of foreign policy decision-making do realists favor?

A) Affective model.
B) Cognitive model.
C) Rational actor model.
D) Bureaucratic politics model.

Question 21

Which model of foreign policy decision-making stresses personal emotions?

A) Affective model.
B) Cognitive model.
C) Rational actor model.
D) Prospect theory.

Question 22

Which model of foreign policy decision-making stresses that leaders do not want to lose what they already have?

A) Affective model.
B) Bureaucratic politics models.
C) Rational actor model.
D) Prospect theory.

Question 23

Which model of foreign policy decision-making focuses on the unit level of analysis?

A) Affective model.
B) Bureaucratic politics models.
C) Rational actor model.
D) Prospect theory.

Question 24

What do we call influence by virtue of cultural attraction and ideology?

A) Hard power.
B) Structural power.
C) Soft power.
D) Reward power.

Question 25

What do we call the power to decide how things shall be done, the power to shape frameworks within which states relate to each other?

A) Hard power.
B) Structural power.
C) Soft power.
D) Reward power.

Question 26

What country was able to maintain a system of free trade and uphold international law in the nineteenth century?

A) The United States.
B) France.
C) Germany.
D) Great Britain.

Question 27

What type of theorist believes that language is a source of power because it imposes specific interpretations and meanings upon political life?

A) Realists.
B) Liberals.
C) Marxists.
D) Postpositivists.

Question 28

Which of the following reflects "soft power"?

A) Foreign aid.
B) Cultural attraction.
C) Aircraft carriers.
D) Steel production.

Question 29

On which of the following is a strategy of appeasement based?

A) "Sticks."
B) Structural power.
C) "Carrots."
D) Coercion.

Question 30

Which of the following is an example of an intangible capability?

A) Leadership.
B) Gross national product.
C) Population.
D) Geography.

Question 31

What is meant by the "satellite effect"?

A) The target of influence does precisely the opposite of what the actor seeking to influence it wishes it to do.
B) When a target is influenced by a third party rather than the actor that seeks to influence it.
C) When actors behave in tandem, and observers misinterpret the direction of the influence.
D) The target of influence changes its behavior because it wants to, not because an actor wishes it to do so.

Question 32

What is odd about using a deterrence strategy to influence an adversary?

A) The fact the adversary does nothing is a sign of the success of deterrence.
B) The adversary must change its policy for deterrence to succeed.
C) The actor must invest large resources for deterrence to succeed.
D) If the target acts aggressively, deterrence has failed.

Question 33

What is the first step in analyzing a complex international concept like war?

A) Clarifying the winners and losers of wars.
B) Defining and categorizing wars.
C) Outlining the course of wars.
D) Collecting data on battle deaths.

Question 34

Which of the following does not constitute one of the elements used by Kenneth Waltz to differentiate global systems?

A) Ordering principles.
B) Intentions of leading actors.
C) Character of the units.
D) Distribution of power.

Question 35

According to Waltz, why do states remain "like units" under anarchy?

A) They are highly interdependent.
B) They all enjoy sovereignty.
C) They all face the same challenges to their survival.
D) They are all territorially based.

Question 36

What do we call the distribution of power among five great powers in a system?

A) Unipolarity
B) Hegemony.
C) Bipolarity.
D) Multipolarity.

Question 37

What is a "security dilemma"?

A) A situation in which the desire of one actor to reduce armaments is prevented by the possibility that an adversary may "cheat."
B) A condition in which actors seek to force each other to accept its proposals by increasing military capabilities.
C) A situation in which the effort of one actor to improve its security frightens others and increases their insecurity.
D) A situation in which effort of a group of actors to balance an opposing alliance produces a preponderance of power for the first group.

Question 38

Which of the following was a security dilemma?

A) The Anglo-German naval arms race before World War One.
B) The 1987 US proposal to remove all intermediate-range missiles from Europe.
C) The three partitions of Poland in the eighteenth century.
D) Hitler's demand to the British and French in 1938 for Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudetenland to him.

Question 39

What is the theory of civil or intrastate war that focuses on the psychological need to belong to groups that have positive and distinct identities?

A) The resource curse.
B) Irredentism.
C) Social identity theory.
D) Theory of relative deprivation.

Question 40

What characteristic of global politics is illustrated by the "prisoner's dilemma" game?

A) The problem of achieving credibility in deterrence.
B) The problem of making an adversary accept an actor's preferences.
C) The problem of building trust under anarchy.
D) The problem of bluffing under conditions of limited knowledge.

Question 41

What strategy seems to permit cooperation under anarchy?

A) Bluffing.
B) Cheating.
C) Generosity.
D) Reciprocity.

Question 42

Why do balance-of-power advocates believe that relative equality of power among adversaries produces peace?

A) It facilitates building flexible alliances.
B) It clarifies the outcome of any confrontation.
C) It produces uncertainty about a war's outcome.
D) The strongest actor fears no one.

Question 43

What theory describes regular historical cycles of preponderance and war and posits that hegemons develop global commitments, and that adversaries seek to build their power until they can challenge the hegemon's dominance in a hegemonic war?

A) Power transition theory.
B) Balance-of-power theory.
C) Military overextension theory.
D) Rational choice theory.

Question 44

Which of the following arms control treaties restricted development, testing, and deployment of particular weapons?

A) The 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
B) The 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
C) The 2013 Arms Trade Treaty.
D) The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Talks.

Question 45

What two ethno-national groups agreed to a peaceful "Velvet Revolution" rather than engaging in a civil war?

A) Ibos and Hausas.
B) English and Irish.
C) Czechs and Slovaks.
D) Hutus and Tutsis.

Question 46

What theorist wrote, "We assume that statesmen think and act in terms of interest defined as power"?

A) Robert Cox.
B) Kenneth N. Waltz
C) Alexander Wendt.
D) Hans J. Morgenthau.

Question 47

What type of theorist would argue that the international system has evolved from one in which the "kill or be killed logic of the Hobbesian state of nature has been replaced by the live and let live logic of the Lockean" culture.

A) Realist.
B) Neoliberal.
C) Constructivist.
D) Marxist.

Question 48

What do we call a strategy in which threats are used to make an adversary alter its behavior?

A) Swaggering.
B) Defense.
C) Deterrence.
D) Compellence.

Question 49

Which of the following reflects a strategy of "soft balancing"?

A) French, German, and Russian opposition to US intervention in Iraq in 2003.
B) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization of 1949.
C) The Quadruple Alliance of 1815.
D) The Entente Cordiale of 1904.