Deck 4: Why Are There Wars

Question 1

Which is true of World War I?

A)Leaders expected the war to be the longest war in history.
B)Leaders thought the war would be average length and prepared for it.
C)Leaders expected the war to be short.
D)Leaders had fairly realistic expectations for the war.
E)The war claimed more lives than any other war in human history.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Crisis bargaining is also known as:

A)deterrence.
B)credible commitment.
C)rejecting ideal points.
D)interstate war.
E)coercive diplomacy.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

A state's preferred outcome or settlement of a dispute is known as:

A)an ideal point.
B)a crisis.
C)a bargain.
D)coercion.
E)diplomacy.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In the figure,what set of deals does B prefer to war?

A)Costs to A + costs to B + value of war to B.
B)Value of war to A.
C)Those in the shaded area labeled "bargaining range."
D)Value of war to A + costs to A + costs to B.
E)Value of war to B.

Question 5

In the figure,what do the words "Bargaining Range" represent?

A)The costs of war to state A plus the value of war to state B.
B)The set of deals to which state A will agree.
C)The set of deals to which both states will agree.
D)The set of deals to which state B will agree.
E)The costs of war to state B plus the value of war to state A.

Question 6

When two states decide to bargain:

A)they agree to divide the disputed good equally.
B)they will both end up better off than if they had not agreed to bargain.
C)both are agreeing to reject taking intransigent,"all or nothing," positions while negotiating.
D)both are agreeing to reject the option of going to war over the conflict.
E)one state might end up giving in to all of the demands of the other.

Question 7

A state that provokes a crisis would most prefer:

A)to go to war to achieve its goals.
B)that the other state capitulate completely.
C)that the other side agree to negotiations over the dispute.
D)that an international organization would agree to mediate the dispute.
E)that a more powerful country intervene in the dispute.

Question 8

Which of the following accurately describes the "bargaining range"?

A)The possible outcomes to which states can agree without going to war over a dispute.
B)The number of demands a state makes in a crisis.
C)The types of demands a state makes in a crisis.
D)The number of actors involved in a dispute.
E)The amount of territory states claim in a dispute.

Question 9

In the figure,what set of deals does A prefer to war?

A)Costs to A + costs to B + value of war to B.
B)Value of war to A.
C)Those in the shaded area labeled "bargaining range."
D)Value of war to A + costs to A + costs to B.
E)Value of war to B.

Question 10

Which is an example of interstate war?

A)A government committing acts of genocide against an ethnic group,where several thousand civilians are killed.
B)A government fighting a well-armed rebel group within its territory,where several thousand soldiers have died on the battlefield.
C)Two governments fighting each other,where several hundred soldiers have died on the battlefield.
D)Two governments fighting each other,where several thousand soldiers have died on the battlefield.
E)A government engaged in counter-insurgency activity against an international group that employs terrorism,in which several thousand people on both sides of the conflict have died.

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of a civil war?

A)North and South Korea going to war in the 1950s.
B)The war against Al-Qaeda and radical Islamic terrorist groups.
C)World War I.
D)Armed conflict between FARC guerrillas and the Colombian national army.
E)The UN-sanctioned intervention to stop Iraq from taking over Kuwait.

Question 12

What is perplexing about the Mexican-American War?

A)That the United States wanted the southwest territories in the first place.
B)That Mexico valued the territories beyond $25 million.
C)That the United States won the war.
D)That the two states did not find a bargain to avoid the costs of war.
E)That the United States only paid $15 million at the end of the dispute.

Question 13

Which of the following is the most common reason states have historically gone to war?

A)Two states claim the same territory.
B)A state resents another state's high tariffs on its imports.
C)The populations of two states are composed of two conflicting ethnic groups.
D)A state wants a neighboring state to change into a democratic government.
E)A state thinks another state is cheating on an arms-reduction agreement.

Question 14

Which of the following territorial reasons is LEAST likely to lead to an interstate war?

A)The population of one state has ethnic ties to land controlled by another state.
B)The land in dispute has large oil reserves that either state could use.
C)The states depend primarily on agricultural production.
D)The land includes access to a river that is important for regional trade.
E)A key mountain pass in the territory would make invasion of either state easier.

Question 15

Why would a state go to war to change another state's regime?

A)A state would not attempt to change another state's regime,because that would be a violation of its sovereignty.
B)International law allows states to attack another state whose government makes threats against its neighbors.
C)War is the only way democratic states can change authoritarian regimes into representative governments.
D)States will use war,when possible,to remove a regime in another country that is hostile to it.
E)A state would change a regime that refused to trade with other states.

Question 16

All of the following are reasons a state might dispute a settlement that was not its ideal point EXCEPT:

A)an ally of the opposing state has made a credible extended deterrent threat.
B)an international organization forced the state to accept the settlement.
C)it expects to gain future power that would allow it to renegotiate the settlement.
D)the cost of going to war over the dispute would be more costly than accepting the settlement.
E)the state does not have the capabilities or resolution to further pursue the issue.

Question 17

Why do states fight wars?

A)Most states are inherently aggressive.
B)They value something more than the cost of war and cannot come to an agreement.
C)They have too much information about other states and realize they could win.
D)War restores the status quo.
E)They disagree over the rules of war.

Question 18

Which of the following describes a crisis?

A)A state rejects an international agreement that most other states have ratified.
B)A state threatens military force to achieve its bargaining goals.
C)Two states decide to bargain over territory that both claim.
D)A weaker state has to bargain with a stronger state.
E)International organizations have to mediate a dispute between two states.

Question 19

Given the strict definition of war,all of the following are wars EXCEPT a conflict between:

A)North Korea and South Korea,in which 1,700 soldiers are killed.
B)Sudan and South Sudanese separatists,in which 1,500 soldiers are killed.
C)Rwanda and Congo,in which 900 soldiers are killed.
D)Honduras and El Salvador,in which 5,000 soldiers are killed.
E)India and Pakistan,in which 2,000 soldiers are killed.

Question 20

What is NOT a broad school of thought that offers a causal explanation as to why war occurs?

A)Realism.
B)Bargaining theory.
C)Misperceptions and mistakes by actors can lead to war between states.
D)Leaders are irrational.
E)Substate actors disproportionally benefit from war,do not bear the costs of war,and drive policy toward war.

Question 21

Which of the following statements about deterrence is true?

A)Deterrence is an effort to preserve the status quo by threatening to use force.
B)Deterrence is an effort to force other actors to accept international mediation.
C)Deterrence is an effort to change the status quo by threatening to use force.
D)Deterrence is the effort to force other actors to fulfill their alliance obligations.
E)Deterrence is the effort to create an effective international peace agreement.

Question 22

A state's capabilities comprise all of the following EXCEPT:

A)the number of troops that a state can mobilize.
B)the quality of its armaments.
C)its willingness to suffer many battle deaths in order to win a war.
D)its economic resources.
E)the number of other states that will ally with the state.

Question 23

How is extended deterrence different from general deterrence?

A)Extended deterrence continues for a long time.
B)Extended deterrence applies to a large amount of territory.
C)Extended deterrence applies to a state's allies rather than the state itself.
D)Extended deterrence applies to a country's economic,political,and military infrastructure.
E)Extended deterrence became possible only after the development of nuclear weapons.

Question 24

Which of the following statements about compellence is true?

A)Compellence is an effort to preserve the status quo by threatening to use force.
B)Compellence is an effort to force other actors to accept international mediation.
C)Compellence is an effort to change the status quo by threatening to use force.
D)Compellence is the effort to force other actors to fulfill their alliance obligations.
E)Compellence is the effort to create an effective international peace agreement.

Question 25

Why is it difficult to make a threat of attack seem credible to an opponent?

A)States rarely have the capability to actually attack another country.
B)The opponent can easily tell when the threatening state is bluffing.
C)Opponents have access to enough information about the other state to discredit its threats.
D)The threat of such a war can seem too costly to be a reasonable option.
E)The opponent may not realize how costly war can be.

Question 26

The United States did not believe China would intervene in the Korean War,because:

A)the Chinese government had been an ally of the United States.
B)China had no apparent strategic interest in protecting North Korea.
C)China obviously lacked the capability to effectively launch an attack against U.S.troops.
D)the Chinese government did not pay any real cost to making the threat.
E)U.S.troops were acting under the authority of the United Nations.

Question 27

Which of the following is an example of extended deterrence?

A)The United States threatened to attack Moscow if the Soviet Union attacked West Germany.
B)The United States threatened to retaliate with nuclear weapons if the Soviet Union attacked New York.
C)West Germany threatened to attack East Germany if the Soviet Union tried to block the railroads and highways connecting West Germany to West Berlin.
D)France obtained its own nuclear weapons,so that it could retaliate if the Soviet Union attacked Paris.
E)China threatened to attack if the United States entered China from North Korea.

Question 28

All of the following are reasons that it is difficult to know how likely an adversary is to go to war EXCEPT:

A)information is often incomplete.
B)many actors have private information.
C)determining the capability of an adversary is difficult.
D)keeping international organizations from getting involved in disputes is difficult.
E)discerning the resolve of an opponent is difficult.

Question 29

In the case of the threat by the United States to attack Afghanistan in 2001,the status quo was:

A)the attack by the United States on Afghanistan.
B)Taliban control of Afghanistan.
C)the United Nations approving an attack on Afghanistan.
D)a continuing insurgency after the war.
E)the defeat of the Taliban.

Question 30

What is a credible threat?

A)A threat that the target of the threat believes will be carried out.
B)A threat made by a reliable ally.
C)Any attempt to intimidate opponents by making threats.
D)A dangerous crisis.
E)A threat that could possibly be carried out,even if it is unlikely.

Question 31

A risk-return trade-off is the idea that:

A)there is always a risk to selling weapons to other states.
B)states can get the best deal by threatening all-out war with another state.
C)states can minimize the chance of war by exchanging diplomatic missions.
D)states can reduce the risk of war during a crisis by returning diplomatic messages quickly.
E)states want to minimize the chance of war but also get the best deals they can.

Question 32

All of the following were reasons for Iraq to invade Kuwait in 1990 EXCEPT:

A)Iraq's economy was devastated by its war with Iran.
B)Kuwait was pumping more oil than the limit to which it had agreed,which decreased the price for Iraq's oil.
C)Iraq claimed Kuwait was pumping Iraqi oil near the border between the two countries.
D)Kuwait refused to forgive the loans that it had made to Iraq.
E)a fundamentalist Islamic group was on the verge of taking control of Kuwait's government.

Question 33

Despite Germany's involvement in starting World War I and II,the nation did not engage in future military conflicts in part because of a large American military presence in the country after the end of World War II.This is an example of which way that we can reduce the likelihood of war occurring?

A)Increasing the costs of going to war.
B)Increasing transparency.
C)Outside enforcement of commitments.
D)Increasing the number of actors involved in a conflict.
E)Dividing apparently indivisible goods.

Question 34

Which of the following is an example of compellence?

A)The Soviet Union refusing to return control of the Kurile Islands to Japan.
B)The United States invading the Dominican Republic in response to a military coup.
C)The Soviet Union invading Afghanistan in order to support its allies in the Afghan government.
D)The Soviet Union threatening to attack Europe so that it could spread communism.
E)The United States threatening Cuba if it did not remove Soviet missiles during the Cuban missile crisis.

Question 35

Which is the best definition of total war?

A)A state mobilizes its entire military and economic resources.
B)Most of the states in the world are involved in the war.
C)Most of the states in one region are involved in the war.
D)The war lasts more than three years.
E)The war results in at least 1,000 battle deaths.

Question 36

During the Cuban missile crisis,the United States put nuclear missile crews on alert and took other advanced steps to prepare for war.This is an example of what?

A)Paying for power.
B)Tying hands.
C)Brinksmanship.
D)Extended deterrence.
E)Avoidance.

Question 37

A state's resolve consists of the:

A)length of time it has spent negotiating with its opponents.
B)outcome of protracted negotiations.
C)superiority of its armaments.
D)quality of its military leadership.
E)willingness of a state to bear the costs of war in order to achieve its goal.

Question 38

How did incomplete information cause Kuwait to make a mistake when Iraq threatened to attack in 1990?

A)Kuwait did not have diplomatic relations with Iraq and therefore did not have an opportunity to make concessions to Iraq.
B)Kuwait did not know that Saddam Hussein was willing to wage war and decided not to make sufficient concessions.
C)Kuwait did not know that Saddam Hussein had moved many of his troops to the border between Iraq and Kuwait.
D)Kuwait had decided to make the concessions that Saddam Hussein wanted,but the message to Iraq was not properly sent by Kuwaiti bureaucrats.
E)Kuwait did not know that the United States would come to its aid if a war was to occur.

Question 39

Which of the following is an example of deterrence?

A)The Soviet Union cutting off trade with Western countries so that they could not use economic sanctions as leverage in arms agreements.
B)The United States threatening to attack Iran if it did not cease developing nuclear weapons.
C)The Soviet Union placing missiles in Cuba so that it could threaten the United States.
D)The United States threatening to increase tariffs on another country's imports if that country first increases tariffs on U.S.products.
E)China attacking when the United States sent its troops into North Korea during the Korean War.

Question 40

Resolve is difficult to measure because it depends on:

A)the intervention of international organizations.
B)the quality of a state's military training.
C)how much a state is willing to pay and risk to achieve a particular goal.
D)how much a state trusts the other side.
E)how well a state can obscure facts about its armies from opponents.

Question 41

Why is bargaining over future power especially difficult in international relations?

A)States do not have reasonable expectations about the future power distribution.
B)States have secret sources of power that cannot be observed.
C)It is impossible to verify if a state is abiding by such an agreement.
D)A state cannot make a credible commitment to not use increased power to make further demands.
E)A state will make up the power loss by forming new alliances and engaging in other risky decisions instead.

Question 42

The commitment problem most resembles which type of game (from game theory)?

A)Prisoner's Dilemma.
B)Stag Hunt.
C)Battle of the Sexes.
D)Turkey Shoot.
E)Chicken.

Question 43

Why might audience costs affect the possibility of war?

A)The states in a dispute may decide to hold secret negotiations so that privileged information will not become public.
B)Members of the United Nations Security Council may feel peer pressure to vote in favor of an intervention to prevent war.
C)An elected leader may make a threat and be compelled to carry it out in order to get reelected.
D)A state might be delayed in beginning a war,because other countries may compel it to have the dispute heard by the World Court.
E)Third-party countries observing a conflict may decide to become involved.

Question 44

All of the following are ways to make war less likely EXCEPT:

A)increasing the costs of going to war.
B)increasing transparency.
C)outside enforcement of commitments.
D)increasing the number of actors involved in a conflict.
E)dividing apparently indivisible goods.

Question 45

What is a preventive war?

A)A war launched to prevent human rights abuses in another state.
B)A war that begins when deterrence fails.
C)A war begun by a state to prevent an adversary from being a stronger threat in the future.
D)A war launched by a state that fears an adversary is about to attack.
E)A war authorized by an international organization to eliminate aggressive states that could threaten world peace.

Question 46

Why do states use brinkmanship?

A)States are always on the verge of going to war.
B)States can signal a high level of resolve by making a threat that appears likely to trigger extraordinary costs.
C)States can make significant threats but know they will always be able to hold back from starting a war.
D)States know that there is no real possibility of a crisis escalating into a devastating nuclear war.
E)A state can pretend to be taking a tough stand to please domestic groups while secretly negotiating a peaceful settlement with other states.

Question 47

Why might preventive war appear attractive to a declining state?

A)A rising power will never agree to any bargain short of war.
B)Rising powers historically have always gone to war against declining powers.
C)A rising power will likely acquire WMD in the future,and preemption is the only way to stop them.
D)A rising power cannot credibly commit to not use increased power to make future demands.
E)A war now will eliminate the rising power from ever being a concern in the future.

Question 48

What is paying for power?

A)Buying a political office.
B)Investing more money into an international organization.
C)Offering financial incentives to a major power to join you in an alliance.
D)Mobilizing and deploying a large military force.
E)Bribing a rival state.

Question 49

What is a first-strike advantage?

A)The benefits to a state of being the first to attack.
B)A state's ability to repel a surprise attack by another state.
C)The tendency of smaller states to attack larger states first.
D)The name given to the aggressor in a conflict.
E)A state has an incentive to wait for another state to initiate a war.

Question 50

Which of the following problems make states more likely to go to war?

A)Problems arising from complete information.
B)Problems arising from conflicts over goods that are easily split between two states.
C)Problems arising from the difficulty of committing to honor a deal.
D)Problems arising from international organizations forcing states to comply with an agreement.
E)Problems arising from states having relatively unchanging amounts of power.

Question 51

Why might an apparently indivisible good actually be divisible?

A)No goods are completely indivisible-there are ways to divide any goods.
B)The good concerned is territory,which is difficult to divide.
C)States are willing to ruin an indivisible good by splitting it rather than allow another state to win the whole good.
D)Sometimes states falsely claim that a desired object is indivisible in order to strengthen their bargaining positions.
E)Sometimes leaders think an asset like future military power is indivisible,because of misperception.

Question 52

Which of the following is an example of an indivisible good?

A)Whether a state has nuclear weapons.
B)Control of a mountain range.
C)Access to an oil field on the border of two states.
D)Clean drinking water.
E)Revenue from selling goods and services.

Question 53

Which of the following is an example of tying hands?

A)A leader accompanying a threat with troop movements near its rival's borders.
B)A leader,during private negotiations,promising war if an adversary does not back down.
C)An elected leader publicly promising war if an adversary does not back down.
D)A threat being accompanied with covert action that undermines a rival.
E)A leader accompanying a public threat with increased military spending.

Question 54

A brinkmanship crisis resembles which type of game (from game theory)?

A)Prisoner's Dilemma.
B)Stag Hunt.
C)Battle of the Sexes.
D)Turkey Shoot.
E)Chicken.

Question 55

Which of the following makes the problem of the indivisibility of goods worse?

A)The lack of complete information between the two involved states.
B)The difficulty in making a credible commitment about the contested item or issue.
C)The presence of balanced military forces.
D)A third state making an extended deterrence threat.
E)Too much transparency about each state's capabilities and resolve.

Question 56

Which country has the United States NOT tried to convince to abandon its weapons of mass destruction (WMD)programs in recent years?

A)China.
B)Libya.
C)North Korea.
D)Iraq.
E)Iran.

Question 57

What has made negotiations with North Korea over its WMD programs difficult?

A)The leadership of North Korea is irrational.
B)North Korea refuses to make any concessions.
C)Other states are generally not interested in North Korea,due to its poverty.
D)The demands made by other states have been unclear to North Korea.
E)North Korea is unwilling to lose the security that comes with nuclear weapons.

Question 58

Once the Soviet Union and the United States acquired large supplies of nuclear weapons,the chances of a direct military conflict between the two decreased.This is an example of which way that we can reduce the likelihood of war occurring?

A)Increasing the costs of going to war.
B)Increasing transparency.
C)Outside enforcement of commitments.
D)Increasing the number of actors involved in a conflict.
E)Dividing apparently indivisible goods.

Question 59

What was the Schlieffen Plan?

A)The German plan to avoid fighting a war simultaneously with France and Russia.
B)The German plan to retake the Rhineland by bluffing.
C)The Austrian plan to punish Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
D)The Swiss plan to remain neutral during World War II.
E)The Belgian plan to destroy key bridges to prevent a German attack.

Question 60

What is a preemptive war?

A)A war initiated by a state because it anticipates an imminent attack from an adversary.
B)A war initiated by a state because it anticipates its adversary will become stronger in the future.
C)A war initiated by a state because another state has refused to honor its treaty commitments.
D)A defensive war fought by a state after it has suffered a surprise attack.
E)A war fought over the restriction of trade during a crisis between two states.

Question 61

Why is war a relatively rare occurrence?

Question 62

What is the difference between compellence and deterrence? Give an example of each (it can be from history or fictional)to illustrate the difference.

Question 63

How do commitment problems affect the likelihood that war will occur?

Question 64

Are democratic or autocratic leaders more capable of "tying their hands"? Explain your answer,using concepts of interests,interactions,and institutions.

Question 65

What makes a good indivisible,and how do indivisible goods affect the possibility of war?

Question 66

How does poor and incomplete information contribute to the likelihood of war?

Question 67

How can we make war less likely? In your answer make sure to include a discussion of the costs of war,the credibility of commitments,and the divisibility of goods.

Question 68

China unsuccessfully attempted to convince the United States that it would intervene if the United States sent its troops into North Korea in 1950.Explain how this example demonstrates the difficulty of communicating resolve to an opponent.

Question 69

What is the difference between a preemptive war and a preventive war?

Question 70

Explain the risks and benefits of engaging in brinkmanship.

Question 71

What is the bargaining model of war? How does it explain why war occurs?