PS 343: Conflict and Cooperation in World Politics

Test #1
90 Minutes

PART I: Multiple Choice (45 Questions, Allow 30-45 minutes)

1. The meaning of “anarchy” for liberals refers to the absence of:

a) A global sovereign power
b) International institutions for peace
c) Mutual trust among states and societies
d) Equal power among states

2. The two main international systems that existed prior to the states system were:
a) Global governance and anarchy
b) Anarchy and feudalism
c) Empire and interdependence
d) Feudalism and empire

3. The “state moralist” view is that moral or ethical concerns are:

a) Limited to norms of inter-state cooperation
b) Irrelevant to international politics
c) Dependent on the emergence of a consensus of values
d) The same as those in domestic politics

4. Why did Sparta ultimately vote in favor of war against Athens in the Peloponnesian War?
a) Sparta viewed the Athenian attack on Corinth as tantamount to an attack on its own territory
b) They feared that otherwise, Athens would expand its power to control all of Greece
c) They saw that Athens had begun to lose power and decided the balance was tipped enough in their favor
that they would be able to defeat Athens completely
d) They felt encircled by the Delian League created by Athens

5. What ethical argument did the Athenians make to the Melians during the Peloponnesian War?
a) Might makes right
b) Empire is justified because it ensures a balance of power and thus ensures peace
c) Freedom is more important than empire
d) Order must be valued above freedom.

6. The Athenian choice to fight, rather than to appease Corinth, offers what foreign policy lesson?
a) Appeasement creates unwelcome expectations of peace and can harm military planning
b) Appeasement only forestalls armed conflict and can sometimes make it worse
c) Appeasement may sometimes be a beneficial policy choice to alter the balance of power
d) Appeasement is not a tool of diplomacy or foreign policy but rather is an abdication of those tools.

7. In deciding whether to recognize another state as sovereign, countries will consider all of the following except:
a) Whether it controls its territory and governs effectively
b) Whether the population is made up of a single nation
c) Whether it is seen as legitimate by its population
d) Whether other groups claim the same territory

8. “Tanks are not much good in swamps; uranium was not a power resource in the 19th century”. By this, Nye &
Welch mean that:
a) What constitutes hard power depends on the context
b) Hard power is not all that matters
 c) Hard power and soft power are interchangeable concepts
d) The measurement of hard power is specific to each country

9. Hegemonic stability theory refers to:

a) The tendency to peace in a unipolar system
b) The tendency to peace in a bipolar system
c) The tendency to peace in a multipolar system
d) The tendency to peace in a hierarchical system

10. An orderly international system is one characterized by:

a) An authoritative set of rules and regulations
b) A means of enforcing great power demands
c) A high level of satisfaction among small powers
d) The absence of force as a means for sanctioning non-compliance

11. Which of the following is NOT a way in which institutions help stabilize expectations?
a) Providing a sense of continuity
b) Ensuring opportunities for reciprocity
c) Offering peaceful means of resolving conflict
d) Enabling the operation of a balance of power

12. The issue of power conversion is a basic problem that arises when we think of power in terms of:
a) the ability to influence other states
b) capabilities
c) resources
d) economic wealth

13. A good counterfactual has all of the following traits except:

a) Linked to other counterfactuals
b) Plausibility
c) Proximity to the outcome of interest
d) Relationship to causal theories

14. At the individual level of analysis, prospect theory:

a) examines the processes by which people seek to make sense of raw information about the world
b) suggests that people take greater risks to avoid losses than to achieve gains
c) explains leaders’ choices in terms of their psychodynamics
d) explains human behavior in terms of deep-seated psychological fears, desires, and needs

15. How do realists explain why Japan was able to accomplish economic growth without conflict?
a) There are more liberal democracies in recent times, which limits the possibilities for war
b) Another state provided for its security
c) Its economic ties to the rest of the world made it too costly for other states to engage it in conflict
d) Its domestic political aversion to war kept it out of conflict.

16. Which of the following is a source of power emphasized by constructivists?

a) The strength of nationalist ideology
b) The ability to set the agenda
c) The moral stature of being a democracy
d) The role of domestic interests

17. The classical Marxist and liberal views…:

a) are similar in locating the causes of war in domestic politics.
 b) are both based on a cyclical view of history.
c) rely heavily on the individual level of analysis.
d) rely heavily on the structure of the international system as a factor in explaining the causes of war.

18. The functional approach to the balance of power refers to:

a) Foreign policy goals under the balance of power system
b) A natural tendency of the international system
c) The description of the distribution of power in the balance of power system
d) Particular historical cases of the balance of power system

19. What was the primary factor upsetting the balance of power in late 19 th century Europe?
a) The creation of rigid alliances
b) The breakup of multinational empires
c) The expansion of German power and purpose
d) The Russian revolution

20. The long balance of power period from 1648 to 1914 was characterized by:
a) Several major European wars but just one small war
b) Several small and great wars
c) No small or great wars
d) Many small wars but just one major European war

21. Churchill’s quip that he would comment favorably on the Devil if Germany invaded Hell reflected:
a) Foreign policy goals under the balance of power system
b) The natural tendency of the international system
c) The description of the distribution of power in the balance of power system
d) Particular historical cases of the balance of power system

22. The “failure of the balance of power” explanation of World War I is potentially consistent with which
theory/theories of international relations?
a) Liberal and realist
b) Constructivism and liberal
c) Realist and constructivist
d) Only realist

23. On the eve of World War I, the liberal view of international relations…:
a) predicted that war was likely because it would be financially beneficial to states
b) believed that international organizations provided effective guarantees against war
c) began to warn that economic and social ties between the states were too weak
d) was optimistic about prospects for peace and was highly influential

24. The 1910 book entitled The Great Illusion by Norman Angell argued that:
a) War was unlikely because it had become too economically costly
b) War was likely because business interests believed it would be profitable
c) War was unlikely because no country had sufficient economic resources for war
d) War was likely because economic integration was limited in Europe

25. The 1962 book Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman puts primary emphasis on:
a) Economic factors
b) System-level factors
c) Nationalism factors
d) Individual factors
26. The funnel of choice concept means that:
a) Individual choices only matter at the end of a historical process
b) Individual choices are constrained by a decreasing number of options
c) The number of structural factors relevant to explaining a war decrease as the war nears
d) Individual and structural counterfactuals lessen over time

27. The Peace of Westphalia effectively entrenched the principle of cuius regio, eius religio, whereby:
a) each state would come to the defense of another state that is unfairly attacked
b) each state would form a civilian government to supersede the power of the monarchy
c) each state would have the right to form international treaties
d) each ruler would have the right to determine the religion of his or her own state

28. All of the following factors about today’s world limit the lessons to be drawn from World War I except:
a) Great power competition is less
b) There is an international collective security organization
c) Nuclear weapons exist.
d) The ideological acceptance of war is weaker.

29. “Moderation evolves from the process.” This reflects what view of the balance of power?
a) Liberal
b) Realist
c) Constructivist
d) Marxist

30. Balance-of-power theory predicts that:

a) states will ally with weaker states, to prevent any one state from developing a preponderance of
power
b) states will ally with stronger states, in an attempt to ensure their security
c) states will ally mainly with other ideologically or culturally similar states
d) states will make alliance decisions on the basis of geographic proximity

31. How did ideology affect the balance of power in the Peloponnesian War?
a) Democratic city-states were more likely to align with Sparta, and oligarchies with Athens
b) Democratic city-states were more likely to align with Athens, and oligarchies with Sparta
c) Seafaring states were more likely to align with Sparta
d) Athens’ democratic principles gave it a stronger claim to empire than Sparta and gained it more allies as
a result.

32. What were two key elements at the system level that caused WWI?
a) The rise of British naval power and the end of the alliance system
b) The geographic encirclement of Germany and the rejection of the balance-of-power system
c) The rise of German power and the decline of French power
d) The rise of German power and the increased rigidity in the alliance system

33. Both Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey were particularly threatened by:
a) the growing power of Germany
b) the rise of nationalism
c) the alliance of France and Great Britain
d) British naval power.

34. One lesson that diplomats took from World War I was that:
a) The balance of power system could never work
b) Economic integration could not be the basis of peace
 c) National self-determination needed to be reduced
d) Institutions of collective security had broken down prior to WWI

35. The League of Nations sought to build peace out of which main principle?
a) Democracy
b) Unipolarity
c) Deterrence
d) American leadership

36. In what way did collective security bear a similarity to balance-of-power politics?
a) States tried to balance the amount of military power distributed in the world
b) States gave little power to international institutions
c) States tried to deter aggression by developing a powerful coalition
d) States formed alliances but allowed flexibility for shifting if power became imbalanced.

37. In the Covenant of the League of Nations, how were disputes among states supposed to be settled?
a) States agreed to submit their disputes to arbitration and not to go to war, even if arbitration failed to
settle the matter
b) States agreed to submit their disputes to arbitration and not to go to war until three months after
arbitration failed
c) States agreed to submit their disputes to arbitration so that the body could make a ruling on which state
was the aggressor
d) States with greater power and military resources in a dispute were required to submit to arbitration.

38. The failure of the League of Nations to take effective action against the Japanese takeover of Manchuria led it
to adopt what new measures in Italy’s aggression against Ethiopia?
a) Using a special procedure to avoid an Italian veto of a League resolution
b) Agreeing to impose military sanctions on Italy under Article 16
c) Enforcing the 3-month cooling off period on both parties
d) Expelling Italy from the League before it could withdraw voluntarily

39. How was the League of Nation’s charter interpreted by members in dealing with Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia?
a) As a form of balance of power, urging negotiations to bring the Italians back to balance Germany
b) As a system of collective security, working together to increase sanctions on Italy
c) As a form of legal punishment, opposing negotiations to bring Italy back into continental relations
d) As a waste of resources.

40. Which of the following is NOT a domestic-level change that contributed to WWII?
a) Economic collapse among capitalist states
b) American and Soviet absence from the balance of power
c) The U.S. policy of isolationism
d) The Nazi consolidation of power in Germany

41. Which of the following was a system-level cause of WWII?

a) Britain’s aggressive policy in continental affairs
b) France’s refusal to participate in the collective security agreements that constrained Germany
c) The absence of the Soviet Union and the United States in the balance of power to deter Germany
d) Germany’s worry that Britain was becoming too powerful

42. Nye& Welch argue that World War II was in part caused by:
a) An unwanted spiral of hostility
b) The failure to accommodate the rise of Germany
c) The alliance between Britain and the USSR of 1932
 d) The rise to power of Hitler

43. The collapse of democracy in Germany and Japan which allowed the rise of power of fascist or military groups
would be consistent with which theory of war?
a) Liberal institutionalism
b) Democratic peace
c) Democratic war
d) Liberal democracy

44. According to Nye & Welch, a key difference between the causes of the war in Europe and in the Pacific in
WWII was:
a) The role of economic crisis
b) The role of appeasement
c) The role of individuals
d) The role of the United States

45. Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of one of the results of WWII?
a) It solved the “German problem”
b) It brought about the end of Europe as an arbiter of the balance of power
c) It created the framework for world order until 1989
d) It ended the use of balance of power as a political policy
PART II: Essay (Allow 45-60 minutes)

“History shows that the balance of power is an unstable basis for world peace.” Discuss with reference to the
Peloponnesian War, WWI, and WWII. Refer to the three major theories of international relations and to the three
main levels of analysis.

A good answer:
a. Agree or disagree
b. Begin with meaning of BOP (four senses: distribution of power, functional or natural tendency of power,
foreign policy goals, and particular historical cases)
c. Describe and explain three wars and how BOP broke down in all three cases
d. Peloponnesian War: concerned security dilemma inherent in BOP, namely that perceptions of the other
gaining an upper hand will lead to actions that make the other’s response inevitable – Athens got drawn into
war with Sparta because its actions against Corinth which were based on fears of the Corycyraen fleet falling
into hands of this Sparta ally led to fears in Sparta of growing Athenian power – some argue that the balance
of power would have been stable but domestic turmoil in Athens led it to launch a diversionary war – so the
BOP was not to blame
e. WWI: 1648 peace of Westphalia to WWI was classic periods of BOP operation – breakdown of BOP was due to
perceptions of rising German aggression linked to rising power, Kaiser Wilhelm II’s rhetoric and aggression,
and rise of nationalism that led statesman to abandon prudence – Germany should have been accomodated
but was balanced against which made it more aggressive – economic integration (Angell thesis) was
insufficient to preserve the BOP as nationalism and imprudence led to alliances and a spiral towards war –
excessive belief that the long peace would last
f. WWII: BOP was supposed to be “helped” by League of Nations notion of collective security that would make
operation of BOP more prudent (consensus decisions) and more effective (no free riding) – also forum for
communications to avoid Prisoner’s Dilemma and role of norm-creation and legal provisions against
aggressive war – emphasis was a “balance against aggression” since disarmament was supposed to make
power obsolete – but League’s absence of two great powers (US and USSR), cumbersome decision making,
and failures in Manchuria and Ethiopia meant stability still needed BOP – but Britain in particular wanted to
accommodate Hitler and US was not willing to enter European BOP politics – could have been balancing with
Italy, Japan, USSR against Germany – German was clearly aggressive with remilitarization of Rhineland in
1936 after it realized that LON would not prevent it and old BOP politics was absent too (so both the old and
the new BOP failed and thus led to WWII) – the reasons why Germany was aggressive are largely individual
(Hitler) and state-level (nationalism, economic crisis, etc) factors but the system level breakdown of the BOP
again created an opportunity
g. Consider realist arguments for and against BOP stability (it depends on balancing and accomodation not
bandwagoning or containing, also threat perceptions matter) – individual actions become critical and bad
judgement is fatal
h. Consider liberal arguments for and against BOP – group interests aggregate and may lead to preference for
nationalist assertion rather than constraint – liberal institutionalism is a way to institutionalize BOP as has
been done in the LON and UN
i. Consider constructivist arguments for and against (depends on process and emergence of norms) – group and
social norms become critical to the shared understanding – BOP as a process of creating shared
understanding