Chapter 7 Key Terms Quiz 1

A strategy of conflict employed by a weaker actor in contending with a stronger one, in an attempt to “level the playing field.” Terrorism is the most commonly cited example of asymmetric warfare.

The belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests.

An explanation of war and conflict in international relations rooted in the realist appreciation of states, power, and anarchy. Defensive realists contend that war is a by-product of the anarchic nature of the international system: States and their leaders typically do not choose war, but the mutual and sometimes incompatible quest for security by states inherently produces armed conflict.

Wars fought by and through the state and its organized, professional, standing armies in pursuit of the national interest. Key distinctions typifying the “modern” state (disaggregated civil and military authority, distinctions between combatants and noncombatants, etc.) shaped the conduct of such wars.

A thesis that a war is instigated by a country’s leadership in order to distract its population from their own domestic strife.

An emphasis on maintaining and promoting peace, democracy, and human rights. The “new world order” referred to a Western-led international system in which particular norms and laws favored liberal democracy, civil and political rights, and market-led economic globalization.

A thesis that contends the most recent wave of transnational terrorism is being advanced by “homegrown” actors living in, and citizens of, Western countries with only loose ties to groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda.

Identity-fueled, intrastate conflicts that are waged by a wide range of official and irregular combatants and are sustained and fueled by remittances, organized crime, and transnational networks moving money, arms, and people.

The balance of power arrangement in Europe from the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815) to the outbreak of World War I (1914). The chief function was maintaining stability and averting major wars between the powers of the Continent while also policing skirmishes and disputes.

An explanation of war and armed conflict in international relations rooted in the realist appreciation of states, power, and anarchy. Offensive realists contend that war is a result of the inherently aggressive tendencies of states and their leaders, who capitalize on the condition of anarchy and purposefully choose war as a tool of advancing their interests and amassing greater power.

Tensions between states that produce arms races, militarized interstate disputes, and war. An unprovoked military attack by one state on another is a commonly understood act of aggression.

The proposition, supported empirically to some degree, that democracies do not engage in war with one another. Those who accept this proposition view democracy promotion as the key to containing war and expanding the “zone of peace.”