Chapter 13 Self-test questions

. How is popular culture related to security?

Popular culture helps provide meaning to the geopolitical environment in which states interact and also helps provide meaning to state foreign policy.

Popular culture helps states and actors imagine where they fit in the world around them.

Popular culture plays a role in providing meaning to various security threats and helps understandings regarding the use of force.

All of the above

. There are several approaches to studying popular culture from an IR perspective. Which of the following is not an approach to studying popular culture in IR?

Popular culture is something that is both distinct from politics and something that can have an effect on politics.

Popular culture is a 'way of life', that is something that is part and parcel of politics.

Popular culture is created and shaped by the politics of a particular society and therefore reflects the society in which it exists within.

Popular culture should be seen as part of a popular culture-world politics continuum, that is something politics both exists within and is affected by.

. How does popular culture shape how actors 'see' their strategic environment?

Popular culture is massively consumed and helps actors understand wider viewpoints of society.

Popular culture has the power to form and naturalize representations of conflict by using power stemming from the emotional reactions it generates.

Popular culture is produced in a way that promotes and influences a particular political viewpoint.

Popular culture shapes how actors 'see' their strategic environment through the use of particular images that promote a specific point of view.

. What is meant by the term 'popular geopolitics'?

Popular geopolitics is a subfield of political geography that examines the link between everyday politics and popular culture.

Popular geopolitics is a way of understanding the link between popular culture and international relations by studying how states react to everyday practices.

Popular geopolitics asserts that geopolitical ideas are shaped by pop culture.

Popular geopolitics is the assumption that states are inevitably motivated by pop culture and its manifestation on everyday practices.

. What role does popular culture play in conflict management?

Popular culture plays a role in sustaining the narrative that is put forward by, and supports the political agenda of, the State. In this way, it is used by those in power to influence and manipulate the public into supporting conflict and/or violence.

Popular culture plays a role in advancing a narrative that reflects the individual rather than the State. This helps the public to push back against the state.

Popular culture plays a role in generating and sustaining narratives that societies hold onto. This helps them to manage life under conflict and in justifying both material and moral costs.

Popular culture plays a role in creating alternative narratives that can contrast with those put forward by the State. This allows the public to understand conflicts from multiple perspectives.

. In what ways does popular culture (such as TV series) contribute to the reproduction and popularization of official foreign policy discourse?

Leaders use popular culture to build on images and narratives that are already familiar to the general public in order to generate greater support and legitimacy for their actions.

The State uses popular culture to create narratives so that the public is primed for any changes to foreign policy discourse.

Leaders use popular culture to explain official foreign policy and state action in a simpler way. This allows the general public to understand State and military decisions.

Popular culture reproduces official foreign policy discourse as security concerns and violence attracts viewers resulting in a net economic gain for both the network and the State.

. What is Stahl's concept of 'militainment'?

Military practices are entertaining and thus war is inevitable.

Entertainment and military practices are linked so that the State is able to pursue war and violent actions.

War is a form of entertainment and States exploit this in order to justify war.

Various cultural products make war consumable and pleasurable and thus help normalize war as a tool of foreign policy.

. Scholars contend that the greatest promise of popular culture is as a soft power resource. Why is this so?

Scholars believe that the greatest promise of popular culture as a soft power resource lies in the long-term impact it can generate.

Scholars believe that the greatest promise of popular culture as a soft power resource lies in its immediacy.

Scholars believe that the greatest promise of popular culture as a soft power resource lies in its ability to manipulate the public.

Scholars believe that the greatest promise of popular culture as a soft power resource lies in the growth of social media.

. What are the limitations of using popular culture to advance state interests?

The use of popular culture cannot be controlled by a specific government at a specific time; short-term processes of cultural diffusion cannot be managed by governments; cultural industries are not guided by states.

The use of popular culture cannot be controlled by a specific government at a specific time; long-term processes of cultural diffusion cannot be managed by governments with shorter political time horizons; cultural industries are not guided by states.

The use of popular culture cannot be controlled by a specific government at a specific time; long-term processes of cultural diffusion cannot be managed by governments with shorter political time horizons; cultural industries and products cannot be effectively controlled.

Use of popular culture transcends state boundaries making it difficult to advance state interests; long-term processes of cultural diffusion cannot be managed by governments with shorter political time horizons; cultural industries are not guided by states.

. How can popular culture help facilitate peace?

Popular culture can be used to challenge and change old enemy images and/or to counteract negative stereotypes.

The commercial movie industry frequently challenges dominant world views and enemy images, making popular culture a vehicle for peace.

Politicians can promote peace by disseminating their ideas through pop culture mediums.

Popular culture transcends state boundaries, so popular culture often portrays images and narratives that challenge the dominant stereotype of a particular state.

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