Study guide: International Relations Midterm

📋 Course Outline

1. Actors and Structure of International Relations
2. IR Theories, Power and Security
3. Concert of Europe and Rising Powers
4. Eastern Question and the 1914 Crisis
5. Paris Peace System and League of Nations
6. Depression and Road to World War II
7. United Nations and Collective Security
8. Cold War Origins and Nuclear Deterrence
9. Decolonization and Cold War Competition
10. Environment in International Relations
11. Bretton Woods and Monetary Change
12. Exam Answers and Key Distinctions

📅 Key Dates

1. 1814–1815The Congress of Vienna met after Napoleon's defeat and helped establish the Concert of Europe.
2. 1868The Meiji Restoration began Japan's rapid modernization.
3. 1871German unification created a powerful industrial and military state in central Europe.
4. 1898The United States' victory in the Spanish-American War increased its overseas presence, including in the Philippines and the Caribbean.
5. 28 June 1914Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo.
6. 1929The Great Depression began and became a worldwide economic crisis.
7. 1945The United Nations was established after World War II to maintain international peace and security and promote cooperation.
8. 1947The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan marked Cold War containment and intensification.
9. 1948–1949The Berlin Blockade and Airlift took place.
10. 1949NATO was established, and the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb.

📖 1. Actors and Structure of International Relations

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• International Relations: The study of interactions among states and other international actors, including international organizations, multinational corporations, NGOs and individuals.
• Sovereignty: A state's authority to govern its territory and make its own political decisions without being formally subordinate to another state.
• International system: The structure formed by states and other actors and the relationships between them.
• Anarchy: The absence of a central authority above sovereign states, not chaos.

📝 Essential Points

• The main international actors are:
  • states
  • international organizations
  • NGOs
  • multinational corporations
  • individuals

📖 2. IR Theories, Power and Security

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Realism: A view that states are the principal actors in an anarchic system where power, survival, national interest and security shape behavior.
• Liberalism: The view that states and other actors can cooperate through institutions, trade, diplomacy and international rules.
• Constructivism: The view that ideas, identities, norms and beliefs influence international politics and how states interpret interests and threats.
• Balance of power: A distribution of capabilities that prevents one state from becoming overwhelmingly dominant.
• Collective security: The principle that aggression against one member should be addressed collectively.
• Security dilemma: A situation in which one state's efforts to improve its security make other states feel less secure and prompt further military competition.

📝 Essential Points

📌 Hard power uses military force or economic pressure, soft power attracts through culture, values or diplomacy, and smart power strategically combines hard and soft power.

💡 Memory Hook

Realism emphasizes power and security; liberalism emphasizes cooperation and institutions.

📖 3. Concert of Europe and Rising Powers

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Concert of Europe: A system of great-power consultation established after Napoleon's defeat to maintain stability through diplomacy and balance of power.

📝 Essential Points

• The principal Concert powers were:

  • Austria
  • Britain
  • Prussia
  • Russia
  • France subsequently

• Under Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany pursued Weltpolitik and naval expansion, challenging British naval superiority.

• Japan's victories in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 and Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 established it as a major regional power.

📖 4. Eastern Question and the 1914 Crisis

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Eastern Question: The geopolitical struggle over Ottoman territories and influence as the empire declined, especially in southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.

★ Must-know

• 🔄 The July Crisis escalated as follows:

  1. Germany gave Austria-Hungary a blank cheque
  2. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914
  3. Russia mobilized in support of Serbia
  4. Germany declared war on Russia and France
  5. Germany invaded Belgium
  6. Britain entered the war

• Diplomacy failed amid:

  • alliance commitments
  • fears about military mobilization
  • nationalism
  • mistrust
  • miscalculation
  • the security dilemma

Further detail

• The actors pursued these interests: Russia sought Balkan influence and access to strategic waterways, Austria-Hungary feared Slavic nationalism, Britain protected strategic routes and imperial interests, Balkan states pursued territorial and national aims, the Ottoman Empire sought to preserve its remaining territories

• The Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 weakened the regional order and heightened tensions before World War I.

💡 Memory Hook

Ottoman decline → great-power competition → Balkan instability.

📖 5. Paris Peace System and League of Nations

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Paris Peace System: The post-World War I settlement, particularly the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, intended to establish a stable order and prevent another major war.

★ Must-know

• The US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, leaving the United States outside the League of Nations.

• The League of Nations had no permanent army and depended on member states to enforce its decisions.

• The League failed to stop:

  • Japan's occupation of Manchuria
  • Italy's conquest of Ethiopia
  • German rearmament
  • German territorial expansion

Further detail

• Germany lost territory, faced military restrictions and reparations, and resented the treaty's war-responsibility provisions.

• The Paris Peace System was weakened by unresolved national grievances, economic instability from war debts, reparations, inflation and the Great Depression, and revisionist challenges by Germany, Italy and Japan.

• The League's successes included: settling some territorial disputes in the 1920s, supporting refugee and humanitarian work, promoting public-health and social cooperation, establishing precedents for multilateral diplomacy

💡 Memory Hook

The League handled limited disputes better than aggression by major powers.

📖 6. Depression and Road to World War II

★ Must-know

• The Great Depression encouraged:

  • protectionism
  • political instability
  • extremist movements
  • economic nationalism
  • weaker collective security
  • international tension

• The Great Depression did not independently cause World War II, but weakened the international system and contributed to conditions that enabled aggressive powers to expand.

Further detail

• Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and established the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932; the League condemned the occupation but failed to stop it.

• The Second Sino-Japanese War escalated in 1937, continued during World War II and intensified tensions between Japan and the United States as their interests clashed.

• In the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, Germany and Italy supported Franco's Nationalists, the Soviet Union supported the Republicans, international volunteers joined the International Brigades, and Britain and France promoted non-intervention.

💡 Memory Hook

Economic hardship → political instability and extremism → weaker collective security.

📖 7. United Nations and Collective Security

★ Must-know

• The UN includes the major powers, and the United States became a founding member.

📌 Under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council can authorize sanctions and other enforcement measures.

Further detail

• The five permanent members are:

  • China
  • France
  • Russia (formerly the Soviet Union)
  • the United Kingdom
  • the United States

• The UN has, among other bodies:

  • a General Assembly
  • a Security Council
  • an International Court of Justice
  • a Secretariat

💡 Memory Hook

The UN includes major powers and stronger enforcement tools, but still depends on political cooperation.

📖 8. Cold War Origins and Nuclear Deterrence

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Mutually Assured Destruction: A situation in which both sides can inflict devastating retaliation after a nuclear attack, making full-scale nuclear war extremely dangerous.

★ Must-know

• The Cold War combined ideological differences between US liberal capitalism and political pluralism and Soviet communism and one-party rule with security fears, power competition and mutual mistrust.

• During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the Soviet Union deployed nuclear missiles to Cuba and President John F. Kennedy responded with a naval quarantine.

• To resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union removed its missiles, the United States pledged not to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to withdraw Jupiter missiles from Turkey.

Further detail

• The Soviet Union sought a buffer zone in Eastern Europe after devastating invasions, while the United States feared Soviet expansion and the spread of communism.

• In 1963, a direct Washington–Moscow communication link was established and the Partial Test Ban Treaty was signed after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

💡 Memory Hook

Mutual capacity for catastrophic retaliation → caution and deterrence.

📖 9. Decolonization and Cold War Competition

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Decolonization: The process by which colonized territories gain independence.
• Non-Aligned Movement: Efforts by some states to maintain autonomy from both Cold War superpowers.

★ Must-know

• The superpowers competed through:

  • proxy wars
  • ideological competition
  • strategic interests
  • efforts to influence newly independent states

• Third World governments and movements were not merely passive pawns; they pursued their own political, economic and strategic objectives.

Further detail

• The Cold War was also fought through:

  • nuclear deterrence
  • military alliances
  • economic competition
  • political confrontation in Europe

• The Bandung Conference in 1955 promoted Afro-Asian cooperation and non-alignment.

• The Non-Aligned Movement was established in 1961 as new states sought autonomy from the two blocs.

💡 Memory Hook

Third World states were arenas of rivalry, but also pursued independent goals.

📖 10. Environment in International Relations

★ Must-know

• Cross-border pollution showed that environmental damage could not always be contained within national borders, making international cooperation important.

Further detail

• Industrialization increased pollution and resource consumption, while scientific evidence raised awareness of global environmental problems.

• NGOs and environmental movements increased public pressure, while international organizations provided forums for environmental diplomacy.

• Countries may disagree over the costs of environmental action, historical responsibility and the balance between economic development and environmental protection.

• The Brundtland Report was published in 1987.

💡 Memory Hook

Cross-border environmental harm → need for international cooperation.

📖 11. Bretton Woods and Monetary Change

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Bretton Woods system: Established in 1944, it organized fixed but adjustable exchange rates around the US dollar, which foreign monetary authorities could convert into gold at $35 per ounce.

★ Must-know

• Growing US external liabilities increased the number of dollars circulating internationally and raised doubts about the United States' ability to maintain gold convertibility.

• On 15 August 1971, President Richard Nixon suspended dollar-gold convertibility for foreign monetary authorities.

• After attempts to restore stable exchange rates failed between 1971 and 1973, major currencies moved towards floating exchange rates in 1973, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system.

Further detail

• The system's collapse was also driven by:

  • pressure on US gold reserves
  • inflation
  • declining confidence
  • speculation
  • exchange-rate pressure

• After Bretton Woods, exchange rates became more flexible, currency fluctuations grew more important for international businesses, governments gained monetary-policy flexibility depending on their arrangements and capital mobility, and the system depended more on financial markets.

📌 Economic growth means increased output, whereas sustainable development also considers social and environmental needs.

💡 Memory Hook

Doubts about dollar-gold convertibility → floating exchange rates.

📖 12. Exam Answers and Key Distinctions

📝 Essential Points

• A strong International Relations exam answer defines the key concept and answers directly, develops arguments supported by historical examples, adds nuance, and concludes with the answer's broader significance.

• Strong International Relations answers explain causal relationships rather than memorizing isolated dates, such as how the League's failure in Manchuria weakened collective security, encouraged further aggression and exposed dependence on major-power cooperation.

💡 Memory Hook

Define the concept, argue with examples, add nuance, then conclude.

📊 Synthesis Tables

Realist and Liberal Approaches

Dimension	Realism	Liberalism
Main actors	Primarily states	States and other actors
Main objective	Survival and national interest	Cooperation and shared gains
International system	Anarchic and competitive	Anarchic, but cooperation is possible
Institutions	Limited by great-power interests	Can facilitate cooperation
Conflict	Power competition and insecurity	Failures of cooperation, institutions or domestic politics

Key International Relations Distinctions

Concepts	First	Second
Balance of power / collective security	Distributes capabilities to prevent dominance	Addresses aggression through collective action
League / UN	Post-WWI system with weak enforcement	Post-WWII organization with Security Council enforcement tools
Decolonization / non-alignment	Gaining independence	Maintaining autonomy from Cold War blocs
Fixed / floating rates	Maintained around defined parities	Determined primarily by market forces
Economic growth / sustainable development	Increased output	Development considering social and environmental needs