Introduction to International Relations

Last Revised: December 10th at 3:00pm

The final exam will be like the midterm - a combination of fill-in-the-blank, matching, definitions, short answer, and one modest essay question. Any form of question is possible - multiple choice & T/F included. There will simple be several different types. I would anticpate that the test will take the full two hours

Material Covered:

1. Terrorism in the 21st Century. - skim entire text
2. Global Politics
   1. pp: 222-257.
   2. pp: 281-301
   3. pp: 319-558
3. The Web pages linked in syllabus

I recommend that you place special emphasis on the following class topics. The essay question will likely be related to one of these.

• Game Theory
• The Causes of War
• Global Climate Change
• technology

The following is a very abridged list of specialized terms that I find important. These terms are pulled from your texts and the class notes. I recommend that you understand both their definitions and the context in which they are used. Note: this list is still under considerable development. It will change daily!

Causes of War (class and text)

• war
• guerrilla war
• wars of national liberation
• conventional war
• limited war
• just war
• Clausewitz
• jihad
• aggression
• imperialism
• long cycle
• scapegoat war

Technology

• loss of strength gradient
• offense
• defense
• impact weapons
• projectile weapons
• stirrup

Game Theory

• one person game
• 2-person game
• zero sum game\
• non-zero sum game
• constant sum game
• strategy
  • mininax
  • maximin
• equilibrium point
• saddle point
• joint optimal outcome
• Battle of the Bismark sea
• Prisoner's Dilemma
• chicken

Global Climate Change

• CO₂
• Freon
• methane
• ozone
• greenhouse effect
• albedo
• sea level rise
• precipitation events

Additional terms from the textbook

• capitalism
• comparative advantage
• hegemon
• Brettons Woods
• Marshall Plan
• Uruguay Round
• Eurodollars
• e-cash
• diplomacy
• signaling
• negotiations
• diplomatic recognition
• ambassador
• diplomatic immunity
• summitry
• fait accompli
• coercive diplomacy
• deterrence
• linkage
• intelligence
• espionage
• covert operations
• verification
• mole
• U-2
• mirror imaging
• industrial espionage
• clipper chip

Acronyms (also know meaning!)

• CFC
• MFN
• FDI
• GATT
• NAFTA
• EU
• APEC
• HUMINT
• SIGENT
• CIA
• NSA
• DCI
• NRO
• KGB

More to come!