Deck 17: Diplomacy and Foreign Policy

Question 1

Why do most analyses of diplomatic history tend to focus on developments in Europe?

A) There is little historical evidence for diplomatic activity in other parts of the world.
B) Diplomatic activity occurs only in modern sovereign state systems.
C) The European state system, as well as scholarship on the subject, has tended to dominate.
D) None of the above.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In the realist paradigm, 'reason of state' requires a form of statecraft which…
Please select all that apply.

A) is attuned to the inevitability of conflict rather than peace.
B) promotes conflict rather than peace to demonstrate the state's military strength.
C) attempts to upset balance of power arrangements as a strategy to provoke conflict.
D) holds that peace and justice in the international sphere is subordinate to the advancement of the state's interests.

Answer 2

A, D

Question 3

The 'Concert of Europe' was formed in order to achieve which of the following?

A) Promote multilateral diplomatic relations in nineteenth century Europe.
B) Develop stronger bilateral diplomatic relations between the Great Powers in nineteenth century Europe.
C) Strengthen European alliances with non-European powers in the late nineteenth century.
D) Entice the leadership of the Ottoman Empire to join forces with the Great Powers of Europe in the early nineteenth century.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

'Track-Two' diplomacy refers to what?

A) A method by which secret diplomacy was conducted by government agents under the 'Concert' system.
B) Informal or unofficial diplomatic activities, often used to prepare the way for more formal peace negotiations.
C) Informal or unofficial diplomacy aimed at sabotaging formal peace negotiations.
D) A special type of diplomacy used specifically to negotiate with terrorists operating in the contemporary Middle East.

Question 5

President Obama uses new social media as a tool for public diplomacy.

Question 6

The 'ASEAN Way' is said to be a distinct diplomatic style among countries of the Southeast Asian region that has which of the following characteristics? Please select all that apply.

A) Operates on the basis of consensus decision-making.
B) Requires a majority rather than unanimity in adopting policies.
C) Rejects Europe's historic norms of sovereignty and non-interference in the domestic affairs of states.
D) Adheres strongly to norms of sovereignty and non-interference in the domestic affairs of states.

Question 7

The term 'détente', meaning 'relaxation of tensions' referred to a key diplomatic period when?

A) In the early twentieth century.
B) Between the two World Wars.
C) During the Cold War.
D) In the early post-Cold War period.

Question 8

The Cold War period saw a number of important treaties and conventions negotiated in an attempt to control nuclear and other weapons. These include which of the following? Please select all that apply.

A) The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
B) The Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
C) The Weapons of Mass Destruction Convention
D) The North-South Nuclear Weapons Convention

Question 9

'Summit diplomacy' is a term that refers to which one of the following?

A) The fact that the first European heads of states meeting after the Second World War was held in the European Alps.
B) Diplomatic meetings held between the most powerful countries.
C) Diplomatic meetings involving heads of governments rather than lower level representatives.
D) High-level NGO meetings that run parallel to heads of government meetings.

Question 10

What does the term 'public diplomacy' refer to? Please select all that apply.

A) A strategy for influencing public opinion abroad.
B) A form of 'hard power'.
C) Wise policies, attractive culture, and admirable character that bring foreign policy benefits.
D) A strategy that utilizes international media alliances.

Question 11

According to Joseph Nye, 'soft power' is the ability of a country to get what it wants through the attraction of its ideas, culture, and policies rather than through coercion or payment.

Question 12

The study of foreign policy invariably involves which of the following?
Please select all that apply.

A) Attention to the linkages between domestic and international politics.
B) The sharp separation of domestic policy from international concerns.
C) The mediation of domestic and international concerns.
D) An ability to speak several foreign languages.

Question 13

What does the 'Monroe Doctrine' refer to?

A) The policy of US President James Monroe to extend the US's sphere of influence to the Middle East in the mid-nineteenth century.
B) The policy of all US presidents following James Monroe to contain the spread of anti-democratic ideas in non-Western countries.
C) The policy of all US presidents following James Monroe to nurture the special relationship with Europe.
D) The US policy, established under James Monroe, to marginalize European influence in the Americas.

Question 14

The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was initially embedded in the 1993 Treaty on European Union but subsequently weakened by the 1999 Amsterdam Treaty and then even more so by the Nice Treaty which came into effect in 2003.

Question 15

In general terms, the emergence of the EU as a foreign policy actor in its own right is often seen as representing what?

A) A significant departure from the traditional sovereign state model of an international system.
B) The effective consolidation of the traditional sovereign state model but without a negative nationalistic basis.
C) An extension of US hegemony through the manipulation of EU members.
D) A means of balancing Russian, Chinese and US power in the post-Cold War period.