Deck 8: The Pursuit of Power Through Arms and Alliances

Question 1

Most U.S. arms exports go to democratic countries.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The safeguards built into the non-proliferation regime are adequate to detect and prevent secret nuclear weapons development programs.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The realist approach to national security includes all but which of the following?

A) Arming themselves
B) Forming alliances with other countries
C) Severing alliances when beneficial
D) Nuclear superiority
E) Using military approaches and coercive diplomacy when necessary

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Horizontal nuclear proliferation is an increase in capabilities of existing nuclear powers.

Question 5

The Nth country problem has to do with an increase in the number of states that possess nuclear weapons.

Question 6

The condition that results when each state's increase in military capability is matched by the others, resulting in no significant gain in security for any one state is known as

A) the security dilemma.
B) mutually assured destruction.
C) coercive diplomacy.
D) balance of power.
E) power politics.

Question 7

The elements of power include: relative size of a state's capabilities, its geographic position, technological capacity, raw materials, and volume of trade.

Question 8

In 2002, President George W. Bush called for preemptive action against communist states in an effort to contain communism.

Question 9

Japan concentrates almost all of its research expenditures on the development of products that have very little to do with military capabilities.

Question 10

China and Russia dominate the arms export market, supplying roughly 53 percent of all conventional weapons exported between 2005 and 2009.

Question 11

In 2009, the Global South spent more in total on arms acquisitions than the Global North.

Question 12

International law prohibits the use of chemical weapons.

Question 13

The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) blasts sounds at a deafening 150 decibels to give enemy combatants an instant headache.

Question 14

One major reason for the widespread dissemination of arms throughout the Global South was that during the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union supplied arms to their allies.

Question 15

A policy of deterrence requires second-strike capability to ensure a state can inflict an intolerable amount of damage on the state it wishes to deter.

Question 16

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty seeks to prevent horizontal proliferation by prohibiting further states from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Question 17

An arms race is a competition between two or more states to build up ever larger stockpiles of weapons for their armed forces to quell perceived threats by other nations.

Question 18

Realist theory sees linking countries economically, politically, and culturally through globalization increases national strength and security.

Question 19

It has always been the case that the side that spends the most on its military will win a military conflict.

Question 20

Under the condition of anarchy, realists view military strength as the primary source of national security and international influence.

Question 21

Albert Einstein, whose ideas were the basis for the development of nuclear weapons, predicted that World War IV would be fought with

A) even more destructive nuclear weapons.
B) low yield tactical nuclear weapons that would devastate an enemy without causing widespread devastation.
C) electromagnetic pulse weapons capable of shutting down all communication.
D) sticks and stones.
E) conventional weapons.

Question 22

An arming state's capacity to retaliate after an adversary's first-strike attack with weapons of mass destruction is practicing________.

A) nuclear utilization theory (NUTs)
B) second strike activation and defense (SSAD)
C) strategic defense initiative (SDI)
D) second-strike capability (SSC)
E) mutual assured destruction (MAD)

Question 23

President Eisenhower's defense doctrine that pledged to respond to any act of aggression with the most destructive capabilities available including nuclear weapons was called

A) nuclear deterrence.
B) massive retaliation.
C) compellence.
D) strategic defense.
E) coercive diplomacy.

Question 24

Which country is the leading global weapons exporter?

A) Russia
B) China
C) The United States
D) The United Kingdom
E) Israel

Question 25

Biological and chemical weapons share which of the following characteristics?

A) They are regarded as a "poor man's atomic bomb".
B) They can cause widespread injury and death.
C) They can be built at a comparatively low cost.
D) They are prohibited by international law.
E) All the above are characteristics of biological and chemical weapons.

Question 26

Which of the following statements about power is NOT true?

A) "Power" is an ambiguous concept.
B) Many state leaders believe that power is a function of military capability.
C) Power is a tangible commodity that states can acquire.
D) Power is relational.
E) Multiple factors are needed to measure a state's power potential.

Question 27

When describing the trade-off between government expenditures on the military versus social welfare and economic programs, the common adage "guns vs. butter" is used. This situation is referring to which of the following concepts?

A) The peace dividend
B) Opportunity costs
C) Coercive diplomacy
D) Security dilemma
E) Neoliberal theory

Question 28

The key elements of deterrence include all but which of the following?

A) Communication
B) Capabilities
C) Credibility
D) Coordination
E) All of the above are elements of deterrence.

Question 29

Which of the following is used to describe multiple nuclear warheads that are mounted on a single missile but are capable of striking separate targets independently?

A) ABM
B) MAD
C) MIRV
D) NUTS
E) ASAT

Question 30

Which of the following does a realist see as the central element of state power potential?

A) Globalization
B) Economic resources
C) Military strength
D) Political resources
E) All of the above are true.

Question 31

The Cuban missile crisis and the loss of U.S. strategic superiority relative to the Soviet Union ushered in a period of ________ in U.S. foreign policy.

A) preemption
B) deterrence
C) compellence
D) strategic defense
E) massive retaliation

Question 32

Innovative cyberstrategies for future use in deterring and immobilizing enemies include _______.

A) virtual arsenals for deterrence
B) electromagnetic pulse bombs
C) infowar tactics
D) pacbots
E) All of the above are examples of innovative cyberstrategies.

Question 33

The capabilities or resources held by a state that are considered necessary to its asserting influence over others is known as

A) power potential.
B) power.
C) coercive diplomacy.
D) national security.
E) deterrence.

Question 34

Attacks on an adversary's telecommunications and computer networks with the purpose of degrading an enemies defense capabilities is known as

A) nonlethal weapons (NLWs).
B) information-warfare tactics.
C) revolution in military technology (RMT).
D) strategic weapon.
E) virtual nuclear arsenal.

Question 35

Preventive strategies designed to dissuade an adversary from doing what it would otherwise do is known as

A) deterrence.
B) coercive diplomacy.
C) compellence.
D) power politics.
E) brinkmanship.

Question 36

"It is good that we find war so horrible, or else we would become fond of it," was expressed by ____________.

A) General Douglass McArthur
B) General Robert E. Lee
C) President Ulysses S. Grant
D) President Woodrow Wilson
E) President Dwight Eisenhower

Question 37

Examples of relatively weak military powers that managed to prevail over significantly stronger opponents include __________.

A) Vietnam versus the United States
B) North Korea versus the United States
C) Afghanistan versus the Soviet Union
D) Greece versus the Ottoman Empire
E) All of the above are true.

Question 38

The relative burden of military spending is described as ____________.

A) technology, education, and economic growth
B) the inverse of military spending
C) national versus human security
D) the ratio of defense spending to Gross Domestic Product
E) relative deprivation

Question 39

Examples of unintended consequences of selling arms to other countries is __________.

A) blowback
B) the creation of a military industrial complex
C) vertical nuclear proliferation
D) opportunity cost
E) hard power

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT considered a motive for states to sell arms?

A) To cultivate cooperation
B) To prevent a black market for arms
C) Economic gain
D) To support friendly governments
E) To subsidize arms production at home

Question 41

Intimidating an adversary with a show of naval force is known as

A) tomahawk diplomacy.
B) gunboat diplomacy.
C) "big guns" diplomacy.
D) ship-shape diplomacy.
E) cruise missile diplomacy.

Question 42

The Eisenhower administration's policy doctrine for containing Soviet communism by pledging to respond to any act of aggression with the most destructive capabilities available, including nuclear weapons was called ___________.

Question 43

Explain why a country's power potential is important.

Question 44

Because the anarchical global system encourages states to rely on ____________________ for protection, ____________________ is of paramount priority on policymakers' foreign policy agendas.

Question 45

According to Joseph Nye, soft power is

A) the ability to exercise influence through military capabilities.
B) the ability to achieve goals through attraction rather than coercion.
C) using diplomacy at the United Nations.
D) putting economic sanctions on states that are dictatorships.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 46

Critics of President Bush's policy of preemptive war argue that

A) it is unethical.
B) it is difficult to determine where potential threats lie.
C) the policy of preemption could escalate to one of preventive attack to eliminate any possible future strike.
D) predicting an adversary's intentions and policy directions is difficult.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 47

Military expenditures incur ____________________ in that money spent on the military diminishes the amount of money that is available for investment in other areas, such as trade, infrastructure, or education.

Question 48

Terrorism is increasingly being conducted by growing bands of people who have no citizenship rights in any country and are forced out of one country and not accepted in any other. This is called __________.

Question 49

List the five recognized nuclear and the four additional de facto nuclear states.

Question 50

A fundamental international legal principle, now being challenged, that traditionally defined interference by one state in the domestic affairs of another state is illegal is called ________.

A) a new commitment to intervention
B) nonintervention norm
C) asymmetry of motivation favoring the coerced
D) state sovereignty
E) coercive diplomacy

Question 51

Why did President Bush argue in 2002 that deterrence must give way to preemption?

Question 52

The justification President Bush gave for his strategy of preemptive war included which of the following?

A) Terrorists cannot be deterred because they are stateless.
B) Modern technology creates opportunities for catastrophic attacks.
C) Terrorists' tactics include wanton destruction and the targeting of civilians.
D) Terrorists seek martyrdom in death.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 53

A ____________________ war is a quick first-strike attack that seeks to defeat an adversary before it can organize a retaliatory response.

Question 54

Diplomacy that involves an act of war or threat to force an adversary to make concessions against its will is called ______________________ .

Question 55

When a potential enemy protects itself by statelessness, the most potent form of protection from that enemy is ___________.

A) preventive attack
B) preemptive attack
C) just war theories and strategies
D) deterrence
E) nuclear weapons

Question 56

What is the main economic reason for the high level of arms sales by the United States?

Question 57

All except which of the following are policy prescriptions for realism?

A) remain vigilant
B) work through international organizations
C) avoid moralism
D) protect with arms
E) preserve the balance of power

Question 58

The ability of one state to make another continue a course of action, change what it is doing, or refrain from acting is called ____________________ by political science scholars.

Question 59

What is meant by the words military-industrial complex?

Question 60

What is the difference between "horizontal nuclear proliferation" and "vertical nuclear proliferation"?

Question 61

Compare the old trends versus the new trends in military spending. How does the Old South compare to the New South present day in military spending? What are the consequences?

Question 62

What conditions favor the effective use of coercive diplomacy?

Question 63

What are the sources of power in world politics? Given the changes occurring in world politics, is the nature of power being transformed? If so, how? Given your interpretation, how might one go about measuring the power of states?

Question 64

What are the conditions that contribute to the effective use of coercive diplomacy? Cite an example of the successful or unsuccessful use of coercive diplomacy and what specific factors led to its success/failure.

Question 65

Explain the difference between compellence, deterrence, and preemption. Under what conditions were each used? Which method provides the greatest security in the twenty-first century?

Question 66

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty seeks to prevent horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons. Many countries reject the NPT as hypocritical as it denies them the same rights and capabilities that are afforded to the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France. Analyze this argument. How can countries justify denying other countries nuclear weapons while they have no intention of giving up their own?

Question 67

Overt or covert use of force by one or more countries that cross the border of another country in order to affect the target country's government and policies is known as ____________________.

Question 68

How are military expenditures and economic growth linked? Some people argue that there is a trade-off between "guns and butter," because military expenditures divert resources away from growth-promoting investments. Yet, other people claim that military spending stimulates economic growth. Which side of this debate do you support? Why?

Question 69

Explain why global anarchy is so central to realist's policy prescriptions for security.

Question 70

Defend the realist view for creating security and maintaining security.

Question 71

When states choose not to intervene in the domestic affairs of other states because it is considered illegal to do otherwise, it is merely exercising the _________________.

Question 72

The ability to exercise international influence by means of a country's military capabilities is called _________________