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

Answer 2

True

Question 3

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

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The United States shipped weapons to Iraq when Saddam Hussein was fighting Iran in the 1980s; those weapons were later used against U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf War.

Question 5

While measures of state power often focus on military expenditures, they also often include variables such as economic size, populations, natural resources, and many others.

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

Bandwagoning is the tendency for weak states to seek alliance with the strongest power in order to increase their security.

Question 9

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

Question 10

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

Question 11

The realist school of thought believes that states enter military alliances with one another because of shared history, culture, and values.

Question 12

A country that joins an alliance for protection but provides no military or economic aid to their allies might be considered a free rider.

Question 13

Countries that possess military preeminence often think of weapons as instruments in diplomatic bargaining.

Question 14

Realists support permanent alliances for defense because they can allow neutral parties to choose a side in a conflict that does not directly involve them.

Question 15

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

Question 16

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 17

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

Question 18

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

Question 19

The Nth country problem has to do with the addition of new nuclear states..

Question 20

International law prohibits the use of chemical weapons.

Question 21

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) All of these are true.

Question 22

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

Question 23

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.

Question 24

Research shows that some conditions favor the effective use of coercive diplomacy.  Which of the following is NOT one of those conditions?

A) Attempt to reverse something that has been accomplished by the target state
B) Clarity of user objectives
C) Adequate domestic and international support for the user
D) Clarity on precise terms of settlement

Question 25

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.

Question 26

From a realist perspective, what is the pervasive concern of states?

A) National security
B) Arms races
C) Treaties
D) Disarmament

Question 27

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.

Question 28

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 are prohibited by international law.
D) All these are characteristics of biological and chemical weapons.

Question 29

Realists believe states make decisions and policies on security with three primary goals.  Which of the following is NOT one of those?

A) Arming themselves
B) Forming or severing alliances with other countries
C) Sharing common goals with countries that have similar values
D) Controlling their destinies through military approaches and coercive diplomacy

Question 30

Though state power can be defined in many ways and have many components, realists see _____ as the most important.

A) legal capacity
B) military capability
C) economic size
D) social capital

Question 31

Critics of the use of private military companies in warfare might argue that

A) these companies lack adequate monitoring and evaluation.
B) it is too difficult to establish corporate liability even when employees have broken the law.
C) private companies will have an incentive for armed conflicts to persist.
D) All of these are true.

Question 32

The United States accounts for _____  of the world's military expenditures.

A) 1 percent
B) 5 percent
C) 39 percent
D) 88 percent

Question 33

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

Question 34

Innovative cyberstrategies for future use in deterring and immobilizing enemies include

A) computer viruses.
B) electromagnetic pulse bombs.
C) infowar tactics.
D) All of these are examples of innovative cyberstrategies.

Question 35

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.

Question 36

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.

Question 37

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

Question 38

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

A) Communication
B) Capabilities
C) Credibility
D) Coordination

Question 39

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) Terrorists cannot be deterred, whose so-called soldiers seek martyrdom.
C) Terrorists' tactics include wanton destruction and the targeting of civilians.
D) All of these are true.

Question 40

Which country is the leading global weapons exporter?

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

Question 41

Power distribution in the world during the height of the Roman Empire was best described as _____.

A) unipolarity
B) bipolarity
C) multipolarity
D) molecular polarity

Question 42

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 43

Military power is an important characteristic of states from a realist point of view, but states that are apparently weak seem to win a large share of armed conflicts.
(a) How can we change our definition of military power to reflect this reality?
(b) Are there other types of power that may be more important in predicting military victories?
(c) Should states focus primarily on military power in their security decisions? Why?

Question 44

Which military alliance was created by the United States and Western Europe to deter a Soviet attack?

A) NATO
B) Warsaw Pact
C) WTO
D) Axis

Question 45

Compare old trends versus the new trends in military spending. How has military spending changed over time? What are the consequences?

Question 46

One rule in the balancing process is to remain flexible in making alliances.  Which European country acted as a balancer in European diplomacy from the seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries?

A) Great Britain
B) France
C) The United States
D) Germany

Question 47

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.

Question 48

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.

Question 49

Define unipolarity and multipolarity.  Give an example of each.  Which distribution of power do you think results in the most stable international system?  Which do you think results in the most peaceful world?  Explain your answer.

Question 50

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?