International Relations Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The remark that the chief purpose of the military establishment had been to win wars and must now be to avert them is by Bernard Brodie, in The Absolute Weapon (1946), written at the beginning of the nuclear age.

Paul Nitze is wrong because he is known as the author of NSC-68. George Kennan is wrong because he is known for the policy of containment. Robert Jervis is wrong because he wrote on perception and misperception, in a later period.

Answer: A

SORT stands for Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, the 2002 treaty between the United States and Russia, also called the Moscow Treaty, which cut the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads.

State Organization Replan Treaty, Strategic Order Reorganization Treaty and Security Organization Replan Treaty are not names of any treaty and are therefore wrong.

Answer: A

The axis of evil is the phrase used by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address in January 2002 to describe Iran, North Korea and Iraq, which he accused of seeking weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.

Taliban, Al-Qaeda and LeT are wrong because they are groups and not states. Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are wrong because they are not the states named. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are wrong because they were not named.

Answer: B

Martin Wight emphasized three traditions of international thought: realism, rationalism and revolutionism. He labelled them after Machiavelli, Grotius and Kant, and they correspond to the Hobbesian, the Grotian and the Kantian views.

Realism, liberalism and Marxism is wrong because those are later labels used in the discipline. Radicalism, realism and religion is wrong because religion is not one of Wight's traditions. Neo-realism, neo-liberalism and constructivism is wrong because they are theories of the late twentieth century.

Answer: D

The statement that is not a basic principle of Morgenthau's political realism is that politics is governed by universal moral values, so (D) is the answer. In Politics Among Nations, Morgenthau says that universal moral principles cannot be applied to the actions of states in their abstract form and must be filtered through the circumstances of time and place. His principles are that politics is governed by laws rooted in human nature (option A), that the political sphere is autonomous (option B) and that interest is defined in terms of power (option C).

Answer: B

The Marshall Plan, the European Recovery Program announced by US Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947, was meant for rebuilding the economies of Western Europe after the Second World War, so (B) is correct. Sixteen countries received aid from 1948. It was not meant for the third world (option A), the North American countries (option C) or Africa (option D). The Soviet Union and its allies were invited but did not take part, so it did not cover Eastern Europe either.

Answer: B

Russia holds the permanent seat on the Security Council as the successor state to the former Soviet Union, so (B) is the keyed answer. When the Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991, Russia took over its membership and its permanent seat, with the agreement of the other states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and without a new vote of the Charter. It was not given the seat because it is the second most powerful country (option A), the largest by area (option C) or one of the oldest civilisations (option D); none of those is a ground in the Charter.

Answer: A

Kenneth Waltz's neo-realism, set out in Theory of International Politics (1979), argues that the structure of the international system, in particular anarchy and the distribution of capabilities, is more important than the actors and explains the behaviour of states. So (A) is correct. Option (B) puts actors above structure, which is the view of the classical realists and the opposite of Waltz. Option (C) rests on human nature, which Waltz replaced with structure. Option (D) says that states override structural constraints, which his theory denies.

Answer: A

Both statements are true and the reason is a correct explanation, so (A) is the keyed option. The WTO argues that free trade brings prosperity to all and should be promoted. The reason gives the logic: integration with the global economy through trade lets countries export what they produce and import what they need, so each gains from specialisation. Option (B) concedes both but denies the link, which the reason supplies. Option (C) and option (D) deny one of the two statements, although the WTO position is stated accurately and the reason is the standard argument for trade.

Answer: A

The collective security system of the UN rests on the principle of 'all for one, one for all', so (A) is correct. An attack on any member is treated as a threat to all, and the Security Council may call on all members to act against the aggressor under Chapter VII of the Charter. Option (B) is wrong because sanctions are imposed collectively, and not unilaterally by one state. Option (C), maintenance of security by the major powers, describes the concert idea. Option (D), balance of power by equilibrium, is the older system that collective security is meant to replace.