Contemporary International Issues
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Course Introduction
This course examines key political, economic, social, and environmental challenges shaping the global landscape in the 21st century. Students explore issues such as international security, global health, human rights, migration, climate change, and the evolving dynamics of power among states and non-state actors. Through the analysis of current events, policy debates, and case studies, the course encourages critical thinking about the complexities of globalization and the interdependence of nations, equipping students to better understand and engage with contemporary international affairs.
Recommended Textbook
World Politics Interests Interactions Institutions 3rd Edition by Jeffry A. Frieden
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction
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Q1) Which of the following is an example of an interaction?
A)A country lowers the taxes it has on imports.
B)A country decides to dump pollutants into the ocean.
C)A country decides to lower taxes on imports due to a threat from another country.
D)A country decides to abolish its military.
E)A country decides to colonize Mars.
Answer: C
Q2) When constructing a model about how things work,it is necessary that we:
A)take everything into account.
B)make assumptions that simplify the processes we are examining.
C)use mathematics to model things properly.
D)completely understand all of human history first.
E)try and create something that will be right 100 percent of the time.
Answer: B
Q3) Is realism realistic? Explain why you think the framework is suitable for international relations,or,if you do not think it is,does liberalism or constructivism make more sense?
Answer: Answer will vary.
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Chapter 2: What Shaped Our World
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Q1) In the 1970s,some developing economies with certain natural resources managed to gain some power over more industrialized economies through the work of which organization?
A)Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
B)International Monetary Fund.
C)World Bank.
D)World Trade Organization.
E)North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Answer: A
Q2) How have international affairs changed in the years since the end of the Cold War? Which developments do you believe to be the most important and why?
Answer: Answer will vary.
Q3) Why did major-power interests and interactions result in a peaceful nineteenth century but a conflict-ridden twentieth century?
Answer: Answer will vary.
Q4) States' interests affect how they interact with one another.Explain how states' interests in the nineteenth century led to less conflict between major powers in Europe.
Answer: Answer will vary.
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4
Chapter 3: Understanding Interests, interactions, and Institutions
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Sample Questions
Q1) A state wanting to free ride with regard to ozone depletion would:
A)sign an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases but continue to produce such ozone-depleting emissions,while other states decreased their own emissions.
B)sign an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases but would reduce emissions only if all other signatories also reduced their emissions.
C)refuse to sign an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases,because it would not trust other states to reduce their own emissions.
D)sign an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases and then reduce its emissions only as much as the other signatories reduce their emissions.
E)freely reduce emissions without signing any entangling agreements.
Answer: A
Q2) One means with which a country can coerce other countries is:
A)walking away from negotiations.
B)setting the agenda for negotiations.
C)threatening or using military force against the other countries.
D)withholding information from the other countries.
E)having an international organization mediate the dispute.
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Why Are There Wars
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Q1) All of the following are reasons a state might dispute a settlement that was not its ideal point EXCEPT:
A)an ally of the opposing state has made a credible extended deterrent threat.
B)an international organization forced the state to accept the settlement.
C)it expects to gain future power that would allow it to renegotiate the settlement.
D)the cost of going to war over the dispute would be more costly than accepting the settlement.
E)the state does not have the capabilities or resolution to further pursue the issue.
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following is an example of an indivisible good?
A)Whether a state has nuclear weapons.
B)Control of a mountain range.
C)Access to an oil field on the border of two states.
D)Clean drinking water.
E)Revenue from selling goods and services.
Answer: A
Q3) How does poor and incomplete information contribute to the likelihood of war?
Answer: Answer will vary.
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Chapter 5: Domestic Politics and War
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Q1) What does the expression "where you stand depends on where you sit" mean?
A)The power of a state depends on its geographic location.
B)An adviser's bias becomes more obvious when the adviser takes a strong position on an issue.
C)The status of a bureaucratic agency depends on the quality of its offices.
D)The power of an adviser is reflected by how close the actor sits to the leader in important meetings.
E)Leaders of bureaucratic agencies often advocate policies that reflect their organizations' needs.
Q2) What is a bureaucracy?
A)Any agency in a government with more than 50 employees.
B)The different organizations that carry out governance in the state.
C)Formal organizations that exist outside of the state.
D)An entrenched interest group.
E)A branch of the government that creates laws or decides what is legal.
Q3) It has been said that how much the general public matters in foreign policy decision making is a question of how much democracy matters.Why would this be the case?
Q4) How do interests,institutions,and interactions explain why the Falklands/Malvinas War occurred?
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Chapter 6: International Institutions and War
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Q1) How did European states "pass the buck" before World War II?
A)France created alliances with Poland,Czechoslovakia,Yugoslavia,and Romania.
B)France and Poland adopted defensive postures on the German border.
C)Italy allied with Germany.
D)Britain pledged to defend Poland and France if they were attacked by Germany.
E)France,Britain,and the Soviet Union each hoped one of the others would prevent Germany from becoming too powerful.
Q2) When are alliances most likely to be successful?
A)When democratic states create alliances.
B)When authoritarian states create alliances.
C)When a large number of states join the alliance.
D)When powerful states are interested in the outcome of a dispute.
E)When states are able to credibly signal their strong mutual interests.
Q3) If you were the leader of a country,what factors would influence whether you would enter into an alliance with another country? What would make you more or less likely to ally with it and why?
Q4) How did alliances contribute to the "Long Peace" of the twentieth century?
Q5) Why has NATO survived after the end of the Cold War?
Q6) How did the alliance system contribute to the beginning of World War I?
Q7) How does the presence of an alliance alter the bargaining model of war?
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Chapter 7: Violence by Nonstate Actors: Civil War and Terrorism
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Q1) In an attempt to gain independence for their peoples,two different rebel groups have formed.Both claim to speak with the will of the oppressed in the territory.This is an example of what problem of bargaining?
A)Information asymmetries.
B)Commitment problems.
C)Issue indivisibilities.
D)International intervention.
E)Brinkmanship bargaining.
Q2) How are nonstate actors unlike state actors?
A)Nonstate actors lack identifiable interests.
B)Conflict with nonstate actors tends to be "cheap" for the state.
C)Institutions cannot be used to resolve the grievances between two states.
D)Nonstate actors deal with unique concerns about mobilizing their members.
E)Nonstate actors cannot be fruitfully thought of in the context of a bargaining model.
Q3) Will the United States ever be able to completely eliminate Al Qaeda? Elaborate on your reasoning.
Q4) How do rebels overcome the collective action problem? What strategies are the most successful and why?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: International Trade
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Q1) Which of the following is an example of specialization and division of labor?
A)A farm family building its own tractor.
B)A worker in a Toyota plant welding a rear axle on a Corolla all day,every day.
C)A popular motorcycle manufacturer beginning to produce small automobiles.
D)Workers in a bottling plant rotating positions on the assembly line in order to master the entire process.
E)Managers in a computer factory making sure that every employee can work more than one job.
Q2) Which of the following trade policy results would be most expected,given the logic of collective action?
A)Factory workers successfully lobbying for lower tariffs on imported automobiles.
B)Agricultural workers successfully lobbying for lower tariffs on imported wheat.
C)Consumers successfully lobbying for higher tariffs on imported corn.
D)Consumers successfully lobbying for lower tariffs on imported televisions.
E)Automobile manufacturers successfully lobbying for higher tariffs on imported automobiles.
Q3) Explain how trade bargaining problems can resemble a Prisoner's Dilemma.
Q4) How does the WTO both help and hurt the world's poor?
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Page 10
Chapter 9: International Financial Relations
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT a reason that foreign direct investment is controversial?
A)Multinational corporations can be insensitive to local culture and customs.
B)People in developed countries prefer that multinational corporations invest in their own countries.
C)Multinational corporations can choose to build factories in countries with weak environmental protections.
D)Developing countries think multinational corporations keep too much of the profit from their investments.
E)Multinational corporations help developing countries develop infrastructure.
Q2) What is debt forgiveness?
A)Capital-rich countries giving debt financing breaks to multinational corporations.
B)Forgiving loans made to poor nations who can no longer afford them.
C)Giving World Bank assistance to nations that require it.
D)Removing the conditionalities attached to International Monetary Fund loans.
E)Permitting multinational companies to invest in countries that have substantial foreign debts.
Q3) How well does the Heckscher-Ohlin approach explain international immigration?
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Chapter 10: International Monetary Relations
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Q1) Why was the Bretton Woods System a compromise?
A)Countries agreed to go back on a gold standard if the United States forgave their war debts.
B)Countries agreed to go on a gold standard if the U.S.dollar was depreciated before the exchange rates were set.
C)The system provided for periodic adjustments of the price of the U.S.dollar while European countries kept their currencies pegged to a gold standard.
D)The system combined freely floating exchange rates with the creation of the International Monetary Fund to avoid currency crises.
E)The system combined a fixed exchange rate with the flexibility of exchange rate changes during crises.
Q2) Which of the following are LEAST likely to want to switch to a floating exchange rate?
A)Farmers growing rice in California.
B)Construction workers building homes in South Carolina.
C)Indian companies manufacturing semiconductors for U.S.companies.
D)New York restaurants serving French wine.
E)British bankers lending money to Latin America.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Development: Causes of the Wealth and Poverty of Nations
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Q1) How and why have the economic effects of colonization differed between North America and Latin America?
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a reason for a backlash against the economic policies of the 1980s and 1990s?
A)There were a series of financial and currency crises in the 1990s that caused economic hardship.
B)Many less developed countries did not experience significant levels of economic growth.
C)Income distribution within less developed countries appeared to become more unequal.
D)Less developed countries tried import-substituting industrialization in the 1990s and it failed.
E)Some less developed countries experienced economic catastrophes.
Q3) We refer to countries that have lower levels of economic development as:
A)marginal countries.
B)less developed countries.
C)import-subsidizing countries.
D)export-oriented countries.
E)commodity cartels.
13
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Chapter 12: International Law and Norms
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Q1) Why have norms against child labor NOT been universally adopted?
A)Child labor is not morally problematic.
B)The alternatives for the children in poor areas are sometimes worse than the status quo.
C)Schools tend to be useless in developing countries and not worth the time of the children.
D)There has not been enough effort by international organizations to get child labor banned.
E)Consumers tend to be fine with buying products made by child labor.
Q2) A new international treaty that only says that states are required to reduce international pollution but does not specify how or by how much is best described as: A)self-enforcing.
B)precise.
C)imprecise.
D)low delegation.
E)high obligation.
Q3) Given the increased role nonstate actors play in international relations,how relevant is the state? Pick a specific topic area and discuss the most pivotal actors that shape the issue you have selected.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Human Rights
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Questions
Q1) What is the most important role that TANs have in stopping human rights abuses?
A)Providing information that sparks public outrage about a country's human rights abuses.
B)Creating boycotts that lead countries to stop perpetrating human rights abuses.
C)Using the United Nations to force a government to stop committing human rights abuses.
D)Blocking regional trade agreements between countries that have poor human rights records.
E)Convincingly persuading multiparty dictatorships that persecuting political opponents is counterproductive.
Q2) What has been the trend in human rights practices in recent decades?
A)Human rights abuses have mostly ceased occurring.
B)Human rights abuses have decreased.
C)Human rights abuses have not changed much.
D)Human rights abuses have increased.
E)Human rights abuses have become commonplace.
Q3) Explain the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC),its purpose,and its jurisdiction.Why and how has the United States opposed the creation of the ICC?
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Page 15
Chapter 14: The Global Environment
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Q1) How can privatizing public goods encourage better protection of the environment? Consider the Emissions Trading Scheme as an example.
Q2) Which of the following is an example of a joint product?
A)The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Seas by Oil created standards for reducing oil discharges in the ocean.
B)The Danube River flows through many European countries.
C)Fishing vessels from the United States and Canada can profit from the Grand Banks fishery.
D)Bees from one farm can pollinate plants on another property.
E)Dupont could earn profits from a ban on CFCs that would also reduce ozone depletion.
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a common pool resource?
A)Restoration of the ozone layer.
B)The Grand Banks fishery off the coast of North America.
C)A beehive that pollinates plants located on other properties.
D)Acid rain created by coal plants in the United States falling in Canada.
E)The International Whaling Commission (IWC).
Q4) How can international institutions help implement international environmental agreements?
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Page 16
Chapter 15: The Future of International Politics
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Q1) Environmental groups have opposed globalization for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
A)environmental regulations have been considered barriers to free trade.
B)developing countries have fewer environmental regulations.
C)economic competition between countries will lead to fewer and weaker environmental regulations.
D)environmental groups oppose development in poor countries.
E)rapid growth in developing countries will worsen environmental degradation.
Q2) Why didn't the rise in power of the United States lead to war?
Q3) Which of the following is the best example of economic globalization?
A)France subsidizes its agricultural sector.
B)Workers protest for a higher minimum wage.
C)Brazil sells oil to Japanese manufacturers.
D)American culture spreads throughout the world.
E)Millions of acres of rain forest are cut down for development.
Q4) Why has there been conflict between rich and poor countries over globalization?
Q5) Why is it more difficult to deter terrorist organizations with nuclear weapons than countries with nuclear weapons?
Q6) Why might the proliferation of nuclear weapons be a reason for greater peace rather than conflict?
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Foundations, war, and Peace
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Q1) If nondemocratic leaders lose office after they have lost a war,what usually happens to them?
A)They are able to live comfortably in the country while drawing upon a Swiss bank account.
B)They often are afforded high honors and many of them begin international lecture tours.
C)They usually go on to lead a less powerful country.
D)They often get a lower position (e.g.,senator,military commander)in government until they retire.
E)They are often punished by being exiled,imprisoned,or even executed.
Q2) Which military alliance persisted from the Cold War into the present?
A)The European Union.
B)The Warsaw Pact.
C)The North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
D)The League of Nations.
E)The Triple Alliance.
Q3) The Soviet Union and the United States never fought a direct war with each other.What institutions,practices,and events prevented the Cold War from becoming hot?
Q4) What is anarchy? How is it important to our understanding of why wars occur?
Page 18
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Politics, and Looking Ahead
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Q1) The primary culprit(s)in ozone depletion was/were:
A)carbon dioxide.
B)methane.
C)water vapor.
D)nongovernmental organizations.
E)chlorofluorocarbons.
Q2) If immigration were unregulated by countries,to which countries would we expect people to generally move?
A)Capital-scarce countries.
B)Capital-abundant countries.
C)Labor-scarce countries.
D)Labor-abundant countries.
E)Land-abundant countries.
Q3) Which of the following is an example of sovereign lending?
A)Coca-Cola building a factory in Argentina.
B)Grants by the United States to the Argentine government to address poverty.
C)The World Bank lending Argentina money to improve its infrastructure.
D)The Bank of America lending money to the Argentine government.
E)The Queen of England lending money to British citizens.
Page 19
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