Free Theories of International Relations MCQs with Answers

• A. Is found in the writing of Immanuel Kant
• B. Suggests that for a rational being to act morally, it must act according to universal laws
• C. Is a core element of realist ethics
• D. Is found in the writing of Immanuel Kant and suggests that for a rational being to act morally, it must act according to universal laws

Explanation: Kant's categorical imperative says moral action must follow principles that could consistently become universal laws.

• A. Deontological and consequentialist ethics
• B. Kantianism and utilitarianism
• C. Rawls' conceptions of justice
• D. All of the options given are correct

Explanation: Ethics theory in international relations draws on deontology and consequentialism, represented especially by Kantianism and…

• A. Negates the idea of a universal human community
• B. Has led to a more widespread acceptance of cosmopolitan for ethics
• C. Makes no difference for ethicals and debates
• D. a and c

Explanation: Globalization intensifies cross-border interdependence and awareness of shared human interests, which has encouraged cosmopolitan ethics.

• A. Rawls
• B. Pogge
• C. Beitz
• D. Moellendorf

Explanation: Thomas Pogge argues that global institutions and the conduct of wealthy states help causally reproduce severe poverty, rather than poverty…

• A. they reject competition bias inherent in the theory
• B. standard structural realism is flowed due to its emphasis on relative gains
• C. there is no emphasis on cheating
• D. a and b

Explanation: Contingent realists argue that structural realism overstates the inevitability of competition and gives excessive weight to relative…

• A. They place importance on internal norms and institutions
• B. They challenge realist occupation with balance of power
• C. They believe that war is a function of a state being liberal or not
• D. All of the above

Explanation: Democratic peace theory shifts attention from the external balance of power to domestic institutions, liberal norms and regime type…

• A. It occurs when a group of states cooperate to manage their disputes and avoid war
• B. It is group of people which become integrated and within a territory develop a sense of community
• C. It involves a group of states whose primary security concern link together closely enough that their national securities are interdependent
• D. All of the above

Explanation: A security community exists when states become so integrated and mutually trusting that disputes are managed without war.

• A. states find it difficult to distinguish between victim and aggressor in international conflicts
• B. it assumes that all aggression is wrong
• C. historical enmity or friendship complicates the working of the system
• D. all of the above

Explanation: Collective security requires identifying aggression, treating aggression as unacceptable and overcoming states’ conflicting friendships or…

• A. a central problem of international security because it is the dominant discourse of power and rule
• B. a statist ideology out of touch with the reality of globalization
• C. unable to take into consideration the enormous complexity and indeterminacy of human behaviour historical roots
• D. all of the above

Explanation: Post-modernists criticize realism for privileging the state and power, treating its categories as dominant knowledge, and simplifying…

• A. International society which allows for different values to coexist
• B. International society in which states are aware of sharing common values, but these are limited to norms of sovereignty and non-intervention
• C. International society in which states can choose among several international institutions to join
• D. None of the above

Explanation: A pluralist international society accepts coexistence among states with different values, relying mainly on minimum rules such as…

• A. International society in which states show solidarity to their regional interests
• B. International society in which states assign more than 1% of their GDP to foreign aid and possible humanitarian interventions
• C. International society in which states agree on universal standards of justice and morality
• D. International society that counts on a repaid deployment international force in case a humanitarian interventions is required

Explanation: A solidarist international society accepts universal standards of justice and morality, rather than limiting cooperation to regional…

• A. A human association in which members share common symbols and wish to cooperate to realize common objectives
• B. A community that wishes to govern itself and be free from alien rule
• C. A community in which the state claims legitimacy on grounds that it represents them
• D. A community that feels loyalty to a nation-state

Explanation: A political community in this context is a group seeking collective self-government and freedom from external rule, closely corresponding…

• A. A condition in which warfare is a recurrent feature of the relations between states not the least because they regard it as inevitable
• B. A condition in which political power is dispersed between local national, and supranational institutions, none of which command supreme loyalty
• C. A condition in which international organizations, transnational corporations and so forth are accountable to the peoples of the world
• D. A condition in which human labour and its products are sold and bought in the market place

Explanation: Neo-medievalism describes authority being divided among local, national, and supranational institutions, with no single power receiving…

• A. Power that can be projected deep into society
• B. Power based on controlling the instruments of violence
• C. Power that can be projected across whole territories
• D. Power that a state holds by virtue of its population

Explanation: Intensive power is the state's capacity to penetrate and regulate society deeply, reaching into citizens' everyday lives.

• A. A state that has collapsed and cannot provide for its citizens
• B. A product of globalization whereby international institutions and global markets are accountable to people of a state
• C. A state which has negative sovereignty but lacks positive sovereignty
• D. None of the above

Explanation: A quasi-state possesses negative sovereignty, meaning other states formally recognise its independence, but lacks positive sovereignty…

• A. It argues that Western liberal democracy had solved the social conflicts which earlier dominated industrial societies
• B. It assumes that non-Western societies will follow the Western path of economic and political development
• C. It argues that Western liberal democracies today are faced with conflict different form, those that dominated industrial societies
• D. a and b

Explanation: Modernization theory treats Western development as a model that non-Western societies are expected to follow, moving toward…

• A. Rights belonging to groups such as minority nations rather than to individuals
• B. Rights unfairly belonging to a privileged group
• C. Rights belonging to a political community
• D. None of the above

Explanation: Group rights are claims held by a collective, such as an ethnic minority or minority nation, rather than only by separate individuals.

• A. They argue that most people value their membership of a political community; they are unlikely to shift their loyalty to the human race
• B. All forms of political community contain the danger of generating the domination or exclusion of significant sections of society
• C. They see globalization weakening community ties
• D. b and c

Explanation: Communitarianism stresses that people normally derive identity and loyalty from political communities rather than from an abstract global…

• A. Fragmentation
• B. Globalization
• C. Nationalism
• D. a and b

Explanation: Fragmentation creates competing identities and authorities, while globalisation loosens the exclusive control of the state over social and…

• A. all forms of knowledge are potentially dangerous as they can lay foundations for power and domination
• B. political perspectives which claim to have uncovered universal truths contain the danger of domination and exclusion
• C. universal human rights culture and doctrine of humanitarian intervention may simply extend Western power over the reset of the world
• D. all of the above

Explanation: Postmodernists question claims to neutral or universal knowledge because such claims may legitimise power and exclusion.