Flashcards on Agency-Structure Problem in Foreign Policy
Agency-Structure Problem in Foreign Policy: A Student's Guide
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International Relations: Theory and Approach
13 cards
Card 1
Question: According to the text, what is realism in the study of international relations?
Answer: It is the foundational school of thought on international politics, based on a small set of basic assumptions about how the world works, and it serves
Card 2
Question: Why must every foreign policy analyst understand realism?
Answer: Because realism is the foundational theory around which other schools of thought in international relations are oriented; understanding it allows for
Card 3
Question: How can realist theories be used in foreign policy analysis?
Answer: If applied with sensitivity to the complexity and uncertainty of the real political world, realist theories can substantially refine foreign policy an
Card 4
Question: What is the caution regarding the application of realist theories to the real political world?
Answer: They must be applied with sensitivity—that is, recognizing complexity and uncertainty—to avoid undue simplifications and to leverage their analytical
Card 5
Question: According to the text, what do realist theories and arguments derive from?
Answer: They derive from a very small set of basic assumptions about how the world works.
Card 6
Question: What relationship does the text establish between the concepts of 'state' and 'neutral state' and international institutions?
Answer: Both concepts have no meaning prior to the existence of international institutions; their modern meaning is constituted by institutions that emerged i
Card 7
Question: According to the text, why would it be anachronistic to speak of 'neutrality' in the Peloponnesian War?
Answer: Because the modern concept of neutrality depends on later international institutions; that institutional framework did not exist during the Peloponnes
Card 8
Question: What does 'mutual constitution' between agency and structure imply in the discussed context?
Answer: It means that the discursive categories used by foreign policy actors shape international institutions (reproducing or changing them), and in turn, th
Card 9
Question: How does the text define the empirical problem of codetermination for foreign policy analysis?
Answer: As the need to consider the interaction between actors' discursive framework and the political-institutional environment, since both mutually influenc
Card 10
Question: What example does the text use to illustrate a codetermination process that redefines sovereignty?
Answer: Structural change in the European Community (EC), where transformations in the unit of action and the allocation of authority imply an evolution in th