COMP EXAM INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Aug 2000
This exam is designed to test your knowledge of and ability to synthesize the complete field of international relations. The best answers consequently will demonstrate a broad understanding of the literature on and processes of IR. They will show the commonalities across and gaps between the different theoretical approaches, and the evolution of debates in and across those approaches. They will deploy meaningful historical evidence in support of their arguments. Theoretical or empirical overlap between your answers will diminish the quality of your exam. Note as well that citing UVa faculty, especially gratuitously, will not necessarily improve your grade.
"Majors" should answer one question from each of the three parts of the exam. "Minors" should answer one question from Part I, and one question from either Part II or Part III. Majors have six hours, and minors have four hours. You have the choice to either type your exam, or handwrite it. If you choose the latter, make a clear photocopy and give us the original at the end of the allotted time. Then type up the exam ward-for-word from the handwritten version (although you can correct spelling and small grammatical mistakes) and hand in the typed version within twenty-four hours. Include a signed pledge that the typed version has the same words as the handwritten version.
Part l: Theory of International Relations
1. What is the nature of the constructivist challenge to established IR theories such as neorealism and neoliberalism? How powerful is constructivism as an alternative paradigm/approach?
2. "Realism is dead, and we have killed it. The paradigm begins with flawed premises, and is so parsimonious that it can 'explain' only by smuggling in causal factors from non-realist theories." Discuss this statement in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of alternative theoretical approaches.
3. Discuss the differing treatment of norms and identity in the three major IR schools. When and how do norms and identity matter?
Part II: Applications to Issues
1. To what extent do the arguments and premises of nuclear and extended deterrence hold in the post-Cold War world?
2. "Foreign economic policy and foreign security policy can never be subsumed under the same theoretical perspective. The first is always about absolute gains while the second is always about relative gains. However, we can safely say that constrnetivism makes sense of neither." Discuss this statement with reference to at least two major cases from the nineteenth or twentieth centuries.
2. Norman Angell argued in 1913 that because war become much more costly it would also be less likely. Was he wrong? Please argue vis-a-vis the causes of war literature, supporting your argument with reference to the empirical record of conflict in the twentieth century.
3. Why did the Cold War end? Does your answer settle the question as why it started? Why or why not?
4. "Collective-security institutions such as the UN and OSCE and global economic institutions such as the WTO provide the only reliable means for ensuring cooperation in the post-Cold War world." Discuss this statement with reference to the workings of at least two institutions (one security, one economic) prior to 1990.
5. "The trade policies of the significant states in a system can only be properly explained by examining variations in domestic politics across states." Discuss this statement with reference to at least two significant states in the twentieth century.
Part III: Regional and Area Foreign Policies
1. To what extent can we describe Russia's relations with its ex-Soviet neighbors as an emerging subsystem in international relations?
2. Assess the validity of the claim that the process of NATO expansion is a classic case of a powerful military alliance exploiting a vacuum of power in order to maximize its relative power over its potential adversaries.
3. Some believe that nation-states often have particular, sometimes unique, enduring traits that shape their behavior in world politics. Others argue that states are basically empty vessels guided by the fluctuating dictates of charismatic leaders, economic demands, or international circumstances. Who is right? Make your argument with reference to the literature of a specific country or region.
4. For almost twenty years, China has experienced the most rapid economic growth among major countries, and this trend may well continue. Some fear that, as a consequence, China might become mote aggressive, as did Germany and Japan in times of prolonged economic expansion. To what extent are these useful analogies?
5. Compare interdependence and security-dilemma approaches as applied to international relations in East Asia. Which provides a better lens for understanding the past and the future?
6. Assess the validity of the following statement: "The success of the European Monetary Integration process proves that the participants have finally transcended their respective
nationalist interest and have left behind centuries of economic conflict and warfare."
7. Assess the relative influence of unit-level versus system-level factors in the shaping of 20th century U.S. foreign policy towards ONE of the following regions:
a) Latin America b) Europe c) Africa d) East Asia e) Middle East f) South Asia
8. Discuss competing theories of globalization by examining trade and/or monetary policies in the European Union OR the development strategies of two LDCs over the past twenty-five years.