IB Global Politics SL flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Sovereignty

The supreme legal authority of a state within its territory and its independence from external control, recognised by other states; eroded by intervention, international law, and globalisation.

Hard power

The ability to influence others through coercion or payment, using military force, economic sanctions, or inducements; contrasted with soft power's reliance on attraction.

Soft power

The ability to shape others' preferences through attraction rather than coercion, drawing on culture, political values, and the legitimacy of policies.

Anarchy in IR

The absence of a central world government above states; it does not mean disorder but implies self-help and the need for states to secure their own survival.

Security dilemma

A situation where one state's defensive measures appear threatening to others, prompting countermeasures and an unintended spiral of mutual insecurity.

Responsibility to protect

A 2005 UN norm holding that states protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, with international action if they fail.

Relative gains

The concern with how much one state gains compared with rivals, rather than the absolute benefit; central to realist accounts of cooperation.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A 1948 UN General Assembly resolution listing civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights; morally authoritative but not legally binding on states.

ICCPR

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted 1966 and binding on ratifying states; covers rights such as life, fair trial, and free expression.

ICESCR

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted 1966; obligations are subject to progressive realisation according to available resources.

Cultural relativism

The view that human rights must be interpreted through local cultural and historical context, challenging the claim that rights are universally applicable.

Non-derogable rights

Rights that cannot be suspended even during declared public emergencies, such as freedom from torture and from slavery.

Universal Periodic Review

A Human Rights Council mechanism where every UN member state's human rights record is peer-reviewed roughly every four to five years.

Complementarity

The ICC principle that the court acts only when national legal systems are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute.

Human Development Index

A composite index combining life expectancy, schooling, and GNI per capita into a geometric mean between 0 and 1.

Gini coefficient

A measure of income or wealth inequality from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality), often compared across countries and over time.

Dependency theory

The argument that poorer periphery states remain underdeveloped because their economies are structurally subordinated to wealthier core states through trade and finance.

Washington Consensus

A 1989 set of liberalising policy prescriptions - privatisation, deregulation, liberalisation, and fiscal discipline - promoted by international financial institutions.

Sustainable Development Goals

Seventeen UN goals adopted in 2015 for 2030, covering poverty, inequality, climate, and institutions, replacing the earlier Millennium Development Goals.

Official development assistance

Government aid to developing countries meeting OECD criteria; the UN target is 0.7% of donor gross national income, met by few states.

Remittances

Money sent home by migrant workers; often exceeding aid flows in low-income countries and a major source of household income.

Structural violence

Harm built into social, economic, and political institutions that prevents people meeting basic needs, such as poverty or discrimination, without a direct perpetrator.

Negative peace

The absence of direct violence or war; contrasted with positive peace, which also requires social justice and the absence of structural violence.

Conflict transformation

An approach addressing underlying relationships, structures, and identities that produce conflict, going beyond managing or settling its symptoms.

Peacekeeping principles

Consent of the parties, impartiality, and minimum use of force, traditionally guiding UN peacekeeping operations.

Conflict trap

The pattern where poverty and weak institutions make states prone to civil war and to relapse after conflict ends.

Jus ad bellum

The criteria for justified resort to war, including just cause, legitimate authority, proportionality, last resort, and reasonable chance of success.

Proxy war

A conflict in which external states support local parties rather than fighting directly, competing through allies without declaring war on each other.

Internal assessment engagement

A required activity where the student interacts with a real political issue - through interviews, surveys, campaigns, or observation - and analyses it in a written report.

Political issue

A matter involving collective decision-making, contested values, or the distribution of power and resources, rather than a purely personal or technical problem.

Research question

A narrow, answerable question identifying a specific actor, decision, or outcome, which structures the internal assessment report and its analysis.

Active citizenship

Participation in public life through voting, campaigning, petitioning, protesting, joining pressure groups, or contacting representatives to influence decisions.