THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS 2025
Defensive Realism - ANSWER-States enter conflict only when they feel their survival is
threatened
Weaknesses of Realism - ANSWER-•Ignores actors other than states
•Ignores the role of domestic politics
•Under-estimates the importance of economics and trade
•Cannot account for cooperation between states
Liberalism (Key Points) - ANSWER-•Domestic politics matters
•Cooperation is in states' self-interest
•Trade and international organizations/law promote peace
•Emphasis on economic interactions
Modern Liberalism - ANSWER-•1970s and 80s: Liberalism challenges realism
•Realists could not explain growing economic interdependence
•Realists could not account for the role of nongovernmental and transnational actors
Neoliberal Institutionalism - ANSWER-•States are rational, unitary actors
•States would be better off if they could cooperate
-Examples: Reduce trade barriers, Reduce stockpiles of nuclear weapons
•But they face a cooperation dilemma
-Each state has an incentive to break their agreement (to defect)
•The cooperation dilemma can be solved!
-Repeated interactions raise the long-term costs of defecting from an agreement
-Linking many issues together into one agreement
•International regimes = set of rules, norms and procedures governing an issue area
-Collection of formal institutions and informal norms
, •Regimes promote cooperation
-Provide information on states' intentions and compliance
-Reduce the costs of reaching agreements
-Create the expectation of a long-term relationship
Liberalism v. Realism - ANSWER-•A key source of disagreement:
-Liberals assume that states want to achieve absolute gains
-Realists assume that states want to achieve relative gains
Liberal View of War - ANSWER-•War can be avoided even in the long-term
-Economic linkage/trade
-Democracies
-International institutions
•The world consists of "zones of peace" and "zones of conflict"
Constructivism (Key Points) - ANSWER-•Ideas matter
•Actors are social
•Actors in IR follow a logic of appropriateness
•Reject state-centrism
•War is not inevitable
Two Key Types of Ideas: - ANSWER-•Identity = view of self in relation to others
-Example: Enemy, rival, or friend?
•Norms = standards of appropriate behavior
-Examples:
▪Norm of non-intervention in another state's territory
▪Human rights norms
▪Norm of free and fair elections
▪Norm against slavery
Constructivism: Identity & Norms - ANSWER-•Identity is forged through interaction with
others
•Norms and identity change over time
•Norms and identity influence actions
-But no norm is obeyed by all actors all the time
RELATIONS EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS 2025
Defensive Realism - ANSWER-States enter conflict only when they feel their survival is
threatened
Weaknesses of Realism - ANSWER-•Ignores actors other than states
•Ignores the role of domestic politics
•Under-estimates the importance of economics and trade
•Cannot account for cooperation between states
Liberalism (Key Points) - ANSWER-•Domestic politics matters
•Cooperation is in states' self-interest
•Trade and international organizations/law promote peace
•Emphasis on economic interactions
Modern Liberalism - ANSWER-•1970s and 80s: Liberalism challenges realism
•Realists could not explain growing economic interdependence
•Realists could not account for the role of nongovernmental and transnational actors
Neoliberal Institutionalism - ANSWER-•States are rational, unitary actors
•States would be better off if they could cooperate
-Examples: Reduce trade barriers, Reduce stockpiles of nuclear weapons
•But they face a cooperation dilemma
-Each state has an incentive to break their agreement (to defect)
•The cooperation dilemma can be solved!
-Repeated interactions raise the long-term costs of defecting from an agreement
-Linking many issues together into one agreement
•International regimes = set of rules, norms and procedures governing an issue area
-Collection of formal institutions and informal norms
, •Regimes promote cooperation
-Provide information on states' intentions and compliance
-Reduce the costs of reaching agreements
-Create the expectation of a long-term relationship
Liberalism v. Realism - ANSWER-•A key source of disagreement:
-Liberals assume that states want to achieve absolute gains
-Realists assume that states want to achieve relative gains
Liberal View of War - ANSWER-•War can be avoided even in the long-term
-Economic linkage/trade
-Democracies
-International institutions
•The world consists of "zones of peace" and "zones of conflict"
Constructivism (Key Points) - ANSWER-•Ideas matter
•Actors are social
•Actors in IR follow a logic of appropriateness
•Reject state-centrism
•War is not inevitable
Two Key Types of Ideas: - ANSWER-•Identity = view of self in relation to others
-Example: Enemy, rival, or friend?
•Norms = standards of appropriate behavior
-Examples:
▪Norm of non-intervention in another state's territory
▪Human rights norms
▪Norm of free and fair elections
▪Norm against slavery
Constructivism: Identity & Norms - ANSWER-•Identity is forged through interaction with
others
•Norms and identity change over time
•Norms and identity influence actions
-But no norm is obeyed by all actors all the time
