Comprehensive Examination for International Politics

January/February 2006

Please be sure to demonstrate your knowledge of the field by discussing a wide range of scholars as you answer these questions.

Part 1. Answer one of the following three questions

1. J. Samuel Barkin and Bruce Cronin observed that "the international literature regularly embraces sovereignty as the primary constitutive rule" of the international system. Define sovereignty and discuss at least two different perspectives on the role of the state in the post Cold War era. Illustrate the arguments with real world examples.

2. How useful are theories of realism for understanding world politics? Does realism actually model the real world? Are other theories of international relations more or less "realistic?" In your answer, consider classical realism, neorealism, and at least one of the following: constructivism, critical theory, liberalism.

3. Identify and explain the key distinctions between rationalist and non-rationalist approaches to international relations. Discuss the major strengths and weaknesses of each approach, drawing on the work of at 3-4 authors. Which approach do you find most applicable to understanding world politics, and why?

Part 2. Answer two of the following questions.

4. Theories of international relations often make implicit assumptions about the effectiveness of military force as a means of achieving goals. Do events in the contemporary world confirm or undermine these assumptions? Speculate on the relationship between the effectiveness of military force and the applicability of theories of international relations. Compare and contrast the views of different scholars or schools of thought. Be certain to discuss specific examples of goals and strategies in your answer.

5. Do international organizations matter? In your answer, evaluate the effects of formal institutions on international cooperation in two domains (e.g., trade policy, monetary policy, environmental policy, political-military policy). Compare and contrast the way different theories of international relations allow you to answer this question. Which answer do you find most persuasive? Why?

6. Many IR scholars have argued that states should pursue security in preference to other goals. What is 'security'? Should it be the most important goal pursued by states? How important is the post-Cold War context to your answer -- would your answer have been different during the Cold War?

7. Is it true that there is an inverse relationship between globalization of the economy and the power of the state? Or, does globalization presuppose the state? Discuss the relationship between globalization and the state. Compare and contrast the expectations of different schools of thought. Does the definition of globalization matter in this analysis?

8. Discuss what theoretical questions can be asked about terrorism and the kinds of answers that different approaches to international relations would lead us to. Include at least three approaches in your answer. Evaluate how well these approaches help us understand (or fail to help us understand) the phenomenon of terrorism and the behavior of terrorist groups. With which approach to you agree most, and why?