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POSI Final

Terms in this set (80)

US trade policy
Benefits American workers, farmers, and businesses, consistent with US national security and foreign policy priorities.
Three pronged approach
- Global reduction on tariffs Ex: WTO
- Regional integration Ex: NAFTA and CAFTA-DR
- Bilateral trade agreements (between two countries) Ex: Israel, Columbia, South Africa, and Peru
What are the benefits of greater international trade for US?
- Every dollar we spend ends up somewhere (most of it comes back to us in the form of foreign investment)
- Productive employment (mutually beneficial deals that raise aggregate income)
What are the disadvantages of greater international trade for US?
- Forcing other states hands
- Asian interconnections intensifying (other Nations have developed their own trade policies and the more they trade with each other, the less they will trade with the U.S.)
- Diversity of U.S. exports
- Jobs lost
- The 'Race-to-the-Bottom
What is WTO?
World Trade Organization. Formed to reduce barriers to international trade.
What is NAFTA? What does it do?
North American Free Trade Agreement. It removed all tariffs between Canada and the U.S.
Is the United States a part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?
yes
What does the race-to-the-bottom mean?
Characterized by the progressive movement of capital and technology from countries with relatively high wages, taxation, and regulation to countries with relatively lower levels.
How might someone defend sweatshops?
Most sweatshops are in places with small work opportunities and could lead to something bigger and they're higher wages in that area as well
Between which two nations does the largest trade imbalance in the world exist?
united states and china
Why might it be said the US and China have a symbiotic relationship?
We purchase from China, they buy off our debt. If the US market fails, China also fails.
What are some arguments to be made that China's dramatic growth will not continue unabated?
- Political issues (Regime continuity; political demands) Ex: one child policy/boys only
- Environmental issues Ex: 14 places in China are severally polluted
- Economic issues (Outpacing Herself)
What are the top three nations in the world in dollar amounts in imports and exports?
China, United States, and Germany
How and why is migration used as an economic policy for Latin American nations?
They depend on American money being sent to their countries, without the money their economy would crash (reason why Mexican governor came to say we needed to lessen our immigration laws)
What are one going problems in trying to reduce poverty throughout Latin America?
Creation of dependency and concerns of loss of revenue
What percent of non-citizen Latino make-up the US workforce?
16.7%
What do we mean by remittances to Latin American from the United States?
- This is when people send money to their homes from the U.S.
- In 2017, $80 billion remitted back to Latin America from U.S.
- 73% of adult Latin American immigrants to the United States regularly send money back home
What percent of the national income do remittances from the US back to countries like Honduras and El Salvador represent?
10% in Guatemala
17% in Honduras
16% in El Salvador
What are some of the basic features of current immigration policy in the US?
- Citizenship as a privilege
- Approximately 1 million legal immigrants a year
- Focuses on bringing relatives and family members of citizens (800,000) and professional and skilled workers (160,000)
- Illegal Immigration - 4000,000 to 4 million a year
How many legal immigrants does the US admit every year?
a million
What did the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (Simpson-Mazolli Act) do for illegal aliens?
- Gives amnesty plus to immigrants
- Provides legal protection from being deported
- Provides citizenship
- Having the right to vote
What are some of the basic features of current immigration policy?
- Citizenship as a privilege
- Approximately 1 million legal immigrants a year
- Focuses on bringing relatives and family members of citizens (800,000) and professional and skilled workers (160,000)
- Illegal Immigration - 4000,000 to 4 million a year
Plyler v. Doe (1982)
Texas was attempting to not let those who are here illegally have education. But Congress says that is unconstitutional, so even if they are here illegally, they still deserve education. (8.5 billion a year)
Do democrats support strict or lax immigration?
Lax immigration policy
Do republicans support strict or lax immigration?
Strict immigration policy
Republicans are:
More interested in business (guest worker program or amnesty). Some fear that harsh policies would alienate the emerging bloc of Hispanic voters from the Republicans party's "Right thing to do".
Democrats want:
organized labor/ opportunity for everybody and some fear a blacklash from voters if amnesty plan goes through
amnesty
(n.) a general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution
With regards to the costs of illegal immigration, what is the major budgetary expense for Texas?
Illegal immigration
How are immigration pressures in Europe similar to immigration pressures in the US?
Both want to keep out illegal immigrants from bordering states. The US does it for economic reasons, Europe does it for political reasons.
What percent of gun deaths in the world occur in Latin America?
40%
To what can we attribute more deaths in Latin America: drug trafficking or interstate conflict?
drug trafficking
Which country has the highest homicide rate in Latin America?
82.8%, El Salvador
Which country has the lowest homicide rate in Latin America?
Chile 3.5%
Why might some argue that US domestic policy is partially behind some of the violence in Mexico?
Interconnected issues: youths and a lack of opportunities power weak state institutions, tax on immigration policy, leads to corruption by some law enforcement
What is an executive order?
- a presidential decree, carrying the force of law, used most frequently to establish executive branch agencies, modify rules or actions, change decision-making procedures, or give substance and force to statutes.
- rules (law) that govern how the executive branch operates
What is DACA?
- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( 2012)
- Executive Order after Dream Act failed in Congress twice
- Would not deport children living in the US illegally (only applied to children living in US for five years).
What is DAPA?
deferred action for parent accountability; provides temporary relief from deportation (2015)
Why might some argue that these executive actions are unconstitutional?
Prosecutorial discretion: refers to the fact that under American law, government prosecuting attorneys have nearly absolute powers. In a immigration case, they have the influence on a deportation case.
-Article 1 section 8 states that Congress makes rules/laws regarding immigration policy.
What might some argue that they are within the executice's power?
Article 2, Section 3 requires that the President "shall take Care that the laws be faithfully executed."
United States VS Texas (2016)
Texas sued to prevent the implementation of DAPA and argued that it violated the APA because it had not gone through the notice and comment process. Also argued DAPA violated the Take Care Clause of the Constitution.
What is a 'sanctuary city'?
a city that limits its cooperation with the national government effort to enforce immigration law. A city that wont deport an undocumented immigrant.
What is the difference between IR and ir?
IR- focus on the study of international relations; theory (ex. Realism, liberalism, and constructivism)

ir- the relationship among states; practice (ex. Looking at the relationship between Iran and the United States)
What is meant anarchy in terms of IR theory?
The absence of a central authority that sits above states and can protect them from one another
Who was Machiavelli and what did he write?
an author who wrote The Prince (1513), a book about how a ruler can hold onto power
Which important realist concept did Machiavelli introduce?
- The Ends Justify the Means
- Political Necessity and Virtue (what sometimes may seem virtuous may in fact lead to one's downfall, while actions that may be seen as vice may lead to one's greater security).
Why do realists argue that conflict is inevitable in the international system?
- Ultimate goal of the state: survival
- Anarchy - Uncertainty and Fear
- Security Dilemma
- Because states must pursue their own self-interest, conflict in the international system is bound to occur.
What is power? What does power consist of?
power = actual power + latent power
actual power is what you currently have
latent power is something that can eventually become power like technology, strong economy
What is a bipolar system?
two equal nations that have equal power that are buying for power in an area
-ex. The Cold War ( US and Soviet Union)
What is an unbalanced multipolar system?
3+ nations are more prone to conflict since there are more nations

Ex: France (potential hegemon),Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia during the napoleonic wars; WW1 and WW2
What time period in history is an example of bipolar systems?
US and Soviet Union in the Cold War (1947-1991)
What time period in history are an example of a multipolar system?
Napolenic Wars (1793-1815)
WW1 (1914-1918)
What is hegemony?
leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others.
Why would it be difficult to achieve global hegemony?
Because all of the states have power to compete for hegemony.
What is regional hegemony?
influence excersized over neighboring countries by an dependently powerful nation (ex: The US)
What is the only modern example of regional hegemony?
The Unites States in the western hemisphere.
What do we mean by stopping power of water?
It is hard to fight and extend power to other countries overseas.
What was the Cold War?
a non-violent competition between the US/USSR for power and influence in the world ("cold" b/c no direct military engagement)
Who were the protagonists of the Cold War?
US and Soviet Union
Immanuel Kant
Greatest German philosopher of Enlightenment-separated science and morality into separate branches of knowledge-science could describe nature, it could not provide a guide for morality. Wrote Critique of Pure Reason
What are Kant's three definitive articles for Perceptual Peace?
1.Republican form of government (A chief of state that isn't a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president)
2.A federation of free states (league of peace)
3.universal hospitality (Having a universal understanding for culture thats uses comparative advantage)
In helping create the League of Nations, which US President borrowed heavily from Kantian ideas in doing so?
Woodrow Wilson
For liberals, how is democracy supposed to make states more peaceful?
It is run by the people and what they want rather than what the gov wants
How do international institutions help states cooperate?
By pushing back time horizons, creating norms of reciprocity, issue linkage, reputation effect for cheating, assignment for the responsibility of monitoring and sanctioning of agreements.
How do they help to mitigate the impact of anarchy?
It reduces the uncertainty that states possess by facilitating cooperations decreasing transactions cost increasing flow of info
Be able to describe the current direction of our relations with China.
It is one of the international revelry regarding economics, intensifying diplomacy promotions of democracy, international institutions and economic cooperation.
From a foreign policy perspective, have we taken a realist approach? A liberal approach?
taking a liberal approach bc China has more opportunities for cooperation and we want them tackle lots of issues due to their growth to become more peaceful
What is contained in Article 2 of NPT?
Nations that don't have nukes cannot receive nukes or info from other nations that do.
What is contained in article IV of NPT?
nothing in the treaty affects the inalienable rights of any of the parties involved to develop research, production & use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes
What is contained article X of NPT?
Opt-out clause; all nations in the agreement can opt out if they want
-North Korea did
Nations that have nuclear weapons prior to NPT:
United states, Soviet Union, France, China, and Britain.
Nations that have nuclear weapons that never signed the NPT agreement:
Pakistan, Isreal, and India
In development of its nuclear weapons program, what specific agreements has North Korea cheated on over the years?
They cheat on the NPT and the agreed framework they make with the US. They continued to build nuclear weapons in secrecy.
Who is the leader of North Korea?
Kim Jung Un
Why might it seem that Iran might be developing nuclear weapons?
They have been trading secrets for the past 25 years. They have also built secret underground nuclear facilities where they produce nuclear power at a level of 20% which is a level that not intended for peaceful purposes.
Iran's response to these accusations?
They've denies any usage of nuclear weapons.
Who is the current president of Iran?
Hassan Rouhani
What is AIPAC?
a lobbying group that advocates pro- Israel policies to the Congress and Executive branch of the US.
What is meant by MAD?
Mutual assured destruction; If one party uses a mass destruction weapon, the other will use one back and both parties will lose.
What is meant by having a 'second strike capability'?
a country's assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack with powerful nuclear retaliation against the attacker.
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