CSS International Relations MCQs with Explanation (Set-I)

International Relations MCQs with Explanation (Set-I) for CSS Exams

1) International relations is a __
(a) Pluralistic
(b) Antagonistic
(c) Esoteric
(d) Stoic
(e) None of the above
Answer: (a)
Explanation: “Pluralists argue that international activity is not just a matter of the behaviour of states but of other actors too. Further, but logically separate, they argue that states are not quite as security and power conscious as the realists make out. For example, economic issues are issues in their own right”
Michael Nicholson ‚”Theories of International Relations.‛ International Relations: A Concise Introduction “(p. 99)

2) Important Subject of International Relations is…………………….
(a) Protection of Human rights
(b) Study of sovereignty
(c) Study of world Govt.
(d) International Co operation
Answer: (d)

3) International society is regulated by:
(a) A benign form of cosmopolitan democracy
(b) Imperial expansion
(c) Diplomacy, law, and the balance of power
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)

4) About which of the following thinkers it has been said that his theory of the State is “an incongruous mixture of natural rights and physiological metaphor”?
(a) Bradley
(b) Spencer
(c) Johann Caspar Bluntschli
(d) Burke
Answer. (b)

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5) In international Relations, a global system containing two dominant powers is labeled with which of the terms?
(a) Bipolar
(b) Nationalist
(c) Isolationist
(d) None of these
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Bipolarity can be defined as a system of world order in which the majority of global economic, military and cultural influence is held between two states. The classic case of a bipolar world is that of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, which dominated the second half of the twentieth century.

6) A Vassal State is:
(a) One which is completely under the suzerainty of another State
(b) One which is supposed to exist in every vessel of the State, on the high seas.
(c) A Protectorate
(d) A State which is a member of common wealth
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Bangladesh just became a Vassal State. While the excuse was the usual one of “interference in internal affairs,” Bangladesh’s perfectly choreographed dovetailing to India’s refusal to attend the Islamabad South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference removed any doubt remaining about the relationship between those two neighbors. To put it charitably, Bangladesh under the Sheikh Hasina regime is far closer to the stature of Bhutan and Maldives vis-à-vis India than to, say, pluckier Nepal and prickly Sri Lanka. Under the current Bangladeshi government, the relationship between Dhaka and Delhi has steadily evolved from being that of two theoretically sovereign and equal nations to one of client and vassal in the image of the former communist countries of the Eastern Bloc and the erstwhile USSR. Very similar dynamics are at work as well.

7) Elements of international society can be found in:
(a) Medieval Islam
(b) Medieval Christian Europe
(c) Medieval Christian Europe, Medieval Islam, and Ancient China
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)
Explanation: Elements of international society may be found from the time of the first organized human communities. Early forms of diplomacy and treaties existed in the ancient Middle East. Relations among the city-states of ancient Greece were characterized by more developed societal characteristics, such as arbitration. Ancient China, India, and Rome all had their own distinctive international societies. Medieval Europe’s international society was a complex mixture of supranational, transnational, national, and subnational structures. The Catholic Church played a key role in elaborating the normative basis of medieval international society. Islam developed its own distinctive understanding of international society. The main ingredients of contemporary international society are the principles of sovereignty and non- intervention, and the institutions of diplomacy, the balance of power, and international law. These took centuries to develop, although the Peace of Westphalia (1648) was a key event in their establishment throughout Europe. The Napoleonic Wars were followed by a shift to a more managed, hierarchical, international society within Europe and an imperial structure in Europe’s relations with much of the rest of the world. The League of Nations was an attempt to place international society on a more secure organizational foundation. • The United Nations was intended to be a much-improved League of Nations but the cold war prevented it from functioning as such. Decolonization led to the worldwide spread of the European model of international society. The collapse of the Soviet Union completed this process. Globalization poses serious problems for a sovereignty-based international society. These include the challenges emanating from new forms of community, failing states in Africa, American hyper-power, growing resistance to Western ideas, and global poverty and environmental issues.

8) Which one of the following theories held that the State is a product and manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms?
(a) Evolutionary Theory
(b) Anarchist Theory
(c) Marxist-Leninist Theory
(d) Guild-Socialist Theory
Answer. (c)
Explanation: “The state,” Lenin writes, ” is a product and a manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms. The state arises where and insofar as class antagonisms objectively cannot be reconciled.” According to Lenin this fundamental Marxist principle means that where we have state power– that is wherever we find societies based on classes — we will find that the education system, the mass media, and the political system in general is dedicated to the view that “the state is an organ for the reconciliation of classes.” The class in power knows better but, at least in modern times, their pundits, press, and propagandists preach this doctrine incessantly.
“According to Marx,” however, “the state is an organ of class rule, an organ for the oppression of one class by another.” No harmonious society here. If you have ever wondered why the government can’t (or won’t) control the banks and big corporations, why it doesn’t end fracking, why it won’t act on climate change or really protect the environment, why food companies and restaurant chains can sell us junk to eat, why women, workers, immigrants, minorities and the poor always get the short end of the stick, the cops always bust up the strikers and protestors demonstrating for their rights, why the interests of the 99% can’t democratically get anywhere with respect to the interests of the 1% and whistleblowers go to jail and hypocrites to the state house all you need remember is that it’s the 1%’s state not the 99%’s.

9) _____________proposes that individuals act in patterned ways that can be studied by empirically testing hypotheses about those patterns.
(a) Social constructivism
(b) Behavioralism
(c) The comparative method
(d) Radicalism
(e) Discourse analysis
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Behavioralism proposes that individuals, both alone and in groups, act in patterned ways. The task of the behavioral scientist is to suggest plausible hypotheses regarding those patterned actions and to test them. These scholars hope to predict future behavior. An example of the behavioral method is the Correlates of War project, which sought to understand why wars happen through collecting data about wars and looking for patterns.
During the 1980s and 1990s, scholars seriously questioned the behavioral approach. The foundational questions—the nature of man and society—are neglected by behaviorists because they are not easily testable by empirical methods.

10) A nongovernmental organization such as____________ is an organization you could join to have influence in international relations.
(a) The United Nations
(b) Amnesty International
(c) The Organization of American States
(d) The African Union
(e) None of the above
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Non-state actors are individuals or organizations that have powerful economic, political or social power and are able to influence at a national and sometimes international level but do not belong to or allied themselves to any particular country or state.
According to Pearlman and Cunningham, non-state actors are defining as “an organized political actor not directly connected to the state but pursing aims that affect vital state interests” (Pearlman & Cunningham, 2011)
Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) are one of the International Organizations (IOs). IGOs are organizations whose members consist of three or more nations-states. IGOs are created and joined by states to solve shared problems which give them authority to make collective decisions to manage problems on the global agenda. In these organizations, the states’ representatives gather to discuss issues that are of mutual interests to the member states

11) Of the more prominent theoretical approaches, concerned with power
(a).Realism
(b).Liberalism
(c) Social constructivism
(d) Behavioralism
(e) Radicalism
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Realism is characterized by a concern with material coercive power. It treats states as the primary unit of analysis. Power is primarily viewed in military terms, and the military power of other states presents the greatest potential danger to an individual state. Economic leverage is also considered an important element of national strength, and Realist analyses of international economics assume that hegemonic actors define not just political but economic structures. Realists have also long rejected notions such as that free trade or scientific progress might lead to long-term peace, viewing such ideas as dangerous chimera. Realism is characterized by a belief that international politics are “tragic” in the sense that normative and ethical concerns cannot change a system of incessant competition and threat of open hostilities. Neorealism, a structuralist variant of Realism, focuses on ways that the global distribution of power relationships shapes the actions of states.

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12) About how many states exist in the world today?
(a) 50
(b) 200
(c) 194
(d) 201
Answer: (c)
Explanation: Most of the current experts and international authorities agree on 194 countries in existence, however, different international bodies differ greatly on how many countries there are. The 194 countries does not include Kosovo (disclaimer), or Palestine or Western Sahara or Taiwan or Greenland or many other partly recognized states Membership within the United Nations system divides the 206 listed states into three categories: 193 member states, two observer states, and 11 other states. The sovereignty dispute column indicates states whose sovereignty is undisputed (190 states) and states whose sovereignty is disputed (16 states).

13) Which of the following is NOT one of the more prominent theories of international relations?
(a) Realism
(b) Liberalism
(c) Behavioralism
(d) Social constructivism
(e) Radicalism
Answer: (c)

14) In the international system, the state live in what Hobbes called the
(a) State of nature
(b) State of balance
(c) Balance of power
(d) Perpetual peace
(e) None of the above
Answer: (a)
Explanation: Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) is best known for his political thought, and deservedly so. His vision of the world is strikingly original and still relevant to contemporary politics. His main concern is the problem of social and political order: how human beings can live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of civil conflict. He poses stark alternatives: we should give our obedience to an unaccountable sovereign (a person or group empowered to decide every social and political issue). Otherwise what awaits us is a “state of nature” that closely resembles civil war – a situation of universal insecurity, where all have reason to fear violent death and where rewarding human cooperation is all but impossible.

15) ——— is the author of History of The Peloponnesian War.
(a).Aristophanes
(b) Xenophon
(c) Anaximander
(d) Thucydides
(e) Herodotus
Answer: (d)
Explanation: The History of the Peloponnesian War is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian historian who also happened to serve as an Athenian general during the war. Thucydides of Athens, one of the greatest of historians, was born about 471 BCE. He saw the rise of Athens to greatness under the inspired leadership of Pericles.

16) Kant’s solution to international conflict is
(a) A super-Leviathan
(b) A world of small farming communities
(c) An international federation of states
(d) The rule of the general will
(e) None of the above
Answer: (c)
Explanation: States are obligated to leave this state of nature among states and enter into a union of states. He considers several models of this worldwide political institution. The first is a single universal state in which the entirety of humanity is ruled directly by the single state or is subject to a single monarch. He rejects this model for failing to fulfill the function of the international institution by in effect dissolving the separateness of states rather than providing a means for peaceful relations among states.

17) The ………..is an example of an application of behavioralism
(a).Correlates of War Project
(b) Idea for a Universal History
(c) United Nations
(d) Peloponnesian War
(e) None of the above
Answer: (a)

18) Which of the following actors is not part of the focus of international relations?
(a).states
(b).International organizations
(c).Nongovernmental organizations
(d).Subnational entities
(e).All of the above are part of the focus of international relations.
Answer: (e)

19) Which of the following is NOT a critique of behavioralism?
(a) The basic questions of humanity and society are neglected.
(b) The attention to methods has overwhelmed the substance of the research.
(c) The focus is only on quantifiable aspects of international relations.
(d) The lack of funding and time for research limits the behavioralist researchers.
(e) All of the above are critiques of behavioral ism.
Answer: (d)

20) In The Republic, Plato argues that the ideal ruler is
(a) The people
(b) A tyrant
(c) A philosopher-King
(d) A high priest
(e) No ruler
Answer: (c)
Explanation: Philosopher king, idea according to which the best form of government is that in which philosophers rule. The ideal of a philosopher king was born in Plato’s dialogue Republic as part of the vision of a just city. It was influential in the Roman Empire and was revived in European political thought in the age of absolutist monarchs. It has also been more loosely influential in modern political movements claiming an infallible ruling elite.
Unless . . . philosophers become kings in the cities or those whom we now call kings and rulers philosophize truly and adequately and there is a conjunction of political power and philosophy . . . there can be no cessation of evils . . . for cities nor, I think, for the human race.1(Rep. V.473c11-d6)
In the Islamic world, the medieval philosopher Abu Naṣr al-Farabi had championed the notion of a religiously devout philosopher king. More than 1,000 years later the notion of such a figure acting as the interpreter of law inspired the Ayatollah Khomeini and the revolutionary state that he shaped in Iran.

21) Of the more prominent theoretical approaches, is most concerned with economic class
(a) Realism
(b) Liberalism
(c) Social constructivism
(d) Behavioralism
(d) Radicalism
Answer: (d)

22) Constructivists trace how ideas shape identities by studying
(a) Culture
(b).Norms
(c) Procedures
(d) Social practices
(e) All of the above
Answer: (e)

23) The study of the interactions among the various actors that participate in international politics is____________
(a) International relations
(b) Geostrategic relations
(c) International society
(d) International organization
(e) Global governance
Answer: (a)

24) The two great rival states in the Peloponnesian War were
(a) Athens—Persia
(b) Athens—Sparta
(c) Athens—Corinth
(d) Sparta—Corinth
(e) Sparta—Persia
Answer: (b)
Explanation: The Peloponnesian War was fought between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. It lasted from 431 BC to 404 BC. Athens ended up losing the war, bringing an end to the golden age of Ancient Greece.
The word Peloponnesian comes from the name of the peninsula in southern Greece called the Peloponnese. This peninsula was home to many of the great Greek city-states including Sparta, Argos, Corinth, and Messene.
After the Persian War, Athens and Sparta had agreed to a Thirty Year Peace. They didn’t want to fight each other while they were trying to recover from the Persian War. During this time, Athens became powerful and wealthy and the Athenian empire grew under the leadership of Pericles. Sparta and its allies became increasingly jealous and distrustful of Athens. Finally, in 431 BC, when Sparta and Athens ended up on different sides in a conflict over the city of Corinth, Sparta declared war on Athens.
In 405 BC the Spartan general Lysander defeated the Athenian fleet in battle. With the fleet defeated, the people in the city of Athens began to starve. They did not have the army to take on the Spartans on land. In 404 BC the city of Athens surrendered to the Spartans. The city-states of Corinth and Thebes wanted the city of Athens destroyed and the people enslaved. However, Sparta disagreed. They made the city tear down its walls, but refused

25) Rousseau wanted smaller communities so that it would be easier for people to attain____
(a) Enlightenment
(b) The general will
(c) The state of nature
(d) Perpetual peace
(e) Cleos
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Rousseau proclaimed the natural goodness of man and believed that one man by nature is just as good as any other. For Rousseau, a man could be just without virtue and good without effort. According to Rousseau, man in the state of nature was free, wise, and good and the laws of nature were benevolent. It follows that it was civilization that enslaved and corrupted man and made him unnatural. Because in the order of nature all men were equal, it also follows that distinction and differentiation among men are the products of culture and civilization. Because man is by nature a saint, it must be the corrupting influence of society that is responsible for the misconduct of the individual.
Rousseau thought private property to be the source of social ills. He considered that private ownership of property tended to corrupt men and destroy their character and regarded the man without property (i.e., the noble savage) to be the freest. Although he did not actually support the abolition of private property, he believed that private property should be minimal and should be distributed equally among the members of the society.
Rousseau anticipated the need for the state to minimize private property. He wanted the property of the state to be as great and powerful as possible, and that of the citizens to be as small and weak as possible. With private property being so limited, the state would need to apply very little force in order to lead the people.

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