International Relations: Concepts and Theories MCQs 2026

Realism in international relations emphasizes

1. A anarchy, power politics, and national survival ✓
2. B perpetual peace through trade alone ✓
3. C identity construction as the sole driver ✓
4. D abolition of the state system ✓

Hans Morgenthau is associated with

1. A liberal institutionalism exclusively ✓
2. B constructivist identity theory ✓
3. C functionalist integration theory alone ✓
4. D classical realism and politics among nations ✓

Kenneth Waltz's neorealism (structural realism) focuses on

1. A domestic ideology only ✓
2. B individual leaders' psychology exclusively ✓
3. C complete elimination of states ✓
4. D international structure and distribution of capabilities ✓

Liberalism in IR argues that

1. A war is the only rational outcome always ✓
2. B states never interact peacefully ✓
3. C cooperation is possible through institutions, trade, and law ✓
4. D anarchy makes all treaties impossible ✓

Constructivism in IR holds that

1. A only material power matters with no role for culture ✓
2. B international reality is shaped by shared ideas, norms, and identities ✓
3. C states are unaffected by beliefs ✓
4. D international law never influences behavior ✓

Alexander Wendt is a leading figure in

1. A classical realism only ✓
2. B constructivism ✓
3. C mercantilism revival ✓
4. D geopolitical determinism alone ✓

The concept of power in IR includes

1. A only population size without context ✓
2. B only geographic size without resources ✓
3. C only cultural output without political influence ✓
4. D military capability, economic strength, and soft power ✓

Joseph Nye's soft power refers to

1. A only nuclear arsenal size ✓
2. B ability to attract and persuade rather than coerce ✓
3. C only economic sanctions ✓
4. D only territorial conquest ✓

Hard power relies primarily on

1. A military force and economic coercion ✓
2. B public diplomacy alone ✓
3. C UN resolutions without enforcement ✓
4. D cultural exchange only ✓

National interest in foreign policy means

1. A objectives a state prioritizes for security, welfare, and status ✓
2. B identical goals for all states always ✓
3. C only ideological export without security ✓
4. D absence of any strategic calculation ✓

Balance of power theory suggests states

1. A always merge into one empire voluntarily ✓
2. B never form alliances ✓
3. C ignore relative capabilities entirely ✓
4. D align or arm to prevent any single state from dominating ✓

Collective security is the idea that

1. A aggression against one member is treated as aggression against all ✓
2. B only bilateral defense pacts exist ✓
3. C states never cooperate on security ✓
4. D aggressors always receive rewards ✓

The security dilemma occurs when

1. A all arms buildups are purely benign always ✓
2. B states share perfect information always ✓
3. C measures one state takes for defense appear offensive to others ✓
4. D alliances eliminate all fear ✓

Sovereignty in IR means

1. A subordination of all states to one empire legally ✓
2. B supreme authority within a territory and recognition by others ✓
3. C absence of any borders ✓
4. D automatic global citizenship without states ✓

The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) is linked to

1. A modern state sovereignty and non-interference norms ✓
2. B creation of the United Nations ✓
3. C end of Cold War ✓
4. D founding of NATO ✓

Realists typically view international law as

1. A always fully binding regardless of power ✓
2. B superior to all state interest always ✓
3. C weak without enforcement backed by power ✓
4. D unnecessary because war ended permanently ✓

Liberals support international institutions because they

1. A eliminate state interest entirely ✓
2. B reduce transaction costs and facilitate repeated cooperation ✓
3. C replace all sovereign governments ✓
4. D ban all trade ✓

Neoliberal institutionalism is associated with

1. A Morgenthau's power politics only ✓
2. B Keohane and cooperation under anarchy ✓
3. C exclusive focus on nuclear strategy ✓
4. D rejection of all treaties ✓

Offensive realism (Mearsheimer) predicts

1. A states always satisfied with current power ✓
2. B permanent peace through democracy instantly ✓
3. C elimination of all alliances ✓
4. D great powers maximize power and seek regional hegemony ✓

Defensive realism suggests states seek

1. A unlimited expansion as default always ✓
2. B no concern for survival ✓
3. C enough power for security rather than maximum dominance always ✓
4. D immediate world government ✓

Constructivists argue norms can

1. A change state interests and identities over time ✓
2. B never influence state behavior ✓
3. C only matter during total war ✓
4. D replace all material factors instantly always ✓

The English School of IR emphasizes

1. A only individual psychology ✓
2. B international society, rules, and institutions beyond pure power ✓
3. C only economic Marxism ✓
4. D rejection of diplomacy ✓

Hegemonic stability theory claims

1. A hegemons always destroy trade ✓
2. B weak states always lead global order ✓
3. C institutions are irrelevant to trade ✓
4. D a dominant power helps provide public goods like open trade ✓

Bandwagoning means a state

1. A always fights the strongest state ✓
2. B never joins alliances ✓
3. C aligns with a rising power rather than balancing against it ✓
4. D isolates completely without trade ✓

Deterrence aims to

1. A encourage aggression always ✓
2. B discourage attack by threatening credible retaliation ✓
3. C eliminate all weapons instantly ✓
4. D replace diplomacy with culture only ✓

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) is associated with

1. A nuclear deterrence during the Cold War ✓
2. B 19th century colonial wars only ✓
3. C WTO trade disputes only ✓
4. D UN peacekeeping budget talks ✓

The Cold War was characterized by

1. A bipolar competition between the USA and USSR ✓
2. B multipolar balance of eight equal powers ✓
3. C complete absence of ideology ✓
4. D instant global integration without conflict ✓

The United Nations Charter outlaws

1. A all diplomacy ✓
2. B all peacekeeping ✓
3. C aggression and unauthorized use of force with Security Council exceptions ✓
4. D all economic sanctions always ✓

The UN Security Council has

1. A no permanent members ✓
2. B five permanent members with veto power ✓
3. C unlimited members all with veto ✓
4. D only advisory moral authority without enforcement ✓

Peacekeeping differs from peace enforcement because peacekeeping typically requires

1. A full-scale invasion without consent always ✓
2. B consent of parties and impartiality ✓
3. C automatic nuclear use ✓
4. D abolition of sovereignty ✓

Economic interdependence according to liberals can

1. A raise the cost of war and encourage cooperation ✓
2. B guarantee zero conflict always ✓
3. C eliminate national interest entirely ✓
4. D prevent all sanctions always ✓

Relative gains concern in realism means states worry about

1. A whether partners gain more than themselves from cooperation ✓
2. B absolute welfare only without comparison ✓
3. C cultural exchange only ✓
4. D climate science only ✓

The concept of anarchy in IR means

1. A complete chaos without any order or rules ✓
2. B domestic law applies globally automatically ✓
3. C absence of a world government with centralized enforcement ✓
4. D states have no interactions ✓

Multipolarity describes a system with

1. A one superpower only ✓
2. B no great powers at all ✓
3. C only non-state actors ✓
4. D several great powers of comparable influence ✓

Unipolarity after the Cold War referred to

1. A US preponderance in military and economic power ✓
2. B Soviet dominance globally ✓
3. C equal power among fifty states ✓
4. D absence of any hegemon ✓

Thucydides Trap refers to

1. A risk of war when a rising power threatens a ruling power ✓
2. B trade agreement between allies ✓
3. C cultural exchange programs ✓
4. D UN budget negotiations only ✓

Non-state actors in IR include

1. A only recognized sovereign states ✓
2. B NGOs, multinational corporations, and terrorist groups ✓
3. C only UN secretariat staff as states ✓
4. D only monarchs of Europe ✓

Smart power combines

1. A only military invasion ✓
2. B only propaganda without policy ✓
3. C hard and soft power resources strategically ✓
4. D isolation from all institutions ✓

The democratic peace thesis claims

1. A democracies never trade ✓
2. B autocracies always cooperate ✓
3. C democracies rarely fight each other ✓
4. D war is impossible in capitalism ✓

Sanctions are used to

1. A reward aggression always ✓
2. B coerce policy change by restricting economic or diplomatic ties ✓
3. C guarantee instant regime change always ✓
4. D replace all military defense ✓

Diplomacy is

1. A always identical to war ✓
2. B negotiation and representation between states to manage relations ✓
3. C unnecessary in realism only world without talk ✓
4. D only conducted by NGOs never states ✓

Foreign policy analysis examines

1. A only systemic power with no domestic politics ✓
2. B only weather patterns ✓
3. C how domestic factors and leaders shape state external behavior ✓
4. D only sports diplomacy exclusively ✓

The League of Nations failed partly because

1. A it prevented World War II successfully ✓
2. B it had too strong a military ✓
3. C it banned all sovereignty ✓
4. D great powers lacked commitment and enforcement mechanisms were weak ✓

Collective security differs from collective defense alliances because collective security targets

1. A only one designated enemy in a permanent alliance ✓
2. B trade disputes exclusively ✓
3. C cultural heritage disputes only ✓
4. D any aggressor threatening international peace broadly ✓

Balance of threat theory (Walt) emphasizes states balance against

1. A perceived threat rather than power alone ✓
2. B culture only ✓
3. C GDP alone without perception ✓
4. D random alignment ✓

Constructivists study how

1. A only GDP growth rates ✓
2. B only mineral deposits ✓
3. C only military factory output without ideas ✓
4. D anarchy and interests are socially constructed ✓

Hegemony in Gramscian/neo-Gramscian IR thinking can include

1. A only naval blockades ✓
2. B only currency printing at home ✓
3. C ideological leadership and consent, not just force ✓
4. D only sports victories ✓

The concept of national interest is contested because

1. A all citizens always agree perfectly ✓
2. B it never changes over time ✓
3. C it is identical to international law always ✓
4. D elites, public opinion, and ideology define it differently ✓

International regimes are

1. A always world governments with armies ✓
2. B only informal sports leagues ✓
3. C unrelated to state behavior ✓
4. D sets of implicit and explicit principles, norms, and rules around an issue-area ✓