Key Concepts Of Sociology Midterm

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1. Foreign Policy - is the approach to decision making within a country that affects others outside the county. An example of this would be deciding to place sanctions on a country that may be a threat to the United States. This is a domestically thought up plan to protect national security by influencing another country’s economic freedom.
2. National Interest - the current state or pathway the country wishes to maintain or achieve and the means through which it obtains it. It’s in our national interest to make sure our prosperity and lifestyle is protected and maintained.
3. Isolationism / Unilateralism - making no specific agreements or treaties with a country allowing the freedom to engage with all countries while maintaining isolationist protections. This could mean the freedom to trade, share technology, etc. This is a form of political detachment. A potential negative effect of this type of perspective would be that other countries may try to force you to take sides and view neutrally as helping their enemy creating conflict.
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Realist Perspective / School - The thought process which believes that nations will behave in a certain way in the pursuit of their own self-interest. The theory of Realism is used to predict what a nation state will do and use their own interest to your own benefit. It’s also the belief that power is one of the chief concerns within international relations.
5. Liberal / Idealist Perspective / School - The thought process which believes that cooperation and collective pacts are the key to achieving “progress” and security. Countries work together to achieve “things” such as human rights or certain agreed upon values. An example of this would be the United Nations or the European