Skip to content
Skip to main content

About this free course

Download this course

Share this free course

China and the USA: cooperation or conflict?
China and the USA: cooperation or conflict?

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

Glossary

absolute gains
Where states measure their own gains or losses independently of the gains or losses of another state.
coercive power
The ability to get another actor to behave in a particular way or to agree to a particular outcome that they wouldn't have in the absence of the exercise of that power.
fall-back position
What any party could gain without agreeing to a deal or transaction.
interdependence
Mutual dependence whereby the ability of any state to pursue its aims is dependent not only on its own actions but on the actions of others.
liberalism
Tradition of political thought. Within IR it is concerned in particular with analysing the causes of conflict and the necessary conditions for cooperation between states to emerge.
negative-sum interactions
Where the sum total of gains (gains of both parties added together) is negative.
Non-Aligned Movement
A movement which sought to allow developing countries to resist the influence of major powers, especially in a context of decolonisation and the Cold War. It has its roots in the Asia–Africa 'Bandung' Conference in 1955. Its first formal meeting was in 1961 but evolved into a large grouping operating particularly within the UN system, advocating developing country interests.
positive-sum interactions
Where the sum total of gains (gains and losses of both parties added together) is positive (greater than zero).
realism
Tradition of thought within IR emphasising pursuit of power by states in an anarchical international system in order to ensure their own security and survival.
relative gains
Where states judge their own gains in relation to how much other states gain or lose.
Shi
There is no Western equivalent of the ancient Chinese concept of Shi but it has been taken to mean 'the disposition or propensity of things'. It can apply to various areas of life but in international relations is taken to refer to 'the overall configuration of power and the direction of processes of change' (Zhu, 2010, p. 17 – See Chapter 1).
state preferences
The persistent underlying goals of state policy.
tribute
Wealth paid by one party to another as a sign of respect or submission or allegiance. Under various Chinese empires, the Chinese tributary system extended to many areas of Asia including Japan and Vietnam.
zero-sum interactions
Where the gains of one party exactly match the losses of the other.