POLI 244 Study Guide - Security Dilemma, Great Power, Hegemony

• School: McGill University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLI 244
• Professor: Jason Scott Ferrell

Document Summary

2)great powers inherently possess some offensive military capability, which gives them the wherewithal to hurt and possibly destroy each other. 3)states can never be certain about other states" intentions. 4) survival is the primary goal of great power, states seek to maintain their territorial integrity and the autonomy of their domestic political order. States in the international system also aim to guarantee their own survival. States cannot depend on other for their own security. Alliances are only temporary marriages of convenience. Pays to be selfish in self-help world. Best way to ensure their survival is to be the most powerful state in the system. States employ a variety of means to shift the balance of power in their favour, even if doing so makes other states suspicious or even hostile. 2) determining how much power is enough becomes even more complicated when great powers contemplate how power will be distributed among then ten or twenty year down the road.