Review for Monday, August 27

(not so much that last thing)

There were no slides for Monday's class that I can post here, so I figured it might help to post the vocabulary words we went over and the questions we addressed.

Vocabulary

• Polarity
• Hegemon(y)
• Offshore Balancing
• Grand Strategy
• Imperial Overstretch
• Grand Strategy
• "Open Door" Diplomacy
• Parsimony
• Security Dilemma
• Structural Theory
• Systemic vs. Domestic Variables

Questions

• How can we tell the difference between a grand strategy of offshore balancing and one of hegemony?
• Layne claims that a US focused on offshore balancing would retreat from Europe, East Asia and the Middle East and encourage a multipolar system. Is this accurate? Why would this be the case? Why might it not be?

If you have any questions or would like some clarification about the terms and questions presented above, feel free to ask about them in the comments. Bonus participation points to anyone who helps answer another student's question.

Expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO: Haqqani death "a blow" to Taliban, if true

A spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement to CBS News correspondent Kitty Logan Monday that the coalition wasn't in a position to confirm Haqqani's death but that, if true, it would be "significant." "Badruddin Haqanni is responsible for a number of high-profile suicide attacks in and around the Kabul area," the ISAF statement said.

NATO, originally a collective security alliance to deter Soviet aggression in Europe, has survived and expanded following the fall of the USSR. The current mission in Afghanistan is but one example: NATO forces have seen action in Kosovo and, more recently, Libya.

Does NATO's expansion and commitments to areas outside its original purview signal an expansion of American power? Or might there be some other motive behind the extension of the security community beyond the North Atlantic?