Organski Kugler: The War Ledger

pp 13-22

Before you read

I. Think over the following questions

  1. What do you know about the author of the text? What is his contribution to the theory of international relations? Have you read anything by this author before?
  2. Skim the text very quickly and say who it is intended for.
  3. What is the register of the text?

While you read

Read the text carefully, pencil in hand and

find the following words in the text; try to guess their meanings using the context

decipher
tenet
conducive
discernible
espouse
lopsided
deploy
penetrate
reinforce
propel
  • find Russian equivalents of the words above
  • match the words from the list with their less formal synonyms
decipherstrengthen, underpin
tenetpass through, come across
conducivevisible, noticeable
discerniblemove sb/sth forward, motivate
espouseunbalanced, asymmetrical
lopsidedsupport, approve 
deploydecode, interpret
penetrateleading to, contributing to
reinforcemobilize, arrange
propelprinciple, guideline

match the collocations from the text:

recurrentgroups
explicitthe equilibrium
contendingof pyramid
apexaim
subordinateinto the mass of population
disturbpolitical changes
penetratestruggles
reinforce and propelposition

Read the text again and elucidate on the following notions:

asymmetry

equilibrium 

explicit

After you read

I. Answer the following questions:

  1. What causes major powers to enter into major wars?
  2. Can one reliably predict the approach of war?

II. Summarise the ideas of the chapter, describe the models of distribution of power presented in the chapter, speculate on their distinctive features and differences.

Assess the text critically according to the following criteria:

  • novelty (have you learned anything new?)
  • relevance (is this information relevant? Will it be of any use in your own research paper?)
  • complexity (was it hard to grasp the main ideas of the text?)