# data[].attributes.headline
 "Institutions are basically reflections of the distribution of power in the system. They are not causal forces that shape state behavior."

# data[].attributes.subject
 "Institutions are basically reflections of the distribution of power in the system. They are not causal forces that shape state behavior."

# data[].attributes.body
Mearsheimer, J. J. (1994). The false promise of international institutions. International Security, 19(3), 7.

Understanding: Think of international organizations like the UN, NATO, or WTO as mirrors. They show us which countries are really powerful and which ones aren't, but they don't actually control what countries do. If the US is the strongest country, these organizations will work in America's favor, no matter what the rules say on paper.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Power is the currency of international politics, and states must fight for it and hoard it, because in an anarchic world there is no central authority to ensure their security."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Power is the currency of international politics, and states must fight for it and hoard it, because in an anarchic world there is no central authority to ensure their security."

# data[].attributes.body
Mearsheimer, J. J. (1994). The false promise of international institutions. International Security, 19(3), 13.

Understanding: In world politics, military strength and influence are like money.

Countries have to keep building up their power and protecting it, because there's no global police officer to step in and protect smaller countries if a bigger one decides to attack them.

It's every country for itself.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Liberal institutionalists are wrong to think that institutions can promote peace by creating a 'security community' where war becomes unthinkable."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Liberal institutionalists are wrong to think that institutions can promote peace by creating a 'security community' where war becomes unthinkable."

# data[].attributes.body
Mearsheimer, J. J. (1994). The false promise of international institutions. International Security, 19(3), 13.

Understanding: Some people think that if countries just trade with each other and join enough international clubs, they'll never want to fight each other. Mearsheimer says this is wishful thinking. Even the best trading partners will go to war if they think it serves their national interest - like if they're worried about their security or want more territory.

# data[].attributes.headline
"In a bipolar world, each of the two great powers can focus its attention and energies on the other without having to worry much about third parties."

# data[].attributes.subject
"In a bipolar world, each of the two great powers can focus its attention and energies on the other without having to worry much about third parties."

# data[].attributes.body
Waltz, K. N. (1979). Theory of international politics. Addison-Wesley, 179.

Understanding: When there are only two superpowers in the world (like the US vs USSR during the Cold War), each superpower can concentrate all their attention on dealing

with their main rival without constantly worrying about what dozens of smaller countries are doing. This makes international politics simpler and more predictable.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Balancing occurs because the system compels states to watch carefully the capabilities of others and to take measures to prevent any one of them from achieving a position of dominance.

# data[].attributes.subject
"Balancing occurs because the system compels states to watch carefully the capabilities of others and to take measures to prevent any one of them from achieving a position of dominance.

# data[].attributes.body
Waltz, K. N. (1979). Theory of international politics. Addison-Wesley, 161.

Understanding: Countries are like kids in a school playground - they constantly watch each other to see who's getting too

strong. When one country starts to dominate everyone else, the other countries automatically try to build up their own power to

counterbalance it. This usually means forming alliances (friendships) or building up their military to compete.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both."

# data[].attributes.body
Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University Press, 2.

Understanding: You can't really understand a person's problems and choices without knowing what's happening in the world around them at that time. But you also can't understand why societies change over time without looking at how individual people make decisions and live their lives. Both the personal and the social levels matter and affect each

other.

# data[].attributes.headline
"What they need, and what they feel they need, is a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves."

# data[].attributes.subject
"What they need, and what they feel they need, is a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves."

# data[].attributes.body
Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University Press, 3.

Understanding:People today feel overwhelmed by all the information coming at them and by how complex the world seems.

They need a way of thinking that helps them sort through all this information to understand what's really happening in the world and what they personally need to do about it. This special way of thinking is the sociological imagination.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise."

# data[].attributes.subject
"The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise."

# data[].attributes.body
Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University Press, 3.

Understanding: The sociological imagination gives you the mental tools to understand how big historical forces (like wars, economic crises, or technological changes) affect individual people's lives, and how individual people and their choices also affect those bigger historical forces. This is both what it does and what it promises to help people understand.

# data[].attributes.headline
"For that imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another -- from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry."

# data[].attributes.subject
"For that imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another -- from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry."

# data[].attributes.body
Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University Press, 4.

Understanding: The sociological imagination is like having a mental camera that can zoom in and out and change angles really

quickly. You can look at something personal (like your family's money problems) and then zoom out to see how it relates to bigger things (like national economic policies). You can switch from thinking about psychology (individual motivation) to thinking about politics (how power works in society), and all the way to thinking about art or culture.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Institutions cannot change the anarchic nature of the international system, and thus cannot alter the fundamental incentives that drive state behavior."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Institutions cannot change the anarchic nature of the international system, and thus cannot alter the fundamental incentives that drive state behavior."

# data[].attributes.body
Mearsheimer, J. J. (1994). The false promise of international institutions. International Security, 19(3), 13.

Understanding: Even if we create the most powerful international organization ever

- with all the best rules, smartest people, and most money - it still can't change the basic fact that countries have to look out for themselves first. Think of it like building the world's biggest safety net, but people still need to learn how to take care of themselves first.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The mind's ability to adopt a metaposition relative to its own contents, thereby consciously integrating somatic, emotional, and mental experience, has profound implications for learning."

# data[].attributes.subject
"The mind's ability to adopt a metaposition relative to its own contents, thereby consciously integrating somatic, emotional, and mental experience, has profound implications for learning."

# data[].attributes.body
Litfin, K. T. (2018). The contemplative pause: Insights for teaching politics in turbulent times. Journal of Political Science Education, 1.

Understanding: This means your brain can step back and watch itself thinking - like being able to observe your own thoughts and feelings while having them. When you can do this, it helps you learn better because you're not just taking in information automatically, but you're consciously noticing how your body, emotions, and thoughts all work together when you're learning something.

# data[].attributes.headline
"First of all, contemplative practices are concerned precisely with giving practical instruction for cultivating the all-important yet widely neglected faculty of attention."

# data[].attributes.subject
"First of all, contemplative practices are concerned precisely with giving practical instruction for cultivating the all-important yet widely neglected faculty of attention."

# data[].attributes.body
Litfin, K. T. (2018). The contemplative pause: Insights for teaching politics in turbulent times. Journal of Political Science Education, 2.

Understanding: Contemplative practices (like meditation or mindful reflection) are really about teaching people how to focus their attention better. Most of us are terrible at paying attention for very long - our minds jump around constantly. These practices give you practical skills to train your attention to stay focused on what you want to focus on.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The point is not so much to have the right answers but to have the courage to not know, the skillfulness to help guide our students into the depths of their own experience, and the compassion to abide with them there as their native wisdom unfolds."

# data[].attributes.subject
"The point is not so much to have the right answers but to have the courage to not know, the skillfulness to help guide our students into the depths of their own experience, and the compassion to abide with them there as their native wisdom unfolds."

# data[].attributes.body
Litfin, K. T. (2018). The contemplative pause: Insights for teaching politics in turbulent times. Journal of Political Science Education, 8.

Understanding: Good teachers don't just want students to memorize the "right answers." Instead, they want students to be brave enough to admit when they don't know something, and to feel comfortable exploring unknown territory. The teacher's job is to create a safe space where students can discover their own insights and wisdom by experiencing difficult questions and emotions firsthand.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Social threats are constructed, not natural."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Social threats are constructed, not natural."

# data[].attributes.body
Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of

power politics. International Organization, 46(2) 397

Understanding: Whether a country feels threatened by another country isn't automatically determined by facts like military strength or geography. Instead, countries decide what counts as a threat based on their understanding of the other country's intentions.

If two countries trust each other, military forces might seem like defensive protection. If they don't trust each other, the same military forces might seem like an attack threat.

# data[].attributes.body
"An institution is a relatively stable set or

'structure' of identities and interests. Such structures are often codified in formal rules and norms, but these have motivational force only in virtue of actors' socialization to and participation

in collective knowledge. Institutions are fundamentally cognitive entities that do not exist apart from actors' ideas about how the world works."

Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. International Organization, 46(2), 394

Understanding: Institutions (like the United Nations or NATO) are really just agreed-upon ways that countries think about who they are and what they want. These institutions only work because countries collectively agree on

certain rules and norms. But these institutions don't have any real power on their own - they only work because countries believe in them and act according to them.

# data[].attributes.body
"If states find themselves in a self-help system, this is because their practices made it that way. Changing the practices will change the intersubjective knowledge that constitutes the system."

Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. International Organization, 46(2),398.

Understanding: If countries end up in a world where everyone only looks out for themselves, it's because their past actions and reactions have created that reality. But the good news is that if countries start acting differently - cooperating more, trusting each other, and working together - they can change this competitive system into a more cooperative one.

# data[].attributes.body
"When we speak of power, we mean man's control over the minds and actions of other

men. By political power we refer to the mutual relations of control among the holders of public authority and between the latter and the people at large."

Morgenthau, Hans J. Politics Amo ng Nations: The Struggle for Power and Pea ce. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948, 13.

Understanding: Morgenthau u nderstands power very broadly - it's not just tanks and weapons, but the ability to make people do what you want. A country can be strong not only because of its military, but because other countries respect its culture, trust its decisions, or simply fear itsreaction.

That's why some small countries can have big influence - they have so-called “soft power”

# data[].attributes.body
"Political power is a psychological relation between those who exercise it and those over whom it is exercised."

Morgenthau, Hans J. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948, 14.

Understanding: Power is not tanks and planes, but what people think about you. A country can be rich and strong, but if other countries don't believe in its power, it can't control them. That's why countries spend so much money on propaganda and cultural programs - they want to be feared and respected.

# data[].attributes.body
"The struggle for power is universal in time and space and is an undeniable fact of experience."

Understanding: Look at history -everywhere and always there was war for power.The Roman Empire fought, China fought,

European countries fought, the US fought. This is not about capitalism, not about socialism - it's just about people. There will always be those who want to be the boss, and those who disagree.

# data[].attributes.body
"In a world whose moving force is the aspiration for power of sovereign nations, peace can be maintained only by two devices. One is the self-regulatory mechanism of the social forces which manifests itself in the struggle for power on the international scene, that is, the balance of power."

Morgenthau, Hans J. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948, 8.

Understanding: Morgenthau offers a simple solution - if in the world everyone wants power, then it's best when they balance each other. Like in a classroom - if one student is too aggressive, others unite against him. No one can become too powerful, because the rest will stop him. It's not ideal, but it's better than living under the power of one strong one.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The property paranoia often associated with extreme wealth - the sense that everyone is plotting to take it away from you - is easily triggered."

# data[].attributes.subject
"The property paranoia often associated with extreme wealth - the sense that everyone is plotting to take it away from you - is easily triggered."

# data[].attributes.body
Monbiot, George. "Billionaires Are Bad for Us." The Guardian, November 29, 2023.

Understanding: When people become super rich, they start thinking everyone is trying to steal from them or limit their power.

They become paranoid and see any attempt to regulate business or protect the environment as

a personal attack on their wealth. It's like when you have expensive stuff and become obsessed with protecting it from everyone.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Once great wealth has been acquired, it seems to reinforce these tendencies, inhibiting connection, affection and contrition. Money buys isolation."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Once great wealth has been acquired, it seems to reinforce these tendencies, inhibiting connection, affection and contrition. Money buys isolation."

# data[].attributes.body
Monbiot, George. "Billionaires Are Bad for Us." The Guardian, November 29, 2023.

Understanding: Having tons of money makes people more selfish and less caring about others. They can afford to live in fancy mansions and avoid normal people, so they stop understanding how their actions affect others. Money literally isolates them from reality and makes them care less about other people's problems, including environmental damage.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Human-induced climate and hydrological change is likely to make many parts of the world uninhabitable, or at least uneconomic."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Human-induced climate and hydrological change is likely to make many parts of the world uninhabitable, or at least uneconomic."

# data[].attributes.body
"Climate Change Refugees." Scientific

American, June 1, 2007.

Understanding: This is like a house that becomes so damaged and expensive to fix that it's better to just sell it and move somewhere else. Some places will become too hot, flood too much, or cost too much to maintain for people to stay there.

# data[].attributes.headline
"To a significant extent, water will be the most important determinant of these population movements."

# data[].attributes.subject
"To a significant extent, water will be the most important determinant of these population movements."

# data[].attributes.body
Understanding: Water is like the master switch that decides where people can live. If there's too much water (flooding), too little water (drought), or dirty water, people have to leave. It's like plants - if you don't water them right, they die or you have to move them to a better spot.

# data[].attributes.headline
"A state of peace among men who live side by side is not the natural state (status naturalis), which is rather to be described as a state of war... Thus the state of peace must be established."

# data[].attributes.subject
"A state of peace among men who live side by side is not the natural state (status naturalis), which is rather to be described as a state of war... Thus the state of peace must be established."

# data[].attributes.body
Kant, Immanuel. Perpetual Peace. 1795, Second Section, Definitive Articles Introduction.

Understanding: Imagine you're in a playground where kids naturally fight over toys.

Peace isn't the normal state of things - it has to be actively created through rules and agreements. Just like having a teacher set up playground rules to stop kids from fighting all the time.

# data[].attributes.headline
"If, as must be so under this constitution, the consent of the subjects is required to determine whether there shall be war or not, nothing is more natural than that they should weigh the matter well, before undertaking such a bad business."

# data[].attributes.subject
"If, as must be so under this constitution, the consent of the subjects is required to determine whether there shall be war or not, nothing is more natural than that they should weigh the matter well, before undertaking such a bad business."

# data[].attributes.body
Understanding: Imagine if parents had to decide whether to start a fight with the neighbors. They'd probably think twice because they know their kids would get hurt, their house might get damaged, and everyone would suffer. But if one person could decide to start a fight without asking anyone else, they might do it just because they're angry or want to prove they're tough.That's exactly what Kant was saying about countries. When regular people (not just kings or dictators) have to decide about going to war, they're going to be much more careful about it.

Why? Because they'll be the ones paying the price - their sons might die, their homes might get destroyed, their money will be spent on weapons instead of schools and hospitals.

# data[].attributes.headline
«Theory of International Politics» by Kenneth Waltz

# data[].attributes.subject
«Theory of International Politics» by Kenneth Waltz

# data[].attributes.headline
"There is a constant possibility of war in a world in which there are two or more states seeking to
promote a set of interests and having no agency above them upon which they can rely for protection"

# data[].attributes.subject
"There is a constant possibility of war in a world in which there are two or more states seeking to
promote a set of interests and having no agency above them upon which they can rely for protection"

# data[].attributes.body
Waltz, K. N. (1959). Man, the state, and war: A theoretical analysis. Columbia University Press, 227.

Understanding: Kenneth Waltz formulates the fundamental premise of neorealism in international relations theory. In an anarchic system with no supranational authority for protection, states constantly face the possibility of conflict when pursuing their interests. This creates a structure of international relations based on self-help and the necessity of providing for one's own security.

# data[].attributes.headline
"There is a constant possibility of war in a world in which there are two or more states seeking to 

# data[].attributes.subject
"There is a constant possibility of war in a world in which there are two or more states seeking to 

# data[].attributes.body
promote a set of interests and having no agency above them upon which they can rely for protection"

Waltz, K. N. (1959). Man, the state, and war: A theoretical analysis. Columbia University Press, 227.

Understanding: Kenneth Waltz formulates the fundamental premise of neorealism in international relations theory. In an anarchic system with no supranational authority for protection, states constantly face the possibility of conflict when pursuing their interests. This creates a structure of international relations based on self-help and the necessity of providing for one's own security.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The pleasure principle requires a treatment of nature as use-value. It does not necessarily entail, in theory, the swift (and unsustainable) ransacking of resources for short-term enjoyment"

# data[].attributes.subject
"The pleasure principle requires a treatment of nature as use-value. It does not necessarily entail, in theory, the swift (and unsustainable) ransacking of resources for short-term enjoyment"

# data[].attributes.body
Bentham, J. (1952). The principles of morals and legislation. Hafner, 1952.

Understanding: Jeremy Bentham argues that the pleasure principle doesn't necessarily lead to rapid and unsustainable resource plundering for short-term enjoyment. Nature is treated as having utility value, but theory doesn't prescribe its predatory exploitation. This demonstrates how utilitarian ethics can be reimagined to include sustainable relationships with nature.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The meadows report arguably launched the current wave of reform environmentalism, seeking, through legislation, responsible use of natural resources and opening the door for more clearly preservationist practices"

# data[].attributes.subject
"The meadows report arguably launched the current wave of reform environmentalism, seeking, through legislation, responsible use of natural resources and opening the door for more clearly preservationist practices"

# data[].attributes.body
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J., & Behrens III, W. W. (1972). The limits to growth. Universe Books, 1972.

Understanding: The Club of Rome, through the

1972 Meadows report, initiated the current wave of reformist environmentalism. The report called for responsible use of natural resources through legislative regulation and opened the way for clearer nature conservation practices. This was a historical milestone that showed the limits of physical growth.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The programme of the world's peace... is our programme...the only possible programme"

# data[].attributes.subject
"The programme of the world's peace... is our programme...the only possible programme"

# data[].attributes.body
Link, A. S. (1984). The higher realism of Woodrow Wilson and the new diplomacy.

Greenwood Press, 536-539.

Understanding: The program of world peace is presented as the only possible program, demonstrating the teleological and intolerant nature of totalizing liberalism. This reflects the messianic confidence of the liberal project in its universal applicability and uniqueness as the path to peaceful world. This is a critical view of the liberal project's ideological closedness.

# data[].attributes.headline
"There is a limit, as there is to other things, plants, animals, implements; for none of these retain their natural power when they are too large or too small, but they either wholly lose their nature, or are spoiled"

# data[].attributes.subject
"There is a limit, as there is to other things, plants, animals, implements; for none of these retain their natural power when they are too large or too small, but they either wholly lose their nature, or are spoiled"

# data[].attributes.body
Aristotle. (1914). In F. W. Coker (Ed.), Organon. Macmillan, 95.

Understanding: Aristotle formulates the principle of appropriate proportion applicable to all things - plants, animals, implements. When things become too large or too small, they lose their natural nature or spoil. This ancient wisdom reminds us of the need to maintain correct proportions in all spheres of life and social organization, including economic growth and political structures.

# data[].attributes.headline
«Sociological Imagination» by Wright Mills

# data[].attributes.subject
«Sociological Imagination» by Wright Mills

# data[].attributes.body
Karen Litfin.

# data[].attributes.headline
Hans Morgenthau - « Politics among nations»

# data[].attributes.subject
Hans Morgenthau - « Politics among nations»

# data[].attributes.body
Reflection essay 1

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“Prudence — the weighing of the consequences of alternative political actions — is the supreme virtue in politics.”

— Morgenthau, 1948, p. 11