History of IR, questions for the exam

1. Diplomatic legacy of Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Richelieu was one of the most influential politicians of his time. In XVII his views and
concepts played a significant role not only in France but also in the whole Europe.

The main invention of Cardinal was the concept of ‘continuous negotiations’, which has been
playing a huge role ever since then. In other words it means that states should hold negotiations
with other states and these results in significant benefits. He emphasized on:

 States should have diplomatic agents everywhere > nowadays it’s common in the world
 Diplomats should do everything to achieve an agreement (not only be representatives)
 Therefore, permanent, proactive and professional diplomatic representation in all states >
key to success

2. Neutrality in the post-Cold War period: definition of the phenomenon,

theoretical background and case studies (Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden –one to
be mentioned and discussed by the student)

Prior to any explanations, I want to say that in my answer I will pay attention to two types of
neutrality. The first type is classic neutrality – it means being activated only during the times of
war. Most commonly, this is not set in constitution, and is orchestrated by a political stance. The
second type is permanent neutrality. It means staying neutral during a war as well as during
peacetime, avoid being involved in conflicts. This kind of neutrality is legally codified in
country’s constitution or a multilateral treaty. For example: Switzerland (codified at the
Congress of Vienna in 1815).

Liberalism and realism do not really mention the possibility of a state to be neutral as they
believe that state-system is anarchic, however, social constructivism is far more optimistic: it pay
much more attention to social interaction.

Case study: Switzerland

Switzerland is a country with a long history of neutrality. Today, Switzerland is enjoying more
than 200 years of independence and neutrality. To say: rich, wealthy.