International Relations as a branch of social science is concerned with relations among nations, and

other issues like non-state actors, international political economy, international security, foreign policies
of major powers, globalization, international terrorism, international environment, and area studies.

Scope of International Relations:

Like many other social science disciplines, IR has no definite boundary, and contemporary IR covers a
very broad area of study.

i. Nation-states and their relations: The operation of the nation-state system and relations
among nation-states have always made international politics possible, and constituted the
basic subject-matter of IR. These would continue to remain the primary area of study in
the discipline.
ii. Non-state actors: The importance of non-state actors in the study of IR has been increasing
over the years. Non-state actors like the multinational corporations (MNC), international
non-governmental organizations (INGO), and the inter-governmental organizations
(IGO) exert considerable influence in today’s international relations. So, these non-state
actors are important ingredients of the study of contemporary IR.
iii. International political economy (IPE): International political economy is the study of
international relations with the help of economic activities and analyses. With the onset
of globalization from the mid-1980s, a renewed interest in IPE has developed among
scholars. Along with political and security angles, the study of international relations is
frequently analysed today with the help of economic views.
iv. International security: Security has always remained the primary concern of nationstates. The
concern for security had led to war and peace in the past, and would continue
to promote these in the future. A peaceful international order is always linked to the
notion of international security that includes, among others factors, non-proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, and reduction of tension among states. Studies on war and
peace and strategic studies in IR are also related to international security.
v. Foreign policies of important powers: Foreign policies of major and medium powers
constitute important subject-matter of IR because these powers are the driving force in
international relations. When the balance of power system was prevalent, the study of
foreign policies of major European powers was considered important. In contemporary
IR, analyses of foreign policies of the US, China, Russia, Japan and India may be useful
as these states have become major actors in recent times.
vi. Globalization: This primarily refers to economic activities which have serious impact on
political and social spheres. With the ascendance of liberal economy over mercantilist
economy since the early 1980s, the term globalization has assumed increasing popularity
and usage, and become significant in the study of IR. Although globalization and IPE are
closely related, these are not identical, as subsequent chapters in this book would reveal.
vii. International environment: Environmental issues have now assumed greater significance
in the study of IR than ever before because industrialization and technological progress
have enhanced concerns for environmental safety all over the world. Environmental
issues have made states across the world highly interdependent today because carbon
emissions from industrial plants in one part of the world may affect other parts; or shortage
of river water in a state may lead it to war with its neighbouring states. A stable and
peaceful international order is dependent on environmental issues in today’s world.
viii. International terrorism: Terrorist activities involving citizens of more than one country
and having transnational impacts constitute international terrorism, an important area of
study in IR. It is also referred to as ‘cross border’ terrorism. International peace and security
are closely related to this issue .
ix. Area studies: Sometimes it becomes rather difficult to study international political, security,
or economic issues from a broader perspective. So area studies have become popular nowadays. Under
it, such issues concerning different areas of the world are taken up separately
for analysis. For instance, West Asia, South Asia or Central Europe may be taken up for
exclusive analysis under area studies, which has gained prominence in contemporary IR with
increasing proliferation of regional organizations and free trade areas (FTA).

Evolution of International Society:

Throughout the history of international relations, global politics was dominated by different types of
actors.

Before nation states, global politics had been dominated by a wide variety of political forms such as
empires, tribes, and city states.

Tribes

Tribe a sociopolitical community consisting of a number of families, clans, or other groups who
share a common ancestry.

Sumerians (4500– 3500 BC), Aryans (1500 BC)

City states:

Greece (800-300 BC), Sumerian city states (3500-3000 BC), Phoenician city states (1500-300 BC)

Empires

Empire a political unit having an extensive territory or comprising a number of territories or

nations and ruled by a single supreme authority.

Assyrian Empire, Persian Empire, Greek Empire, Chinese Empire, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire

Islam: Theocracy and empire

Theocracy is a system of government by religious leaders and based on religious dogma.

These were territorial, dynastic and autocratic empires.

Supranational Empires

Holy Roman Empire 962-1806

(France, England was subordinate to Papacy. There was clash of sovereignty many times.)

Feudalism, not a territorial state, supranational papacy (theocracy)

Feudal system is the legal, political, and social system of medieval Europe, in which vassals held
land from lords in exchange for military service.

Self-governing city states:

These states were emerged Italy as urbanization quickened. With commerce, the need for money grew,
and, despite the Church’s prohibition of usury, banks began to appear.

Colonial Empires:

Discovery and colonization, increase in trade by naval routes

Spain, Portugal (start of colonial empires)

The emergence of a new class of urban merchants and long-distance traders in England, Holland and
Belgium attacking feudalism

Kings creating armies that could resist the papacy and Holy Roman Empire

Conflict between Papacy and territorial empire

Reformation: Henry VIII, German States

Social Contract and Liberalism: Political theorists Jean Bodin (1530–96) and Thomas Hobbes
contemplated the idea of sovereignty

Spain, Portugal, and France: Pro-papacy

England, Holland, Sweden and German States: Anti-papacy, more authority to Kings, end of interference
of Pope in internal matters of European states

The emergence of the European interstate system

Thirty Year War: 1618-48

Defeat of Old Order, Religious tolerance, end of religious wars

Rise of Nation states: 1648

Dynastic sovereignty (Dynastic Empires):

During the eighteenth century, dynastic sovereignty reigned. States were governed by conservative,
absolutist monarchs

Dynastic sovereignty is sovereignty that is vested in a monarch and the monarch’s heirs

Europe was managed by a small group of dynastic great powers – England, France, Russia, Prussia, and
Austria – sufficiently equal in power, so that none alone could dominate the others (Balance of Power)

Limited warfare

Glorious Revolution (Peaceful transition from dynastic autocratic empire to limited popular sovereignty)

Popular sovereignty

Popular sovereignty is sovereignty invested in the entire people of a state

French Revolution, American Revolution (violent transition to popular sovereignty, success in US, failure
in France)

Rise of nationalism, Democracy in US

National warfare wars fought with enthusiasm by citizens with a strong national attachment to their
state.

Balance of Power was restored after Napoleonic Wars, resumption of Great power politics, but
nationalism was growing stronger

Great Power politics and Nationalism

Unification of Germany and Italy (disturbance in Balance of Power), realpolitik

Industrial revolution in Europe was accompanied by rapid urbanization and the growth of an urban
working class Marxism. Increase in trade and colonialism

Competition for resources and colonies

Russia, Germany, England, France, Italy, Spain, Ottoman Empire

(Scramble of Africa, Eastern Question, and Great Game), Rise of nationalism and struggle of self-
determination (a threat to great powers), (Success: Austria shares power with Hungry)

Struggle for Democracy and Liberalism:

Revolutions in Europe, Constitutional Revolutions in Russia, Ottoman Empire, China and Iran, Meiji
Restoration in Japan, more democracy in England and US (end of Slavery as the result of Civil War)

The Nation-State System

After 1648, states govern people in a territory with boundaries. They have laws, taxes, officials,
currencies, postal services, police, and (usually) armies. They wage war, negotiate treaties, put people in
prison, and regulate life in thousands of ways. With end of Thirty Years War, European leader refused to
tolerate Papal interference. Now they claim sovereignty within their territory. Before 1648, states were
nations are groups of people claiming common bonds like language, culture, and historical identity. But
Westphalian order was based on nation states which were limited within boundaries even their
linguistic, cultural, and historical fellows are outside the boundaries. The first generation classical nation-
states in Northern and Western Europe evolved within the boundaries of existing territorial states. But
second generation belated’ nations – beginning with Italy and Germany – followed a different course,
one that was also typical for the formation of nation-states in Central and Eastern Europe; here the
formation of the state was achieved by unification of people and region having same linguistic, cultural,
and historical identities. Some people assume that states are fixed and permanently established across
most of the globe. But in fact states are in flux. State boundaries are often changed. New states also
emerge. It is diplomatic recognition that confers legitimacy on a new state (or on the government of a
state) but sometimes there is a lack of consensus within the international community. After the Second
World War, a third generation of very different nation-states emerged from the process of
decolonisation, primarily in Africa and Asia. Often these states, which were founded within the
frontiers, established by the former colonial regimes, acquired sovereignty before the imported forms of
state organisation could take root in a national identity that transcended tribal differences. In these
cases, artificial states had first to be filled by a process of nation-building. Finally, with the collapse of
the Soviet Empire, the trend towards the formation of independent nation-states in Eastern and
Southern Europe has followed the path of more or less violent secessions. The challenge to nation-state
is integration and globalisation. The globalisation of commerce and communication, of economic
production and finance, of the spread of technology and weapons, and above all of ecological and
military risks, poses problems that can no longer be solved within the framework of nation-states or by
the traditional method of agreements between sovereign states. If current trends continue, the
progressive undermining of national sovereignty may necessitate the founding and expansion of political
institutions on the supranational level. The political, economic cultural effects of accelerating
globalisation have reduced the authority, importance, and relevance of the nation-state as an
institution.