International

Relations 1st topic

GEN 158 IR~AB/MB
What is this about? Or Introducing International Relations:

This lecture aims to provide a basic and rudimentary understanding of the IR in different
prisms.

 Study of interconnectedness of politics, economics, and law on a global level

 Fusion of social science disciplines

Why did the International Relations Born out ?

 To address the causes of war

 To develop peace in the light of first world war

 To promote harmony and global inter-dependence because no state can be survived in

isolation

 To prevent the world from the second world war

Factors that have defined the context of IR:

 Economic factor as scarcity and wants

 Social factors as friendship, enmity, intermarriages, expansion, and land hunger

 Political factors as power, authority, influence, and diplomacy

 Military factors as coalition, alliance, and war

International Relations Covers:

 Different aspects of diplomacy, crisis management, international crisis, war prevention,

international agreements, concept of global and regional cooperation

 Regional peace and security, international organizations, nuclear proliferation,

globalization, human rights, economic development, intervention, international financial
relations, and international trade relations
 Evolution: a brief assessment :

Why should we discuss the origin or evolution of any concept?

It helps us to understand the legacy left by the discipline’s original

purpose and by older traditions of thought. Secondly, it sketches the
contours of the changing agenda of international relations, a shift that
some scholars describe as a transition from international relations to
world politics or from the ‘traditional’ to the ‘new’ agenda.

Evolution: A Brief Assessment:

• According to Aristotle, Man by nature and necessity is a
social animal.” A man who can live without other beings is
either a God or a beast. In modern times we can safely say
that no nation or country can live in isolation. Cordial
relations and
understanding among nations have become an important
phenomenon of modern life.
• Patterns of International Relation in early civilizations
. Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, the Sumerian, the
Assyrian, the Indian, the Chinese, the Greeks and the Rome
had evolved a distinct code of inter-state conduct and a
pattern of international relations. Though IR at that was not
there, but the kind of IR we study today was existed but in
different names.
 Historical Developments or incidents led towards the evolution or
development of International Relations:
 Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, a peace treaty to end the thirty years war
in
the Europe, a steppingstone in the development of the modern state
system or International Relations
 Establishment of Nation-States after the Treaty of Westphalia:
the rise of nation-states gradually pushed the political thinkers to develop
a new subject or discipline to understand the affairs of states or nation-
states in the light of global perspectives. These sovereign states were
very much aware of their independence, yet they were also conscious of
the reality of interdependence in the modern world.
 What is a nation-state and its deep relation with the development of IR
 The centuries of roughly 1500 to 1789 saw the rise of the
independent, sovereign states, the institutionalization of
diplomacy and armies.
 Role of French Revolution of 1789: it indirectly pushed up the process
of the development of International Relations.

Historical Developments or incidents led towards the evolution

or
development of International Relations:
• Role of Industrial Revolution: role of industrial revolution cannot be ignored
while studying evolution of International Relations. The industrial Revolution
brought a considerable improvement in transport and communications. It added
new topics in the study of international relations such as trade, transit, and
transactions among the
different states.
• Role of Philosophers: Numerous thinkers played but Thucydides, Kautalya
Chanakya, Thomas Hobbes and Machiavelli are most eminent figures who
did their
best in the development of international relations.
• Finally, the First World War: . And in the last phase, the trauma of the First World
War stimulated the public urge to better understand foreign relations. The
issues of war and peace came to the forefront. These developments attracted
people’s attention to the growing importance of international relations and
provided the ground for creating international relations as an academic
discipline
 How IR developed as an academic discipline
 Although international relations as a traditional feature of
humanity
are as old as the state itself, its study as an autonomous
discipline is of comparatively recent origin.
 By 1914, some universities in the United States organized
lecture courses on the regional history of the Far East and
Latin America,
Diplomatic History, and United States foreign policy.
 The first chair of International Politics was founded in historians
like Alfred Zimmern, C. K. Webster and E.H. Carr.
Interestingly, they were the Chair’s early occupants. In the
1920s, the USA’s rise as a global power encouraged the
teaching of International Relations as
an independent subject there.
 An introduction to the Study of International Relations was
the earliest textbook in the discipline. It was jointly written by
Grant, Hughes, Greenwood, Kerr, and Urquhart and published
in Britain in
1916

How IR developed as an academic discipline

 Setting up of University Chairs: • In 1919 University of
Wales (Britain) set-up separate chairs on International Relations.
Its first two incumbents were Sir Alfred Zimmern and Sir
Charles Webster
 Research Bodies: • In 1918, two research bodies in New
York have formed the Foreign Policy Association and the
Council on Foreign Relations. The aim of both to stimulate
wider interest in International Relations, policy issues
confronting the United States and encourage more participation
in world affairs by the citizens. They also publish important
periodicals on International Relations. These are bi-monthly,
headline series, and quarterly, Foreign Affairs.
 Role of League: The League of Nations also played a role in
developing International Relations as a separate subject. The
league
encouraged the study by its work as a form in
international discussions and sponsoring a series of
International Studies Conferences through its Institute of
International Cooperation
 Meaning and Definition of IR
• The term International was used for the first time by
Jeremy Bentham in the later part of the eighteenth century
about the
laws of nations. Consequently, the term international
relation was used to define the official relations among
the sovereign states.
 Two Views about Meaning and Definition of IR:
• There are broadly two views regarding the meaning of
international relations. Those who take narrow view assert
that international relations include only the official
relations conducted by the authorized leaders of the state.
To them trade, financial intercourse, missionary activities,
travel of students, and cultural relations do not fall in the
domain of
international relations.

• On the other hand, some scholars have taken broad view

of international relations and appear to say that all
intercourse among states and all movements of people,
goods and ideas
across the national frontiers within its purview.
 Definition of International Relations by Palmer and Perkins:
Palmer and Perkins are the most important name in
international relations because of their relevance in terms
of definition and subject matter In International relations.
According to them,
“International Relations is the objective and systematic
study of international life in all its aspects”
 Definition of International Relations by Some Other Scholars
 Hans J Morgenthau: Hans J Morgenthau used the term
International Politics and defined it as “International
Politics include analysis of political relations and
problems of peace
among nations.
“It is struggle for and use of power among nations”
 Quincy Wright: Varied types of groups-nations, states,
government, people, regions, alliances, confederations,
international organizations, even industrial
organizations
and cultural organizations fall in the category of
International Relations.

 Acceptable Definition: an acceptable definition of

international relations is that international relations is
a
separate curriculum that deals with the interrelationships
of the various states of the world, non-State organizations,
international organizations, war and peace, disarmament,
alliance formation, terrorism, and the whole international
system.
Scope of International Relations
The scope of study of International Relations includes these
following major areas or topics.
  Study of the behavior of States in International Politics:
• Just as when a nation builds good relations for the sake
of its overall development, it becomes the subject of
international relations, just as when there is a conflict of
interest, bitterness develops among itself and that too
becomes part of international
relations.
 Role of Non-State Actors in International Field:
• The state is not the only active actor in the
international community. There are many non-state
actors whose activities
affect international relations. Multinational Corporations
(MNCs), European Economic Community, Council for
Mutual Economic Assistance, NATO, SEATO,
WARSAW PACT, ASEAN, Organization of American
States, different terrorist organizations, Religious
Organizations are the examples of the non-state elements
in international relations

 Question of War and Peace:

Today, international relation is not free from the discussion
of the determination to save mankind from war. So, the
matter of war and peace is also come under the shadow of
IR.
 Study of Foreign Policy:
Another important issue in international relations is foreign
policy.
The situation or ideology in foreign policy and the
ideological issues of the respective regimes are important
parts of international relations.
 International Organizations:
The role of national and international organizations in
international relations is no less important. People from
different countries are involved with the US Congress of
Industrial Organizations, the US Federation of Labor, the
French Labor Organization, and the Women’s International
Democratic Federation Engagement Organization.
Therefore, international relations also discuss all national and
international organizations.
 Power:
In the post Second World War period, power became the
central theme in the study of international relations.
According to Morgenthau international politics is nothing
else but power Politics and can be realistically understood
only if viewed as the concept of interest defined in terms of
power of a national state.
 Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution:
Much of international relations involves conflict, its
management, and resolution. The study of these aspects
has become a significant subject matter of international
relations behavioral sciences with quantitative methods that
have successfully dealt with these topics.

 Policymaking:
there has been a tendency among the scholars of
international relations to study not only the contents of
foreign policy but also the process of foreign policymaking.
Such studies provide a broader setting for a detailed analysis
of decision-making and policy formulation.
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