An Introduction to International Relations

Semester IV P VI Module 1.1 International Relations, International Politics –Definition, Scope and Relevance: 
                       ( आंतरराष्ट्रीय संबंध मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी क्लिक करा)

1 Definition 

The Oxford dictionary of Politics defines International Relations as a subject that “studies interactions between and among states, and more broadly, the workings of the international system as a whole”. Thus it not only includes study of relations between states but also other actors, structures and influences. In other words, political relations among nations cover a range of activities like diplomacy, war, trade relations, alliances, cultural exchanges, participation in international organisations etc.

2 Scope

Its branches include IR theory, international political economy, international organisation, foreign policy-making, strategic/security studies, and peace studies research.

3 Introduction to IR: Scope and Relevance  

As a part of International Relations, International Politics refers to the decisions of a government concerning their actions toward other governments. The discipline of IR rose to prominence after the First World War, particularly in the United States of America as a result of the country's rise in power and influence. Prior to this, the discipline existed in the form of diplomatic history and international law. The emergence of IR, led to widened scope of these branches beyond the traditional areas of study.

The development of IR as a subject was a result of the need to find peaceful ways of conducting relations between states, mainly those of  Western Europe. This explains the subjects roots in the European State System. After WWI, the growing belief that citizens were affected by foreign and military decisions led to the further popularisation and democratisation of IR. This was clearly seen in President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points Program declared after WW I. This program was aimed to prevent the recurrence of a devastating war in the future. The  massive destruction and losses caused due to WWI strengthened the belief among world leaders that it was necessary to understand and research the causes of war and peace.

The discipline at this time had three focus areas:

1) To find out the detailed explanations of the origins of WWI;

 2) The Formation of League of Nations was based on the speculative possibility of a new peaceful world order was another focus of IR;

3) Finally it also attempted to find answers to the causes and effects of war that were studied through different social sciences i.e. economics, psychology, sociology and also mathematics.

Idealism dominated IR in the interwar period. Though, realistic / pragmatic concerns also led to study  relation between international affairs and ethnic minorities; effects of  nationalism; imperialism; colonialism; and role of population change, economic inequalities, culture and public opinion on international relations etc. However these realistic studies were more descriptive in nature and lacked theoretical focus. 

During the inter-war period the rise of dictatorships in Germany, Italy and Japan along with the break down of League of Nations was seen as a failure of IR. Critics argued that, due to its emphasis on idealistic goals of world peace and international government, IR failed to grasp the realities of world affairs.The development of Realist approach in IR was triggered by the growing dissatisfaction with the moral-idealist approach, while peace was threatened by aggressive nationalism based on fascism and Nazism. 

It was the result of  major works of IR scholars that Realism became the dominant approach to understand international relations. It was mainly Edward Hallett Carr’s ‘The Twenty Years Crisis: 1919-1939’ published in 1939 that led to the recognition of realistic approach to IR. It focused on ‘power politics’ to understand the international conflict. Post II WW it was Hans Morgenthau’s ‘Politics among Nations : Struggle for Power and Peace’ published in 1948 provided a firm theoretical basis for realism in IR. It emphasised the role of national interests and struggle for power among nations as central to understanding IR.

Towards the end decades of twentieth century rivalry between Realism and Idealism revived with the development of the Neo-Realism and Neo-Liberalism. The Cold War rivalry between the United States of America and Soviet Union led to the development of ‘area studies’ in IR. In effect it meant, both super powers spent major chunk of their resources to understand the major forces and influences in each other’s countries. The same was done to understand countries that were important for their respective spheres of dominance.

The 1950s rise of Behavioural Approach in Social Sciences generated IR studies based on scientific methods and behavioural aspects. It began to undertake study of the role and importance of political leaders, nations and events such as wars in international affairs. This resulted in the development of Foreign Policy Analysis and International Systems approach in IR in the 1960s.

The late 20^th century saw the rise of Social Constructivism in IR that looks at the role of social practises, beliefs and values of people and their influence on the behaviour of a state in world affairs. Similarly,the growing significance of economics led to the development of sub-field of International Political Economy in 1970s and 80s.

The weaknesses in these theories became clear when IR was unable to predict the end of Cold War in 1989-90. Intense and rapid changes in the post cold war world order and technological advances have increasingly made it difficult to understand and interpret world affairs. However, similar to well equipped State agencies, resources availability and better use of technology  to deal with the unprecedentedly large amount of data available today ,will help IR in understanding  present day world and further broaden the scope of its study.