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International relations theory is the study of international relations (IR) from a theoretical perspective. It attempts to provide a conceptual framework upon which international relations can be analyzed.[1]Ole Holsti describes international relations theories as acting like pairs of coloured sunglasses that allow the wearer to see only salient events relevant to the theory; e.g., an adherent of realism may completely disregard an event that a constructivist might pounce upon as crucial, and vice versa. The three most prominent theories are realism, liberalism and constructivism.[2] Sometimes, institutionalism proposed and developed by Keohane and Nye is discussed as an paradigm differed from liberalism.
International relations theories can be divided into 'positivist/rationalist' theories which focus on a principally state-level analysis, and 'post-positivist/reflectivist' ones which incorporate expanded meanings of security, ranging from class, to gender, to postcolonial security. Many often conflicting ways of thinking exist in IR theory, including constructivism, institutionalism, Marxism, neo-Gramscianism, and others. However, two positivist schools of thought are most prevalent: realism and liberalism.
The study of international relations, as theory, can be traced to E. H. Carr'sThe Twenty Years' Crisis, which was published in 1939, and to Hans Morgenthau'sPolitics Among Nations published in 1948.[3] International relations, as a discipline, is believed to have emerged after the First World War with the establishment of a Chair of International Relations at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.[4] Early international relations scholarship in the interwar years focused on the need for the balance of power system to be replaced with a system of collective security. These thinkers were later described as 'Idealists'.[5] The leading critique of this school of thinking was the 'realist' analysis offered by Carr.
However, a more recent study, by David Long and Brian Schmidt in 2005, offers a revisionist account of the origins of the field international relations. They claim that the history of the field can be traced back to late 19th Century imperialism and internationalism. The fact that the history of the field is presented by 'great debates', such as the realist-idealist debate, does not correspond with the historic evidence found in earlier works: 'We should once and for all dispense with the outdated anachronistic artifice of the debate between the idealists and realists as the dominant framework for and understanding the history of the field'. Their revisionist account claims that, up until 1918, international relations already existed in the form of colonial administration, race science, and race development.[6]
A clear distinction is made between explanatory and constitutive approaches when classifying international relations theories. Explanatory theories are ones which postulates the world is something external to theorize about. A constitutive theory is one which suggest that theories actually help construct the world.[7]
- 1Realism
- 2Liberalism
Realism[edit]
Realism or political realism[9] has been the dominant theory of international relations since the conception of the discipline.[10] The theory claims to rely upon an ancient tradition of thought which includes writers such as Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes. Early realism can be characterized as a reaction against interwar idealist thinking. The outbreak of World War II was seen by realists as evidence of the deficiencies of idealist thinking. There are various strands of modern-day realist thinking. However, the main tenets of the theory have been identified as statism, survival, and self-help.[10]
- Statism: Realists believe that nation states are the main actors in international politics.[11] As such it is a state-centric theory of international relations. This contrasts with liberal international relations theories which accommodate roles for non-state actors and international institutions. This difference is sometimes expressed by describing a realist world view as one which sees nation states as billiard balls, liberals would consider relationships between states to be more of a cobweb.
- Survival: Realists believe that the international system is governed by anarchy, meaning that there is no central authority.[9] Therefore, international politics is a struggle for power between self-interested states.[12]
- Self-help: Realists believe that no other states can be relied upon to help guarantee the state's survival.
Realism makes several key assumptions. It assumes that nation-states are unitary, geographically based actors in an anarchic international system with no authority above capable of regulating interactions between states as no true authoritative world government exists. Secondly, it assumes that sovereignstates, rather than intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, or multinational corporations, are the primary actors in international affairs. Thus, states, as the highest order, are in competition with one another. As such, a state acts as a rational autonomous actor in pursuit of its own self-interest with a primary goal to maintain and ensure its own security—and thus its sovereignty and survival. Realism holds that in pursuit of their interests, states will attempt to amass resources, and that relations between states are determined by their relative levels of power. That level of power is in turn determined by the state's military, economic, and political capabilities.
Some realists, known as human nature realists or classical realists,[13] believe that states are inherently aggressive, that territorial expansion is constrained only by opposing powers, while others, known as offensive/defensive realists,[13] believe that states are obsessed with the security and continuation of the state's existence. The defensive view can lead to a security dilemma, where increasing one's own security can bring along greater instability as the opponent(s) builds up its own arms, making security a zero-sum game where only relative gains can be made.
Neorealism[edit]
Neorealism or structural realism[14] is a development of realism advanced by Kenneth Waltz in Theory of International Politics. It is, however, only one strand of neorealism. Joseph Grieco has combined neo-realist thinking with more traditional realists. This strand of theory is sometimes called 'modern realism'.[15] Waltz's neorealism contends that the effect of structure must be taken into account in explaining state behavior. It shapes all foreign policy choices of states in the international arena. For instance, any disagreement between states derives from lack of a common power (central authority) to enforce rules and maintain them constantly. Thus there is constant anarchy in international system that makes it necessary for states the obtainment of strong weapons in order to guarantee their survival. Additionally, in an anarchic system, states with greater power have tendency to increase its influence further.[16] According to neo-realists, structure is considered extremely important element in IR and defined twofold as: a) the ordering principle of the international system which is anarchy, and b) the distribution of capabilities across units. Waltz also challenges traditional realism's emphasis on traditional military power, instead characterizing power in terms of the combined capabilities of the state.[17]
Liberalism[edit]
The precursor to liberal international relations theory was 'idealism'. Idealism (or utopianism) was viewed critically by those who saw themselves as 'realists', for instance E. H. Carr.[19] In international relations, idealism (also called 'Wilsonianism' because of its association with Woodrow Wilson who personified it) is a school of thought that holds that a state should make its internal political philosophy the goal of its foreign policy. For example, an idealist might believe that ending poverty at home should be coupled with tackling poverty abroad. Autocad lt 2014 product key. Wilson's idealism was a precursor to liberal international relations theory, which would arise amongst the 'institution-builders' after World War I.
Liberalism holds that state preferences, rather than state capabilities, are the primary determinant of state behavior. Unlike realism, where the state is seen as a unitary actor, liberalism allows for plurality in state actions. Thus, preferences will vary from state to state, depending on factors such as culture, economic system or government type. Liberalism also holds that interaction between states is not limited to the political/security ('high politics'), but also economic/cultural ('low politics') whether through commercial firms, organizations or individuals. Thus, instead of an anarchic international system, there are plenty of opportunities for cooperation and broader notions of power, such as cultural capital (for example, the influence of films leading to the popularity of the country's culture and creating a market for its exports worldwide). Another assumption is that absolute gains can be made through co-operation and interdependence—thus peace can be achieved.
The democratic peace theory argues that liberal democracies have never (or almost never) made war on one another and have fewer conflicts among themselves. This is seen as contradicting especially the realist theories and this empirical claim is now one of the great disputes in political science. Numerous explanations have been proposed for the democratic peace. It has also been argued, as in the book Never at War, that democracies conduct diplomacy in general very differently from non-democracies. (Neo)realists disagree with Liberals over the theory, often citing structural reasons for the peace, as opposed to the state's government. Sebastian Rosato, a critic of democratic peace theory, points to America's behavior towards left-leaning democracies in Latin America during the Cold War to challenge democratic peace.[20] One argument is that economic interdependence makes war between trading partners less likely.[21] In contrast realists claim that economic interdependence increases rather than decreases the likelihood of conflict.
Neoliberalism[edit]
Neoliberalism, liberal institutionalism or neo-liberal institutionalism[22] is an advancement of liberal thinking. It argues that international institutions can allow nations to successfully cooperate in the international system.
Complex interdependence[edit]
Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, in response to neorealism, develop an opposing theory they dub 'complex interdependence.' Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye explain, '.. complex interdependence sometimes comes closer to reality than does realism.' In explaining this, Keohane and Nye cover the three assumptions in realist thought: First, states are coherent units and are the dominant actors in international relations; second, force is a usable and effective instrument of policy; and finally, the assumption that there is a hierarchy in international politics.
The heart of Keohane and Nye's argument is that in international politics there are, in fact, multiple channels that connect societies exceeding the conventional Westphalian system of states. This manifests itself in many forms ranging from informal governmental ties to multinational corporations and organizations. Here they define their terminology; interstate relations are those channels assumed by realists; transgovernmental relations occur when one relaxes the realist assumption that states act coherently as units; transnational applies when one removes the assumption that states are the only units. It is through these channels that political exchange occurs, not through the limited interstate channel as championed by realists.
Secondly, Keohane and Nye argue that there is not, in fact, a hierarchy among issues, meaning that not only is the martial arm of foreign policy not the supreme tool by which to carry out a state's agenda, but that there are a multitude of different agendas that come to the forefront. The line between domestic and foreign policy becomes blurred in this case, as realistically there is no clear agenda in interstate relations.
Finally, the use of military force is not exercised when complex interdependence prevails. The idea is developed that between countries in which a complex interdependence exists, the role of the military in resolving disputes is negated. However, Keohane and Nye go on to state that the role of the military is in fact important in that 'alliance's political and military relations with a rival bloc.'
Post-liberalism[edit]
One version of post-liberal theory argues that within the modern, globalized world, states in fact are driven to cooperate in order to ensure security and sovereign interests. The departure from classical liberal theory is most notably felt in the re-interpretation of the concepts of sovereignty and autonomy. Autonomy becomes a problematic concept in shifting away from a notion of freedom, self-determination, and agency to a heavily responsible and duty laden concept. Importantly, autonomy is linked to a capacity for good governance. Similarly, sovereignty also experiences a shift from a right to a duty. In the global economy, International organizations hold sovereign states to account, leading to a situation where sovereignty is co-produced among 'sovereign' states. The concept becomes a variable capacity of good governance and can no longer be accepted as an absolute right. One possible way to interpret this theory, is the idea that in order to maintain global stability and security and solve the problem of the anarchic world system in International Relations, no overarching, global, sovereign authority is created. Instead, states collectively abandon some rights for full autonomy and sovereignty.[23] Another version of post-liberalism, drawing on work in political philosophy after the end of the Cold War, as well as on democratic transitions in particular in Latin America, argues that social forces from below are essential in understanding the nature of the state and the international system. Without understanding their contribution to political order and its progressive possibilities, particularly in the area of peace in local and international frameworks, the weaknesses of the state, the failings of the liberal peace, and challenges to global governance cannot be realised or properly understood. Furthermore, the impact of social forces on political and economic power, structures, and institutions, provides some empirical evidence of the complex shifts currently underway in IR.[24]
Constructivism[edit]
Constructivism or social constructivism[27] has been described as a challenge to the dominance of neo-liberal and neo-realist international relations theories.[28] Michael Barnett describes constructivist international relations theories as being concerned with how ideas define international structure, how this structure defines the interests and identities of states and how states and non-state actors reproduce this structure.[29] The key element of constructivism is the belief that 'International politics is shaped by persuasive ideas, collective values, culture, and social identities.' Constructivism argues that international reality is socially constructed by cognitive structures which give meaning to the material world.[30] The theory emerged from debates concerning the scientific method of international relations theories and theories role in the production of international power.[31]Emanuel Adler states that constructivism occupies a middle ground between rationalist and interpretative theories of international relations.[30]
Constructivist theory criticises the static assumptions of traditional international relations theory and emphasizes that international relations is a social construction. Constructivism is a theory critical of the ontological basis of rationalist theories of international relations.[32] Whereas realism deals mainly with security and material power, and liberalism looks primarily at economic interdependence and domestic-level factors, constructivism most concerns itself with the role of ideas in shaping the international system; indeed it is possible there is some overlap between constructivism and realism or liberalism, but they remain separate schools of thought. By 'ideas' constructivists refer to the goals, threats, fears, identities, and other elements of perceived reality that influence states and non-state actors within the international system. Constructivists believe that these ideational factors can often have far-reaching effects, and that they can trump materialistic power concerns.
For example, constructivists note that an increase in the size of the U.S. military is likely to be viewed with much greater concern in Cuba, a traditional antagonist of the United States, than in Canada, a close U.S. ally. Therefore, there must be perceptions at work in shaping international outcomes. As such, constructivists do not see anarchy as the invariable foundation of the international system,[33] but rather argue, in the words of Alexander Wendt, that 'anarchy is what states make of it'.[34] Constructivists also believe that social norms shape and change foreign policy over time rather than security which realists cite.
Marxism[edit]
Marxist and Neo-Marxist international relations theories are structuralist paradigms which reject the realist/liberal view of state conflict or cooperation; instead focusing on the economic and material aspects. Marxist approaches argue the position of historical materialism and make the assumption that the economic concerns transcend others; allowing for the elevation of class as the focus of study. Marxists view the international system as an integrated capitalist system in pursuit of capital accumulation. A sub-discipline of Marxist IR is Critical Security Studies. Gramscian approaches rely on the ideas of Italian Antonio Gramsci whose writings concerned the hegemony that capitalism holds as an ideology. Marxist approaches have also inspired Critical Theorists such as Robert W. Cox who argues that 'Theory is always for someone and for some purpose'.[35]
One notable Marxist approach to international relations theory is Immanuel Wallerstein'sWorld-system theory which can be traced back to the ideas expressed by Lenin in Imperialism: The Highest Stage of capitalism. World-system theory argues that globalized capitalism has created a core of modern industrialized countries which exploit a periphery of exploited 'Third World' countries. These ideas were developed by the Latin American Dependency School. 'Neo-Marxist' or 'New Marxist' approaches have returned to the writings of Karl Marx for their inspiration. Key 'New Marxists' include Justin Rosenberg and Benno Teschke. Marxist approaches have enjoyed a renaissance since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
Criticisms of Marxists approaches to international relations theory include the narrow focus on material and economic aspects of life.
Feminism[edit]
Feminist approaches to international relations became popular in the early 1990s. Such approaches emphasize that women's experiences continue to be excluded from the study of international relations.[36] International Relations Feminists who argue that gender relations are integral to international relations focus on the role of diplomatic wives and marital relationship that facilitate sex trafficking. Early feminist IR approaches were part of the 'Third Great Debate' between positivists and post-positivists. They argued against what they saw as the positivism and state-centrism of mainstream international relations. J. Ann Tickner argues that these approaches did not describe what a feminist perspective on world politics would look like.[37]
The feminist international relations scholar Jacqui True differentiates between empirical feminism, analytical feminism and normative feminism. Empirical feminism sees women and gender relations as empirical aspects of international relations.[38] It is argued that mainstream international relations emphasis on anarchy and statecraft mean that areas of study that make the reproduction of the state system possible are marginalized.[39] Analytical feminism claims that the theoretical framework of international relations has a gender bias. Here gender refers not to the 'biological' differences between men and women but the social constructs of masculine and feminine identity.[38] It is claimed that in mainstream international relations masculinity is associated with objectivity. Analytical feminists would see neo-realism's dislike of domestic explanations for explaining interstate behaviour as an example of this bias. Normative feminist sees theorizing as part of an agenda for change.
Criticisms of feminist international relations theory include its portrayal of women in developing countries.[40]
Feminist International Relations is sometimes oversimplified into a women's issue or simply a need to 'add women and stir'. 'Masculinities, IR and the 'gender variable': a cost-benefit analysis for (sympathetic) gender sceptics', an article by Charlotte Hooper, makes the case that looking at international relations through a gendered lens is important for all genders. The article illustrates that the hyper-masculinity used in international relations has a negative impact on all genders. It privileges only a certain kind of man, forcing all others to fit into the constraints of one vision of masculinity. Hooper also argues that this gendered lens requires a complete overhaul of traditional methods, rather than just adding women to the study. 'In order to investigate the intersections between gender identities and international relations, one cannot rely on approaches which would take gender identities as 'givens' or as independent, externally derived variables'.[41] Traditional methods do not meet the needs of men or women. They attempt to reduce our needs to security, failing to take into account class, education level, gender, or experience. Hooper argues that traditional studies of international relations are causing us to miss many factors for more than just women and children.
To appeal to sympathetic sceptics, Hooper explains that international relations shapes masculinity in a way that affects us all. To establish this she explains that masculinity and femininity are social constructs that can be influenced by theories and discourse. Hooper turns so called feminist international relations into gendered international relations, which brings in all people and highlights the importance of new methods to the field. Genders just like class, ethnicity, age, etc. can help inform our understanding of how people and nations act and if we ignore the range of masculinities and femininities we are only working with half the puzzle. The system that Feminist International Relations is trying to subvert affects us all and influences many of our traditional theories. Hooper offers the example of war which has shaped the male body; it has created men as takers of life and women as givers of it.[41] We proceed to tell men they simply have more natural aggression. Hooper also illustrates the ways masculinity, like femininity, has been influenced by colonization. The hierarchy formed by colonization labels Asians as effeminate, Africans as savage and white men as the proper balance at the top the hierarchy. War and colonialism still influence international relations to a large extent.
Green theory[edit]
Green theory in international relations is a sub-field of international relations theory which concerns international environmental cooperation.
Alternative approaches[edit]
Several alternative approaches have been developed based on foundationalism, anti-foundationalism, positivism, behaviouralism, structuralism and post-structuralism. These theories however are not widely known.
Behaviouralism in international relations theory is an approach to international relations theory which believes in the unity of science, the idea that the social sciences are not fundamentally different from the natural sciences.[42]
English School[edit]
The 'English School' of international relations theory, also known as International Society, Liberal Realism, Rationalism or the British institutionalists, maintains that there is a 'society of states' at the international level, despite the condition of 'anarchy', i.e., the lack of a ruler or world state. Despite being called the English School many of the academics from this school were neither English nor from the United Kingdom.
A great deal of the work of the English School concerns the examination of traditions of past international theory, casting it, as Martin Wight did in his 1950s-era lectures at the London School of Economics, into three divisions:
- Realist or Hobbesian (after Thomas Hobbes)
- Rationalist (or Grotian, after Hugo Grotius)
- Revolutionist (or Kantian, after Immanuel Kant)
In broad terms, the English School itself has supported the rationalist or Grotian tradition, seeking a middle way (or via media) between the power politics of realism and the 'utopianism' of revolutionism. The English School reject behavioralist approaches to international relations theory. The international relations theories have become a typical learning of the fundamental insight and origin of international relations.
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Functionalism[edit]
Functionalism is a theory of international relations that arose principally from the experience of European integration. Rather than the self-interest that realists see as a motivating factor, functionalists focus on common interests shared by states. Integration develops its own internal dynamic: as states integrate in limited functional or technical areas, they increasingly find that momentum for further rounds of integration in related areas. This 'invisible hand' of integration phenomenon is termed 'spillover'. Although integration can be resisted, it becomes harder to stop integration's reach as it progresses. This usage, and the usage in functionalism in international relations, is the less common meaning of functionalism.
More commonly, however, functionalism is an argument that explains phenomena as functions of a system rather than an actor or actors. Immanuel Wallerstein employed a functionalist theory when he argued that the Westphalian international political system arose to secure and protect the developing international capitalist system. His theory is called 'functionalist' because it says that an event was a function of the preferences of a system and not the preferences of an agent. Functionalism is different from structural or realist arguments in that while both look to broader, structural causes, realists (and structuralists more broadly) say that the structure gives incentives to agents, while functionalists attribute causal power to the system itself, bypassing agents entirely.
Post-structuralism[edit]
Post-structuralism differs from most other approaches to international politics because it does not see itself as a theory, school or paradigm which produces a single account of the subject matter. Instead, post-structuralism is an approach, attitude, or ethos that pursues critique in particular way. Post-structuralism sees critique as an inherently positive exercise that establishes the conditions of possibility for pursuing alternatives. It states that 'Every understanding of international politics depends upon abstraction, representation and interpretation'. Scholars associated with post-structuralism in international relations include Richard K. Ashley, James Der Derian, Michael J. Shapiro, R. B. J. Walker, and Lene Hansen.
Post-modernism[edit]
Post-modernist approaches to international relations are critical of metanarratives and denounces traditional IR's claims to truth and neutrality.[43]
Postcolonialism[edit]
Postcolonial International relations scholarship posits a critical theory approach to International relations (IR), and is a non-mainstream area of international relations scholarship. Post-colonialism focuses on the persistence of colonial forms of power and the continuing existence of racism in world politics.[44]
Evolutionary perspectives[edit]
Evolutionary perspectives, such as from evolutionary psychology, have been argued to help explain many features of international relations.[45] Humans in the ancestral environment did not live in states and likely rarely had interactions with groups outside of a very local area. However, a variety of evolved psychological mechanisms, in particular those for dealing with inter group interactions, are argued to influence current international relations. These include evolved mechanisms for social exchange, cheating and detecting cheating, status conflicts, leadership, ingroup and outgroup distinction and biases, coalitions, and violence. Evolutionary concepts such as inclusive fitness may help explain seeming limitations of a concept such as egotism which is of fundamental importance to realist and rational choice international relations theories.[46][47]
Neuroscience and IR[edit]
In recent years, with significant advances in neuroscience and neuroimaging tools, IR Theory has benefited from further multidisciplinary contributions. Prof. Nayef Al-Rodhan from Oxford University has argued that neuroscience[48] can significantly advance the IR debate as it brings forward new insights about human nature, which is at the centre of political theory. New tools to scan the human brain, and studies in neurochemistry allow us to grasp what drives divisiveness,[49] conflict, and human nature in general. The theory of human nature in Classical Realism, developed long before the advent of neuroscience, stressed that egoism and competition were central to human behaviour, to politics and social relations. Evidence from neuroscience, however, provides a more nuanced understanding of human nature, which Prof. Al-Rodhan describes as emotional amoral egoistic. These three features can be summarized as follows: 1. emotionality is more pervasive than rationality and central to decision-making, 2. we are born neither moral, nor immoral but amoral, and circumstances decide how our moral compass will develop, and finally, 3. we are egoistic insofar as we seek to ensure our survival, which is a basic form of egoism. This neurophilosophy of human nature can also be applied to states[50] - similarly to the Realist analogy between the character (and flaws) of man and the state in international politics. Prof Al-Rodhan argues there are significant examples in history and contemporary politics that demonstrate states behave less rationality than IR dogma would have us believe: different strategic cultures, habits,[51]identity politics influence state conduct, geopolitics and diplomacy in profound ways.
Queer and transgender perspectives[edit]
Queer international relations scholarship aims to broaden the scope and method of traditional international relations theory to include sexed and gendered approaches that are often excluded in the discipline at large. While affiliated with feminist theory and gender studies, as well as post-structuralism, queer IR theory is not reducible to any other field of international relations scholarship. Queer international relations theory works to expose the many ways in which sexualities and gender affect international politics. This includes the ways in which queer subjects and practices are disciplined, normalized, or capitalized on by traditional sites of power; how queer identities have often been the focus of domestic and foreign policy in heteronormative states; and how the order-versus-anarchy dichotomy in traditional international relations theory socially manifests itself in normal-versus-perverse and hetero/homo-normative versus queer dichotomies. Queer IR theory takes sites of traditional international relations scholarship (war and peace, international political economy, and state and nation building) as its subjects of study. It also expands its scope and methods beyond those traditionally utilized in Realist IR scholarship. Ontologically, queer IR utilizes a different scope from traditional IR, as it aims to non-monolithically address the needs of various queer groups, including trans-, inter-, cross-, and pan- gendered, sexed, and sexualized bodies. Epistemologically, queer IR explores alternative methodologies to those traditionally used in IR, as it emphasizes the sexual dimension of knowledge within international relations.[52]
Criticism for queer theory in general, and queer international relations in particular, addresses worries of the minimization or exclusion of certain groups. While queer IR incorporates transgender individuals in its expanded scope, some argue its emphasis on sexuality fails to adequately capture transgender experiences. Susan Stryker contests that queer theory’s approach merely treats the ‘T’ in LGBT as another, detached genre of sexual identity, “rather than perceived, like race or class, as something that cuts across existing sexualities, revealing in often unexpected ways the means through which all identities achieve their specificities.” While queer theoretical spaces remain friendly to transgender work, Stryker argues that ‘queer’ often acts as code for ‘gays’ or ‘lesbians,’ implicitly excluding transgender issues by privileging sexual orientations and identities. This leads Stryker to advocate that transgender studies follows its own trajectory.[53]
Laura Sjoberg advocates for allying trans-theorizing and feminist theorizing in IR. She suggests some possible improvements that trans-theorizing may offer for feminist IR theory, which include a more nuanced understanding of gender hierarchy through a pluralist approach to sex, a holistic view of gender that resists viewing gender entirely either as a social construction or as biologically essential, and an increased awareness of gender as involving power relations among different sexes and genders. Additionally, Sjoberg argues, trans-theorizing makes important contributions to traditional IR’s understanding of global politics. Discussions of ‘outness,’ visibility, invisibility, and hypervisibility in transgender theorizing are applicable to questions of identity, relations between individuals and groups, and the enforcement of norms in IR. Additionally, transgender understandings of transition and liminality can fill the gap in traditional IR’s need for an account of change and unrest in the international system. Moreover, talk of “crossing” and “passing” in trans-theorizing may assist in explaining the process, logic, and consequences of states shifting identities. Finally, transgender disidentification, either from exclusionary movements or from their assigned sex, can help in unpacking “the problem of difference” in international relations. As such, Sjoberg advocates for the inclusion of trans-theorizing in feminist IR theory in the interests of improving explanations and understandings of global politics.[54]
Theory in international relations scholarship[edit]
Several IR scholars bemoan what they see as a trend away from IR theory in IR scholarship.[55][56][57][58][59] The September 2013 issue of European Journal of International Relations and the June 2015 issue of Perspectives on Politics debated the state of IR theory.[60][61] A 2016 study showed that while theoretical innovations and qualitative analyses are a large part of graduate training, journals favor middle-range theory, quantitative hypothesis testing and methodology for publishing.[62]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
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- ^Snyder, Jack, 'One World, Rival Theories, Foreign Policy, 145 (November/December 2004), p.55
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- ^E Gartzk, Kant we all just get along? Opportunity, willingness, and the origins of the democratic peace, American Journal of Political Science, 1998
- ^Brian C. Schmidt, The political discourse of anarchy: a disciplinary history of international relations, 1998, p.219
- ^Rosato, Sebastian, The Flawed Logic of Democratic Peace Theory, American Political Science Review, Volume 97, Issue 04, November 2003, pp.585–602
- ^Copeland, Dale, Economic Interdependence and War: A Theory of Trade Expectations, International Security, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Spring, 1996), pp.5–41
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- ^Richmond, Oliver (2011). A Post-Liberal Peace. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN978-0-415-66784-5.
- ^Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy, No. 110, Special Edition: Frontiers of Knowledge. (Spring, 1998), p.41: 'The end of the Cold War played an important role in legitimizing constructivist t realism and liberalism failed to anticipate this event and had trouble explaining it.
- ^Hay, Colin (2002) Political Analysis: A Critical Introduction, Basingstoke: Palgrave, P. 198
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- ^Hopf, Ted, The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory, International Security, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Summer, 1998), p.171
- ^Michael Barnett, 'Social Constructivism' in The Globalisation of World Politics, Baylis, Smith and Owens, 4th ed, OUP, p.162
- ^ abAlder, Emmanuel, Seizing the middle ground, European Journal of International Relations, Vol .3, 1997, p.319
- ^K.M. Ferike, International Relations Theories:Discipline and Diversity, Dunne, Kurki and Smith, OUP, p.167
- ^In international relations ontology refers to the basic unit of analysis that an international relations theory uses. For example for neorealists humans are the basic unit of analysis
- ^'The IR Theory Knowledge Base'. Irtheory.com. 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^Wendt, Alexander, 'Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics' in International Organization, vol. 46, no. 2, 1992
- ^Cox, Robert, Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International Relations TheoryCox Millennium – Journal of International Studies.1981; 10: 126–155
- ^Zalewski, Marysia, 'Do We Understand Each Other Yet? Troubling Feminist Encounters With(in)' British Journal of Politics & International Relations, Volume 9, Issue 2 p.304
- ^Tickner, J. Ann (1997-12-01). 'You Just Don't Understand: Troubled Engagements Between Feminists and IR Theorists'. International Studies Quarterly. 41 (4): 611–632. doi:10.1111/1468-2478.00060. ISSN0020-8833.
- ^ abTrue, Jacqui, 'Feminism' in Theories of International Relations, Scott Burchill et al., 3rd ed, Palgrave, p. 221
- ^Grant, R. and Newland, K. (eds) (1991) Gender and International Relations, (London).
- ^Mohanty, C, (1991) 'Under Western Eyes:Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses' in C. Mohanty, T.A. Russo and L.Torres (ed), Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism, Bloomington
- ^ abHooper, Charlotte (1999). 'Masculinities, IR and the 'gender variable': a cost-benefit analysis for (sympathetic) gender sceptics'(PDF). Review of International Studies. 25 (3): 475–491. doi:10.1017/s0260210599004751.
- ^Jackson, Robert, Sorensen, Georg, “Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches', OUP, 3rd ed, p305
- ^'Archived copy'(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-07-21.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
- ^Baylis, Smith and Owens, The Globalisation of World Politics, OUP, 4th ed, p187-189
- ^McDermott, Rose; Davenport, Christian (2017-01-25). 'Toward an Evolutionary Theory of International Relations'. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001 (inactive 2019-03-15).
- ^Bradley A. Thayer. Darwin and International Relations: On the Evolutionary Origins of War and Ethnic Conflict. 2004. University Press of Kentucky.
- ^Bradley A. Thayer (2010). 'Darwin and International Relations Theory: Improving Theoretical Assumptions of Political Behavior'(PDF). Psa.ac.uk. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2013-03-06. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
Prepared for Presentation at the 60th Political Studies Association Annual Conference Edinburgh, Scotland
- ^'Neuro-philosophy of International Relations | Nayef Al-Rodhan'. Themontrealreview.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^Nayef Al-Rodhan (2016-10-19). 'Us versus Them. How neurophilosophy explains our divided politics - OxPol'. Blog.politics.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^Nayef Al-Rodhan (2016-10-19). 'The emotional amoral egoism of states - OxPol'. Blog.politics.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^Hopf, Ted (2010). 'European Journal of International Relations : The logic of habit in International Relations'. European Journal of International Relations. 16 (4): 539–561. doi:10.1177/1354066110363502.
- ^Weber, Cynthia. “Queer International Relations: From Queer to Queer IR.” International Studies Review 16 (2014). 596–622. Web. March 10. 2015.
- ^Stryker, Susan. “Transgender Studies: Queer Theory’s Evil Twin.” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 10.2 (2004). 212–215. Web. March 21. 2015.
- ^Sjoberg, Laura. “Towards Trans-gendering International Relations?” International Political Sociology 6 (2013). 337–354. Web. April 7. 2015.
- ^Mearsheimer, John J.; Walt, Stephen M. (2013-09-01). 'Leaving theory behind: Why simplistic hypothesis testing is bad for International Relations'. European Journal of International Relations. 19 (3): 427–457. doi:10.1177/1354066113494320. ISSN1354-0661.
- ^Aggarwal, Vinod K. (2010-09-01). 'I Don't Get No Respect:1 The Travails of IPE2'. International Studies Quarterly. 54 (3): 893–895. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2478.2010.00615.x. ISSN1468-2478.
- ^Keohane, Robert O. (2009-02-16). 'The old IPE and the new'. Review of International Political Economy. 16 (1): 34–46. doi:10.1080/09692290802524059. ISSN0969-2290.
- ^Desch, Michael (2015-06-01). 'Technique Trumps Relevance: The Professionalization of Political Science and the Marginalization of Security Studies'. Perspectives on Politics. 13 (2): 377–393. doi:10.1017/S1537592714004022. ISSN1541-0986.
- ^Isaac, Jeffrey C. (2015-06-01). 'For a More Public Political Science'. Perspectives on Politics. 13 (2): 269–283. doi:10.1017/S1537592715000031. ISSN1541-0986.
- ^'Table of Contents — September 2013, 19 (3)'. ejt.sagepub.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ^'Perspectives on Politics Vol. 13 Issue 02'. journals.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ^Colgan, Jeff D. (2016-02-12). 'Where Is International Relations Going? Evidence from Graduate Training'. International Studies Quarterly. 60 (3): 486–498. doi:10.1093/isq/sqv017. ISSN0020-8833.
Further reading[edit]
- Baylis, John; Steve Smith; and Patricia Owens. (2008) The Globalisation of World Politics, OUP, 4th edition.
- Braumoeller, Bear. (2013) The Great Powers and the International System: Systemic Theory in Empirical Perspective. Cambridge University Press.
- Burchill, et al. eds. (2005) Theories of International Relations, 3rd edition, Palgrave, ISBN1-4039-4866-6
- Chernoff, Fred. Theory and Meta-Theory in International Relations: Concepts and Contending Accounts, Palgrave Macmillan.
- Guilhot Nicolas, ed. (2011) The Invention of International Relations Theory: Realism, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the 1954 Conference on Theory.
- Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society, Columbia University Press.
- Jackson, Robert H., and Georg Sørensen (2013) Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches, Oxford, OUP, 5th ed.
- Morgenthau, Hans. Politics Among Nations
- Pettman, Ralph (2010) World Affairs. An Analytical Overview, World Scientific Publishing Company, ISBN9814293873.
- Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics
- Waltz, Kenneth. Man, the State, and War, Columbia University Press.
- Weber, Cynthia. (2004) International Relations Theory. A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition, Taylor & Francis, ISBN0-415-34208-2
- Wendt, Alexander. Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge University Press.
External links[edit]
- Theory Talks Interviews with key IR theorists
- Jack Snyder's 'One World, Rival Theories' in Foreign Policy
- Stephen Walt's 'One World, Many Theories' in Foreign Policy
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International relations, the study of the relations of states with each other and with international organizations and certain subnational entities (e.g., bureaucracies, political parties, and interest groups). It is related to a number of other academic disciplines, including political science, geography, history, economics, law, sociology, psychology, and philosophy.
Historical development
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The field of international relations emerged at the beginning of the 20th century largely in the West and in particular in the United States as that country grew in power and influence. Whereas the study of international relations in the newly founded Soviet Union and later in communist China was stultified by officially imposed Marxist ideology, in the West the field flourished as the result of a number of factors: a growing demand to find less-dangerous and more-effective means of conducting relations between peoples, societies, governments, and economies; a surge of writing and research inspired by the belief that systematic observation and inquiry could dispel ignorance and serve human betterment; and the popularization of political affairs, including foreign affairs. The traditional view that foreign and military matters should remain the exclusive preserve of rulers and other elites yielded to the belief that such matters constituted an important concern and responsibility of all citizens. This increasing popularization of international relations reinforced the idea that general education should include instruction in foreign affairs and that knowledge should be advanced in the interests of greater public control and oversight of foreign and military policy.
This new perspective was articulated by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson (1913–21) in his program for relations between the Great Powers following a settlement of World War I. The first of his Fourteen Points, as his program came to be known, was a call for “open covenants of peace, openly arrived at” in place of the secret treaties that were believed to have contributed to the outbreak of the war. The extreme devastation caused by the war strengthened the conviction among political leaders that not enough was known about international relations and that universities should promote research and teaching on issues related to international cooperation and war and peace.
International relations scholarship prior to World War I was conducted primarily in two loosely organized branches of learning: diplomatic history and international law. Involving meticulous archival and other primary-source research, diplomatic history emphasized the uniqueness of international events and the methods of diplomacy as it was actually conducted. International law—especially the law of war—had a long history in international relations and was viewed as the source of fundamental normative standards of international conduct. The emergence of international relations was to broaden the scope of international law beyond this traditional focal point.
What Is International Relations
Between the two world wars
During the 1920s new centres, institutes, schools, and university departments devoted to teaching and research in international relations were created in Europe and North America. In addition, private organizations promoting the study of international relations were formed, and substantial philanthropic grants were made to support scholarly journals, to sponsor training institutes, conferences, and seminars, and to stimulate university research.
Three subject areas initially commanded the most attention, each having its roots in World War I. During the revolutionary upheavals at the end of the war, major portions of the government archives of imperial Russia and imperial Germany were opened, making possible some impressive scholarly work in diplomatic history that pieced together the unknown history of prewar alliances, secret diplomacy, and military planning. These materials were integrated to provide detailed explanations of the origins of World War I. Among such works several are particularly noteworthy, including Sidney Bradshaw Fay’s meticulous The Origins of the World War (1928), which explored prewar diplomacy and alliance systems; Bernadotte E. Schmitt’s The Coming of the War, 1914 (1930) and Triple Alliance and Triple Entente (1934); Pierre Renouvin’s The Immediate Origins of the War (1928); Winston Churchill’s The World Crisis (1923–29); and Arnold J. Toynbee’s The World After the Peace Conference (1925). There also were extensive memoirs and volumes of published documents that provided much material for diplomatic historians and other international relations scholars.
The newly created League of Nations, which ushered in the hope and expectation that a new and peaceful world order was at hand, was a second subject that captured significant attention. Some of the international relations schools that were founded in the interwar period were explicitly created to prepare civil servants for what was expected to be the dawning age of international government. Accordingly, intensive study was devoted to the genesis and organization of the league, the history of earlier plans for international federations, and the analysis of the problems and procedures of international organization and international law.
The third focal point of international relations scholarship during the early part of the interwar period was an offshoot of the peace movement and was concerned primarily with understanding the causes and costs of war, as well as its political, sociological, economic, and psychological dimensions. Interest in the question “Why war?” also brought a host of social scientists, including economists, sociologists, psychologists, and even mathematicians—all of whom were pioneers in the intellectual movement known as behaviourism—into active participation in international studies for the first time.
In the 1930s the breakdown of the League of Nations, the rise of aggressive dictatorships in Italy, Germany, and Japan, and the onset of World War II produced a strong reaction against international government and against peace-inspired topics in the study of international relations. The moralidealisminherent in these topics was criticized as unrealistic and impractical, and the academic study of international relations came to be regarded as the handiwork of starry-eyed peace visionaries who ignored the hard facts of international politics. In particular, scholars of international relations were criticized for suggesting standards of international conduct that bore little resemblance to the real behaviour of nations up to that time. As the desired world of peaceful conflict resolution and adherence to international law grew more distant from the existing world of aggressive dictatorships, a new approach to the study of international relations, known as realism, increasingly dominated the field. Nevertheless, the scholarly work on world affairs of the early interwar period, despite the decline in its reputation and influence, was extensive and sound, encompassing the collection and organization of large amounts of important data and the development of some fundamental concepts.
Some topics of study in international relations that are still considered novel or of recent origin were already being vigorously explored in the interwar period. Indeed, a brief review of these topics tends to undermine the image of the interwar period as one dominated by moralistic ideas. The topics include the causes of wars; the relationship between international affairs and the problems of racial and ethnic minorities; the effects of population change on foreign policies; the effects of nationalism, imperialism, and colonialism; the strategic aspects of international relations, including the importance of geographic location and spatial relationships (geopolitics) for military power and the influence on governments of what later was called the “military-industrial complex”; the implications of economic inequalities between countries; and the role of public opinion, national differences, and cultural orientation in world affairs. Although these earlier studies tended to be somewhat short on theory and long on description, most of the topics examined remain relevant in the 21st century.
The scholarly contributions of some individuals in the 1930s were particularly noteworthy because they foreshadowed the development of international relations studies after World War II. Harold D. Lasswell, for example, explored the relationships between world politics and the psychological realm of symbols, perceptions, and images; Abram Kardiner and his associates laid the groundwork for an approach, based on a branch of anthropology known as culture-and-personality studies, that later became a popular but short-lived theory of international relations; Frederick L. Schuman, setting a style that is still followed by interpreters of foreign policy and by journalists, synthesized analytic commentary with accounts of current international events; Quincy Wright investigated numerous aspects of international behaviour and war as head of one of the first team research projects in international relations; and E.H. Carr, Brooks Emeny, Carl J. Friedrich, Schuman, Harold Sprout, Nicholas Spykman, and others developed the main lines of what became the “power-politics” explanation of international relations, also known as realism. In 1937 the Spanish poet, historian, philosopher, and diplomat Salvador de Madariaga, founder of the College of Europe, relied upon his experience in working with the League of Nations Secretariat in Geneva to describe the gap between what was being said or written about international relations and what was actually happening.
The broadened definition and scope of the study of international relations were among the fundamental contributions of scholars of the interwar period. Many of these innovators were enlisted by governments during World War II for work in intelligence and propaganda, as well as other aspects of wartime planning. In this respect the war stimulated systematic social-scientific investigations of international phenomena. It also led to important technological advances—notably the computer—that would later have a major impact on the study of international relations.
In other ways World War II was a divide for academic international relations. The war itself brought about a drastic change in the agenda of world politics, and the postwar intellectual climate was characterized by a marked shift away from many earlier interests, emphases, and problems. In the early postwar years there was a quest for analyses that would cut through the details of studies of myriad international topics to produce a general understanding of common elements and a clear view of the fundamental nature of international politics. There was also a growing interest in developing theories that could help to explain the major issues of the changing international scene. New security issues emerged, including the issue of nuclear weapons, which led to extensive writings on deterrence as a basis of strategic stability. Bernard Brodie’streatise on nuclear deterrence was highly influential, as was the work of Herman Kahn, Glenn Snyder, Thomas C. Schelling, Henry A. Kissinger, and Albert Wohlstetter. Other issues that were addressed in the vast literature of international relations include international, and especially European, integration; alliances and alignment, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); ideologies; foreign-policy decision making; theories about conflict and war; the study of low-intensity conflict; crisis management; international organizations; and the foreign policies of the increasing number of states that became part of the international system in the mid- to late 20th century.
The postwar ascendancy of realism
Hans J. Morgenthau’s Politics Among Nations (1948) helped to meet the need for a general theoretical framework. Not only did it become one of the most extensively used textbooks in the United States and Britain—it continued to be republished over the next half century—it also was an essential exposition of the realist theory of international relations. Numerous other contributors to realist theory emerged in the decade or so after World War II, including Arnold Wolfers, George F. Kennan, Robert Strausz-Hupé, Kissinger, and the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.
Although there are many variations of realism, all of them make use of the core concepts of national interest and the struggle for power. According to realism, states exist within an anarchic international system in which they are ultimately dependent on their own capabilities, or power, to further their national interests. The most important national interest is the survival of the state, including its people, political system, and territorial integrity. Other major interests for realists include preservation of the culture and the economy. Realists contend that, as long as the world is divided into nation-states in an anarchic setting, national interest will remain the essence of international politics. The struggle for power is part of human nature and takes essentially two forms: collaboration and competition. Collaboration occurs when parties find that their interests coincide (e.g., when they form alliances or coalitions designed to maximize their collective power, usually against an adversary). Rivalry, competition, and conflict result from the clash of national interests that is characteristic of the anarchic system. Accommodation between states is possible through skillful political leadership, which includes the prioritizing of national goals in order to limit conflicts with other states.
In an international system composed of sovereign states, the survival of both the states and the system depends on the intelligent pursuit of national interests and the accurate calculation of national power. Realists caution that messianic religious and ideological crusades can obscure core national interests and threaten the survival of individual states and the international system itself. Such crusades included, for Morgenthau, the pursuit of global communism or global democracy, each of which would inevitably clash with the other or with other competing ideologies. The attempt to reform countries toward the ideal of universal trust and cooperation, according to realists, runs counter to human nature, which is inclined toward competition, conflict, and war.
Realist theory emerged in the decade after World War II as a response to idealism, which generally held that policy makers should refrain from immoral or illegal actions in world affairs. As no impressive new formulation of political idealism appeared on the international scene to reply to realist theory, the debate between realism and idealism gradually faded, only to be revived in a somewhat different form in the final decades of the 20th century in the disagreement between neoliberal institutionalists and neorealist structuralists.
Many international relations scholars neither rejected nor embraced realism but instead were engrossed in other aspects of the broadening agenda of international relations studies. Beginning in the 1950s, as the United States became more fully engaged in world affairs, the U.S. government made large sums of money available for the development of area studies, especially studies of regions that were important in the intensifying Cold War with the Soviet Union. In order to understand the major forces and trends shaping countries such as the Soviet Union and China or the regions extending from Africa to Northeast Asia, the United States needed to recruit greater numbers of specialists in the histories, politics, cultures, economies, languages, and literature of such areas; the Soviet Union did likewise. Theoretical concerns generally played a marginal role in the growth of area specialization in the West. Although many scholars agreed with Morgenthau’s statement that theory and research should have a “concern with human nature as it actually is, and with the historic processes as they actually take place,” they did not uniformly believe that realism was capable of providing an adequate explanation of international behaviour.
The behavioral approach and the task of integration
In the 1950s an important development in the social sciences, including the study of international relations, was the arrival of new concepts and methodologies that were loosely identified in ensemble as behavioral theory. This general approach, which emphasized narrowly focused quantitative studies designed to obtain precise results, created a wide-ranging controversy between theorists who believed that the social sciences should emulate as much as possible the methodologies of the physical sciences and those who held that such an approach is fundamentally unsound. In addition, the great number of new topics investigated at the time—including cognition, conflict resolution, decision making, deterrence, development, the environment, game theory, economic and political integration, and systems analysis—provoked some anxiety that the discipline would collapse into complete conceptual and methodological chaos. Accordingly, much of the intellectual effort of the mid-1950s to mid-1960s—the so-called “behavioral decade”—went into the task of comparing, interpreting, and integrating various concepts from new areas of study, and the scholarly goal of the period was to link theories, or to connect so-called “islands of theory,” into a greater, more comprehensive theory of international relations.
This task proved to be a difficult one. Indeed, some scholars began to question the necessity—or even the possibility—of arriving at a single theory that would explain all the varied, diverse, and complex facets of international relations. Instead, these researchers suggested that a number of separate theories would be needed.
At the same time, theories that trace the forces of international relations to a single source were increasingly viewed as unsatisfactory. The struggle for power, for example, was accepted as a fact in past and current international politics, but attempts to make all other factors subordinate to or dependent upon power were thought to exclude too much of what is important and interesting in international relations. Similar assessments were made of the theory that asserts that the character of a nation—and hence the character of its participation in international relations—is determined by its child-rearing practices, as well as of the Marxist theory that international relations are solely the historical expression of class struggle.
The general attitude of the behavioral decade was that the facts of international relations are multidimensional and therefore have multiple causes. This conclusion supported, and in turn was supported by, the related view that an adequate account of these facts could not be provided in a single integrated theory and that multiple separate theories were required instead. By the 1960s, for example, studies of international conflict had come to encompass a number of different perspectives, including the realist theory of the struggle for power between states and the Marxist notion of global class conflict, as well as other explanations. At the same time, conflict theory coexisted with economic and political integration theory and game theory, each of which approached the phenomena of international conflict from a distinct perspective.
In keeping with the multiple-theory approach, by the end of the behavioral decade there was a growing consensus that the study of international relations should encompass both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Whereas quantitative methodologies were recognized as useful for measuring and comparing international phenomena and identifying common features and patterns of behaviour, qualitative analyses, by focusing on one case or a comparison of cases involving specific research questions, hypotheses, or categories, were thought to provide a deeper understanding of what is unique about political leaders, nations, and important international events such as World War II and the Cold War.
The use of quantitative analysis in international relations studies increased significantly in the decades after the 1960s. This was a direct result of advances in computertechnology, both in the collection and retrieval of information and in the analysis of data. When computers were introduced in international relations studies, it was not readily apparent how best to exploit the new technology, partly because most earlier studies of international relations were set forth in narrative or literary form and partly because many of the phenomena examined were not easily quantifiable. Nevertheless, exploratory quantitative studies were undertaken in a number of directions. A growing body of studies, for example, developed correlations between phenomena such as alliances and the outbreak or deterrence of war, between levels of political integration and levels of trade, communication, and mobility of populations, between levels of economic development and internal political stability, and between levels of internal violence and participation in international conflicts.
The later 20th century
Foreign policy and international systems
The influence of behaviourism helped to organize the various theories of international relations and the discipline into essentially two principal parts, or perspectives: the foreign-policy perspective and the international-system-analysis perspective. Within each of these perspectives there developed various theories. The foreign-policy perspective, for example, encompasses theories about the behaviour of individual states or categories of states such as democracies or totalitarian dictatorships, and the international-system-analysis perspective encompasses theories of the interactions between states and how the number of states and their respective capabilities affect their relations with each other. The foreign-policy perspective also includes studies of the traits, structures, or processes within a national society or polity that determine or influence how that society or polity participates in international relations. One such study, known as the decision-making approach, analyzes the information that decision makers use, their perceptions and motivations, the influence on their behaviour of public opinion, the organizational settings in which they operate, and their intellectual, cultural, and societal backgrounds. Studies that analyze the relations between the wealth, power, or technological level of a state and its international status and role provide other illustrations of the foreign-policy perspective.
Comparative foreign-policy analysis first appeared during the mid-1960s. By comparing the domestic sources of external conduct in different countries, using standard criteria of data selection and analysis, this approach seeks to develop generalized accounts of foreign-policy performance, including theories that explore the relationship between the type of domestic-external linkage a country displays and its political and economic system and level of social development. Some research also has explored the extent to which certain patterns of behaviour, such as violent demonstrations or protests, may spread from one state to another.
Whereas foreign-policy analysis concentrates on the units of the international system, international-system analysis is concerned with the structure of the system, the interactions between its units, and the implications for peace and war, or cooperation and conflict, of the existence of different types of states. The term interactions suggests challenge and response, give and take, move and countermove, or inputs and outputs. Diplomatic histories feature narratives of action and response in international situations and attempt to interpret the meanings of the exchanges. Balance-of-power theory, which asserts that states act to protect themselves by forming alliances against powerful states or coalitions of states, is another example of the international-system perspective. Still other examples include explanations and descriptions of bargaining in international negotiations and studies of arms races and other escalating action-reaction processes.
The general-system perspective
The so-called general-system perspective on international relations, which attempts to develop a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the relations between states, may be compared to the map of a little-explored continent. Outlines, broad features, and a continental delineation are not in question, but everything else remains in doubt, is subject to controversy, and awaits exploration. The Russian-born mathematician and biologist Anatol Rapoport once remarked that general-system theory is not really a theory but instead “a program or a direction in the contemporary philosophy of science.”
The concept of a system can be used to study patterns of interaction within and between units of foreign-policy decision making; by exploring such patterns, one can determine how foreign policies are formulated and how states or other units interact with or are related to each other, as opposed to how they interact with outside units. The members of a family, for example, interact with each other in ways that clearly differ from the ways in which they interact with other persons, such as colleagues in a place of employment or fellow members of a church. Although systems are definable in terms of units that exhibit certain patterns of interaction with each other, there also may be interaction between a system and its subsystems. A national political system, for example, may interact with subsystems such as interest groups, the media, or public opinion.
Systems and subsystems exist in a hierarchical setting. A department is a subsystem of a corporation, for example, just as a corporation is a subsystem of an industry. In international relations states are considered subsystems, or components, of the entire international system. In analyzing the international system, researchers often posit distinct political, economic, cultural, and social subsystems.
Although interactions between states have varied over time, by the latter decades of the 20th century they had become global in scope and unprecedented in their number and in the types of actors they involved. The volume, velocity, and types of interaction had expanded to include not only the greater movement of people but also trade, investment, ideas, and information—all of which were shaped by technology.
Structures, institutions, and levels of analysis
Since the 1970s the study of international relations has been marked by a renewed debate about the relationship between structures and institutions in international systems. On one side of the controversy was a revival of the school of realism, known as neorealism, which emerged with the publication of Kenneth Waltz’sTheory of International Politics in 1979. Neorealism represented an effort to inject greater precision, or conceptual rigour, into realist theory. While retaining power as a central explanatory notion, Waltz’s neorealism also incorporated the idea of structure as it is reflected in alliances and other cooperative arrangements among states of varying sizes, strengths, and capabilities. A bipolar system, for example, is a structure in which two states are dominant and the remaining states are allied with one or the other dominant state. According to Waltz and other neorealists, the structure of the international system limits the foreign-policy options available to states and influences international institutions in important ways. The United Nations (UN), for example, mirrors the structure of the existing international system insofar as it is dominated by leading powers such as the permanent members of the Security Council. Changes in international structure, including the rise of new powers, eventually lead to changes within international institutions. Thus, some neorealists have suggested that the Security Council’s permanent membership will eventually be expanded to include countries such as Germany, India, Japan, and others.
On the other side of the structures-institutions debate have been the neoliberal institutionalists, who contend that institutions matter beyond simply reflecting or codifying the power structure of the international system. Although neoliberal institutionalists accept the realist conception of states as the principal actors in a fundamentally anarchic environment, they argue that state behaviour can be modified by interaction with international institutions such as the European Union (EU), NATO, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the UN. Such interaction, they contend, reduces the long-term potential for international conflict.
Although neorealist structuralists and neoliberal institutionalists generally agree that international cooperation is possible, neorealists are much more skeptical of its chances for long-term success. According to neorealist logic, NATO should have dissolved in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the bipolar structure that had led to its formation. Instead, NATO was transformed in the decade following the end of the Cold War, taking on new tasks and responsibilities. This contradiction may be apparent, however, only because such adaptation can be viewed as reinforcing the neorealist thesis that institutions reflect the existing international structure: when that structure changes, they must change accordingly if they are to survive. Thus, NATO was able to survive because it underwent a transformation. At the same time, NATO’s adaptation reflects the neoliberal-institutionalist contention that international organizations can modify national interests through the process of cooperation. Thus, NATO countries have altered their policies to take account of the needs of other members, and potential members have undergone rigorous internal reform in order to qualify for membership. Consequently, each theory appears to offer useful insights, and both together can form the basis of a unified approach to the relationship between structures and institutions.
Central to neorealist structural theory is the levels-of-analysis question—i.e., the question of whether international inquiry should be focused at the individual, state, international-system, or other level. Introduced in the 1950s as part of an attempt to make research in international relations more scientific, the levels-of-analysis question provided a conceptual basis for addressing issues such as the effect of structure (bipolar or multipolar) on the behaviour of states or other units. At the same time, it offered a means of distinguishing between different sources of explanation and different objects of analysis. Thus, assuming that the international system shapes the options available to states as actors, it is plausible to suggest that the way in which decision makers respond to such options depends on how they perceive them and on the related opportunities and constraints created by domestic-level forces. In the 1980s this perspective was reflected in the burgeoning literature on “democratic peace theory,” an approach that President Wilson undoubtedly had in mind when he called on Congress to support an effort “to make the world safe for democracy.” Democratic peace theorists appealed to the internal characteristics of democratic states in order to explain why democracies tend not to fight each other. According to them, the peaceful norms that democratic states have developed for resolving differences with each other are an outgrowth of their domestic traditions of law and order, compromise, due process, protection of individual rights—including property rights and the right to freedom of speech—and an independent judiciary. In The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919–1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations (1939), E.H. Carr contended that individuals’ interest in the creation of a peaceful world could determine the foreign policies of democracies. A world constituted entirely of democracies, according to this view, would be peaceful.
By the late 1990s neorealist structuralist theory had been supplemented, in what was termed neoclassical realist theory, by explorations of the implications of structure, not just at the international-system level but also at the state level and within the state at the individual and group levels. Realist theory continued to be marked by major disagreements, however, a situation that supporters claimed was a reflection of rich intellectual resources and that detractors cited as an indication of fractured conceptual foundations. In any event, the contemporary effort to update, refine, and broaden realist theory, as well as the ongoing debate between neorealism and neoliberalism, may represent a trend toward a synthesis of the various realist schools of thought.
Recent perspectives
Constructivism
In the late 20th century the study of international relations was increasingly influenced by constructivism. According to this approach, the behaviour of humans is determined by their identity, which itself is shaped by society’s values, history, practices, and institutions. Constructivists hold that all institutions, including the state, are socially constructed, in the sense that they reflect an “intersubjective consensus” of shared beliefs about political practice, acceptable social behaviour, and values. In much the same way, the individual members of the state or other unit continuously construct the reality about which policy decisions, including decisions about war and peace and conflict and cooperation, are made.
Some constructivists contend that gender is socially constructed. On the basis of this thesis, feminist theories of international relations have attempted to address the fundamental question of the extent to which gender-based role differentiation is socially rather than biologically determined. In so doing, they have sought to answer questions such as: Are men more prone than women to aggressive, warlike behaviour? If gender roles are socially constructed, then according to feminist theory it would be possible to reduce male aggressiveness by changing beliefs or values regarding what it is to be male. On the other hand, if aggression is the product of male biology, then such change becomes impossible, or at least considerably more difficult.
Part of the newer intellectual landscape in the study of international relations is formed by postmodernism and critical theory. According to postmodernism, the international structures posited in realist and other international relations theory are social constructions that reflect a worldview that serves the interests of elites. Critical theory was developed from the 1920s by the Frankfurt School of social and political philosophers, especially Jürgen Habermas and Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979). For critical theory the essential issue is how to emancipate human beings from social institutions and practices that oppress them. Although inspired by Marxism, critical theorists recognize forms of domination other than class domination, including those based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, and nationalism. Because each of these forms has been in abundant evidence in the global landscape, critical theory was thought to provide important insights into the study of international relations at the start of the 21st century.
International political economy
Nothing is more illustrative of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of international relations inquiry than the nexus between economic and political factors. Although politics and economics have been studied separately for analytic purposes and as academic disciplines, and although each has its own paradigms, theories, and methodologies, it has long been recognized that economic factors shape political decisions, just as political factors may have a decisive influence on economic choices. Writings on political economy proliferated from the rise of the modern state in the mid-17th century until the mid-19th century. Much of the literature emphasized mercantilism, the notion that economic activity is, or should be, subservient to the interests of the state. Influenced by the work of Adam Smith (1723–90), David Ricardo (1772–1823), Richard Cobden (1804–65), and John Stuart Mill (1806–73), political economists of this period developed a fundamentally different approach, known as economic liberalism, that held that a system of free trade supported by government policies of laissez-faire would lead to economic growth and expanded trade and make an important contribution to international peace. In the latter 19th century a third approach, based on the writings of Karl Marx, argued that an increasingly poor proletariat and an increasingly affluentbourgeoisie would eventually clash in a violent revolution resulting in the overthrow of the latter, the destruction of capitalism, and the emergence of communism.
Each of these sharply differing approaches has left its imprimatur on contemporary theories of international political economy. The earlier mercantilist approach influenced contemporary economic nationalism, which is characterized by several important assumptions: (1) states cannot remain powerful in an anarchic setting without a strong economy, (2) economic strength must be preserved by protecting key industries and jobs, (3) such protectionism may require tariffs and governmental subsidies, (4) low-priced imports may threaten domestic jobs and industry, (5) the state can and should remain sovereign in economic matters, and (6) membership in international economic organizations such as the WTO and agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement may have adverse consequences for national strength.
Contemporary economic liberalism shares with classical liberalism the contention that the only way a state can maximize economic growth is by allowing markets to operate free from government intervention. They maintain that tariffs—which have the effect of distorting the allocation of resources, production, and trade—restrict economic growth and should be abolished. Accordingly, they support the creation and expansion of regional and international free-trade organizations. Citing Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage and earlier ideas of Smith, they also argue that national specialization is essential to world prosperity because it entails that countries will produce only those goods and services they are best equipped to make, which thus maximizes overall efficiency and minimizes overall costs. More generally, liberals maintain that the basic units of the global economy are now so closely integrated that efforts on the part of states to restrict trade with other countries are bound to fail. Debate between economic nationalists and liberals centres on the extent to which the state, even if it can do so, should halt or reverse the forces leading to economic globalization.
The third basic contemporary approach to international political economy is rooted in Marxism, though the collapse of nearly all states with Marxist economies greatly undermined Marxist-inspired theories of international relations. Focusing on the relationship between wealthy states and impoverished ones, this approach, known as dependency theory, rejects the assumption that capitalism is the best means of economic development for impoverished states and instead argues that participation in international capitalism by poorer countries traps them in relationships of dependency and subordination to wealthier states.
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Liberalism is a school of thought within international relations theory which can be thought to revolve around three interrelated principles:
- Rejection of power politics as the only possible outcome of international relations; it questions security/warfare principles of realism
- It accentuates mutual benefits and international cooperation
- It implements international organizations and nongovernmental actors for shaping state preferences and policy choices[1]
This school of thought emphasizes three factors that encourage more cooperation and less conflict among states:
- International institutions, such as the United Nations, who provide a forum to resolve disputes in a non-violent way
- International trade because when countries' economies are interconnected through trade they are less likely to go to war with each other
- Spread of democracy as well-established democracies do not go to war with one another, so if there are more democracies, interstate war will be less frequent
Liberals believe that international institutions play a key role in cooperation among states.[2] With the correct international institutions, and increasing interdependence (including economic and cultural exchanges) states have the opportunity to reduce conflict.[3] Interdependence has three main components. States interact in various ways, through economic, financial, and cultural means; security tends to not be the primary goal in state-to-state interactions; and military forces are not typically used.[2] Liberals also argue that international diplomacy can be a very effective way to get states to interact with each other honestly and support nonviolent solutions to problems.[4] With the proper institutions and diplomacy, Liberals believe that states can work together to maximize prosperity and minimize conflict.[5]
Liberalism is one of the main schools of international relations theory. Liberalism comes from the Latinliber meaning 'free', referred originally to the philosophy of freedom.[6] Its roots lie in the broader liberal thought originating in the Enlightenment. The central issues that it seeks to address are the problems of achieving lasting peace and cooperation in international relations, and the various methods that could contribute to their achievement.
Supporters of liberalism often believe in the spreading of democracy through cooperation.
- 2History
Areas of study[edit]
Broad areas of study within liberal international relations theory include:
- The democratic peace theory, and, more broadly, the effect of domestic political regime types and domestic politics on international relations;[7][8]
- The commercial peace theory, arguing that free trade has pacifying effects on international relations. Current explorations of globalization and interdependence are a broader continuation of this line of inquiry;
- Institutional peace theory, which attempts to demonstrate how cooperation can be sustained in anarchy, how long-term interests can be pursued over short-term interests, and how actors may realize absolute gains instead of seeking relative gains;
- Related, the effect of international organizations on international politics, both in their role as forums for states to pursue their interests, and in their role as actors in their own right;
- The role of international law in moderating or constraining state behavior;
- The effects of liberal norms on international politics, especially relations between liberal states;
- The role of various types of unions in international politics (relations), such as highly institutionalized alliances (e.g. NATO), confederations, leagues, federations, and evolving entities like the European Union; and,
- The role, or potential role, of cosmopolitanism in transcending the state and affecting international relations.
History[edit]
Early beginnings[edit]
Liberalism originally arose from both deep scholarly and philosophical roots. With the theory’s prime principle being international cooperation and peace, early influences are seen in some bigger religious practices sharing the same goal. It was later in the 17th and 18th centuries in which political liberalism began to take form that challenged nobility and inherited equality.[9] Followed shortly after was the Enlightenment where liberal ideals began to develop with works by philosophers such as Voltaire, Locke, Smith, and German thinker Immanuel Kant. In part, liberal scholars were influenced by the Thirty Years' War and the Enlightenment.[10] The length and disastrous effects of the Thirty Years' War caused a common disdain for warfare throughout much of Europe. Thinkers, like Locke and Kant, wrote about what they saw in the world around them. They believed that war is fundamentally unpopular and that man is born with certain rights because the end of the Thirty Years' War proved these ideas to them.
John Locke discusses many ideas that are now attributed to Liberalism in Two Treatises of Government,[11] published in 1689. In his second treatise, Locke comments on society and outlines the importance of natural rights and laws. Locke believes that people are born as blank slates without any preordained ideas or notions. This state is known as the State of Nature because it shows people in their most barbaric form. As people grow, their experiences begin to shape their thoughts and actions. They are naturally in the State of Nature until they choose not to be, until something changes their barbaric nature. Locke says that, civil government can remedy this anarchy.[12] When it comes to the Law of Nature, people are more likely to act rationally when there is a government in place because there are laws and consequences to abide by. Locke argues that civil government can help people gain the basic human rights of health, liberty and possession.[12] Governments that grant these rights and enforce laws benefit the world. Many of these ideas have influenced leaders such as the Founding Father's during the American Revolution and French revolutionaries during the French Revolution.[13]
In Kant’s To Perpetual Peace,[14] the philosopher set the way by forming guidelines to create a peace program to be applied by nations. This program would require cooperation between states as well as the mutual pursuit of secure freedom and shared benefits.[15] One such idea was the Democratic Peace Theory.[16] In To Perpetual Peace, Kant put forth the idea that democracies do not fight wars because leaders were too worried about re-election. Because war was naturally unpopular, Kant thought that leaders would avoid burdening voters with its costs. After seeing success in intertwining states through economic coalition, liberal supporters began to believe that warfare was not always an inevitable part of IR.[17] Support of liberal political theory continued to grow from there.
Neoliberalism[edit]
Kant's democratic peace theory has since been revised by neoliberals like Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye. These theorists have seen that democracies do in fact fight wars. However, democracies do not fight wars with other democracies because of capitalist ties. Democracies are economically dependent and therefore are more likely to resolve issues diplomatically. Furthermore, citizens in democracies are less likely to think of citizens in other democracies as enemies because of shared morals.[18] Kant's original ideas have influenced liberalist scholars and have had a large impact on liberal thought.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Shiraev, Eric B. (2014). International Relations. New York: Oxford University Presses. p. 78.
- ^ ab(Shiraev and Zubok 2014, 86)
- ^(Shiraev and Zubok 2014, 88)
- ^(Shiraev and Zubok 2014,90)
- ^Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. 2014. International Relations. New York, NY:Oxford University Press.
- ^Von Mises, Ludwig, and Bettina Bien Greaves. Liberalism. [Electronic Resource]: The Classical Tradition. n.p.: Indianapolis : Liberty Fund, c2005. (Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2014), 2005. Louisiana State University. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
- ^The Democratic Peace Theory, Kevin Placek, Feb 18 2012
- ^Democratic Peace Theory , Dan Reiter
- ^Shiraev, Eric (2014). International Relations. Oxford University Presses. pp. 80–87. ISBN978-0-19-974651-4.
- ^'The Enlightenment and Liberalism'. uregina.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
- ^Locke, John (1689). Two Treatises of Government. England: Awnsham Churchill – via http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/locke/government.pdf.
- ^ ab'Of the State of Nature - LONANG Institute'. LONANG Institute. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
- ^ushistory.org. 'Foundations of American Government [ushistory.org]'. www.ushistory.org. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
- ^'Immanuel Kant, 'Perpetual Peace''. www.mtholyoke.edu. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
- ^Marguerite, La Caze (2007). 'At the Intersection: Kant, Derrida, and the Relation Between Ethics and Politics'. Political Theory. 35 (6): 782. doi:10.1177/0090591707307324.
- ^'Immanuel Kant, 'Perpetual Peace''. www.mtholyoke.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
- ^Shiraev, Eric B. (2014). International Relations. New York: Oxford University Presses. p. 80.
- ^'International institutions: Can interdependence work?'. Foreign Policy. 110.