International Relations Lesson 1

International Relations (IR)

The study of how sovereign states and other international actors coexist and interact without a central world government; it examines war, trade, diplomacy, international law, and cross-border ideas.

Political multiplicity

The international system contains many sovereign states and other actors rather than one world authority.

International order

Patterns, rules, institutions, and practices through which international relations are organised and managed.

Core questions of IR

How is international order created and maintained? Who benefits from existing arrangements? How do power dynamics shape global politics?

Why does history matter in IR?

Current sovereignty, borders, international law, inequality, institutions, and ideas about 'the West' have roots in earlier historical systems and processes.

The state

A political and administrative institution; in IR, most commonly a sovereign state with exclusive political authority within defined territorial boundaries.

Historical forms of states

Cities, kingdoms, principalities, and empires; the modern state is not the only historical form.

Sovereignty

The principle that a state is the supreme authority within its territory and recognises no higher authority over it in the international system.

Westphalian order (1648)

The lecture links the 1648 Treaties of Westphalia to the order of sovereign states.

Nation-state (1789)

Associated in the lecture with the French Revolution, self-determination, and nationalism.

How many UN member states?

The Week 1 presentation states that there are 193 UN member states.

Anarchical society

A system with no common sovereign above individual states; states must influence one another through different means.

Formal equality vs. actual power

States are formally sovereign and equal, but they differ greatly in military, economic, technological, and diplomatic influence.

Great powers

States considered capable of sharing responsibility for managing international order because of their military and economic influence.

Great-power capabilities

Military strength, economic capacity, technology, diplomatic influence, and cultural or soft-power reach.

Great powers around 1900

The lecture identifies Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia as the undisputed great powers.

Hard power

Influence through coercive capabilities, especially military force and economic pressure such as sanctions.

Soft power

Influence through attraction, culture, diplomacy, and values; the concept was coined by Joseph Nye in 1990.

Geopolitics: continental vs. sea powers

A distinction in the presentation highlighting how geographic position and land or maritime capabilities shape strategic power.

Ideology

A set of political values and ideas that can shape states' domestic priorities, international conflict, and international cooperation.

Conservatism in the 19th century

Associated in the lecture with monarchy, nobility, and Christian religion.

Liberalism

Associated with democracy, free trade, international law, multilateralism, and institutions.

Nationalism

A political ideology that became influential in the 19th century and links political identity and claims to the nation.

Fascism

An ideology identified in the lecture as influential in the 20th century and part of the ideological landscape around the world wars.

Socialism and communism

Ideological traditions highlighted in the lecture, with socialism and communism particularly associated with the 20th-century political landscape.

Realism / realistic approach

Emphasises power politics, self-help, balance of power, great powers, and alliances; the presentation links this approach to Thucydides.

Liberal approach to IR

Emphasises collective security, multilateralism, international law, international organisations, free trade, and democracy.

Hegemonic stability

The argument that international stability depends on a dominant power able to support or manage the system; the lecture cites Britain before 1914 and the US after 1945.

Balance of power

A distribution of power that prevents one state from dominating others; states may form alliances to counter a rising power.

Concert diplomacy

Great powers managing international affairs through cooperation, shared rules, diplomacy, and congresses, rather than relying only on shifting alliances.

Concert of Europe

A great-power arrangement established after Napoleon's defeat, using diplomacy and balance of power to preserve stability in Europe.

Congress of Vienna (1814–1815)

A diplomatic settlement after the Napoleonic Wars that helped establish the Vienna system and the Concert of Europe.

Vienna system (1814/1815–1850)

A system led by Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, with France joining in 1818; it relied on diplomacy, balance of power, and conservative values.

Why did the Vienna system seek balance?

To prevent another state—especially a dominant continental power—from achieving hegemony like France had nearly achieved under Napoleon.

Bismarck system (1871–1890)

The system following German unification, marked by German dominance, diplomatic crisis management, and competing alliance blocs.

Key changes between Vienna and Bismarck

Great-power wars and national unifications changed the balance of power; Germany unified in 1871, while the US and Japan emerged as new great powers.

Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente

Competing alliance groupings identified in the lecture as a feature of the pre-1914 European order.

Congress of Berlin (1878)

Great powers revised territorial arrangements in the Balkans after Russia's victory in the Russo-Turkish War; the lecture uses it as an example of concert diplomacy constraining a great power.

Paris system (1919–1939)

The post-World War I order associated with French dominance, the Versailles settlement, and the League of Nations' liberal ideals of collective security and multilateralism.

Collective security

The principle that states cooperate to respond to threats to peace, rather than leaving each state to rely only on its own alliances.

Why did the Paris system fail?

The lecture highlights weak enforcement, US absence, and the rise of revisionist powers, including Germany, Japan, and Italy; the system ended in the context of World War II.

League of Nations

A post-World War I organisation intended to embody liberal values and collective security, but it could not prevent the outbreak of World War II.

Cold War system (1947–1989)

A bipolar international system centred on the US and USSR, with capitalism versus communism as a major ideological divide.

Bipolarity

An international distribution of power dominated by two superpowers; in the Cold War, the US and USSR.

Cold War stability and conflict

The lecture notes nuclear deterrence and a 'long peace' in Europe, while proxy wars and other conflicts continued elsewhere; superpower rivalry also constrained the UN.

United Nations (1945)

An international organisation established in 1945; in the Cold War, its role was constrained by rivalry between the superpowers.

American system / post-1991 system

The post-Soviet-collapse order marked by US unipolar dominance, hegemonic stability, alliances, and the expansion of liberal institutions.

Unipolarity

An international system in which one state is overwhelmingly dominant; the lecture describes the post-1991 period as a US 'unipolar moment'.

Multipolarity

An international system in which power is distributed among several significant powers; the lecture links a possible shift toward it to China's rise and Russia's resurgence.

Liberal institutions after 1991

The lecture points to the UN, WTO, peacekeeping, and European integration as institutions or processes associated with the post-1991 system.

Thucydides' trap

The presentation uses this phrase for the danger of tension when an established power, the US, faces a rising power, China.

How do power and ideology interact?

International systems reflect both material power and shared values; power shapes who can set rules, while ideology can legitimise cooperation or intensify rivalry.

Realism vs. liberalism

Realism foregrounds power, self-help, and balancing; liberalism foregrounds institutions, law, interdependence, and collective action.

Balance of power vs. hegemonic stability

Balance of power seeks to prevent any one state from dominating; hegemonic stability argues that a dominant power can provide order. They offer different explanations for stability.

Competition vs. collusion / concert

The lecture's seminar question asks whether current great powers, especially the US, China, and Russia, are primarily competing or might cooperate through a new concert.

A useful comparison framework for systems

Compare each system's distribution of power, leading states, alliances and institutions, dominant ideologies, mechanisms of stability, and reasons for breakdown.

A recurring pattern in international systems

Great powers try to organise order, but shifts in power, ideological conflict, weak institutions, and challenges from rising or revisionist powers can destabilise settlements.

Revisionist powers

States that seek to change an existing international settlement; the lecture identifies Germany, Japan, and Italy as revisionist powers challenging the Paris system.

The 19th-century great transformation

Industrialisation, imperialism, and rising nationalism reshaped international politics and the distribution of power.

Historical debate about Western power

The lecture asks whether the present is best explained by unique Western strengths or by histories of empire and systematic exploitation.