Overview of International Relations as a Discipline

Why do we need international relations theory?

Theories of IR allow us to understand the world through various lenses, each representing different theoretical perspectives.

What are variables on an IR map?

States, organizations, people, economics, history, ideas, class, gender, etc/

How do theories use IR variables?

Used to construct a simplified view of the world that can be used to analyze events and sometimes have a predictive ability.

What is Walt’s take on the relationship between real world and theory?

“It is hard to make good policy if one’s basic organizing principles are flawed, just as it is hard to construct good theories without knowing a lot about the real world.”

What are the main views of international affairs?

Best understood as a protracted competition between the realist, liberal, and radical traditions.

Realism (brief definition)

Dominant throughout the Cold war, it emphasized enduring conflict between states and depicts international affairs as a struggle for power among self interested states.

Classical realism (brief definition)

Theorists Morgenthau and Niebuhr; believed that states had an innate desire to dominate others, leading to wars; Morgenthau stressed the virtues of the multipolar balance of power system.

Neorealist theory (brief definition)

Theorist Kenneth Waltz; ignored human nature and focussed on the effects of the international system, which consisted of a number of great powers each seeking to survive.

How does realism describe the international system?

The system is anarchic—there is no central authority to protect states from one another, so every state must survive on its own.

Liberalism (brief definition)

Different strands that outline the value of economic interdependence, the spread of democracy, and international institutions in the pursuit of reducing conflict between states.

How does economic interdependence fit into liberalism?

Argues that it discourages states from using force against each other as warfare would threaten each side’s prosperity.

How does the spread of democracy fit into liberalism?

Often associated with President Woodrow Wilson, argues that democratic states were inherently more peaceful than authoritarian states.

How do international institutions fit into liberalism?

Argues that they could help overcome selfish state behaviour by encouraging them to forego immediate gains for the greater benefits of cooperation.

Kantian liberalism (brief definition)

Sees humans as innately good; idea that nation states with shared liberal values should have no reason for going to war against each other as they are ruled by citizens; thus more liberal states meant a more peaceful world.

Constructivism (brief definition)

Highlights the importance of values and shared interests between international agents; Wendt describes the relationship between agents and structures as one where structures construct the identities and interests of agents.

How does constructivism describe international relations?

The essence of IR exists in interactions between people; agents of states are the ones who interact, who accept anarchy as a defining principle, thus making it part of our reality.

How does constructivism describe anarchy?

Different states can perceive anarchy differently and its qualities can change overtime; could be replaced by a different system if influential individuals accepted the idea.

Marxism (brief definition)

Based upon the ideas of Karl Marx in the industrial revolution, it is the view that industrialized society is divided into two classes—the business class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (the proletariat).

How do critical approach Marxist theorists view IR?

Argue that the organization of international politics around the state has led to ordinary people around the globe becoming divided and alienated.

What alternative does Marxism offer for the current international structure?

The legitimacy of the state must be questioned and ultimately dissolved; emancipation from the state.

Post-colonialism (brief description)

Focusses on the inequality between nations as opposed to classes; effects of colonialism are still felt in many regions.

How does post-colonialism view IR studies?

Acknowledges that IR has historically centred on Western perspectives and experiences, excluding the voices of people form other regions of the world.

Describe orientalism

Societies in the Middle East and Asia were misrepresented in Western literary and scholarly writing in a way that positioned them as inferior to the West.

Feminism (brief definition)

Focusses on explaining why few women are in positions of power, the implication of this on global politics, and how gendered power structures make it difficult for women to reach levels of power.

Post-structuralism (brief definition)

Questions the dominant narratives of traditional IR theory such as liberalism and realism which accept the idea of the state and whose foundational truths rest on assumptions that they build reality around.

What does post-structuralism seek to question?

The common held assumptions of reality such as the state and the nature of power.

Describe Michel Foucault’s contribution to post-structuralism

Identification of the knowledge-power nexus; people in a position of power have the ability to shape our common understandings of a given issue,

How does the knowledge-power nexus shape issues?

Dominant understandings of an issue created by influential people become common sense, limiting outside thinking and only allowing certain kinds of action.