International Business Management

International Relations
2020/2021
Assignment

Theories in International Relations

A – Liberalism

1- Define and discuss key terms and concepts associated with Liberalism.
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed and equality
before the law. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these
principles, but they generally support free markets, free trade, limited government, individual rights
capitalism, democracy, secularism, gender equality, racial equality, internationalism, freedom of speech,
freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

2- Analyze the impact of the First World War on the development of Liberalism.

The demands of the four-year struggle against Germany drove the party to adopt policies that would
have been unthinkable in peacetime. Liberalism had never been wholly pacifist but it had developed a
strong aversion to jingoism. The Liberals had vigorously opposed the Conservative government's
conduct of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) as brutalising and degrading. But, in 1914, the Liberal
government accepted the necessity of declaring war on Germany. This meant that in order to sustain
Britain's war effort, they were now obliged to appeal to that same spirit of nationalism that they had
formerly found so distasteful. Thus began a process that, over the next four years, was to undermine
many of the ideals to which the Liberals had previously held dear. The decision to enter the war against
Germany was an obvious abandonment of the policy of seeking peaceful solutions to international
problems. The soaring costs occasioned by war made it impossible to control government expenditure.
Most telling of all, the concept of personal freedom was rapidly eroded by the growing encroachment of
the State upon the rights of its citizens.

3- Relate liberalism with global governance.

Contemporary global governance is pervasively coloured by liberalism and the social forces that
liberalism allows to flourish. Liberalism has decisively shaped the “moral purpose” of many states, the
way sovereignty has been interpreted and how global governance is enacted. In addition liberalism’s
close association with the social forces of capitalism has lead to the development and extension of neo-
liberalism and the promotion of globalised capitalism. In this context environmental degradation, trans-
border pollution and future environmental harm has become mundane everyday processes that resist
moderation
because of the ways the mundane nature of these practices and the largely unquestioned nature of the
liberal values underpin the global political economy.

B – Realism

1- Describe the most core concepts of realism.

In the discipline of international relations there are contending general theories or theoretical
perspectives. Realism, also known as political realism, is a view of international politics that stresses its
competitive and conflictual side. It is usually contrasted with idealism or liberalism, which tends to
emphasize cooperation. Realists consider the principal actors in the international arena to be states,
which are concerned with their own security, act in pursuit of their own national interests, and struggle
for power. The negative side of the realists’ emphasis on power and self-interest is often their skepticism
regarding the relevance of ethical norms to relations among states. National politics is the realm of
 authority and law, whereas international politics, they sometimes claim, is a sphere without justice,
characterized by active or potential conflict among states.

2- Compare the ideas of classic realism with neo-realism.

Classical realism states that flaws in human nature mean that states will inherently demand power in
the international system whilst, in contrast, neorealism takes a wider view of the structures of the
international system, and argues that this is what accounts for power shifts in the international system,
and not the inherent flaws in human nature.
3- Describe the security dilemma as a cause of conflict between states.
The concept of the security dilemma describes how it is possible, given the “existential uncertainty”
which the condition of international anarchy produces amongst states, for violent conflict to arise
between two or more actors even when neither has malign intentions towards the other

C – Marxism

1- Define key terms and concepts associated with the Marxist approach to IR.

The key terms in Marxist IR discourse, historically, have been “imperialism,” “dependency,”
“hegemony,” and “empire.” One of the defining periods in the development of Marxist thought on
international relations occurred immediately before and during World War I, when “imperialism”
emerged as the master term, a place it yielded, following World War II, to “dependency.”

2- Explain how Marxism’s focus on economic relations differs from perspectives offered
by Liberalism and Realism.
Realism operates under the assumption that states are the only actors on the political stage, also
known as ‘statism’ and ‘individualism’. Additionally, the states work in an anarchical system, meaning
in the absence of higher, trans-governmental and universally recognizable authority no rules are applied
in the international realm. The other assumption is that politics is driven by law of human behavior- the
mix of urges like the drive for powers, will to dominate, self-interest and ambition. Realism offers a
rather cynical explanation: we are destined to wage wars, for all politics is a struggle for power and
survival. Wars may be fought either to protect or expand security of the states.

3- How do bourgeoisies control the states they lead?

It seeks to monopolize the benefits of this modernization by exploiting the propertyless proletariat
and thereby creating revolutionary tensions. The end result, according to Marx, will be a final revolution
in which the property of the bourgeoisie is expropriated and class conflict, exploitation, and the state are
abolished. Even in Marx’s lifetime, however, it was clear that the bourgeoisie was neither homogeneous
nor particularly inclined to play the role that he had assigned to it.

D- Constructivism

1- Why do Constructivists disagree with the materialist models of international society

embraced by Realists, Liberals and Marxists?

Constructivism primarily seeks to demonstrate how core aspects of international relations are,
contrary to the assumptions of liberalism and marxism, socially constructed, that is, they are given their
form by ongoing processes of social practice and interaction. Alexander Wendt calls two increasingly
accepted basic tenets of Constructivism "that the structures of human association are determined
primarily by shared ideas rather than material forces, and that the identities and interests of purposive
actors are constructed by these shared ideas rather than given by nature".
 2- Explain the organizing principles and main assumptions of Constructivism.

Constructivism assumes that all knowledge is constructed from the learner's previous knowledge,

regardless of how one is taught. Thus, even listening to a lecture involves active attempts to construct
new knowledge.

Activity

Choose one event you consider relevant in the international system. Try to analyze it under one of the above
theories.