DEFENSE AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

ASSIGNMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

TOPIC
IMPORTANCE OF THEORY IN IR
NAME: UNEEB GHAFFAR
SUBMITTED TO
PROF: NAVEED QAISER
IMPORTANCE OF THEORY IN INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS.
International relations refer to the relations between states in context of economy, politics and
cultural relationships.

A theory is contemplative and rational type of abstract thinking about result of such thinking.A
theory is group of linked ideas intended to explain something.The word theory has seperate
meaning like guess of speculation.

Theory provide frame work for understanding human behavior, thoughts and development.
Theories help us to explain what to see and how to bring change .Theory is a tool that enables
us to locate problems. Theories are to enhance growth to identify the body of knowledge.
Theory is constantly revising as new knowledge is discovering .Theories are not something
gruesome. There is no threshold or horror involved. They are not very difficult to understand
once you accept them necessarily.

Before I discuss the theories of IR there is another step that we should take another step called
meta so reasoning it is not clear that how we are thinking or how should we do .Actually there
is lot of literature that is exploring this field. Because it is social science there is always a close
interplay between theories of international relations. Progress in IR theory is closely linked with
the events happening in real world.Today modern weapon of warfare have become so
dangerous that it can wipe whole countries in an hour so theory of ir help states understanding
the problems of world.Ir theory warns states about threats of worlds.While all the social
sciences are interested in theory so disciplinary history of international relations has been in
many ways a story of a continuous, yet frustrating, attempt to formulate an all-encompassing
theory of international.In the 1940s the feild of ir faced crisis of profound identity. It was
because the interest began to direct theory of international politics.

Theory was viewed as problem solver which the geild was facing.During 1950s several
intellectuals aimed to further development of theory in ir. International relations theory
defined ir from theoretical percpective it provide coceptual framework on which ir can be
determined and analyzed.However, a more recent study, by David Long and Brian Schmidt in
2005, offers a revisionist account of the origins of the field of 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
Theories of international relation help us to understand the world around us through various
lenses each of which represent different theoretical perspective .For beginners it is necessary to
simplify the theory of IR. Theories have always been different A single theory cannot explain
different era Every era has its own specific theory Theories are constantly emerging and
competing with each other Sometime you think that you have found your feet with one
approach but then you realize that there are many other .THOMAS KUHN THE STRUCTURE OF
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS set the stage for understanding that how and why certain theories
are legitimized.

For example human beings were once convinced that earth is flat .With the advancement of
technology and science human beings changed their previously accepted belief .But change in
IR theory are not that dramatic .International relations theory is usually very difficult to
explain .Sometimes it is taught that it often explain both pat state behavior and future state
behavior. However this definition is also defined by some theorist. Traditional IR theories can
be categorized by their focus n either human, states, or state system. In past two decades the
role of international theory has gained importance it helped the world to understand its
enemies behavior and their aims

. .One important thing is that you may notice some theories you are introduced to here are
referred to by names that also occur in other discipline. This is very confusing like realism in IR
is not same as realism in art. It is rather obvious that different developments in the IR scene are
so dynamic that theory of international relation cannot be described alone Therefore one must
understand that using theoretical work of wider extent become almost indispensable Therefore
IR theories are mean used by scholar to provide explanations on these development .Among
many IR theories most important are REALISM ,LIBERALISM AND RATIONALISM .The two
theories realism and rationalism help understanding the IR development .these theories also
help to counter the arguments of liberalism. Liberalism in IR was referred to as a utopian theory
and it is still recognized as such to some degree .It viewed human nature as very cooperating
and good and believe peace among nations is achievable.

According to KANT view that when there were liberal states the world was more peaceful
.Because liberal states are ruled by their citizens and most of citizens avoid war .Liberals have
faith that permanent cessation of war is an attainable goal .Another theory called realism
gained importance during ww2 when its explained that why worst conflict in world happened
after such a long period of peace and prosperity .As its name reflect reality of the world. There
is no contract exist internationally and no sovereign in charge of world so disorder and fear
rules the world. One central area that separates realism and liberalism is how they view human
nature .Typically realist do not believe that human have potential for good deeds. For realist
people are selfish and have greedy nature .Realist think that war is unavoidable so war is
common .HANS MORGENTHAU states that ALL POLITICS S STRUGGLE FOR POWER.

It is important to understand that there is no single liberal or realist theory. Scholars in both
theories rarely agree with each other and both realism and liberalism has updated to more
modern versions. You can locate various differences between both theories but first it is better
to understand the core assumptions.

Liberals share optimistic views of IR believing that world can be peaceful .They may not agree
on details but this view can unites them .Conversely realist tend to dismiss optimism as a form
of misplaced idea instead they are more pessimistic. They is due to their focus on centrality of
the states and its need of security for survival in anarchical system where it can only rely on
itself .As a result realist reach at point that describe IR as a system where war and conflicts are
common .Another point I that each of arising approaches in IR possesses a different perspective
on the state nature .One thing is same that both realist and liberal consider state as dominant
actor in international system. International relation scholars have also devoted considerable
attention to international norm because these norm occur in domestic political system. The role
of corporation in norm adoption is largely ignored.

CRITICAL THEORIES.

Critical approaches refer to wide spectrum of theories that have been established against
mainstream approaches like realism and liberalism .They oppose commonly held assumptions
in the field of IR that have been remain central .Critical theories are valuable because they
identify ignored positions. They also provide voice to individuals.

Another theory that exposes inequality inherent in IR is feminism it explain that why few
number of women seem to be in position of power .It entered in the field of IR as part of critical
movement in 1980s.

STRUCTURALISM

The most controversial of the critical theories is post structuralism . It questions the dominant
narratives that have been widely accepted by mainstream theories. For example liberal and
realist both accept the idea of state and for the most part take it for granted . Such assumptions
are foundational truths on which those theories rest .So although these theoretical perspective
may differ in some respect.

Balance of power is another theory that predicts that rapid changes in international power ..A
balance of power system works most effectively when alliances are fluid when they are easily
broken or formed regardless of the values .A weakness of balance of power is the difficulty of
measuring its power.

BEHAVIOURALISM

An approach to study of politics that focus on actions among units by using scientific method of
observation to include quantification of variables. A practitioner of behavioralism is often
referred to as behavioralist.It refer to ideas held by those behavioral scientists who consider
only observed behavior as relevant .

CHAOS THEORY

In math and physics chaos theory describe the behavior of non linear dynamic system that are
very sensitive to initial conditions. So international system can also be consider as non linear
dynamic system. So it is linear to take this theory for the study of international system order.

COLLECTIVE DEFENCE

Collective defense is considered as [the parties agree that an armed attack against one or more
of them will be considered as against all of them] and if such attack happen then each of them
in exercise of self or collective defense.

Evolutionary perceptive have been argued to help explain many features of international
relations. Human in old environment did not live in state and rarely had interactions with
groups outside of very local area .However many psychological mechanism had been discussed
to influence those old thinking and inter group interactions.

FUNCTIONALITY OF THEORY

During the past few years interest in IR has increased remarkably . The volume of writing and
analytical material has grown to greater extent .Collections of essays on international relation
have appeared and more and more will be published shortly. The development is clear that it is
time to ask a student what his interest toward tends or portends. One may declare his views on
matter and find a place in one camp .Attractive statements can be found on function of theory.
Functionality of theory help us in understanding and providing information for systematic
hypothesizing. The ordering of data help one to understand and distinguish between
uniformities.

COCLUSIONS

In this chapter I have discussed the main points of international relations theory each of these
theory have different detail and meanings .I have not discussed all theories there are number of
theories .I think that theory plays an important role in understanding and studying international
relations .Many things can be discussed through theories .As international relation is whole
theory subject .As international relation has grown in complexity so it offer numbers of
theories.