Chapter 1

International Relations
 Learning Objectives

• To trace the evolution of international relations (IR) as a

discipline
• To discuss the meaning, nature and scope of IR
• To explore the new trends and significance of IR
• To understand IR through various levels of analysis
 What Is International Relations?
• The term ‘international’ was for the first time used by
Jeremy Bentham in the later part of the 18th century.
• Initially, the term was defined as the study of official
relations between the sovereign states.
• Although states and their interactions constitute the
primary focus of International relations (IR), the discipline is
concerned with many more issues such as non-state actors,
international political economy, international security,
environment, globalization, area studies and many more.
• IR today refers to both an academic discipline and the field
of activity that deal as much with relations between and
among states as with transnational global actors.
• As an activity, it refers to the sum total of relations, that is,
conflictual and cooperative.
Distinction between IR and International Politics

• Scholars of IR have often ignored the distinction between IR

and international politics and even now sometimes use these
as synonyms.
• E. H. Carr and Quincy Wright have treated the IR and
international politics as identical to each other. However, some
other writers have tried to draw a distinction between the
two.
• Hans J. Morgenthau believes that ‘the core of international
relations is international politics’, but a clear distinction
between the two is to be made.
• According to Morgenthau, IR is much wider in scope than
international politics.
• Harold and Margaret Sprout opine that ‘international
relations include all human behaviour on one side of a
national boundary affecting the human behaviour on the
other side of the boundary. International politics, on the
other hand, deals with conflicts and cooperation among
nations essentially at political level’.
 History and Evolution of IR

• IR as the study of relations among nation states is believed to

have developed with the Peace Treaty of Westphalia of 1648,
which is considered as the creator of modern nation states in
Europe.
• As an academic discipline, IR is not very old. Its systematic
study started after the end of the First World War.
• The study of IR as an academic discipline evolved further and
matured significantly after the Second World War.
• Eventually, with the formation of International Politics
Club in 1919, at the University College of Wales,
contributions from persons such as Alfred Zimmerman, C.
K. Webster and E. H. Carr resulted in the growth of the
discipline.
• From the end of the Second World War to the end of the
Cold War, several issues gained prominence in IR and
helped to shape a new global order vastly different from
those of the past.
 Nature of IR

• IR is a changing and dynamic discipline.

• The context and nature of IR have underwent tremendous
changes in the post-Second World War period.
• Traditionally, the subject matter of IR had been Eurocentric
and was centred around Europe, and relations among states
were largely conducted by officials of foreign offices with
secrecy but since the post-Second World War period, there
has been a democratization of the foreign policymaking
processes.
• Today public opinion has begun to play an important role in
the decision-making process in foreign offices, thus
changing completely the nature of IR.
 Scope of IR

• Nation states and their relations

• International organizations
• International laws
• International political economy
• International security
• Conflict and peace studies
• Foreign policies of major powers
• Non-state actors
• Area studies
• International issues such as globalization, terrorism and
climate change
 Levels of Analysis in IR

• The levels of analysis are an important feature of studying

IR.
• The levels of analysis constitute a framework or perspective
on IR that suggests a multiplicity of influences, actors,
structures and processes to explain international outcomes
and events.
• They help us to explain an event or reality with multiple
explanations.
• Types of levels of analysis: individual, domestic and
international.
• Each level has an important role in IR, and each provides a
different perspective on why events take place.
 Significance of IR

• IR is significant for the systematic study of interaction

(official and non-official) among different actors (nation
states, non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental
organizations, multinational corporations) at international
level.
• IR is very much linked to domestic politics as well as our
daily life.
• We are today living in an interdependent state system. Thus,
it is essential for all of us to have a clear idea of what is
happening in the world.
• The discipline of IR helps to understand the international
changes in terms of power transitions from the vantage
point of various ‘emerging’ or ‘rising power’ in the
international system.
• It also helps us to identify the trends and patterns which
have shaped the world in the past and are likely to shape
it in the future.