MEANING, DEFINITION,

NATURE AND SCOPE OF

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Lecture # 01
Raja Abdullah
1

MEANINGS OF INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
•IR is a fascinating subject encompassing the lives of people, the
policies of states, the psychological structures of leaders, social and
political events, and much more.

•It is hard to master every aspect of IR as an academic subject. There

are numerous sub-fields; security studies, conflict studies, Nuclear
strategy, War studies, Culture, Religion, etc.
•Generally, the term IR refers to the relationships among the world
governments. However, it is much broader than that.
•One political or social event holds the tendency to vigorously turn the
game of international politics.
•The everyday life of a common man is interconnected with the field of
IR. For example the dollar market, oil prices, Inflation, etc.
•Technology and the advancements in communication among different
actors have completely revolutionized the field of International
Relations.

Raja Abdullah
2

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 NATURE: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
THEORY
•A worldview is a broad interpretation of the world and an application of
this view to the way in which we judge and evaluate activities and
structures that shape the world.

•In simpler terms, ‘our worldview is a view of the world and a view for
the world’.
•Worldviews have two interdependent dimensions. The first dimension
is ontological. Worldviews contain fundamental assumptions and
presuppositions about the constitutive nature of IR. Such
assumptions or beliefs are our most fundamental thoughts about the
nature of ‘reality’ in this particular domain or field of activity.
•Worldview is not equal to theory. Worldview shapes the way we
formulate questions and provide the constitutive basis on which
theories are built.
•A paradigm is therefore a mode of thinking within a field of inquiry that
regulates scientific activity and sets the standards for research.
(Thomas Kuhn)
•Epistemology VS Methodology
•The term ‘epistemology’ comes from the Greek word epistêmê,
meaning knowledge. In simple terms, epistemology is the philosophy
of knowledge or of how we come to know.
•Methodology is also concerned with how we come to know, but is
much more practical in nature. Methodology is focused on the
specific ways that we can use to try to understand our world.
Raja Abdullah

DEVELOPMENT: INTERNATIONAL
RELATION THEORY
•Theories are pathways through which a scholar reaches a destination
using argumentation, empirical evidence of history, and
interpretation.
 •Theory is not always a complete package to understand IR, but a
roadmap to assess the ongoing changes in the world. Realism and
Liberalism are two mainstream theories of IR.
•Four major debates defined IR as a subject. These debates pushed
the field to achieve where it is today.
•What is the study of IR or What it should be?
•Realism VS Idealism. (First Debate)
•Traditionalism VS Behaviouralism. (Second Debate)
•Neo-Realism VS Neo-Liberalism. (Third Debate)
•Rationalism VS Reflectivism. (Fourth Debate)

Raja Abdullah

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DEVELOPMENT: IR AS AN ACADEMIC
SUBJECT
•International relations have been there since the inception of the
concept of state. For example, Greek city-states, Arabian Tribal
Areas, Kingdoms, Empires, etc.

•To ease of understanding the development of International Relations

can be divided into stages. As academic field dates back to
Thucydides (400 BC), who wrote the history of the Peloponnesian
Wars between Athens and Sparta.
•We can divide the development of IR into eight stages for
understanding.
•First Stage: Emphasis on history, and no theoretical basis were
developed. Before the WWI.
 •Second Stage: Contemporaneous age, emphasis on current events
while neglecting history. After the WWI.
•Third Stage: Inter-war period, moralistic-legalist approach towards IR.
Emphasis on a war-free world. league of Nations.
•Fourth Stage: After WWII. Decolonization, the emergence of new
states, and Universal Values. Morgenthau. Nuclear Threat.
•Fifth Stage: Mid 60s to 70s. Rise of IOs, treaties, corporations, trade
in IR. Neo-liberalism and Joseph Nye.
•Sixth Stage: Late 70s to first half of 80s, New cold War, Afghan War,
Researches on third-world, high polarization.
•Seventh Stage: USSR disintegrated, end of history, Fukuyama,
middle east, US as a hegemon, post-positivism, failure of
communism.
•Eighth Stage: Post-cold war, terrorism, US as a global police,
counter-terrorism, north-south debate, post-colonialism, environment
and climate change, 9/11, US-China rivalry.
Raja Abdullah

SCOPE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

•The scope of IR is widening day by day. Firstly, it was limited to the
relations between the states. Now, due to globalization, it is now
concerned about:

1.Behavior of states
2.Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Analysis
3.Security Studies
4.International Law and International Organizations
5.International Political Economy
6.Human Rights
7.International politics
8.Inter-state and Intra-state wars

•Level of Analysis (Global, Inter-state, Domestic, and Individual)

 •It can be said that the field of IR is yet to define its boundaries. For the
time being it is important to develop key understanding of IR for what
it is providing.

Raja Abdullah