Introduction to International

Relations
Evolution and Development of
International Relations
 Evolution
• International Relations do possess a very long
history, dating back to the ages with early
interactions among tribes, societies and
civilizations .
• These relations include a wide range of terms,
from political and diplomatic,
military/strategic, economic and cultural.
• With the development of means of
communication, these relations developed as
well.
 Cont..
• Some important phases in the history of
International Relations are enlisted as:
– The age of city-states (cities with the status of
independent, sovereign states, e.g., Ancient Greek
city-states like Sparta, Athens etc. This is considered as
the initial form of present version of states.)
– The age of empires. (smaller states were converted
into large, vast empires, e.g. Greek and Roman
empires)
– The middle ages (after the collapse of Roman empire,
mostly between 5th and 15th century A.D.)
 Cont..
• Renaissance (re-birth, awakening, the initiation of
a period of great development in arts, literature,
science etc, mostly from 15th to 17th century)
• The age of colonization/Colonialism (starting just
after renaissance or age of discovery, many
European nations explored, captured and
colonized many parts of Asia, Africa, North & South
America. The primary objectives triggering many
nations like British, Spanish, French, Portuguese,
Italian etc.
 Cont…
• Peace of Westphalia-1648. (the start of modern state system,
this treaty ended about thirty years long series of conflicts
and wars between various European states due to territorial
disputes, colonial rivalries etc.)
• Congress of Vienna-1815. (a settlement or agreement
between various European powers in order to find a stable
world order and balance of power)
• World War I (WWI,1914-1918, the first major war between
major powers, including two groups. The first group having
Britain, Russia, France and the other consisting of Germany,
Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungry, Britain and Allies
defeated Germany and its allies.
• League of Nations. (the first modern international
organization was founded after WWI to prevent wars in
 Cont…
• World War II-(WWII, 1939-1945, The League of Nations failed
to establish peace for long time and 2nd WW broke out in
1939, the major belligerents included, Britain, U.S.S.R., U.S.A.,
France on one side and Germany, Japan and Italy on the other
side. U.S. and its allies won the war
• Cold war. (1945-1990), 45 years of rivalry and clash between
U.S. and U.S.S.R., primarily on ideological basis, the
international system was bipolar, i.e., the world was divided
into two major poles/blocks, communist/soviet and
capitalist/American. The significant features of cold war
include several proxy wars (Korean war, Vietnam war, Soviet-
Afghan war etc), space race, arms race specially race for non-
conventional weapons including chemical, biological and
nuclear weapons and some efforts for arms control and
 Cont…
• Post-cold war era. (1990-2000), after disintegration of
Soviet Union, U.S. was considered as the sole super
power and the world became uni-polar, main focus of
international relations remained on environmental
security, human rights, Arms Control, Disarmament and
nuclear non-proliferation etc)
• Post-9/11.(2000-present, it is the contemporary/current
era, important features include a tendency towards a
multipolar world with U.S., Russia, China, Japan, E.U. as
major powers or poles to somewhat balance each other
with various regional powers as well. The focus of this era
has been Terrorism and counter-Terrorism , nuclear non-
proliferation, human rights, nationalism and ethnic