Why Study International Relations: Traditions and Concepts

Why Study International Relations

Why should we study international relations? International relations can be defined as the study of relationships and interactions between countries, including the activities and policies of national governments, International Organizations (IGOS), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). The main reason why we should study IR is the fact the entire population of the world is divided into separate political communities or independent countries, nation-states, which profoundly affect the way people think and live.

As a practical matter it is difficult and probably impossible for most people to escape from the various effects of nation-states on their daily lives, even if they wanted to. The state is involved in protecting them and providing for their security, both personal and national, in promoting their economic prosperity and social welfare, in taxing them, in educating them, in licensing and regulating the, in keeping them healthy, in building and maintaining public infrastructure (roads, bridges, harbors, airports, etc.), and much else besides. That involvement of people and states is often taken entirely for granted. But the relationship is profound. People's lives are shaped, very significantly by that reality.

IR focuses on the various activities of nation-states in their external relations. To begin to do that some basic concepts are required. An independent nation or state may be defined as an unambiguous and bordered territory, with a permanent population, under the jurisdiction of supreme government that is constitutionally separate -i.e. independent- from all foreign governments: a sovereign state. Together, those states form an international state system that is global in extent. At the present time, there are almost 200 independent states. With very few isolated exceptions, everybody on earth no only lives in one of those countries but is also a citizen of one of them and very rarely of more than one, although that possibility is increasing as the world becomes ever more independent. So virtually every person on earth is connected to a particular state, and via that state to the state system which affects their lives in important and even profound ways, including some of which they may not be fully aware.

The International State System

1States are independent of each other, at least legally the have sovereignty. But that does not mean they are isolated or insulated from each other. They form an international state system, which is a core subject of IR. States enter into relations with each other. Complete isolation is usually not an option. When states are isolated and cut off from the state system, either by their own government or by foreign powers, the people usually suffer as a result. That has been the situation at various times recently with regard to Burma (officially, the Union of Myanmar), Libya, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Like most other social system, the state system can have both advantages and disadvantages for the states involved and their people. IR is the study of the nature and consequences of these international relations.

The state system is a distinctive way of organizing political life on earth and has deep historical roots. There have been states systems at different times and places in different parts of the world, in, for example ancient India, ancient Greece, and Renaissance Italy. However, the subject of IR conventionally dates to the early modern era (sixteen and seventeen centuries) in Europe, when sovereign states based on adjacent territories were initially established. Ever since the eighteenth century, relations between such independent states have been labelled `international relations'. Initially, the state system was European. With the emergence of the United States in the late eighteenth century it became Western. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however, the state system expanded to encompass the entire territory of the earth -east and west, north and south. Today, IR is the study of the global state system from various scholarly perspectives.

The world of states is basically a territorial world. People must live somewhere on the planet, and those places must relate to each other in some way or other. The state system is a way of a politically organizing populated territory, a distinctive kind of territorial political organization, based on numerous national governments that are legally independent of each other. The only large territory that is not a state and cannot be a state because it lacks a population is Antarctica. But it is administered by a consortium of states that have an interest 2in its environment and its potential for scientific research and economic development.

Basic Social Values and the State

To determine why study IR, it may be helpful to examine our everyday life as citizens of particular states to see what we generally expect from state. There are at least five basic social values that states are usually expected to uphold: security, freedom, order, justice and, welfare. These are social values that are so fundamental to human well-being that they must be protected or ensured in some way. In the modern area the state is supposed to ensure all these values.

Security and the State System

People generally assume the state should underwrite the value of security, which involves the protection of individual citizens and the people as a whole from internal and external threats. That is a fundamental concern or interest of states. However, the very existence of independent states affects the value of security; we live in a world of many states, almost all of which are armed at least to some degree and some of which are major military powers. Thus, states can both defend to some degree and some of which are major military powers. Thus, states can both defend and threaten people's security. That paradox of the state system is usually referred toas the `security dilemma'. In other words, just like any other human organization, states present problems as well as provide solutions.

Most states are likely to be cooperative, non-threatening, and peace-loving most of the time. But some states may be hostile and aggressive at times and there is no world government to constrain them. That poses a basic and age-old problem of state systems: national security. To respond to that problem, most states possess armed forces. Military power is usually considered a necessity so that states can coexist and deal with each other without being intimidated or subjugated. Unarmed states are extremely rare in the history of the state system. That is a basic fact of the state system of which we should never lose sight. Many states also enter into alliances or defense organizations with other states to increase their national security. NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is by far the most important example of a military alliance in recent history.

Balance of Military Power and Realist Theories

3To ensure that no great power succeeds in achieving a hegemonic position of overall domination, based on intimidation, coercion, or the outright use of force, history indicates it may be necessary to construct and maintain a balance of military power. This approach to the study of world is typical of realist theories in IR. It operates on the assumption that relations of states can best be characterized as a world in which armed states are competing rivals and periodically go to war with each other.

Freedom and Liberal Theories

The second basic value that states are usually expected to uphold is freedom both personal freedom and national freedom or independence. A fundamental reason for having states and putting up with the burdens that governments place on citizens, such as taxes or obligations of military service, is the condition of national freedom or independence that states exist to foster. We cannot be free unless our country is free too: that was made very clear to millions of Czech, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Belgian, Dutch, and French citizens, as well as citizens in other countries which were invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Even if your country is free, we may still not be free personally, but at least then the problem of our freedom is in our own hands. War threatens and sometimes destroys freedom. Pace fosters freedom. Peace also makes progressive international change. That approach to the study of world politics is typical of liberal theories of IR. It operates on the assumption that international relations can be best characterized as a world I which states cooperate with each other to maintain peace and freedom and to pursue progressive change.

Order, Justice, and International Society Theories

The third and fourth basic values that states are usually expected to uphold are order and justice. States have a common interest in establishing ad maintaining international order so that they can coexist and interact on a basis of stability, certainty, and predictability. To that end, states are expected to uphold international law: to keep their treaty commitments and observe the rules, conventions, and customs of the international legal order. They are also expected to follow accepted practices of diplomacy and to support international organizations. International law, diplomatic relations, and international organizations can only exist and operate successfully if these expectations are 4generally met by most states most of the time. States are also expected to uphold human rights. Today, there is an elaborate international legal framework of human rights -civil, political, social, and economic- which has been developed since the end of the Second Worl War. Order and justice are obviously among the most fundamental values of international relations. That approach to the study of world politics is typical of International Society theories of IR. It operates on the assumption that international relations can best be characterized as a world in which states are socially responsible actors and have a common interest in preserving international order and promoting international justice.

Socio-Economic Wealth and Welfare

The final basic value that states are usually expected to uphold is the population's socio-economic wealth and welfare. People expect their government to adopt appropriate policies to encourage high employment, low inflation, steady investment, the uninterrupted flow of trade and commerce, and so forth. Because national economies are rarely isolated from each other, most people also expect that the state will respond to the international economic system in such a way as to enhance or at least defend and maintain the national standard of living.

Most states nowadays try to frame and implement economic policies that can maintain the stability of the international economy upon which they are all increasingly dependent. This usually involves economic policies that can deal adequately with international markets, with the economic policies of other states, with foreign investment, with exchange rates, with solvent banks, with international trade, transportation and communications, and with other international economic relations and conditions that affect national wealth and welfare.

Economic Interdependence

Economic interdependence, meaning a high degree of mutual economic dependence among countries, is a striking feature of the contemporary state system. Some people consider this to be a good thing because it may increase overall freedom and wealth by expending the global marketplace, thereby increasing participation, specialization, efficiency, and productivity. Other people consider it to be a bad thing because it may promote overall inequality by allowing rich and powerful countries, or countries with financial or technological 5