Kant and the Kantian paradigm in international relations

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hurrell
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
State System ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
World Government ◽  
Perpetual Peace ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
International Anarchy ◽  
Lasting Influence

Although few in number and limited in scope, Kant's writings on international relations have had a lasting influence and have given rise to a wide range of interpretations. Kant's famous pamphlet, Perpetual Peace, has been seen as advocating federalism, world government, a League of Nations-type security system and outright pacifism. Underlying much of the debate on Kant lies a divergence over the relationship between what might broadly be called the ‘statist’ and the ‘cosmopolitan’ sides of Kant's writings. On one side, there are those who argue that Kant is primarily concerned with order at the level of interstate relations. Kant, it is argued, did not want to transcend the state system but to improve it. He wanted to subject the international anarchy to law and to find a solution to the problem of war but in a way which would not sacrifice the essential autonomy and independence of states.

International Relations as a Prismatic System

1961 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Riggs
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
State System ◽  
American Society ◽  
State 1 ◽  
Executive Body ◽  
Inter State

Conventional theories of international relations assume, implicitly, the model of an “inter-state system.” According to this model, individually states possess a set of characteristics which differ fundamentally from the characteristics of a system of those states interacting with each other. On this basis we can construct theories about the behavior of component states in the system, and more general propositions about the nature of the inter-state system viewed as a whole. Some of the difficulties of this model will be noted here, and an alternative model proposed.Before pointing to these difficulties, however, we need a clear image of the inter-state model. A classic formulation is contained in a speech given by former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles at a meeting of the American Society for International Law. In it Mr. Dulles identified six characteristics of the nation-state: (1) laws which “reflect the moral judgment of the community”; (2) political machinery to revise these laws as needed; (3) an executive body able to administer the laws; (4) judicial machinery to settle disputes in accord with the laws; (5) superior force to deter violence by enforcing the law upon those who defy it; and (6) sufficient well-being so that people are not driven by desperation to ways of violence. The international system, Mr. Dulles pointed out, in large part lacks these characteristics. He went on to assess the limited success of attempts, ranging from the League of Nations and Kellogg-Briand Pact through the United Nations, to create such a “state system” or “order” at the international level. Mr. Dulles sadly reported that, despite notable progress in the development of international law and judicial machinery, the desired international order does not, as yet, exist.

A Plea for Restraint

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Ruzicka
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
International Order ◽  
The State ◽  
State System ◽  
World Government ◽  
Complete Destruction ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

This essay reconstructs Hedley Bull’s position on nuclear proliferation in The Anarchical Society. Avoiding the extremes of nuclear optimism and pessimism, Bull provided nuanced arguments about the relationship between nuclear proliferation and international order. Bull remained agnostic as to what the world of many nuclear powers would look like. He used this unpredictability to emphasize the notion of restraint involving both superpower cooperation to prevent states from going nuclear as well as the exercise of self-restraint on the part of superpowers. Showing restraint was crucial to the continued existence of the states system. Bull worried that proliferation represented a particular threat to it. Nuclear weapons exposed states to the prospect of sudden and complete destruction. This could lead to the abolition of the state system and its replacement with world government, to which Bull was strongly opposed. The conclusion illustrates Bull’s relevance in relation to the recent pursuit of non-proliferation.

Legitimacy and Institutional Replacement: The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the Emergence of the Mine Ban Treaty

2009 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Patrick Cottrell
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
International Institution ◽  
Preliminary Discussion ◽  
Conventional Weapons ◽  
Ideational Change ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractWhen and under what conditions is an existing international institution most likely to be replaced by a new one? Conventional international relations theories offer only partial insights into this question and seldom address it directly. But replacement occurs in a variety of important international contexts. For example, the United Nations replaced the League of Nations, the WTO replaced the GATT, and most recently, the Ottawa Convention banning landmines replaced Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). I argue that the concept of legitimacy, commonly defined as “the belief that an institution ought to be obeyed,” and careful attention to the development of the existing institution are necessary to understand replacement. After developing a theoretical framework to conceptualize the relationship between legitimacy and replacement, this article traces the origins and development of the largely overlooked institutional predecessor to the Ottawa Convention: the CCW. It then shows how ideational change, driven by transnational efforts to delegitimate the CCW, paved the way for a shift in discourse from control to disarmament that made the creation of a new institution possible. The article concludes by seeking to generalize from the CCW experience through a preliminary discussion of other ways and cases in which legitimacy might affect institutional replacement and persistence.

scholarly journals Estado e organismos internacionais: limites à cooperação sob a ótica realista/State and international organizations: limits to cooperation under realist optic

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 516-557
Author(s):  
Augusto Leal Rinaldi ◽  
Cristiano Morini
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Research Use ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Relative Power ◽  
Patterns Of Behavior ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
International Anarchy

Uma das abordagens correntes de análise das relações internacionais é aquela que se refere ao relacionamento entre os Estados e as Organizações Internacionais. Temos como objetivo demonstrar que quando os Estados agem conforme seus próprios interesses e determinações, qualquer tentativa de controle por parte das instituições é sobrepujada. A pesquisa se utiliza amplamente de uma literatura ancorada num referencial teórico realista. A discussão avança no sentido de apontar que a condição de anarquia internacional e, subjacente a ela, as relações geradas pelos cálculos da balança de poder são fatores determinantes da limitação à cooperação. Apontamos algumas razões para essa alegação, entre elas: Organizações Internacionais dependem dos Estados para surgir e operar; elas não são grandes players internacionais; são instrumentos que servem para pressionar países de menor poder relativo a aceitar (legitimar) os padrões de comportamento ditados pelas potências dominantes e assegurar-se de que a balança de poder seja mantida ou favorecida à mais forte entre elas; o sistema, fracamente institucionalizado, corrobora para uma ação mais desenvolta das grandes potências. Concluímos, além disso, que o realismo é explicativo da paralisia do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas, como no caso demonstrado a partir do recente impasse na Síria.Palavras-Chave: Realismo; Organizações Internacionais; Cooperação.  Abstract: One of the current approaches of analysis in international relations is that which refers to the relationship between States and International Organizations. We aim to show that when states act according to their own interests and determinations, any attempt to control by the institutions is surpassed. The research use an extensive literature anchored in a realistic theoretical framework. The discussion progresses to point out that the condition of international anarchy and behind it, the relations generated by the calculations of the balance of power are determinants of limitation of the cooperation. We point out some reasons for this claim, including: International Organizations rely on states to emerge and operate; they are not big international players; are tools that serve to pressure countries to accept lower relative power (legitimate) patterns of behavior dictated by the dominant powers and ensure that the balance of power is maintained or favored the strongest among them; the system, weakly institutionalized, supports for a more nimble action of the great powers. We conclude, furthermore, that realism is explanatory of the paralysis of the Security Council of the UN, as in the case shown from the recent stalemate in Syria.Key Words: Realism; International Organizations; Cooperation.  DOI: 10.20424/2237-7743/bjir.v4n3p516-557 

THE CONCEPT OF "INTERSTATE RELATIONS" AND ITS MEANING

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
Kamolaxon Abdurazakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Additional Material ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The World ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The article examines the relationship of international relations in the development of economic, political, legal, diplomatic, military, humanitarian and other spheres, the relationship between the political forces operating in the world. This aspect of the issue serves as additional material for works published on the international stage

10 ‘All human beings …’ and the Great Enterprise

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pace John P
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Third Dimension ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Distinguishing Features

This chapter explores the relevance of the developments in the Commission on Human Rights to the individual—the ultimate measure by which to assess the priorities in the coming years. The introduction of respect for human rights among the fundamental principles of the organization and the establishment of an International Bill of Human Rights were major distinguishing features between the UN Charter and the Covenant of the League of Nations. These provisions placed the individual at the table where only governments sat in matters of international relations. This ‘third dimension’ of international relations gave the Commission on Human Rights a role and responsibility like no other UN body, of dealing directly with individuals. The chapter then addresses the relationship of the Commission with the individual and civil society. Communication from individuals and groups emerged on two principal channels, almost concurrently. One was the handling of communications whose substance was deemed to be relevant to the work of the Commission as it undertook its drafting responsibilities. The other was the right of individuals and groups to petition as an integral component of the measures of implementation. This was the start of the treaty-based complaints mechanisms.

Surrogate international organization and the case of world food security, 1949–1969

1979 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon McLin
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
World Food ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
World Government ◽  
John Ruggie ◽  
World Food Security

Much of the discussion and study in the field of international organization has long been beset by a sterile encounter between the “uncritical lovers” and the “unloving critics” of formal intergovernmental organizations, of which the UN family is the preeminent example. The former have seen in those institutions and their procedures precursors of a regime of international law, if not of a world government, characterized by greater rationality, order, and cooperation and by less conflict in interstate relations; they have often been mentally fixed on a dominant image of international order, an image whose flaws and other characteristics were well analyzed by John Ruggie several years ago. The latter have seen them largely as shadow plays, at best reflecting and at worst having nothing to do with the power relations among states, which are the real determinants of state behavior in an anarchic system. The split between the two corresponds roughly, if not identically, to another fundamental divide among theorists of international relations, namely, that between idealists and realists.

The Regional Security in the Space of CIS (On the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of the Commonwealth)

2021 ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Efim Pivovar
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
Commonwealth Of Independent States ◽  
Collective Decisions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Regional System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Independent States

The purpose of the article is to analyze the activities of the Commonwealth of Independent States and its role in the history of modern international relations in the post-Soviet space, within the framework of which cooperation in the field of security and peacekeeping is developing. This range of issues is often ignored or poorly covered in international historiography, which makes the proposed analysis particularly relevant. The authors pay special attention to the role of the CIS in creating elements of the regional system of collective security. Based on the analyzed documentary material, including international agreements and collective decisions taken within the framework of the CIS, the authors conclude that, although the Commonwealth of Independent States could not turn into a developed integration organization that determines the direction of development of its member countries, the CIS retains its importance not only as a negotiating platform but also as an institutionalized structure offering participants certain tools for interaction on a wide range of issues in the field of security and collective conflict resolution. It is due to the availability of such tools that the Commonwealth occupies its special niche in modern international relations, primarily in the regional system of interstate relations in the Eurasian space.

Thucydides, International Law, and International Anarchy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Eckstein
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
Greek City ◽  
City States ◽  
Relations Of Power ◽  
International Anarchy

Ancient Greek city-states existed in a world that was essentially bereft of international law. This lack of international law had profound effects on international relations. The anarchic environment encouraged the development of heavily militarized and diplomatically aggressive societies. The prevalence of such societies, combined with the absence of any overarching authority over them, made wars between polities common. Faced with a conflict of interest with another polity, every government independently decided what constituted justice for itself, and—in the absence of international law--all governments had to be ready to use violence or the threat of violence to enforce that view of justice. Hellenic intellectuals—most famously Thucydides, but including Aristotle and Demosthenes--reacted to the anarchy by hypothesizing that interstate relations were determined above all by relations of power. Thucydides expressed this view of power-politics in international life most clearly in what is called the Melian Dialogue (Thuc. 5.84-116). This essay also emphasizes Thucydides’ analysis of the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (1.23), and underlines the nature of what he considered “the truest cause” (1.23.6) of that devastating conflict, demonstrating that the shift in the balance of power (ibid.) expressed itself in the specific “quarrels and disputes” of 1.23.5, so that there is no contradiction between the two Thucydidean explanations.

Accent Policy and Accent Modification Enterprises as Potential Indicators of Intercultural Power Relations: A Call for an Updated Research Agenda

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brynne D. Ovalle ◽  
Rahul Chakraborty
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Cultural Organization ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This article has two purposes: (a) to examine the relationship between intercultural power relations and the widespread practice of accent discrimination and (b) to underscore the ramifications of accent discrimination both for the individual and for global society as a whole. First, authors review social theory regarding language and group identity construction, and then go on to integrate more current studies linking accent bias to sociocultural variables. Authors discuss three examples of intercultural accent discrimination in order to illustrate how this link manifests itself in the broader context of international relations (i.e., how accent discrimination is generated in situations of unequal power) and, using a review of current research, assess the consequences of accent discrimination for the individual. Finally, the article highlights the impact that linguistic discrimination is having on linguistic diversity globally, partially using data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partially by offering a potential context for interpreting the emergence of practices that seek to reduce or modify speaker accents.

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