International Relations Theory

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cristol
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Starting Point

International relations (IR) theory is difficult to define. It is often taught as a theory that seeks both to explain past state behavior and to predict future state behavior. However, even that definition is contested by many theorists. Traditional IR theories can generally be categorized by their focus either on humans, states, or on the state system as the primary source of conflict. Any bibliography of international relations theory is bound to create controversy among its readers. Why did the author choose one theory and not the other? Why did the author choose one source and not the other? Indeed, a wide variety of permutations would be perfectly valid to provide the researcher with an adequate annotated bibliography, so why were these particular entries chosen? This article identifies Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism as the three major branches of IR theory. These three branches have replaced the earlier realism-idealism dichotomy. The “English School” could be considered part of any of the aforementioned three branches, and its placement in the IR theory world is the subject of some debate. It has therefore been given its own section and is not included in any of the other sections. Critical IR theory and Feminist IR theory are often considered part of constructivism; however, there is much debate over whether they constitute their own branches, and so they are included in this article (as well as in their own entries in the OBO series), though the sources are somewhat different. Post–Cold War IR Theory is given its own heading because there are a number of theories that were proposed in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War that are still widely taught and discussed in the field. Perhaps the most controversial inclusion is that of Neoconservatism. Though it is quite possible to mount a case for it to be considered a theory of US foreign policy, it is theoretically distinct from other IR theories (the belief in bandwagoning instead of balancing). The final three sections are included to show how political theory has influenced IR theory, and how history and foreign policy have influenced IR theory (and vice versa). The included sections and citations represent both the mainstream of IR theory and those nonmainstream theories that have just started to break into the mainstream of IR theory. This article provides a starting point for both the beginning and the serious scholar of international relations theory.

Ubiquity of ‘Power’ and the Advantage of Terminological Pluralism: Japan's Foreign Policy Discourse

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
LINUS HAGSTRÖM
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Foreign Policy Analysis ◽  
Post Cold War

This article demonstrates that ubiquitous references to ‘power’ in English-language foreign policy discourse can be understood in the light of the inclination in international relations theory to place power on a par with capability. It makes two claims: that such a concept of power is ill-fitted for foreign policy analysis; and that much clarity would be gained by following the Japanese example of terminological pluralism and thus abandoning ‘power’ as a catch-all term. Foreign policy analysis would benefit from adopting a concept that takes power to reside in specific relationships. Its adoption would moreover dissolve a power paradox associated with the analysis of Japan's post-Cold War foreign policy.

Conclusion

After Lavinia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Watkins
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
First Century ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The West ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Legal Rationality

This concluding chapter reflects on marriage in the contemporary West, noting that it has become an affective arrangement. In Britain and the northern European countries that still retain a constitutional form of monarchy, twenty-first-century royalty now prefer their own subjects as marriage partners, even if it means marrying a commoner like Kate Middleton. To the extent that these marriages to indigenous commoners have any bearing on foreign policy, they reaffirm the nationalist sentiments of the post-Westphalian state. The chapter argues that, despite all the legal rationality, global peace remains as elusive now as it was when Europeans tried to settle their quarrels through interdynastic marriage. It suggests that the opposition between the West and its post-Cold War enemies has brought the matter of gender and the place of women once more to the center of international relations.

Back to the Future, Part II: International Relations Theory and Post-Cold War Europe

1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Hoffmann ◽  
Robert O. Keohane ◽  
John J. Mearsheimer
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Future

Desire all the way down

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROXANNE LYNN DOTY
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
First Principles ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Metaphysical Foundation ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way

Alex Wendt's Social Theory of International Politics demonstrates perhaps more long and hard thought about social theory and its implications for international relations theory than most international relations scholars have dared to venture into. He admirably attempts to do in an explicit manner what most scholars in the discipline do only implicitly and often accidentally: suggest a social theory to serve as the foundation for theorizing about international relations. However, there are problems with his approach, a hint of which can be found in the epigraph he has chosen: ‘No science can be more secure than the unconscious metaphysics, which tacitly it presupposes’. Because metaphysics cannot ultimately be proven or disproved, it is inherently insecure. The insecurity and instability of the metaphysical presuppositions present in Social Theory are not difficult to find, and what Wendt ends up demonstrating, despite his objective not to, is the absence of any secure, stable, and unambiguous metaphysical foundation upon which IR theory could be firmly anchored. Indeed, what Social Theory does illustrate is that there is no such ultimate centre within the discipline except the powerful desire to maintain the illusion of first principles and the essential nature of things. If I may paraphrase Wendt, this is a ‘desire all the way down’ in that it permeates his relentless quest for the essence of international relations. Two goals characterize this desire: on the one hand, to take a critical stance toward more conventional international relations theory such as neorealism and neoliberalism; on the other, to maintain unity, stability, and order within the discipline. Social Theory oscillates between these two goals and in doing so deconstructs the very foundations it seeks to lay.

scholarly journals Mass Media and International Relations

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-55
Author(s):  
Elias Papadopoulus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
International Relations ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Black Box ◽  
The State ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
State Actor

In the modern theories in the science of International Relations, the traditional pillar of the school of Realism that considered the state as the only actor in the international scene, actor who took every decision in a monolithic and rational way, taking into consideration only the national interest, has now been rejected. The metaphor of the "black box", indicative of this monolithic way of operation and the rejection of every non-state, but also intra-state and out-of-state actor, even if it was valid once, has definitely been weakened by the events of the post-cold war era, and especially with the advent of globalization. New parameters have been inserted in the process of foreign policy formulation and politicians (and all those responsible for a country‘s foreign policy) have to take them into consideration.

Why Buy American? The International Politics of Fighter Jet Transfers

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srdjan Vucetic ◽  
Atsushi Tago
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Probit Model ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Military Aircraft ◽  
Historical Structures ◽  
The Cold War

AbstractWhen it comes to buying military aircraft, what leads states to prefer one supplier over the other? This paper explores this question from the perspective of international relations theory. First we use social network analysis to map out fighter jet transfers during and after the Cold War and examine the extent to which historical structures of international hierarchy shape contemporary supplier-receiver relationships. Next, we use a basic probit model to analyse the origins of fighter jets in the world's air forces today to evaluate the effect of interstate orders of super-ordination and sub-ordination on sourcing patterns. All things being equal, the more a state is embedded in US security and economic hierarchy, the more it is likely to buy American-made fighter jets.

The foreign policy options of a small unrecognised state: the case of Abkhazia

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Thomas Frear
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Universal Principle ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
The World ◽  
Systemic Understanding

The study of international relations has historically focused on the activities of large, powerful states, dismissing the smaller entities of the international system as unimportant or merely objects of policy for the larger entities. This truism extends especially to those entities that exist in an unrecognised or partially recognised limbo, neither a full part of the international system nor an ungoverned space. Yet in the post-Cold War world, following the dissolution of large multi-national states such as the USSR, these entities have begun to proliferate. This proliferation provides a significant challenge to an international system in which the primary participants are states, and to the institutions created to oversee their interaction. Unrecognised entities, existing outside of this framework, represent a threat to the universal principle of sovereignty, that one true institutionalised aspect of international relations. As such the study of these entities and their interaction with the world outside their borders is a study important for a systemic understanding of contemporary international relations. This article aims to address the foreign policy of one such entity, Abkhazia.

Switzerland and Détente: A Revised Foreign Policy Characterized by Distrust

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Bott ◽  
Janick Marina Schaufelbuehl
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Face ◽  
The One

This chapter illustrates how Switzerland aimed to redefine its neutrality in international relations in the first half of the 1970s. On the one hand, Switzerland maintained its traditional Cold War maxims of armed defense, neutrality, and solidarity. On the other hand, in the face of détente and the perception of a new global context, the Swiss Federal Council, inspired by the Federal Political Department, embarked on a more active foreign policy that aimed to rebrand Swiss neutrality by renewing “goodwill” and trust toward it. Although this reorientation was not entirely successful, it was driven by a profound distrust of previous alliance systems and the process of détente, which eventually led Switzerland to a more globally oriented and defensive posture in international relations.

Nonalignment to Multialignment

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Ian Hall
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Realist Approach ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy

This chapter outlines, by way of background, the evolution of Indian foreign and security policy after the country became independent in 1947. It discusses Jawaharlal Nehru’s dominance in the first phase and the generation of a Nehruvian tradition of thought about India’s international relations. It then explores the shift to a more realist approach under Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, and the post-Cold War transformation of foreign policy, prompted by a looming crisis in India’s economic and diplomatic circumstances. It traces the emergence of a more confident policy of ‘multialignment’ during the 2000s, as India’s economy grew and its regional importance developed with it. In the conclusion, it outlines Modi’s approach, comparing and contrasting it to those pursued by his immediate predecessors, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

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