Faith, history and Martin Wight: the role of religion in the historical sociology of the English school of International Relations

2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 905-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
English School ◽  
Role Of Religion

Introduction

After Lavinia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Watkins
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
International System ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
English School ◽  
Power Struggles ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Public Theaters

This book examines the role of marriage in the formation, maintenance, and disintegration of a premodern European diplomatic society. The argument develops in dialogue with the so-called English school of international relations theory, with its emphasis on the contemporary international system as a society of states sharing certain values, norms, and common interests rather than as an anarchy driven solely by power struggles. In studying the place of marriage diplomacy in questions of monarchical and national sovereignty, the book draws on interdisciplinary methodologies that have long characterized academic studies of queenship and, more recently, European diplomatic culture. It begins with Virgil, whose epic tells the story of Aeneas's marriage to Lavinia—the paradigmatic interdynastic marriage. It also considers the inseparability of marriage diplomacy from literary production. Finally, it discusses the factors that precipitated the disintegration of marriage diplomacy, including new technologies of print and the large public theaters for promoting diplomatic literacy.

Foreign and Domestic Factors in the Transformation of Frelimo

1993 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Simpson
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
The State ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Ruling Party

This article examines the trajectory of the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo), currently the ruling party in Mozambique, focusing on the complex interplay between various factors which contributed to the metamorphoses it has undergone since its founding in 1962. Recent work in the field of international relations and historical sociology has thrown light on the rôle of the state as an administrative-coercive entity constantly cross-pressured by domestic and foreign forces, and acting simultaneously on both fronts in pursuit of advantage. While this scholarship has not focused on ruling parties per se, it is arguable that the standard government versus state dichotomy is of limited analytical value in cases such as Mozambique, where the distinction between party and state remained in practice, until recently, a constitutional nicety. When the ruling party has been institutionalised to the extent of Frelimo, and where the state has become almost an extension of the party, it is the latter that is the key variable in any explanation of political and economic change within society.

Foreign Policy and Religion: An Overview

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn M. Warner ◽  
Stephen G. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Bounded Rationality ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Role Of Religion

Despite the increased attention to religion in international relations, questions remain about the role of religion in the foreign policies of states. Extrapolating from theories in the fields of international relations and comparative politics is a fruitful strategy to explore religion’s potential avenues of influence on foreign policy. There are also potential methodological tools of analysis in these fields, which can be fruitfully applied to understand the role of religion in foreign policy. Contributions from the field of religion and politics may be used to frame applications of such theories as realism, constructivism, liberalism, and bounded rationality to specify further hypotheses about religion and foreign policy. The potential of these theoretical approaches from international relations to the analysis of religion has not yet been exploited fully although it is clear that there are promising signs of progress.

Tracing the International Dimensions of Iranian Nationalism: The Era of Mohammad Reza Shah

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-65
Author(s):  
Zelal Özdemir
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Specific Interaction ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Rapid Industrialization ◽  
Iranian State ◽  
Popular Nationalism ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Domestic Level

This study explores the reconstruction of Iranian national identity during the Mohammad Reza Shah era (1953 to 1979). Drawing on materials collected from the memoirs and statements of the Shah and the key actors of the era and using Historical Sociology in International Relations as its theoretical backbone, it aims to unravel the constitutive role of the international on the formation of Iranian state nationalism. It argues that in order to understand the meaning attached to being Iranian, we should look into the specifics of international- domestic interaction, as Iranian national identity has been framed and re-framed by the Shah alongside the changing dynamics born out of specific interaction between the domestic and international dynamics. The Shah’s interpretation of Iranian identity emerged and evolved at the intersection of his endeavours for gaining legitimacy against the legacy of Mosaddeq and his popular nationalism at the domestic level and for reclaiming the actorness of Iran during the Cold War at the international level. Playing inwards and outwards, the Shah sought to deconstruct the content of Iranian nationalism articulated by Mosaddeq and to give a new meaning to Iranian nationalism. Serving as the ideological glue of his state building, it was characterized by a strong belief in the rapid industrialization, emphasis on unity rather than diversity, uniqueness of Iranian identity vis-à-vis the East and the West, and presentation of the Shah as the real and moral representative of the Iranian people.

Enemy of Mankind or Just No Powerful Friends Left? Insights from International Relations about the Efficacy of the icc

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-324
Author(s):  
Peerce McManus
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Society ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
English School ◽  
World Community ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Shared Humanity

Applying both constructivism and the English school of international relations, the icc is shown to be founded upon, and simultaneously constitutive of, a vision of universally shared humanity. However, the icc performs this role of norm-entrepreneurship within a structure premised upon Westphalian notions of sovereignty that are not conducive to this vision. This tension is embedded within the Rome Statute due to compromises struck in its drafting between those actors who envisioned a solidarist ‘world community’, and those attached to the status quo of an ‘international society’. These compromises have given rise to power relations that undermine the vision of ending impunity for international crimes. Consequently, it is not simply by one’s conduct that they come before the Court as a hostis humani generis, but rather because they have no powerful friends left. The efficacy of the icc is contingent on this transition between two competing conceptions of international society.

scholarly journals «The Children of Darkness» and «International Community»: Colonial Policy from the Perspective of the English School of International Relations

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
V.V. Mironov
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Society ◽  
English School ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
School Concept

The article is devoted to the evaluation of the role of colonial policy in the works of historians of the English School of international relations. The aim of the article is to highlight the main stages in the study of colonial problems in the concept of international society and to show the specifics of the evaluation of colonialism in the historiographic aspect. The sources of the work were texts of leading representatives of this scientific community. The historiographical analysis shows that there are three stages in the study of colonial issues in the English School of international relations. They reflect both the processes of historical development of Great Britain in the second half of the 20th century, and the internal line of evolution of the school concept. At the first stage (1950-1970), the colonial problem did not have an independent significance for the analysis of international relations. The second stage (1980-1990) is characterized by the recognition of colonial policy as an institution for the development of international society in history, although it is evaluated inconsistently. The third stage is modern and it shows the important role of the former colonies in the structure of modern international society. The article analyzes the key arguments in assessing the role of colonies for each stage based on the work of leading representatives of the community. The main conclusion of the article is that the ability to change attitudes to colonialism in the analysis of international society explains the growing interest in the concept of school in modern Asian countries.).

What Do Islamists Bring to the Negotiation Table? Religion and the Case of the Pakistani Taliban

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-434
Author(s):  
Mona Kanwal Sheikh
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Religious Conflicts ◽  
Religious Factors ◽  
Role Of Religion

Abstract Is religion the main reason why negotiations with Islamists fail? Contemporary international relations literature views compromise over religious claims as being particularly difficult compared to other types of claims. Religious conflicts are understood as unique phenomena. Do religious factors explain why successful conflict resolution attempts with Islamists are more difficult to achieve than with other insurgent groups who pursue non-religious claims? This article examines the case of the Pakistani Taliban and the types of demands they have made during peace talks and in their communications. The role of religion is examined in this article and, specifically, theories of scarce resources, indivisibility and securitization are analyzed to explain the difficulties of negotiating with Islamists.

scholarly journals Turning the Other Cheek to Terrorism: Reflections on the Contemporary Significance of Leo Tolstoy's Exegesis of the Sermon on the Mount

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre J. M. E. Christoyannopoulos
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sermon On The Mount ◽  
Role Of Religion

AbstractThe “war on terror” has brought to the fore the old debate on the role of religion in politics and international relations, a question on which Tolstoy wrote extensively during the latter part of his life. He considered Jesus to have clearly spelt out some rational moral and political rules for conduct, the most important of which was non-resistance to evil. For Tolstoy, Jesus' instructions not to resist evil, to love one's enemies and not to judge one another together imply that a sincere Christian would denounce any form of violence and warfare, and would strive to respond to (whatever gets defined as) evil with love, not force. In today's “war on terror,” therefore, Tolstoy would lament both sides' readiness to use violence to reach their aims; and he would call for Christians in particular to courageously enact the rational wisdom contained in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Tolstoy's exegesis of Christianity may be too literal and too rationalistic, and may lead to an exceedingly utopian political vision; but it articulates a refreshingly peaceful method for religion to shape politics, one that can moreover and paradoxically be related to by non-Christians precisely because of its alleged grounding in reason.

scholarly journals Bürgerliche Revolution, Staatsbildung und die Abwesenheit des Internationalen

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (141) ◽  
pp. 575-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benno Teschke
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Early Modern History ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
American Tradition ◽  
The Face ◽  
Anglo American

This article traces the Marxist debate on the concept of ‘bourgeois revolution’ and criticises attempts within orthodox Marxism to salvage the concept in the face of the historiographical revisionist critique. It then introduces into the Anglo-American tradition of Political Marxism and argues that while scholars of this orientation have presented a powerful renewal of Marxism and re-interpretation of late medieval and early modern history, they have failed to systematically incorporate international relations into their reconstructions of early modern revolutions and state-formations. The article demonstrates how the international played a crucial role in shaping the respective trajectories of national developments, exemplified with reference to England and France, and concludes by arguing the case for a theoretical re-integration of the role of international relations into Marxist Historical Sociology.

scholarly journals Revisiting the Evolution of International System: Reflections on the Role of Religion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarwar J. Minar
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
City States ◽  
Social Entities ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The City

Religion has been significant in human life since the day of human creation and since then played important role throughout various phrases of the world history. The paper investigates the role of religion in the development of International System. In tracing out the role of religion, the paper uses a qualitative research method. Though an interpretive approach, the paper explores the role of religion from the very beginning moment of creation of earth and human being, throughout various historical development phrases. The paper finds that religion has historically played a significant role in human life, in the organization of the social entities, and therefore in the relations among them. The paper finds immense influence of religion in prehistoric societies, in the pre-Westphalian system, in the city states and empires. However, in the Westphalian era religion was left aside and secularism took the place but was not excluded entirely. In the present era religion has again emerged as an influential force in the world affairs. Presenting an evaluation ofreligion‘s role in the 21st century international system, the paper concludes attempting to integrate religion into the theories of International Relations.

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