scholarly journals Time and the Study of World Politics

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Hutchings
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
The Many

The articles in this volume, and the many contributions to the Millennium Conference, ‘The Politics of Time in International Relations’ from which these articles were drawn, speak to the ongoing interest in issues of time and temporality in International Relations (IR) and associated disciplines. They also speak to the very broad range of ways in which time and temporality are seen to operate in international politics and the ways in which it (international politics) is studied and judged. I was deeply interested in and stimulated by my participation in the conference, and what follows is an attempt to situate my own specific concerns on issues of time and temporality, when I wrote Time and World Politics and subsequently, in the broader context of the developing literature on time and temporality in IR. Like most of the contributors to this volume, I see the attention paid to issues of time/temporality in IR as productive for research in the field. However, in agreement with at least two of the contributors, I am also aware that like any other production of academic knowledge, including supposedly ‘critical’ academic knowledge, there are always dangers and limitations inherent in that knowledge and its discursive and practical effects.

Spatiality and World Politics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Weaver
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Sovereign Power ◽  
Many Worlds ◽  
Orientation Space ◽  
The Many

Space has always animated world politics, but three spatial orientations are striking. First, the Westphalian orientation deems space a sovereign power container. Second, the scalar takes recourse to the local, regional, national, and global spaces in which world politics is played out. Third, the relational deems space a (re)produced, sociohistorically contingent phenomenon that changes according to the humans occupying it and the thought, power, and resources flowing through it. Under this latter orientation, space is lived, lived in and lived through. Whilst relationality, to a degree, calls into question the received wisdoms of International Relations (IR), the fixity of sovereignty and territory remain. The orientations coexist concomitantly, reflecting the “many worlds” humankind occupies.

scholarly journals Images, emotions, and international politics: the death of Alan Kurdi

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Adler-Nissen ◽  
Katrine Emilie Andersen ◽  
Lene Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Open Door ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Subject Positions ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis

AbstractHow are images, emotions, and international politics connected? This article develops a theoretical framework contributing to visuality and emotions research in International Relations. Correcting the understanding that images cause particular emotional responses, this article claims that emotionally laden responses to images should be seen as performed in foreign policy discourses. We theorise images as objects of interpretation and contestation, and emotions as socially constituted rather than as individual ‘inner states’. Emotional bundling – the coupling of different emotions in discourse – helps constitute political subjectivities that both politicise and depoliticise. Through emotional bundling political leaders express their experiences of feelings shared by all humans, and simultaneously articulate themselves in authoritative and gendered subject positions such as ‘the father’. We illustrate the value of our framework by analysing the photographs of Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian-Kurdish boy who drowned in September 2015. ‘Kurdi’ became an instant global icon of the Syrian refugee crisis. World leaders expressed their personal grief and determination to act, but within a year, policies adopted with direct reference to Kurdi's tragic death changed from an open-door approach to attempts to stop refugees from arriving. A discursive-performative approach opens up new avenues for research on visuality, emotionality, and world politics.

scholarly journals POSTSTRUCTURALISM AND ITS PRACTICAL RELEVANCE IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-129
Author(s):  
Rifki Dermawan
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
International Issues

There are many different theories and approaches in international relations studies. They emerge as tools to understand world politics as well as to prevent the occurrence of wars and conflicts. Poststructuralism is one of them. This article addresses the practical relevance of poststructuralism in international politics. It looks at the role of poststructuralism, which provides a novel view on international issues in the globalized era. There are three major focuses of this paper. First, the discussion on the concept of sovereignty and state in a modern world. Second, the role of discourse in the poststructuralism theoretical framework. Third, the function of poststructuralism as a meta-theoretical critique in international relations. This article concludes that poststructuralism is practically useful in the study of international politics.   Keywords: poststructuralism, theory, international politics, international relations.     Abstrak   Ada beragam teori dan pendekatan yang digunakan di dalam studi ilmu hubungan internasional. Teori dan pendekatan tersebut muncul sebagai alat untuk memahami kondisi peepolitikan dunia dan juga untuk mencegah terjadinya peperangan dan konflik. Poststrukturalisme adalah salah satunya. Tulisan ini membahas relevansi secara praktikal dari poststrukturalisme dalam politik internasional. Tulisan ini melihat peranan poststrukturalisme yang memberikan pandangan baru terhadap isu-isu internasional di zaman globalisasi. Ada tiga fokus utama dari tulisan ini. Pertama, pembahasan mengenai konsep kedaulatan dan negara di zaman modern. Kedua, peranan wacana dalam kerangka teori poststrukturalisme. Ketiga, fungsi poststrukturalisme sebagai kritik metateori di ilmu hubungan internasional. Kesimpulan yang dapat diambil dari tulisan ini adalah poststrukturalisme memiliki manfaat secara praktikal dalam studi politik internasional.   Kata kunci: poststrukturalisme, teori, politik internasional, ilmu hubungan internasional.

scholarly journals Theoretical approaches towards the steps of nongovernmental actors in world politics: global paradiplomacy of the Iraqi Kurdistan (KRI).

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-41
Author(s):  
Dalsooz Jalal Hussein
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
International Politics ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Iraqi Kurdistan ◽  
State Actor ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Actors

This article presents a theoretical approach towards the global political steps of non-state actors. Particular attention is given to a number of theories of international relations, such as neorealism, international liberalism, and constructivism, which are able to encompass current global actions of non-state political actors. For a clearer perspective on the subject matter, the article employs the example of Iraqi Kurdistan (KRI); as a non-state actor, KRI has recently become a vivid example for the theories of international relations. The conclusion is made that security, economy, culture, religion and identity are the key and post powerful instruments of non-state actors of international politics. The example of KRI demonstrates that international relations of non-state actors focus on security, economy and culture, as well as serve as the instruments of interaction with both, state and non-state actors. The article reviews such activity within the framework of neorealism, international liberalism, and constructivism. It is underlines that the example of Iraqi Kurdistan (KRI) fully meets all the criteria of a non-state actor of international politics. It is also a brilliant example for the theories of international relations.

Power and International Relations: a temporal view

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406612096980
Author(s):  
Daniel Drezner
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Feedback Effects ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Causal Processes ◽  
Over Time

International Relations scholars are certain about two facts: power is the defining concept of the discipline and there is no consensus about what that concept means. One explanation for this problematic state of the field is that most International Relations scholars freight their analyses of power with hidden assumptions about time. Temporality is an essential component of political analysis, as a burgeoning literature has begun to explore. This paper argues that there are two latent presumptions about time that fundamentally affect how scholars conceptualize power in world politics. First, scholars are rarely explicit in defining the temporal scope of their key causal processes. The longer the implicit temporal scope, the more expansive their definition and operationalization of power can be. Second, there is considerable variation of beliefs about the temporal returns to power: does exercising or accumulating power generate positive or negative feedback effects over time? Relying on canonical works in the field, this paper examines the hidden assumptions that different paradigms make about power and time. Illuminating these assumptions clarifies the root of cross-paradigmatic disagreements about international politics and suggests some interesting pathways for future theoretical and empirical work.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Renshon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Relationship

This book has examined the importance of status in world politics. It has introduced the status dissatisfaction theory and applied it directly to the realm of international relations. It has tested the theory using a variety of approaches, including network analysis, by investigating the relationship between status dissatisfaction and war, if and how status concerns motivated German decision making during the Weltpolitik era, and the link between heightened status concerns and the escalation of commitment. The book concludes by discussing four broad lessons that can be drawn from the findings as well as the open questions that remain: status is local; there are many paths to status; status concerns are what count and not status itself; and status dissatisfaction leads to escalation and conflict. It also considers the policy implications of the theories of international politics.

Economic sanctions in world politics and science on international relations: relevant theoretical-methodological approaches

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yan Nikolaevich Shevchenko ◽  
Dmitriy Viktorovich Mukhamadeev
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Politics And Science ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Economic Coercion ◽  
Methodological Approaches

Diplomatics has always been interconnected with economy particularly the development of international trade. However, unlike the previous historical periods, the era of global interaction, developing an intense economic competition, simultaneously contributes to growth of interdependence between economic systems of various countries. Thus, there arises a legitimate question: whether or not the professional diplomats and experts in international relations should be concerned with the state economic administration. What are the practical and theoretical grounds for studying economic coercion from the position of world politics and science on international relations? It is suggested that such articulation of the problem initially implies presence of an objective need for detailed analysis by the expert-analytical community of economic sanctions (same as other instruments of economic coercion) in the context of global and regional international politics. The goal of this research consists in conceptualization of the term “economic sanctions” as a category of international-political science in light of its more relevant analytical angles and theoretical-methodological approaches. A conclusion is made that the effective application of economic sanctions as a regulatory instrument for international politics is often overestimated. The states that initiated sanctions launch a sanction mechanism in such instances, when they do not see other alternatives for various reasons. Sanctions become successful when imposed by an entire coalition, rather than a separate country; then in can affect the political elites and not only the regular citizens. The scientific novelty and practical importance is defined by the fact that the acquired results can be used in scientific and pedagogical activity in studying specific forms and methods of realization of economic diplomacy in Russia and foreign countries, as well as can be of interests for the experts in international political and economic cooperation.

scholarly journals A Constant State of War Or A Dog Eat Dog System?

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 66-79
Author(s):  
Nathan Andrews
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
State Power ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Realist Approach ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Constant State ◽  
State Behaviour ◽  
Hans Morgenthau

It has become far too fashionable to adopt a (neo)realist approach to world affairs, especially since this approach purports to deal with the ‘here and now’ of international politics. While this perspective can be seductive and even dominating, it is imbued with certain shortfalls that cannot be left unchallenged. (Neo)realism often presents a world that is anarchic, bound by state power and self-interest. Although these are “real” features of world politics, an exclusive concentration on these aspects alone does not present a comprehensive understanding of what states do and why they do what they do. This paper investigates realism, particularly the realism of Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz, to ascertain the extent to which the assumptions these authors present explain the nature and scope of international relations. The contention is that (neo)realism’s perspective on world affairs is unprogressive, non-transformative, and deterministic of state behaviour, a feature that makes its analysis limited even in capturing the ‘here and now’.

Introduction: Martin Wight and the Political Philosophy of International Relations

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Martin Wight
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Wild Card ◽  
International Theory ◽  
Historical Retrospect ◽  
The Many

This volume of Wight’s collected works brings together various writings concerning the political philosophy of international relations. Wight identified three traditions of thinking about international politics since the sixteenth century—Realism, Rationalism, and Revolutionism, which have become well known thanks to his 1991 posthumous volume, International Theory: The Three Traditions. The current volume includes several works on the same ‘international theory’ theme, some previously published and some never-before-published, with ‘Is There a Philosophy of Statesmanship?’ in the latter category. This volume also includes three essays by Wight on the causes and functions of war in international politics. Wight prepared several papers on legitimacy in domestic and international politics, and this volume features five never-before-published papers on this theme. Wight qualified his orderly analyses of traditions of political philosophy, the causes and functions of war, and principles of domestic and international legitimacy by drawing attention to unpredictable ‘wild card’ factors such as fortune and irony in his paper in this collection entitled ‘Fortune’s Banter’. Unintended, unexpected, and ironical consequences abound in international politics, despite efforts to master the dynamics of history. In view of the many factors behind events, including economic and demographic developments, Wight expressed qualifications about the role of ideas. He nonetheless concluded that ‘in historical retrospect, the philosophies of statesmen do seem observably to colour their policies’.

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