The First World War and the Institutionalization of International Relations as an Academic Discipline

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-64
Author(s):  
Veronika Stoilova
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Diplomatic History ◽  
Woodrow Wilson ◽  
Military Alliances ◽  
The Us ◽  
National Governments

This paper focuses on the stimulating role of WW1 in the process of separation, establishment and institutionalization of international relations (IR) as an academic discipline in its own right. It is well documented that these processes began immediately after 1919 with the creation of IR departments in European and American universities where training in International relations, International law, International politics, and other specific disciplines in the larger area of IR was provided.Our main thesis is that the atrocities of the first European and world catastrophy led to a better understanding of the decisive role which the relations between national governments, and especially the relations between military alliances, played in the world political arena. This, in its turn, led to the realization that these relations should be the prime target of the investigations of specific disciplines which must have their legitimate share in Bachelor, Master and Doctoral programs.In this paper we also examine the significant role of the US President Woodrow Wilson, himself an outstanding academic authority, in International history and relations, and his efforts to raise awareness and to the establishing of IR departments as legitimate entities of university structures. Special emphasis is put on the hopes of the international community that through separating IR from Diplomatic history, Law, Politology and other kin disciplines, under the auspices of which IR had previously existed, the international political life could be significantly ‘humanized’ since the future diplomats, the international and governmental leaders will be trained in the IR departments in the spirit of humanistic values related to peace, stability and prosperity.

Law and contestation in international negotiations

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 672-690
Author(s):  
Kyle Rapp
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Negotiations ◽  
The Us ◽  
Legal Grounds

AbstractWhat is the role of rhetoric and argumentation in international relations? Some argue that it is little more than ‘cheap talk’, while others say that it may play a role in persuasion or coordination. However, why states deploy certain arguments, and why these arguments succeed or fail, is less well understood. I argue that, in international negotiations, certain types of legal frames are particularly useful for creating winning arguments. When a state bases its arguments on constitutive legal claims, opponents are more likely to become trapped by the law: unable to develop sustainable rebuttals or advance their preferred policy. To evaluate this theory, I apply qualitative discourse analysis to the US arguments on the crime of aggression at the Kampala Review Conference of the International Criminal Court – where the US advanced numerous arguments intended to reshape the crime to align with US interests. The analysis supports the theoretical propositions – arguments framed on codified legal grounds had greater success, while arguments framed on more political grounds were less sustainable, failing to achieve the desired outcomes. These findings further develop our understanding of the use of international law in rhetoric, argumentation, and negotiation.

scholarly journals The Pandemic and the Crisis in the System of International Relations

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 6-19
Author(s):  
Al. A. Gromyko
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Strategic Autonomy ◽  
The Eu

The research is focused on several key problems in the system of international relations influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is shown that the events caused by it and broadly identified as a coronacrisis have a direct impact on the world economic contradictions (pandenomica) and political ones, including the sphere of security. These particular aspects are chosen as the main objects of the research. The author contends that the factor of the pandemic has sharpened the competition between regional and global players and has increased the role of a nation- state. In the conditions of transregional deglobalisation, regionalism and “protectionism 2.0” get stronger under the banners of “strategic vulnerability” and “economic sovereignty”. A further weakening of multilateral international institutions continues. The EU endeavours to secure competitive advantages on the basis of relocalisation, industrial and digital policies and the Green Deal. The article highlights the deterioration in the relations among Russia, the US, the EU and China, the unfolding decoupling between Washington and its European allies, which stimulates the idea of the EU strategic autonomy. An urgent need for the deconfliction in Russia – NATO interaction is stated.

scholarly journals HUMAN RIGHTS, FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS AND UNIVERSAL VALUES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2016 ◽  
pp. 88-98
Author(s):  
L. S. Voronkov
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms

The author analyzes the evolution of human rights and fundamental freedoms in domestic political life of individual states and in international relations as well over the latest two centuries. The article traces the role of struggle for liberal political human rights and civilian freedoms in the dismantling of the feudal-absolutist regimes as well as the challenges of radical left-wing (communist) and far right-wing (national-socialistic) threats to be met by the supporters of liberal political rights and civil freedoms in the interwar period. The list of human rights and fundamental freedoms had constantly been updating in the postwar period, including by the efforts of the UNO and other international organizations, and fixing in different international documents. The author emphasizes the import role of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in transforming the issues of human rights and fundamental freedoms into the essential element of public diplomacy of contemporary states. He traces the process of the increasing utilization of liberal political rights and civilian freedoms, which are usually the effective tools for domestic democratic transformation, within the framework of diplomatic practice of European and North-American states, aimed at ensuring their political and economic interests on the world stage. In this regard the author addresses the attempts of Western countries to legalize "humanitarian"interventions in circumvention of the UN Security Council. The article emphasizes the necessity to replenish the understanding of universal human rights and freedoms by the values, developed both by the international community within the framework of implementing the Millennium Development Goals and by various countries and peoples, which in sum constitute the modern international civilizational baggage.

Weltmacht und Demokratie

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Transatlantic Relations ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Role ◽  
Liberal Perspective

This volume addresses the international challenges that the US faces in the post-Trump era. Will President Joe Biden succeed in restoring the traditional leadership role of the US? What are the international and domestic hurdles for Biden in advancing his foreign policy agenda? Drawing on a liberal perspective in international relations, the chapters highlight how domestic and international politics are intertwined. Societal interests, partisan polarisation, and executive–legislative relations shape the hegemon’s international role in various policy areas, such as arms control and climate and trade policy, but also regarding the country’s relationships towards friends and foes. The book brings together the expertise of scholars who specialise in the US and transatlantic relations, in celebration of Jürgen Wilzewski. With contributions by Hakan Akbulut, Johannes Artz, Florian Böller, Gordon Friedrichs, Gerlinde Groitl, Steffen Hagemann, Lukas Herr, Katja Leikert, Marcus Höreth, Gerhard Mangott, Marcus Müller, Ronja Ritthaler-Andree, Peter Rudolf, Oliver Thränert, Söhnke Schreyer, David Sirakov, Georg Wenzelburger and Reinhard Wolf.

scholarly journals BRUSH TALK AS THE ‘LINGUA FRANCA’ OF DIPLOMACY IN JAPANESE–KOREAN ENCOUNTERS, c. 1600–1868

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
REBEKAH CLEMENTS
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Diplomatic History ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Factual Content ◽  
Bureaucratic State ◽  
Official Records

AbstractThe study of early modern diplomatic history has in recent decades expanded beyond a bureaucratic, state-centric focus to consider the processes and personal interactions by which international relations were maintained. Scholars have begun to consider, among other factors, the role of diplomatic gifts, diplomatic hospitality, and diplomatic culture. This article contributes to this discussion from an East Asian perspective by considering the role of ‘brush talk’ – written exchanges of classical, literary Chinese – during diplomatic missions from the Korean Chosŏn court to the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan during the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. Drawing upon official records, personal diaries, and illustrations, I argue that brush talk was not an official part of diplomatic ceremony and that brushed encounters with Korean officials even extended to people of the townsman classes. Brush talk was as much about ritual display, calligraphic art, and drawing upon a shared storehouse of civilized learning as it was about communicating factual content through language. These visual, performative aspects of brush talk in East Asian diplomacy take it beyond the realm of how alingua francais usually conceived, adding to the growing body of scholarship on how this concept applies to non-Western histories.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF ISLAM IN THE POLICY OF THE ILKHANATE KHANS

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-19
Author(s):  
Heyirbek S. Gasimov ◽  
Dilaver M. Azimli
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Optimal Choice ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
Conversion To Islam ◽  
Freedom Of Action

The Ilkhanate included large territories in the Near and the Middle East, where a process of mutual influence of many peoples, tribes and cultures took place. When the Hulagu khan Ahmed Tekuder (1282-1284) converted to Islam, the Muslims of Azerbaijan, who constituted the absolute majority of the country's population, welcomed this move. After the assassination of Ahmed Tekuder, Arghun (1284-1291), Gaykhatu (1291-1295) and Baydu (1295) took the Hulagu throne by turn. This period went down in history as a time of violent internal conflict in the House of Hulagu, freedom of action for representatives of all religions, except Islam, persecution of Muslims, religious, financial and economic, administrative experiments of Hulagu khans. In 1295, Ghazan Khan took the Hulagu throne. He radically changed the attitude of official authority towards Islam. Even before his accession to the throne (June 16, 1295), Ghazan-khan converted to Islam and then was called by the Muslim name Mahmud. The conversion to Islam by Ghazan Khan ensured the prevailing position of the Ilkhanate in the system of international relations of the Near and Middle East. For manageable, strong, stable socio-economic and political life of a huge empire, the optimal choice of unifying state ideology was extremely important. Ghazan Khan successfully completed the way started by Ahmed Tekuder. Since the reign of Ghazan Khan (Mahmud), the Ilkhanate began to claim leadership in the Muslim world. The problem of the "legitimacy" of the Ilkhanate also found its solution. The Ilkhanate bordered the largest states of that time: with the state of nomadic Mongols, governed by the descendants of Juchi Khan, the eldest son of Genghis Khan (known in Russian historiography as the Golden Horde); with the state of the Mamluks sultans of Egypt; with the Mongolian nomadic tribes in Central Asia, descendants of Chaghatai - the son of Genghis Khan.

scholarly journals Contestando a “Ciência Social Norte-Americana”: críticas à postura conservadora das teorias do mainstream das Relações Internacionais / Disputing the "American Social Science": critical to conservative stance of the mainstream theories of IR

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-480
Author(s):  
Hermes Moreira Jr.
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status

A concepção de uma disciplina acadêmica sistematizada para o estudo das relações internacionais se deu atrelada à necessidade de criação de um arcabouço teórico para a compreensão da dinâmica do sistema internacional e das possibilidades de mudança ou estabilidade da ordem política nesse sistema. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste texto é demonstrar em que medida as teorias do chamado mainstream acadêmico, tradicionais na análise da política internacional, ao naturalizar a conformação da ordem política internacional e minimizar o papel das disputas entre as forças sociais na constituição das relações internacionais, exercem um papel favorável à manutenção da ordem hegemônica e conservação do status quo. Não obstante, perspectivas contestatórias reconheceram e evidenciaram os limites das teorias do mainstream e preencheram a lacuna político-acadêmica contida nas teorias tradicionais de Relações Internacionais ao longo do desenvolvimento de seu campo acadêmico e institucional. Abstract: The design of an academic discipline for the systematic study of international relations occurred tied to the need to establish a theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of the international system and the possibilities for change or stability of the political order in this system. Accordingly, this paper aims to demonstrate the extent to which the so-called mainstream academic theories, traditional analysis of international politics, to naturalize the conformation of the international political order and minimize the role of the disputes between the social forces in the constitution of international relations, play a role in favor of maintaining the hegemonic order and preserving the status quo. Nevertheless, prospects contesting recognized and showed the limits of the mainstream theories and filled the political and academic gap contained in traditional theories of international relations during the development of their academic and institutional concepts. 

scholarly journals THE DIRECTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF THE POLISH VOIVODESHIPS AND LARGE CITIES WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON COOPERATION WITH UKRAINE

2017 ◽  
pp. 416-433
Author(s):  
Wawrzyniec Rudolf ◽  
Sofiya Pazizina
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Competitive Position ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The Creation ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Globalising World

Nowadays a foreign policy is no longer the domain of national governments and the role of international relations at the level of regions and cities is growing. For these territorial units, it is a way to build their competitive position in a globalising world. The paper aims at examining the structure of the directions of international relations of the Polish voivodeships and cities - regional capitals, taking into account the role that the Ukrainian regions and cities play in this structure. Observations were made regarding differences in the directions of international activity of the voivodeships and their capitals as well as the dynamics of this phenomenon over time, and conclusions were drawn recommending the involvement of territorial units in international cooperation. Bilateral relations with partner cities and regions prove to be only a prelude to network integration which for years has been promoted by the structures of the European Union, first by its support for Euroregions, and in the last decade through the creation of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation. The involvement of regions and cities in the structures of international cooperation can significantly affect the creation of a strong competitive position in the territorial market.

Collective memory and social media: Fostering a new historical consciousness in the digital age?

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Birkner ◽  
André Donk
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Public Square ◽  
The Us ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Impact

The impact of social media has grown significantly during the past decade in several fields of our society. This article advocates the research subfield of social media memory studies based on empirical data from a case study on the role of social media in a local conflict about re-naming a public square in an average German town. The square had been named after Paul von Hindenburg, who played a crucial role in the implementation of Adolf Hitler as German Reichskanzler and was therefore regarded as an inadequate public patron. Conservatives fought against the new name, also on Facebook. Our findings indicate that the platform played a decisive role as counter-public sphere against hegemonic mainstream media and politics in fostering a new historical consciousness. The case might be seen as a precedent of right-wing movements and their use of social media in the Brexit campaign or the US elections.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document