What Is International Relations?
A discipline that examines how nations interact and make decisions. It incorporates a broad range of academic disciplines, including international studies, history, political science, economics, law and philosophy, and encompasses multiple schools of thought, such as realism, liberalism, neorealism and constructivism.
International relations is a subfield of political science that analyzes global issues and their impact. It is also a major component of the field of diplomacy, which involves promoting peace and security through cooperation, negotiation and conflict resolution.
During World War II, the widespread devastation wrought by the war led to the idea that knowledge about foreign and military policy should be accessible to all citizens and not just rulers and elites. This new perspective gave rise to the belief that universities should promote research and teaching on international relations.
A concept first developed by Jean Bodin in 1576, sovereignty defines a state as the owner of its territory, with a sovereign’s authority limited by their obligations toward other states and individuals. It is the foundation of many theories of international relations, including realism and liberalism.
The condition in which one country does not dominate others, from the Greek word for leader (hegemon). The term gained prominence in the early 20th century as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and is central to the theories of Kenneth Waltz’s neorealism and Michael O’Hanlon’s constructivism. It is opposed by hegemony theory, which posits that a core group of powerful states exploit a set of weaker periphery states for their resources.
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