International Relations

By

Zahid Mehmood Zahid

zmzahid30@gmail.com
National Officers Academy (NOA),
Islamabad
 Recommended Book

Globalization of World Politics: An

introduction to international relations

by
John Baylis, Steve Smith, Patricia Owens
 I. Introduction
The definition and Scope of IR
The Nation State System
Evolution of International society
 Making sense of IR
Before we start interpretation of an event related to IR,
we need to think in IR terms.

It has its own rules of the game in place.

It is an atheist and amoral discipline

One should not be biased while analysing Al-Qaeda,

ISIS, Iran V/S Saudia, Afghanistan V/S USA, Iraq-US,
Indo-Pak affairs, and US-Pak relations etc.
 Making sense of IR
It has certain levels of analysis;
Individual, State, Int. System, class. (Pak-Saudi
relations)

IR connects the Past with present and predicts the

future.

In nutshell, IR is a study about enhancing national

power, interests, waging or averting wars,
intentions/behaviours of leaders.
 History of IR and what is it all about?

IR is a new field of study whose origins are

controversial but often traced to post-WWI era.
IR came to be known as a academic "discipline" in
1919 when university of Aberystwyth (now called
University of Wales) established the Woodrow Wilson
Chair.
IR is the field of Political Science.
It is not solely about politics or about history.
 Cont
It is about concepts, theories, and methods for
understanding the world.

Wars are the bread and butter of IR, how a war is

waged and how a war/armed conflicts can be
averted.

IR also analyses intra - state conflicts, violence,

separatist movements etc.
 Definition of IR

Jeremy Bentham was the first person to use the word

`international', in the later 18th century defining
relations between states.

A restricted definition of IR

Official relations among states

IR encompasses much more than relations among
nation states and International organizations and
groups. It includes great variety of transnational
relationships, at various level, above and below the
level of nation state, still the main actor in the
international system
Palmer and Perkins
 Ingredients of IR

Political and Social issues.

Economic organizations (World Bank, IMF, BRICS)
National power.
National Interest.
Balance of Power.
War and Diplomacy (how to wage how to avert)
Foreign policies.
and many more..
 Scope of IR
Few say, IR is all about diplomatic relations among
state that deals the issues of war and peace, conflict
and cooperation.

Others see IR as being about cross-border relations of

all kinds, political, economic and social with focus on
trade through int. institutions like UNO, ECO, EU etc.

In the twenty-first century, few focus on globalization,

studying for example, world communication, transport
and financial systems, and global business
corporations.
 From a broader view:

The study of IR includes analysis of foreign policies,

international trade and civil society interaction.
First, It expands your horizon to beyond domestic
perspective, and
Secondly, very few other subjects cover such a broad
range of topics including;

Politics, economics, Law, history, criminology,

diplomacy, int. security, globalization, nuclear
proliferation, terrorism, and human rights etc.
 Misconception and advantages of IR
Misconception about IR
It lays overwhelming emphasis on Foreign Policy.
It is muted on intra-state conflicts.
It is all about war and peace.
Advantages of IR
It encompasses human behaviour. (Modi, Trump,
Osama).
Throws light on processes of cooperation and
integration (EU, ASEAN, SCO, )
It also suggests how the world should be.
 Evolution of Modern Nation State System
Cave era Individual society 2.5 million years
ago
Groups life started near water
concentrations
Tribes society started to take roots,
interdependence social and physical, children
and further relationship.
Chiefdom resulted in class system
Feudalism agrarian industry gave way to
feudal Nobility etc.
 Evolution of Modern Nation State System

Nation A large body of people united by common

descent, history, cultural identity, or language,
inhabiting a particular state or territory.

State a sovereign political entity with a

governance system controlling a territory and its
inhabitants.
 Nation State
A nation state is a defined territory with a sovereign
government, made up of people sharing a common
culture, history, and language.

Nation State System

A pattern of political life in which people are

separately organized into sovereign states that interact
with one another.
 Rise of Nation State System

The nation-state developed fairly recently.

Contemporary nation state system is widely
understood e.g. I am a Pakistani, joseph is
American, and Mohan is Indian etc.
Prior to the 1600s, the nation-states did not exist in
Europe.
Most people did not consider themselves part of a
nation because they knew little about the rest of the
World.
People used to identify themselves with their region
or lord.

feudal lords had a great deal of power, and kings

often had to rely on them for the rule.

The medieval Europe (5th to the 15th) was

entrenched in feudalism.
Feudalism is a political & economic system
based on land ownership.

The allegiance of masses was to landlord, not

to a crown or a country.
 Monarchs rise Feudals decline

After the Crusades wars fought between the

Christian West and the Muslim East over the Holy
Lands.
European soldiers began returning home with tales
of the wealthy East.
This led to the development of trade routes b/w
East & West - towns and cities began to develop
along these routes.
Monarchs consolidated by allying with corporate
class.
Over time, these towns started demanding
independence from local lords, realizing they
could stand on their own.

Towns became symbols of freedom for poor

workers.

The poorer classes become free merchants, In

short, as towns grew, feudalism's grip began to
fracture.
 Catholic Church and the Rise of the Nation-State
Newly emerging states in the 16th and 17th centuries
had a complex relationship with the Holy Catholic
Church (House of Habsburg 1438 -1740).

At times, states were useful tools for the Catholic

Church to play against each other.

But some monarchs wanted control over their

national churches in order to get absolute power.
In England, the dispute over who would control the
English church led Henry VIII to break from the Pope
and establish an independent Protestant church in
the 1530s.

This break with the Catholic Church encouraged the

English to develop loyalty toward the English nation-
state.
 Thirty Years War 1618-1648, (Catho. VS Prote.)
The war involved many nations of Europe,
including many small German states, the
Austrian, Sweden, France, and Spain were
involved in the war.
Catholics were unable to defeat Protestants.
War was ignited actually between two
Catholics and Protestants in different parts
of the Holy Roman Empire but later became
war of supremacy b/w Germany and France.
The treaty that ended the war, called the Treaty of
Westphalia 1648, decreed that the;

sovereign ruler of a state had power over

all elements of both the nation and the
state, including religion.

Thus, the idea of a sovereign state was born.

 Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

Treaty was meant to settle the conflicts, especially

conflicts over religion, that had kept Europe at war
for a generation.

Treaty established the legal basis of modern

statehood and constitution of modern world
politics.
 Cont
Pope referred to the Westphalian treaty as Null, Sin.
The heart of treaty was agreement between
European Rulers to recognize each others right to rule
their own territories free from outside interference.
Ended thirty years war in the Roman Empire, ended
Eighty Years War (15681648) between Spain and the
Dutch Republic.
Westphalian peace is also known as peace of
exhaustion Because war had bankrupted and
fatigued the fighting parties.
 Elements of Westphalian Peace
Territorial Sovereignty: The notion that every state
has the right of self-rule over its people and territory.

Equality of states: All states are equal as sovereign

member of the International community.
(Bhutan = USA)

Non-intervention: no interference was permitted in

the affairs of other state.
 The UN Charter
Chapter 1: Purposes and principles
Article: 2 (1) The organization is based on the
principle of the sovereign equality of all its
member states.

Article: 2 (4) All members shall refrain in their

relations from the threat or use of force
against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state ...
 Outcomes of the Westphalian Nation State System

1- Balance of Power; was maintained to prevent

the rise of a dominant power.
2- Religion; Treaty Favoured secularization after
fracturing Christendom and ensured religious
freedom.
Since the empire was catholic and protestant
reformation had begun in 1517-1521 under Martin
Luther King Sr. with two objectives;
 Cont
I - Discovering Jesus and salvation by faith.
II - Identifying papacy as anti-Christ.
3- Nationalism
Nationalism entered into European politics
after the evolution of modern nation state
system. British, German, French, and Polish
etc.
Prior to that feudals and kings used to think in
terms of religion.
 Cont
England, Spain and France obtained independence
from dominance of the Holy Roman Empire.

Subsequent wars were not about issues of religion, but

rather revolved around issues of state, e.g. territory

The nation-state would be the highest level of

government, subservient to no other religious or power.
 Congress of Vienna (1814-15)

Emperors, foreign ministers and statesmen

assembled at Vienna.
Congress of Vienna was based on the three
principles; Restoration/Adjustments, Legitimacy,
and Compensation.
It was the remaking of Europe after the down fall of
Napoleon.
Austria, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain, the four
powers defeated Napoleon.
 Cont
It was aimed at providing a long-term peace in
Europe by settling issues arising from the French
Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars.
The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries,
but to resize the main powers so they could balance
each other off and remain at peace.
Concert of Europe (1814-1914)
The consensus among Austria, Prussia, Russian
Empire, UK, favouring status quo. (later on France
became the 5th member)
This period of peace in Europe was preserved for so
long because of the concept of B.O.P
 Relevance of NSS in contemporary World
Today it faces the challenges from;
Change in the nature of Int. conflicts, modern
technology, (Drone strikes, Yemen, Syria, Non-
state-actors like ISIS, Boko Haram, Al-Shabab).

Intra-state conflicts: Syria, Afghanistan

Yemen Kurd Issue)

Humanitarian intervention: e.g. in Libya.

 Cont

Globalization: WTO, IMF, World Bank, MNCs

Importance of Cultural atmosphere: change in

demographics and resultant ethnic conflicts.

Promotion of Democracy and Capitalism.

 Significance of Nation State System
Each state can decide the best for its people
with out external pressures.

Other states, no matter how powerful, do not

have the right to intervene in other sovereign
countries.

The principle of autonomy does not allow

exploitation of the weaker by major states.
Questions that might be asked by FPSC
Can US-led strikes on Libya in the name of
humanitarian intervention be termed as violation of
sovereignty, the corner stone of Westphalian peace
of 1648, throw light.
Nation state system is endangered by the great
powers interventionist actions like invasion of Iraq
and intervention in Libya, comment.
Undoubtedly Nation State system has acted as the
constitution of the world for the last three and half
centuries, does it cater the needs of sovereign units
of international community in 21st century?
Questions..!!!