University of Gondar

College of Social Sciences & Humanities

Department of Political Science and Governance Studies

Programme: Undergraduate(Regular)
Course Title: Introduction to International Relations
Course Code: PSIR 2031

Class Year: II

By
Alemayehu G.
March 2023
University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
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Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Know the subject matter of International
Relations.
Grasp the historical development of International
Relations.
 Evaluate the relations of International Relations with
international politics and International Law.
 Analyze the role of international regimes in the
international system
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Chapter One: Introduction
1. Clarification of Concepts
 International Relations
Brainstorming
What is IR?
Why do we study international relations ?
How do international relations affect you in your daily life?
- Is the study of who gets what, when and how in
matters external to states or in matters crossing national
boundary line.
What–represents the goals of state and non-state
actors.
When- symbolizes the range of activities to be
accomplished within a certain period of time.
How- signifies the instruments- actors to realize their
goals in the international system.
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 Cont…
As a practice IR is the totality of all relations traversing
(crossing) state boundaries.
- Economic, political, legal, Cultural, etc..
IR as a field of study-refers to a combination of studies of
foreign affairs of two or more states which have contact with
them and sufficient impact on one another’s decision to cause
them to behave as parts and parcels of whole and
international historical relations.
 IR-the study of the nature, conduct, and influence up on ,
relations between and or among individuals or groups
operation in particular arena with in the framework of
anarchy.
What is Anarchy?- the absence of world government or
authority ; but not with in the framework of disorder.
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 Cont…
IR is not merely a field of study but is an integral aspect of
our everyday lives.
- Because we are living in a world where by it is impossible to
isolate our experiences and transactions from an international
dimension.
Examples
when we are;
Flying by crossing air airspace of we are subjected
other countries to various
Working in international or regional international
companies/ organization laws & treaties
Conducting international trade

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Why the study IR?
Enables us to better understand the information we receive
daily from newspapers, television and radio, etc.
-Because, we are living within the international
community and we are the member of the
international community so that we have some
international rights and responsibilities, and hence, we
should be capable of engaging in important debates
concerning the major issues facing the modern
international community.

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 State, Nation and Nation- State
A. Nation
- Can be defined both objectively and subjectively;
Objective definition
• Group of people who shares common language, ethnicity,
religion, territory, common history, shared descent (ancestry,
kinship), common culture, etc. For example: “a historically
constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis
of a common language, territory, economic life, and
psychological make-up manifested in a common culture”
(Stalin).
Subjective definition
• A community of sentiment which would adequately manifest
itself in a state of solidarity, self-awareness, loyalty, collective
will, etc” (M. Weber).
• “a group of people who believe they are ancestrally related”
(W. Connor) or “a relatively large group of genetically
unrelated people with high solidarity” (M. Hechter) etc.

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- Hence, Nation is a group of people with a distinct
identity who share common bonds:
 Race / Ethnicity A common ethnic ancestry.
 Language A “national language”
Culture A shared way of life
 History A common past
 Religion A common religion
 Territory A certain territory that
belongs to the ethnic group;
(its “land”).

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B. State
A political entity having the following characteristics:
 Defined territory (recognized borders)
 A permanent population
 A government
 Is independent or sovereign.
- The right of an independent state to control
what happens inside its borders without
interference from the outside.
- Means being able to control your country’s
internal affairs and to keep other countries
from butting in.
 International recognition.

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C. Nation-state
 The term “nation-state” implies that the cultural
and the political correspond that the ‘people’ who
are ruled by the institutions of the state are
culturally (ethnically) homogeneous – when in fact:
 only nations which have their own state can be
described as ‘nation-states’ and the reality is that
these are very few.
 Hence, a Nation-State is the idea of a
homogenous nation governed by its own
sovereign state—where each state contains one
nation.

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Bonds that Create a Nation-State

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 Nationalism
 It is a feeling of loyalty towards
one’s own land and people; I’m proud
the belief that one’s greatest of being an
American
loyalty should be to one’s
country.

 According to Heywood (2014)nationalism is the doctrine that

proclaims nation as the basic political unit in organizing
society.

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 Beliefs and Goals of Nationalists
People do not owe loyalty to kings, but to their nation -
- to those people with whom they share common bonds.
People of a single “nationality,” or ancestry, should unite
under a single government to create a nation-state.
Nations, like people, have the right to independence and
self-rule (self-determination).
Self determination is the belief that a group of people
should be able to form their own state and live under a
government of their own choosing.

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 Results of Nationalism
Positive Results Negative Results

Can inspire and unify people. Can lead to aggression and war.

Can cause people to overcome Extreme nationalism can lead to feelings

differences and work for the common of superiority, which can lead to
good. mistreatment of other national groups:
 Persecutions / pogroms
 Forced assimilations
 Ethnic cleansing / genocide

Can motivate people to seek Can cause the break-up of states.

independence and overthrow colonial
rule.

Can lead to self-determination and

democracy.

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 National interest (NI)
- Is the perceived needs and desires of one sovereign state in relation to other
sovereign states comprising the external environment( Morgenthau). “Every state
determines its policies in terms of its own interests” (President John F. Kennedy).
Why do governments do the things they do?  National Interest
Aspects/ Dimensions of National Interest
Defense Economic
-the protection of a nation-state & its -the enhancement of the
citizens against the threat of physical nation-state’s economic well-
violence directed from other state,
and/or an external inspired threat to its being in relations with other
system of government. states.

Domains/Dime
nsions of NI
World Order
Ideological
- the maintenance of an international
political and economic system in which -the protection and furtherance of a
a nation-state may feel secure, and in set of values which the people of a
which its citizens and commerce may nation-state share and believe
operate peacefully outside its borders. universally to be good.
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 Foreign Policy
What is Policy? Even though polices are different
in their kinds literary it can be defined as a
guideline that guides the activities of a certain
institution ; and it can be categorized into internal
and external.
Policy

Domestic/Internal: a policy Foreign/External: a policy

designed for the internal designed for the external
matters of the state affairs of the state

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Foreign Policy: can be defined and understood both
from the internal and external dimensions. So;
FP is a policy made towards the external world i.e outside
states’ territorial borders.
Example; going to war with another country, signing an
international trade agreement, or aiding a rebel
/insurgency group in another country, etc.
A guideline used by governments to direct their actions
and decisions in the international arena. In other words it is
a state objective /goal by which leaders are guided by to
make decisions as well as to take actions in the external as
well as domestic affairs of their respective state.
Foreign policy is the sum of official external relations
conducted by an independent actor in international
relations
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(IR). 17
 Globalization
- Globalization can be defined as a multidimensional
process which is characterized by:
 The stretching of social and political activities across state
frontiers/borders so that events, decisions, and activities in
one part of the world come to have significance for
individuals and communities in other parts of the world.
For instance, wars and conflicts in developing countries
would increase the flow of asylum seekers and illegal
migrants in to the developed countries;
 The intensification of interconnectedness in almost every
aspect of social existence from the economic to the
ecological, the spread of HIV-AIDS, from the
intensification of world trade to the spread of different
weapons;
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 The accelerating pace of global interactions and
process as the evolution of worldwide systems of
transport and communication increases the
rapidity of ideas, news, goods, information, capital
and technology move around the world;
 The growing intensity, and rapidity of global
interaction is associated with a deepening
enmeshment of the local and global insofar as the
local events may come to have global
consequences & global events may come to have
serious local consequences creating a growing
collective awareness of the world as shared social
space, i.e. globalism.
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 Conflict
- From the Latin for ‘to clash or engage in a fight’, a
confrontation between one or more parties aspiring
towards incompatible or competitive means or ends.
- Conflict may be either manifest, recognizable through
actions or behaviours, or latent, in which case it remains
dormant for some time, as incompatibilities are
unarticulated or are built into systems or such
institutional arrangements as governments, corporations,
or even civil society.
- Within the field of IR, (Peter Wallensteen, 2002) identifies
three general forms of conflict: interstate (disputes
between nation-states) , internal, state-formation,
and ‘global conflicts’ (where non-state groups combat
international and regional organizations) conflicts.
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Interstate conflicts- are disputes between nation-states or
violations of the state system of alliances.
The international community, however, has become
increasingly concerned with the rise in frequency and intensity
of internal conflicts, which are contributing to the expanding
nature, sophistication, and, at times, legitimization of
interventionist policies.
Examples of internal and state-formation conflicts include:
- civil and ethnic wars,
- anti-colonial struggles,
- secessionist and autonomous movements,
- territorial conflicts, and
- battles over control of government.
Refer Peter Wallensteen (2002). Understanding Conflict
Resolution: War, Peace and the Global System, sage
Publications, London.
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 War
 It is a mutually recognized, hostile exchange of actions among two
or more parties (such as between or within nation-states)
conducted by conventional military forces, paramilitary forces, or
guerrillas to achieve respective policy objectives. Warfare assumes
a degree of continuity until such objectives are accomplished or a
party concedes or is defeated.
 A state of war normally carries legal parameters governed by
internationally recognized rules of engagement and conduct. For
example, the initiation of war customarily requires some form of
official or unofficial declaration, and conclusions to war are usually
facilitated by formal agreements among the belligerents. Such
declarations enable war to be ‘officially’ under way even when no
military manoeuvres have been undertaken. In an effort to afford
some minimum principles of humanity in relation to war, the
Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1949 and augmented by the
Geneva Protocol in 1977, outline conditions on the treatment
of combatants, prisoners of war, and civilians; protection
of medical and religious facilities and practitioners; and
restrictions of certain types of weapons.
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 Encounters in war may assume a range of forms and employ various
types of weapons, depending on the capacities of the parties to the
hostilities. Examples include the use of nuclear, and chemical weapons,
among many others.
Types of wars;
-‘Total war’,
-‘Civil war’,
-‘Ethnic war’,
-‘Proxy war’, and
-‘Wars of self-determination’, etc
 Historical trends in warfare are changing: human, environmental, and
economic costs are rising along with the number of civilian casualties.
The geographic areas involved in actual battles are widening, and the
number of battles per year is increasing. On average, however, wars are
becoming shorter. The absolute size of armies is increasing, as well as
their size relative to their respective general populations. Lower
proportions of combatants are injured, with a concurrent rise in the
casualties of civilians. Also, wars now spread to additional belligerents
more swiftly than in the past. Since World War II, the frequency of ‘low-
intensity’ conflicts, revolutions, counter-revolutions, and proxy wars has
risen.
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 “It is essential to conduct war with constant
regard to the peace you desire. . . . If you
concentrate exclusively on victory, with no
thought for the after-effect, you may be too
exhausted to profit by the peace, while it is
almost certain that the peace will be a bad
one, containing the germs of another war”
(Liddell Hart 1991: 3530).

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 Power
 It is central concept in IR which basically refers to the capabilities
of actors (economic, political, military, technological, etc).
 In the contemporary IR power is the currency of international
politics.
 Level of power affects state strategies & outcomes of various
contests(military conflicts, economic conflicts, & other
negotiations).
 Power is relative, not absolute. For instance, USA is powerful
compared to other nation-states.
- However, sometimes it is difficult ranking states by power. For
example, why did USA lose the Vietnam war??
So, what makes some countries superpowers?
•Superpowers are very strong countries that can project their
power around the world.
- By power projection it is to mean the ability to deploy troops
around the world as well as deliver a full scale nuclear attack.

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 In the international system, power determines the relative
influence of actors and it shapes the structure of the
international system. That is also why it is often said that
international relations is essentially about actors’ power relations
in the supra-national domain. (International politics, like all
other politics, is a struggle for power. Thus, power is the blood
line of IR (Hans Morgenthau).
Attributes of Power
 Military capabilities (troops, technology)
 Size of economy (GDP),
 Sophistication of economy & technology
 Population,
 Geography (few borders, mountains, location) •Internal cohesion
(stability)
 Patriotism
 Natural resources (oil, minerals, food)
 Reputation
 Education, information
 Alliances (sometimes unpredictable).
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 Balance of Power (BoP)
- Various meanings of balance of power:
o Historical/descriptive assessment of power
- BoP not as conscious state policy but as a function of
systems equilibrium.
- Grotian (Liberal) Balance: enlightened self-interest
makes near equilibrium a founding principle of the
society of states (example: Performance of Europe),
used to;
 Limit conflict,
Grant compensation,
Avert/prevent hegemony,
Eventually overcome war.
- Machiavellian Balance: BoP is inevitable. States only
have permanent interests: maintaining the scales in
their favour. BoP is inherently unstable.

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The Realist Rules for BoP
Always increase capabilities, but choose diplomacy over war
(Morton Kaplan).
War rather than a loss in capabilities.
Oppose preponderance by one Great Power (GP).
Avoid uncertainty of eliminating other GPs (Versailles, Gulf
1991) or allowing a new order not based on Power Politics.
Preponderance rather than Balance
 Preponderance of Power school of thought. (balances are
unstable, benevolent hegemony is better {Cold War}, war is
likely when hegemon declines or challenger closes the gap).
 Hegemonic stability theory: hegemon underwrites rules of
trade and diplomacy which creates stability.
 Declining hegemons/stability causes war or systems change.

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 Polarity
- The concept of polarity in IR is used to describe the presence
of one or more great powers “polar powers” dominating the
international system (Goedele De Keersmaeker (2017: 232).
- The great powers which have enormous capability
are divided into several poles from different periods.
- The international system tends to anarchy where there are
no rules to control the state’s behavior. Thus, it encourages
the state as an actor to act freely to increase its capability to
be a great power. Then, the poles appear to describe and
also distinguish the status of the state.
- Accordingly there are three poles of power in the
international system;
Unipalar
Bipolar
Multipolar
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 Security Dilemma
- Refers to a situation in which actions by a state
intended to heighten its security, such as increasing its
military strength or making alliances, can lead other
states to respond with similar measures, producing
increased tensions that create conflict, even when no
side really desires it.
 Anarchy
- A condition in which states are free to pursue their own
interests regardless of any wider obligations towards
other members of the international community.
Ultimately, there is no governing institution with the
authority to resolve disputes between states and non-
state actors. The realist school of thought tends to
emphasize the importance of anarchy on the
behaviour of states, whilst liberals claim the effects are
somewhat exaggerated.
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 Security
A subjective state in which an individual or collectivity feels free
from threats, anxiety, or danger. Such insecurities have typically
been defined in relation to nation-states, for example regarding
borders or institutions responsible for governance. Security stands
along a continuum and, therefore, cannot be understood in
absolute terms. Given relative perceptions, reaching or
maintaining security is almost always a contentious matter,
subject to shifting perceptions. To ensure security at the national
level, governments must trust their ability to deter attacks or to
defend against them. Such capacity has centered historically on
the uses of military power among nation-states. Given the
subjective nature of defining security, obvious difficulties arise. A
range of activities have consequently resulted in the name of
security, including expansionist policies, wars of conquest,
armaments races, acts of intervention, preemptive military
action, and the formation of alliances.
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Governments have traditionally been solely responsible for
providing their own security, commonly called strategic security.
More recently, a reconceptualization of security has been put
forward under the rubric of collective security. This reformulation
rests upon an understanding that security threats are not
necessarily political in nature, although the repercussions of such
threats eventually may call for political solutions. For instance,
environmental problems have not usually been incorporated in
definitions of security, yet the political repercussions from
environmental degradation are increasingly being realized. This
evolution is linked to the increasing tendency of threats in
societies to arise from internal rather than external factors. In
turn, the responsibility of formulating and implementing security
strategy and policy has expanded to include proponents outside
government organs and bodies, and the nation-state is no
longer the sole unit to be protected. Societies and individuals
have become the primary concern. This expanding doctrine
includes the coinage of new terminology, such as ‘human
security’, ‘common security’, ‘co-operative security’, ‘democratic
security’, ‘environmental security’, and ‘preventive security’.
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 The Historical Origins & Development of Contemporary IR

Brainstorming Question
Where and how do you think modern IR emerged?

Much of the histories that will help us to understand the evolution

and development of International Relations;
A. Ancient Period
- Although an outline of the state began to take form in the 17th c,
but some influences originated in antiquity.
Example1; the Greek City States came antecedents of modern
diplomacy and arbitration to settle disputes that states and
international organizations would later used.
Example2; the legacy of Rome in the West (27 BC – 476 AD) was
the rudiments of International Law that Rome created to
conduct relations with barbarian tribes living on the borders of
its empire.
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 Cont…
Example 3; the Roman empire in its Bayzantine days,
was the Justinian code (body of civil law developed under
the sponsorship of emperor Justinian (529-565 AD that
has influenced modern code/law of states.
B. Medieval Period
- Religious wars (b/n the catholic & Protestant).
B/n 1400 and 1600 Territorial units to came to appear (
England, France, Holland, Portugal, Russia, Spain,
Sweden, ….).
- The bloody religious warfare culminated by the 1648
Westphalia Peace agreement of the sovereign
equality of states.
- This lead to the beginning of the modern international
system.
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 Cont…
C. Modern Period
- Diplomacy and balance of power.
- Two world wars (WWI and WWII).
 League of Nations and UN
- Ideological divisions and the potential for nuclear war (cold war
period).
 Capitalism, Communism, Fascism, etc.
- New World Order Doctrine.
-Generally, the modern study of International Relations usually begins
with an account of WWI (1914-18) founded at the university of Wales
in 1919. It grew out of the belief that war was the gravest
problem facing humanity and that of something must be
done to ensure that there would be no more ‘lost of
generations ’.
To day’s IR is used to:
-Describe a range of interactions between people, groups, firms,
associations, parties, nations or states or between these and INGOs.

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