International Relations

I

Introduction

International Relations, the study and practice of political relationships among the world’s nations, especially their governments. International relations may also refer to the interactions between nongovernmental groups, such as multinational corporations (companies that operate in more than one country) or international organizations such as the Red Cross or the United Nations (UN).

International relations is a broad and complex topic both for countries engaged in relationships with other nations, and for observers trying to understand those interactions. These relationships are influenced by many variables. They are shaped by the primary participants in international relations, including national leaders, other politicians, and nongovernment participants, such as private citizens, corporations, and nongovernmental organizations. They are also affected by domestic political events and nonpolitical influences, including economics, geography, and culture. Despite all of these other influences, the primary focus of international relations is on the interactions between nations.

To understand these interactions, scholars look at the world as a system of nations whose actions are guided by a well-defined set of rules. Scholars call this system the interstate system. The interstate system has existed for less than 500 years and is based on a common understanding of what a nation is and how it should treat other nations. But recent changes in technology and international norms have caused some scholars to question whether this system will continue in the future, or be replaced by some other system of relationships that is not yet known.

Until the 1970s the study of international relations centered mainly on international security studies—that is, questions of war and peace. Scholars believed a nation’s military power was the most important characteristic in determining how that nation would relate to others. As a result, scholars focused on the relative military strength of one nation compared to others, alliances and diplomacy between nations, and the strategies nations used to protect their territories and further their own interests.

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Since the 1970s the importance of economics in international relations has grown and the study of international political economy has received increased attention. Scholars in this field believe that the primary force driving the interaction between nations is economic, not military. They focus on trade and economic relations among nations, especially the political cooperation between nations to create and maintain international organizations which benefit all nations involved, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

In both security studies and international political economy, scholars strive to explain patterns of conflict and cooperation among nations. Conflicts among nations are inevitable since their political and economic aims and interests often diverge. Cooperation does not refer to the absence of conflict but to the ability of nations to peacefully resolve their differences in a way that is acceptable to all parties involved. When cooperation fails, conflicts often escalate into coercion and ultimately war.

II

The Study of International Relations

Over time, scholars have developed a number of approaches to the study of international relations. These approaches include realism, neorealism, idealism and liberalism, neoliberalism, and Marxism.

A

Realism

The most widely accepted approach to understanding international relations is called realism. Realists believe that nations act only out of self-interest and that their major goal is to advance their own positions of power in the world. The ideas of realism come from the writings of such historical figures as Sun Tzu of ancient China, Thucydides of ancient Greece, and Renaissance Italy’s Niccolò Machiavelli. All of these thinkers argued that the leaders of nations use their power to advance the interests of their own nations with little regard for morality or friendship. In order to survive, realists believe leaders must build their power and avoid feelings of friendship or morality that might make them vulnerable to more ruthless adversaries. They believe conflict and war are inevitable. For one nation to gain something, another must lose. This means alliances with other nations cannot be counted on and cooperation between nations cannot last. Realists believe nations should always be heavily armed and ready for war. Friendships, religions, ideologies, cultures, and economic systems matter little. Nations act selfishly and do not answer to a higher authority.

Realists generally believe that the actions of individual nations have the biggest influence on international relations. They believe that nations act rationally, not impulsively, and that nations weigh the benefits and drawbacks of all their options before choosing a course of action. They believe nations are not driven by psychological or cultural influences. Instead, they act with the knowledge that they live in a world where there is no central government over all nations that they can appeal to for justice or protection. Without that higher authority, nations must protect themselves and look after their own interests. Realists believe that these characteristics have applied to all nations throughout history.

As a result, realists think that international relations is primarily influenced by international security and military power. They consider military force the most important characteristic of any nation. Other characteristics, such as wealth, population, or moral beliefs, matter primarily because they affect military strength. They see international trade as a potential source of national power, because nations can accumulate wealth by controlling trade. They believe a nation’s relative power compared to other nations is more important than the well-being of its citizens. In a world with an ever-present possibility of war, winning matters above all.

The realist approach has been criticized for being too simplistic and for failing to capture the complexities of international relations. Because a nation’s power typically is very difficult to measure, realists have been criticized for their belief that nations strive only to accumulate power. Critics also argue that a nation’s actions result from the conflicting pulls of various interest groups, constituencies, agencies, and individuals. They maintain that the national interest of any nation may be impossible to define because so many different constituencies exist, and a nation’s pursuit of its interests may be far from rational. One glaring example is World War I (1914-1918), which seems irrational because almost all participants lost more than they gained.

B

Neorealism

Neorealism explains international events by looking at the distribution of power among nations rather than the military might of individual nations. Neorealism is also called structural realism because it looks at the power structure of the entire system of nations. Neorealists believe that events unfold according to general laws or principles. Neorealists often use game theory and other models to predict the behavior or the participants in international relations. Game theory is a mathematical analysis of any conflict that calculates the best course of action under given conditions. However, neorealism lacks some of the richness of traditional realism, which weighs many complex elements—such as geography, willpower, and diplomacy—to understand the relationships between nations.

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