Nature, scope and development of IR

International Relations · Foundations. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

International relations (IR) is the study of all dealings across state borders: political, economic, social and cultural, by states and by non-state actors. It is the widest term. International politics is the narrower struggle for power and influence among states. World politics stresses global issues and actors beyond the state.

Diplomacy is only a tool: managing relations through accredited representatives and negotiation. Foreign policy is the course one state follows towards others.

The modern system grew in stages. Westphalia set up sovereign states, Vienna rebuilt a balance of power, and after each world war states created an organisation to keep the peace: first the League, then the United Nations.

Rules to remember

Peace of Westphalia, 1648: ended the Thirty Years' War; origin of state sovereignty and non-interference.
Congress of Vienna, 1814-15: restored a balance of power after Napoleon; led to the Concert of Europe.
First World War 1914-18; Second World War 1939-45.
League of Nations: its Covenant was part of the Treaty of Versailles (1919); the United States never joined.
UN Charter: signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945; in force 24 October 1945.
IR as a university subject: first chair at Aberystwyth, Wales, 1919.
After 1945 the United States and the Soviet Union were the two superpowers.

Common mistake

Students treat diplomacy, foreign policy and international relations as the same thing. Diplomacy is a method, foreign policy belongs to one state, and IR is the whole field that studies both.

Worked example

A question asks which event is linked with the principle that a ruler may run the internal affairs of his own territory without outside interference. The options are the Congress of Vienna, the Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of Versailles and the UN Charter. How do you choose?

The principle described is state sovereignty with non-interference.
Vienna (1814-15) is about balance of power; Versailles (1919) carries the League Covenant; the UN Charter (1945) founds the UN.
Sovereignty of the territorial state is traced to the settlement that ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648.

Answer: The Peace of Westphalia, 1648.

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