These are the lecture notes for the course international relations of the BSc Political Science: International Relations and Organisations. On my exam I scored 8/10.
LEC 1: Why does International Relations matter?
● Impact on daily lives: it's never been a better time to study IR; everything seems to
be accelerating. Everything we do is impacted by international events/institutions
● Alternatively, also worst time to teach IR
○ theories seem to be proven wrong (eg by single Trump tweet)
● IR helps ask the right questions
We are actors of IR as we speak
● Higher education as a transnational and global phenomenon: movement of
individuals who bring knowledge to different countries
● IR can help explain how we got here: countries that have disputes whether
economically or diplomatically can stir up your path (eg chinese students held at
border)
LEC 2: Concepts and Theories of International Relations
Why do we need concepts?
Concepts are contested because
○ their definition is rarely consensual
○ their meaning not fixed in time
○ of ethnocentrism (mainly western dominated)
But concepts are useful to:
○ make sense of complex realities
○ make sure we are talking about the same thing
○ ensure some degree of constructive dialogue
○ develop and evaluate theories
What are theories? Why do we need them?
Theory:
● goes beyond mere description
● is an explanation: an answer to “why did this happen?”
● Interprets data
● Identifies patterns, regularities across time & space
● Helps us describe, explain, anticipate and eventually, prescribe
Example: what led to WWI?
● Immediate cause: assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand
● Many other structural causes:
○ nationalism / arms race / alliances / imperialism / power transition / domestic
politics / preemptive war (schlieffen plan)
● So which cause is the most important? Still ongoing debate between IR theories
● causal explanations are derived from theories (set of assumptions)
What are “International Relations”?
1) Who? What type of actors are we talking about?
2) What? What type of “relations” are we interested in?
3) Where? Where are these actors interacting?
Example: was ISIS a state?
Yes?
, 1) control and governance of large areas of territory
2) Available tax revenue
3) Police and military force
4) Infrastructure services
No?
1) No UN membership
2) No recognition from other states
3) Legitimacy?
4) Fluctuating population
5) LImited state capacities
The state in IR: the state as a person of international law should possess the following
qualifications:
a) a permanent population
b) a defined territory
c) government
d) and a capacity to enter into relations with other states
but problems:
● declarative vs. constitutive theory of statehood
● How is the “state” created in practice?
● Internal vs. external sovereignty (eg Lebanon-France relation after
explosion)
● in IR theory, states are simply unit of analysis; entities with
well-defined territory and recognised political authority
Examples of disputed states between 45:00-56:00
What the state is not
● state vs. nation (nation-state)
● vs non-state actors
● state and sovereignty
○ failed state
○ globalisation: some cities have own foreign policy
○ supra-national and global governance
○ disaggregated state
What are international relations?
● Interactions. (eg war/peace, trade, international agreements)
● Bilateral vs. multilateral (only two states or more like UN)
● Any state actions or inactions affect other states
● Not just about interstate relations
○ transnational relations
○ non-state and substate actors (eg california/paris)
What are International relations?
● International politics vs. national/domestic politics
○ level of analysis: international / national domestic / individual
, ● Does this distinction still matter in a “globalised” world? Since every decision
influences neighbours’ policy. Yes but never completely dissociated
● It matters from a theoretical perspective
● National order vs. international anarchy. No social contract on international level
○ no sovereign
○ “war of all against all” Hobbes with social contract
○ “fear and I were born twins together”
○ self-help. Develop merely own capacities and try to survive
‘Level of analysis” framework is a type of theorizing: analytical tool to think and organise IR
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