INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY

1. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY Zhou Qiujun Private email: zhouqiujun@gmail.com Public email: ggll_sz@163.com

2. Contents • INTRODUCTION • METHODS FOR STUDYING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY • REALISM • LIBERALISM • CONSTRUCTIVISM • THE ENGLISH SCHOOL • CRITICAL THEORIES OF WORLD POLITICS • INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY AND GLOBALIZATION

3. Methods for studying IRT • Relationship of theory and approach • Uncertainties of IRT • Definition of IRT • Formation of IRT • Application of IRT

4. Theory - Approach • Theory/Method/Approach • Theory: the general or abstract principles of a subject. /reflective thought • Method: a procedure or process for achieving an end. • Approach: a manner in which a problem is solved or policy is made. /a way or means of reaching sth. • Differences between “theory” and “approach” (constitution/common laws) • An approach can reflect principles of one theory, or blend reasonable points of several theories.

5. Uncertainties of IRT-1 • Events in international relations can not be replicated. Two single cases, regardless of their similarities, differ a lot from each other in underlying implication.

6. Uncertainties of IRT-2 • International environment is constantly changing. “Facts” are located in this setting and variables as a result can hardly be precisely identified.

7. Uncertainties of IRT-3 • Factual events are highly inter-related with each other. Generalizing cause-effect relationship is made difficult; therefore, uncertainty increases in describing variables.

8. Uncertainties of IRT-4 • Every event has complex background for its occurrence. Such complexity in turn complicates the interpretation of the event

9. Uncertainties of IRT-5 • Due to the uncertainty of ideational factors, rules established out of fact-based observations are not certain.

10. Definition of IRT • Definition: A set of principles and guidelines used to analyze both world events and relations between states. • Function of IRT: To help assess past and present conditions and, in turn, provide a reasonable basis for predicting future trends. • Other expressions: paradigm/model/image/perspective/…

11. Formation of IRT • Hypothesis(假说) : an educated guess or proposition about how or why something—an event or specific set of conditions—occurred. • Hypothesis (methods) test • methods: analysis of historical events; deduction based on the facts or evidence; assessment of quantitative data, etc.

12. Application of IRT: level-of-analysis • Aim: to take a pictures from different distances • Levels: one-level, two-level or multi-level

13. two-level… • David Singer, The Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations. He was the first who made the level-of-analysis as part of the methodology of IR. • A state’s foreign policy is affected by two levels: the international system and the state. The international system shows the international relations as a whole, that is, the overall global patterns of behavior among states and the level of interdependence among them. The nation-state level reflects conditions and processes within states that affect foreign policy choices. The relationship between the two levels can be compared to flowers and garden, rocks and quarry, trees and forest, houses and neighborhood, cars and traffic jam, delinquents and gang, legislators and legislature.

14. three-level… • Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State and War (《人、国家与战争：一种理论分析》), a three-fold typology (images) to analyze the origin of war: human nature, the internal society of the nation state, and the structure of the international system.

15. more levels… • 詹姆斯·罗斯诺(James N. Rosenau), five-fold analysis (individual, role, government, society, and the international system) • 布鲁斯·拉西特(Bruce Russett)和哈维·斯塔尔(Harvey Starr), six-fold analysis (individual decision-makers, role of decision-makers, structural of the national government, domestic society, international relations, world system).

16. Q: The case of the Cold War?

17. Q and A