BASIC CONCEPTS OF INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS

35 Prageeth Gamage
77 Nuwan Gunawardena
79 Ganiesha Kekulandala
80 Mihiri Weerasinghe
81 Mubeen Rahuman
77 Danushka Karunarathne

Kekulandala
Gunawardena
Gamage
81
77
Rahuman
 Analysis of National Security
77
80 Weerasinghe
 Analysis of Balance of Power and War
 Balance of Power
 Anarchy and Security
 Introduction of International Relations
35
79
47 Karunarathne
 Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
 The study of international relations involves many subjects such as
international and regional peace and security, international organizations,
nuclear proliferation, globalization, human rights, economic development,
intervention, international financial relations, and international trade
relations
 The academic field of international relations is a branch of political science
that is concerned with the study of relations between states, the foreign
policy of nation-states, and the mechanisms and institutions through which
states interact.
EVOLUTION
 The evolution of international relations can be traced back to thousands of
years ago. The history of international relations based on sovereign states and
many more types are often traced back to the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, a
steppingstone in the development of the modern state system.
 What is explicitly recognized as international relations theory was not
developed until after World War I. Many cite Sun Tzu's The Art of War (6th
century BC), Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War (5thcentury BC),
Chanakya's Arthashastra (4th century BC), as the inspiration for realist theory

IMPORTANCE OF IR
 The world has become a global village due to technological advances.
Therefore, an event in one part of the world has an immediate effect on
the other part. All the states in the world are now under compulsion to
interact with each other.
 IR teaches us that peace could only be achieved if the world actors
subjectively solve the problems faced by the world politics like excessive
nationalism and narrow national interest Modern theory of IR demonstrates
that the traditional concept of sovereignty has become outdated and needs
modification.

REALISM
 Realism is considered the most dominant school of thought in IR. It is the
exercise of power by state toward each other. (power politics)
 Realist share a belief that states are unitary rational actors that are
motivated by the desire for military powers and security rather than ideals
or ethics
 Realist view human nature as selfish, conflictual competitive and the
primary objective is survival, and believe that states are inherently
aggressive (offensive realism) and obsessed with security (defensive
realism)
Realist value order and does not welcome change.

LIBERALISM
Liberalism is the most accepted alternative theoretical perspective to realism
and was developed in 1970s.
 Due to globalization, the rise of global communications and an increase in
international trade meant states could no longer rely on simple power poitics.
 Cosmopolitan morality rather than balance of power, and humanity bebfits
from peaceful international order
 States aren’t the only important actors in IR. Societies an states have become
so connected by end of the 20th century that the way they relate to each other
has changed.

CONSTRUCTIVISM
 The behavior of humans is determined by their identity, which itself is
shaped by society’s values, history, practices and institutions
 Rise of constructivism : end of the cold war in 1992 – failure of dominant IR
theories to explain the end of cold war, which did not end through conflict
 Constructivist argue that “anarchy is what states make of it. That is states
make the world dangerous (or safe) through their perspective
 Recognize that material forces matter, but they also believe that it is the
subjective understanding of objective conditions matter equally if not more

ANARCHY AND SECURITY

ANARCHY
 The condition of interaction between multiple
individuals without a common superior.
Typically this superior is an institution,
government
 The absence of common government

The absence of common
government
Absence of state
(centralized government with a
territorial base and population)
The absence of common
authority or a common ruler
(Absence of word government)
In a narrower
sense
In a broader
sense

CONSEQUENCES OF ANARCHY
No suprastate actor capable of enforcing
international law
Primary goal becomes survival
Every government reserves the right to
decide what is just or necessary for itself

SECURITY
SECURITY
HUMAN
SECURITY
NATIONAL
SECURITY
INTERNATIONAL
SECURITY

NATIONAL SECURITY
The ability of a state to cater for the
protection of its people from outside
interferences.
Personal
security
The security of each and
every person of the
society of a perticular
territory
deter
prevent
defeat

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
International society
Is an internal problem for the international
society as a whole
9/11 attack
Refugees, transnational crimes, drug/human
trafficking, cyber crimes
Anarchical
society
Attack
Result Global war on
terrorism
Use of armed forces in
international society

HUMAN SECURITY
The right to live in freedom and dignity
free from poverty and dispair
with an equal opportunity to enjoy their rights
fully develop their human potential
Economic
Health
Personal
Political
Food
Environme
ntal
Community
Human
security
Security of the
person
Security of the
state
Security of the
society of states

BALANCE OF POWER

BALANCE OF POWER
 It is one of the oldest concepts of international
relations.
 Several scholars have approached the BOP
concept.
 Mostly it is defined as a state of dynamic
equilibrium characterizing relations among
nations.

MAJOR ASSUMPTION OF BALANCE OF
POWER
 The Balance of Power rests upon several fundamental postulates and
assumptions.
FIVE PRINCIPAL ASSUMPTIONS:
 Firstly, Balance of Power assumes that states are determined to protect
their vital rights and interests by all means, including war.
 Secondly, vital interests of the states are threatened.
 The relative power position of states can be measured with a degree of
accuracy.
 Balance of Power assumes that “balance” will either deter the threatening
state from launching an attack or permit the victim to avoid defeat if an
attack should occur.
 The statesmen can, and they do make foreign policy decisions intelligently
on basis of power considerations.

TYPES OF THE BALANCE OF POWER
Simple Balance.
Multiple Balance.
Local, Regional, and Global.
Flexible and Rigid.

METHOD OF MAINTAINING BALANCE
OF POWER
Alliances and counter alliances.
Armament and disarmament.
Acquisition of territory .
Compensation and partition.

OBJECTS OF BALANCE OF POWER
 Preservation of independent of states.
 Preservation of peace.
 Maintenance of international law.

ANALYSIS ON BALANCE OF POWER
AND WAR

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR
 A Source of Stability in International Relations
“Balance of Power has many a times prevented war. War breaks
out only when any state assumes excessive power.”
—Fredric Geniz
 It suits the real nature of International Relations
Counterbalancing actions helps to maintain the stability of
relations between states on the face of rapid changes in
International power.
 Balance of Power Discourages War
Because each state knows that any attempt
to have excessive power provoke war
hence, it keeps its ambitions under control.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST
 Balance of Power cannot ensure Peace
It suggests that states may secure their survival by preventing any
one state from gaining enough military power to dominate all
others.
 Narrow Basis of Balance of Power
It gives near total importance to preservation of self and national-
interest as the motives of all state actions.
 Uncertainty and unreality of Balance
of Power
Since the evaluation of the national
power of a nation is always uncertain,
no nation can afford dependence upon
the balance of power.

 States are no longer unitary actors
State actors represent a government while non-state actors do
not. However, they have impact on the state actors.
 Variable factors
 Intention : Perceived intention of the major powers in the
system determines whether balancing will be preferred by
secondary states over other options such as bandwagoning.
 Preferences of states :
Ever present possibility of war in an anarchic system, states
may not cooperate even with their allies because survival is
guaranteed only with a“proportionate advantage”
-Joseph Grieco-

ANALYSIS WITH CONTEMPORARY WORLD
 End of the European Domination and the dawn of Global
Politics
Narrow European dominated international system has been
transformed to a truly global system in which Asian, African and
Latin American states enjoy a new and added importance.
 Preponderance of Power between US and USSR
The actual period of strict bipolarity during the Cold War is much
shorter than is conventionally believed.
 Balance of Power and stability of International system
 Under multi-polarity : threats are more difficult to evaluate,
and states shift their responsibilities and rely on others to
balance against an emerging state.
 Under Uni-polarity and Bipolarity : Tendency to fight Proxy
Wars.

 Uneven distribution of power resources
Evaluation of the balance of power in the twenty first century become
difficult because power resources are unevenly distributed among the
great powers.
 Change of Concept of War into Total War
In the twentieth century, the costs of fighting such a war have soared,
while the perceived benefits of winners have abated. Therefore Total
war is not impossible.
 The Emergence of Global Actors
The presence of the UN has made a big change in the structure and
functioning of the international system.
“The Structural changes in international politics of post-war
period have not greatly affected the principle of Balance of
Power. It still holds good in respect of regional relations among
nations.”
—Arnold Wolfers

NATIONAL SECURITY

MAIN PURPOSE
The goal of the national security strategy is to
ensure the protection of our nation's
fundamental and enduring needs.

WHAT IS NATIONAL SECURITY
A country's national security is its ability to
protect itself from the threat of violence or
attack

ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY?
 Military security
 Economic security
 Resource security
 Border Security
 Demographic security
 Disaster security
 Energy security
 Geostrategic security

HOW DOES NATIONAL SECURITY
AFFECT THE ECONOMY?
Spending too much wealth on security (i.e.,
the military) can decrease a nation's
productivity and lead to economic decline.

CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

With reference to my colleagues……
IR is not a new concept. It has the same history of
modern man, i.e. Homospains, finally ended-up in IR,
human development has made it more complexed,
an obvious result of human development

Man always wants, likes and loves – power, individual
development, self-esteem, individuality, formation of
groups, developing common cultural understandings,
appointing leaders to lead group, formation of states.

IR THEORIES – EVOLUTION OF MAJOR
IR THEORIES
My colleagues have done an in-depth analysis
and elaborated different IR theories such as
Realism, Liberalism, Marxism, Bi-polar, Uni-
polar
Intentionally or unintentionally different groups
formed as Nations have selected above
approaches or a combination, each selection is
different to anther…..
Which theory is inappropriate, still IR
continues….God knows the best theory, b

National interest and National security– what ever
the theory National Interest matters. Importance of
National and cultural identity developed
Intervention: This happens with good or bad
intensions emphasizing each ones National interests,
a complexed situation as highlighted by my
colleagues

Balance of power – is important to
avoid drawbacks of intervention

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU