The world is complex and interactive. Domestic politics & policies are constantly affected by developments outside. Nations enter into dialogue to fulfill their own interests. The subject that studies relations among nations and states is called International Relations.

1. International Relations
Meaning, Nature and Scope
Prof. Ramakrushna Pradhan
Professor of Political Science
Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya
(A Central University)
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

2. Introduction
 We are not surprised
 The world has become increasing Borderless
and a Global village
 i-ways and airways made the world a network
society.
 In the age of globalization, one cannot be a
Robinson Cruso
 Even Aristotle said, Man is a social animal who
cannot live without the society.
 George Orwell said, ‘man must interact to be
complete as no one is self-sufficient’.
 STATE being a human institution is not an
‘Island’

3. International Relations: What
and How???
 The world is complex and interactive.
 Domestic politics & policies are
constantly affected by developments
outside.
 Nations enter into dialogue to fulfill their
own interests.
 The subject that studies relations among
nations and states is called International
Relations.

4. What??
 Two meaning of IR:
1. IR as an activity: Age old
2. IR as a Academic Inquiry: 1919
Quincy Wright: IR can be used in two senses:
1. Condition: refers to the facts of international life, i.e., the
actual conduct of relations among nations through
diplomacy based on foreign policy.
2. Discipline: systematic and scientific study of relations
among nations
 Narrow View of IR: simply relations between units states
in the international system
 Broad (Inclusive) View: inter-state, inter-society, and state
society relations including both states and state based
actors.

5. Why IR is important to us???
 Question of war and peace
 Deals with the highest human and social
organization – the State.
 It is more scientific than other social
sciences.
 IR a meta narrative – Lyotard

6. What is Science?
 Science is any systematic knowledge, capable in correct prediction or
reliable outcome.
 Robert Burns - it is “a systematic investigation to find solutions to a
problem”.
 Horton and Hunt - Science involves: observation, verification, accuracy,
precision, systematization, objectivity, recording, controlling and training.
 Although scientific research method depends on the collection of
empirical facts, yet facts alone do not constitute a science. For
meaningful understanding facts must be ordered in some fashion,
analysed, generalized, and related to other facts. Thus, theory
construction is a vital part of the scientific inquiry.
 Since facts collected and findings evolved through the scientific method are
interrelated with the previous findings of other scholars or earlier
theories, scientific knowledge is a cumulative process.
 The scientific method could either be an inductive method or the
deductive method. Inductive method involves establishing
generalizations, i.e., building generalizations inferred from specific facts, or
drawing particular principles while Deductive method involves testing
generalizations, i.e., it is the process of reasoning from general principles
to particular instances.

7. Why IR is a Science?
 International Relations Science focuses on a certain field of
human relationships.
 highest field of social relationships, relationships between
nations and states.
 Like Science, IR too seeks to explain the events of nature in
the reproducible way and to use these findings to make
useful predictions which can be later implemented and used
by the policymakers and other practitioners.
 Scientific thinking represents a very very special approach to
the things, and it revolves creation of a grand concept to
explain very general patterns of social activities and theory.
 IR as a meta narrative provides a set of proposition (theory)
to generalize, thus, provide an explanation, establishing a
casual relationship between the variable, serving as a sort of
explanatory concepts or a source of ways of evaluating the
point we use well meaning of such concepts

8. What is the field of International
Relations?
 what we define, what is the subject matter of IR
Theory has been an age old discourse.
 World Views of IR: Narrow and Broad lenses
 How you see IR: Theoretical
Outlook/Paradigms/Theories: Realists, Liberals and
the Marxists
 For Realists: State is the only and supreme actor (IR
cannot be conceived without/beyond state)
 Fore Liberals: the most important relations are not
within the states but between the society and the
states, and the internal politics are directly influencing
the foreign policy of any country.
 For Marxist: the most important relations are not
between the states, but between the social classes.

9. Two general traditions within the
theory of International Relations
 1. Ancient/Classical Tradition: derived from the theories,
ideas and philosophy of the Ancient Greece.
 This tradition assumes that the logic of
international politics is driven by the human nature
and human nature is unchangeable.
 For traditionalists, human nature has not been
good, always and that people have been always
trying to maximize their benefits at the expense of
the other people leading to conflict
 2. Bible/Christian/Monotheistic Religions: it
assumes history as the journey towards
perfectness.
 Eternal peace between people and the state can
be established by improving the relationship
between them.

10. Three major paradigms in the IR
Theory
 Realism: based on the concept of eternal and
unchangeable nature of international politics as a
consequence of eternal and unchangeable nature of human
beings.
 Liberalism: development of international relations
should unavoidably come to a certain point of perfectness by
forging close relationship between people and the state
 Marxism: Perpetual peace is possible only when
classes of the society enjoy equality and absence of class
domination.

11. Meaning of IR
 The term “international” was for the first time used by Jeremy
Bentham in the later part of eighteen century (1789).
 Consequently, the term IR was defined as officials relations
between the sovereign states. However some
 scholars include economic, social and cultural relations in it.
 There are two views regarding the meaning of IR, one is
Broader and the other narrow
 Those who take narrow view assert IR include only “the
official relations conducted by the authorized leaders of the
state”
 To them relations like trade, financial interaction, missionary
activities, travel of students and cultural relations do not fall in
the domain of IR
Professor Dunn takes a narrower view and define IR as “the
actual relations that take place across national boundaries or
as the body of knowledge which we have of those relations at
any given time”

12. Continue….
 Those who take broader view of IR include, apart from official
relations, all other relations among the states like movement of
people, goods an ideas
Quincy Wright says “it is not only the nation which international
relations seek to regulate. Varied types of groups-nations,
states, governments, people, regions, alliances, confederations,
international organizations, even industrial organizations,
cultural organizations shall be dealt within the study of IR”
Professor Hoffmann says “ international relations is concerned with
the factors and the activities which affect the external policies
and the powers of basic units into which the world is divided”
 It comes from the above that international relations is not only
concerned with official relations among the states but it also
covers the all those factors and organizations which affect the
external relations of a nation.

13. IR & IP
 Scholars of international relations have ignored the distinction
between IR and International politics and they consider them as
identical
 E.H Carr, Quincy Wright treated the two as identical. However
some writers have tried to draw a distinctions between the two.
To them IR is the totality of relations and therefore a wider term
which includes politics, war, diplomacy, economy and even
culture.
 On the other hand International politics is concerned with
diplomacy and the relations among states and other political
units
 International politics include only those aspects of IR in which
conflict of purpose or interest is involved
 In its broadest sense IR is comprised myriads of contacts among
the states, people, organizations and groups however all these
relations are regulated by the governments of the states and in
this sense IR and international politics become identical

14. SCOPE of IR
 1. State system
 2. National Interest
 3. National Power
 4. Foreign Policy
 5. Instruments of international politics – Diplomacy. International Law,
Foreign policy, international trade, Economic and Military assistance etc.
 6. Nationalism, Colonialism and imperialism.
 7. Control of interstate Relations – Balance of power-International law
and
 international organizations.
 8. Dynamic elements and new Dimensions-Rivalry between super
powers and
 different blocs of nations.
 9. World government.
 10. War and peace ideologies.
 11. Ethnic groups – Races of mankind and Terrorist groups.
 12. International Regionalism.

15. Thank You 