lecture I introduction.ppsx

1. The History of
International Relations
Yang Li
liyang@shisu.edu.cn
15216850857

2. Inter-
national
relations
Inter-
personal
relations

3. What is IR?
 Everything happened before seemed to be unrelated.
And from a cerntain moment onwards, the whole
world became one. What happened in Italy and Lybia
were interwined with events in Asia and Greece.
 Blood ties, which used to be the fondation of ancient
human society, was replaced by a new and innovative
rule for social agglomeration. This was completely a
result of appoachment in time and space. ——
W.H.Macneil
 International relations, IR, is a new study after the
WWII.

4. What is IR?
• A branch of political science which focuses on the
study of interactions, ranging from history to
environmental studies;
• A study of conflict and cooperation by international
actors, as furthered by the development and tesing of
hypotheses about international outcomes;
• A study of relationships between countries, including
the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations,
international non-governmental organizations, non-
governmental organizations and multinational
corporations;

5. What is IR?
• On a daily basis: watching news, voting, buying or
boycotting, recycling etc.
• On our lives: communication and transport technology,
contacting with people / places / products /
opputunities and ideas from other countries.
• Broad and complex variables: primary participants,
nongovernmental participants, domestic events,
economics, geography, culture, etc.
• Vast and multicolored phenomena: international
conferences, comings and goings of diplomats, signing
of treaties, deployment of military forces, flow of
international trade etc.

6.  Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations
BOOK 6 verse 36 Asia, Europe are corners of the universe: all the sea a drop in the
universe; Athos a little clod of the universe: all the present time is a point in eternity.
BOOK 9 verse 9：All things which participate in anything which is common to
them all move towards that which is of the same kind with themselves.
Everything which is earthy turns towards the earth, everything which is liquid
flows together, and everything which is of an aerial kind does the same, so that
they require something to keep them asunder, and the application of force. ……
Accordingly then everything also which participates in the common intelligent
nature moves in like manner towards that which is of the same kind with itself, or
moves even more. For so much as it is superior in comparison with all other
things, in the same degree also is it more ready to mingle with and to be fused
with that which is akin to it. Accordingly among animals devoid of reason we find
swarms of bees, and herds of cattle, and the nurture of young birds, and in a
manner, loves; for even in animals there are souls, and that power which brings
them together is seen to exert itself in the superior degree, and in such a way as
never has been observed in plants nor in stones nor in trees. But in rational
animals there are political communities and friendships, and families and
meetings of people; and in wars, treaties and armistices.
Some reflections on IR?

7.  Cicero, De Officiis, BOOK 3
53Then, too, there are a great many degrees of closeness or
remoteness in human society. To proceed beyond the universal
bond of our common humanity, there is the closer one of belonging
to the same people, tribe, and tongue, by which men are very closely
bound together; it is a still closer realation to be citizens of the same
city-state; for fellow-citizens hava much in common – forum,
temples, colonnades, streets, statutes, laws, courts, rights of suffrage,
to say nothing of social and friendly circles and diverse business
relations with many……57But when with a rational spirit you have
surveyed the whole field, there is no social relation among them all
more close, none more dear than that which links each one of us
with our country.
Some reflections on IR?

8. Every country in
this land must
have relations
with others.
Every country’s
existence and
perishement have
something to do with
its neighboring
countries.
Some reflections on IR?

9.  When the nation states were developing, each one of them
tried every possible means of military and diplomacy, in
the hope of expanding its territories and political influences.
 raison d’Etat
Some reflections on IR?
Niccolò
Machiavelli
Jean Bodin
Hugo Grotius

10. History & IR
History
IR
History IR

11. IR
UNIT
BACKGROUND
The history of international relations is actually the history of the
development, mature and perfection of human society.
What is the history of IR?

12.  “acurate sense of reality and deep thought of history”
to develop a intimate relationship with historical materials
and explore the happiness reading them；
to develop different tools helping with the study；
to pay attention to the world news and comments；
to get familiar with as many as possible media station and
know their stand well；
How to study the history of IR?

13.  Geographical knowledge and map reading
 Research, read and analyzing
 Result＝performance on class（50％）＋ final
examination（50％）
 Class performance：news report each week
 Final examination：word definition, map blank filling,
and questions and answering
Course requirements

14. Readings
 C. Buffet & B. Heuser, Haunted by History. Myths in
International Relations, Oxford, 1998.
 Christian Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal, The Oxford
Handbook of International Relations, Oxford, 2008.
 K. Waltz, Theory of International Politics, New York,
1979

16. Interactions in early times

17. Interactions in early times

18. International relation 2.0 (Westphalia Treaty), 1648 AD
International relation 1.0 (birth of states), 5500 BC
Material exchange between two groups, 40000 BC
THREE breakthroughs

19. • originated from setteled
area (city state and
empire) where the pre-
international relation was
more developed and
population was more
crowed
• originated from nomadic
area (steppe and desert)
with less population and
less developed
Technology
development: wheels,
roads, seaways, animal
raising (helping with
riding and loading)
Social development:
languages, writing,
religion, money, loan
system, commerce,
diplomacy, population
growing
International relations
v 1.0

20. International relations
v 1.0
• The city-states
• Sumer
• Greek
• The Chinese Warring States
• The Roman empire

21. International relations
v 1.0
• The city-states
• Sumer
• Greek
• The Chinese Warring States
• The Roman empire

22. International relations
v 1.0
• The city-states
• Sumer
• Greek
• The Chinese Warring States
• The Roman empire

23. From city state to empire
EMPIRE
population
agriculture
transportation

24. International relations
v 1.0
• The city-states
• Sumer
• Greek
• The Roman empire
• The Chinese Warring States

26. International relations
v 1.5
• Silkroad

27. International relations
v 1.5
• Silkroad
The ancient transportation between the east and west started with the silk
trade. It was silk that brought China to the western people’s mind. In the
west, silk product was named serge, so they called China serica, and
Chinese seres. SER, was a imported pronunciation of silk in Chinese. GE,
was a suffix adding to it. – Jieqin Zhu, Collection of Essays on the History of
Chinese Foreign Relations
Serica, a people living long lives, usually more than 200 years, were settled
along the east coast.

30. Technology
change
Animal &
wheels
Horse
riding
Road
building
Social
change
Language
& letters
Religion
Diplomacy
The whole world becoming one

31. East-Asia Tributary
System
Muslim World
European States
International relations
v 1.8

32. 500Li

33. International relations
v 1.8
• East-Asia Tributary System

34. International relations
v 1.8
• Muslim World

35. International relations
v 1.8
• European States

37. Decline
of
Portugal
Uprising
of
England,
France &
Holland capitalis
m
imperialis
m
International relations
v 1.9

38. International relations
v 2.0
• Renaissance
• Reformation
• Great Discovery
• Nation State

39.  Theoretically, just as proved by the Chinese and Europeans
in the 15th century, ship opened the era for the inter-
continental economic and military contact and thus created
a global international system. – Barry Buzan, Richard Little,
International System in the World History
 The discovery of America and the route to East Indie from
Good Hope Cape were the biggest and most important two
things in human history. – Adam Smith
 The Land ties the people to numerous depending relations,
while the sea encourages people to jump over the bounds
of narrow mind and actions. – Henry Kessinger, On China
The Great Discovery