Assignment # 1

Topic:
Meaning,
Definition
International Relations

and

Scope

of

Submitted To:
Prof. Rizwan Ali
Submitted By:
Muhammad Farrukh Shakeel
Roll #
11011519-078
Section:
A
Subject:
Introduction to International Relations
Semester:
BS(CS)-8th
Dated:
16th
June 2015

Hafiz Hayat Campus University of Gujrat

Meaning of International Relations:
The term International was first used by Jeremy Bantham in the later part of Eighteenth century
with regard to the law of nations. Consequently, the term International Relations were used to
define the official relations between nation states.
There are two views regarding the meaning of International Relations i.e. narrow and broader
view.
Narrow View
According to narrow view International Relations are the official relations conducted
by the authorized leaders of the states. Prof. Dunn takes the narrow view of International
Relations and defined it as the actual relations that take place across national
boundaries.
Broader View
According to the broader view, many scholars have contributed and believed that
officials and unofficial relations by officials and unofficial organizations fall within the
domains of International Relations.

Official Relations
Government to Government relations

Unofficial Relations
Unofficial relations are concerned to individual to individual relationships like
business relationships and import export relationships etc.

Definition of International Relations:

Different definitions are given by different scholars on the basis of their school of thought. Some
scholars defined it as lust of power and some as interaction and some are in the favor of both.
Those scholars who see power as the key to International politics, they define International
relations as the subject that deals with those relations among nations, which involve power
status.
General Definitions

 According to Trevor Taylor

A disciple which tries to explain political activities across state boundaries

According to Joseph
International Relations are the study of all forms of interactions that exist between members
of separate nations within the system
According to Quiney Wright
It is not only the nations which International Relations seek to regulate. Varied types of
groups, nations, states, governments, people, regions, alliances, international organizations,
cultural organizations and religious organizations must be dealt within the study of
International Relations, if the treatment is made realistic
Power Basis Definitions
According to Hans J. Morganthan
International politics is a struggle for power and use of power among nations
According to Stanley Hoffmann
The disciple of International relations is concerned with the factors and activities, which
affect the external policies and the power of basic units into which the world is divided
Scope of International Relations:
The scope of international relations has become vast and it embraces various other inter-state
activities as well. It is known by now that international relations encompass a large number of
disciplines.
The scope of international relations has steadily expanded nowadays, with growing complexity
of contacts between nations and transition between relations. The transition has not reached a
terminal point but the underlying factors of international relations have not changed. The
international environment has changed and is still changing. The world has virtually become a
global village as interdependence of states has increased manifold.
Different factors are listed below that defines the scope of International Relations.
State System

The birth of nation state occurred in 1845 and as the time passes new states emerged on
the map of the world. Due to globalization a state system is developed where every state
is affected by the foreign policies of other states. If there is a clash between states then it
affects other states as well. Every state is bind with other state.

Power Politics
Basically the word Power is generally used in terms of strength or potential to do
certain tasks etc. But in IR, it refers to all the resources available for a certain state in the
chase of its national objectives. Power is considered as central theme of International
relations by some thinkers. All countries make relations with other to get power may be
in the form of Military, security or economic stability.
State power can be of two major types.
Hard Power
Hard power mostly consists of military strength, weapons and arms etc.
Soft Power
Soft power includes ideologies.
International Law
International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted as strap in relations
between states and between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable
and organized international relations. International law differs from state-based legal
systems because it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to private citizens.
National law may become international law when treaties hand over national jurisdiction
to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights, the International
Criminal Court, League of Nations, International Court of Justice (ICJ),
United Nations (UN) and UN Security Council.
International Organization
An international organization is an organization with an international membership, scope,
or presence. There are two main types.
International nongovernmental organizations

These are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate internationally.

These include international non-profit organizations and worldwide companies
such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement, International Committee
of the Red Cross and Mdecins Sans Frontiers.
Intergovernmental organizations
These also known as international governmental organizations (IGOs) the type of
organization most closely associated with the term 'international organization',
these are organizations that are made up primarily of sovereign states or member
states. Examples include the United Nations (UN), Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) , Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe (CoE), World Trade Organization
and SAARC etc.
Military Alliances
An alliance is an explicit agreement among states in the realm of national security in
which the partners promise mutual assistance in the form of a significant contribution of
resources in the case of a certain contingency the arising of which is uncertain.
National Interest
The concept of the national interest is used in both political analysis and political action.
As an analytic tool, it is employed to explain or evaluate the sources or the competence of
a nations foreign policy. As an instrument of political action, it serves as a means of
justifying, disapproving, or proposing policies. In other words, it refers to what is best for
a national society. They also share a tendency to explain what is best for a nation in
foreign affairs. In international relations national interest is heart of the relations because
every state has a national interest for which it makes relations. In IR there is no
permanent enemy and no permanent friend.
Foreign Policy
The sum of official policies of a state monitoring its interaction across the state
boundaries is generally termed as a states foreign policy. Or it can be defined as
General objectives that guide the activities and relationships of one state in its
interactions with other states.
Economic relations and stability
Economic relations between states have widened the scope of IR. When the world is
entering the 21st century, the economic globalization has become an apparent trend. The

economic globalization not only has pushed some states to a new stage and drawn some
others into terrible straits, but also created a tendency of deep change in the international
politics. The roles of international institutions like the World Bank, International
Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization today influences economic activity all
over the world. The United Nations and its various agencies are engaged in numerous
socio-economic and political activities. Multinational Corporations (MNCs) also are giant
companies operating the world over.
Diplomacy
The word diplomacy derives from the Greek verb diplono meaning to fold. In IR it is
defined as the art and practice of conducting negotiations and maintaining relations
between nations; skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility. It is a peaceful
instrument of Foreign Policy used in order to achieve certain goals considered to be vital
for a state.
International communication
International communication is important because world is now a global village and
states of world are like individuals if a state have to survive in the world than it has to
communicate on all the aspects related to the survival of that states with other states of
the world.
Peace and conflict
The main theme of IR is to maintain peace in the world so that the threats of war can be
reduced by negotiation, diplomacy and IOs etc.
Political ideologies
Capitalism (free trading policy within the countries- America favors it), communalism
(no concept of personal property, India-Russia), in term of state it is good that
government is authority and there is no interdependence of using all resources.
Globalization
Because of globalization every states is interdependent on other states. Globalization
widened the scope of IR.
Nationalism
Every state protects own sovereignty. It is on the top of the list. No state can bear the
elimination of their existence, so for the maintenance of nationalism every state make

relations with other country so that if there comes a time when someone threat their
sovereignty or freedom someone is there to help them.
Human rights human security
After World War I and II, it was clear that there was no proper law or organization for
security of humans, So many scholars suggested that the human rights and security must
be preserved so that peace can be maintained. For this organization were developed like
UNO, UNCEF, WHO and UNDEP etc.
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