International politics

Introduction

International politics has attained the position of an academic discipline

only recently. International politics can simply be defined as politics in relation
to nations. It is a process of adjusting the relationship among nations in favour
of a nation or group of nations by means of power . It includes the existence of
nation states and the struggle for acquiring and retaining the extending power
to fulfill certain goals. As an academic discipline international relations and
politics is a study of interaction going on among sovereign states of the
world.It is also a study of the non-state performers whose behavior has its
own impact upon the working of the nation states.

Origin and development of international politics

Origin and development of the subject of international politics can be

traced back to the 20th century . It originated during the time of the first world
war and grew rapidly after the second world war.The subject was passed in
the 20th century through various stages of development. These include the
establishment of UNO,technological development, emergence of new states
after decolonisation ,emergence of trans - national and supranational
agencies,economic inequality between north and south ,bipolarization
,nuclearization,cold war ,unipolarism etc.

The term international was first used by Jermy Bentham in 1780. It was
in1919 at the University of Wales that the first chair of international politics
was founded known as Woodrow Wilson chair ,first of all occupied by Alfred
zimmen , C.K Webster,E.H.Carr etc.
Stages
First stage

First stage up to the end of the first world war,was dominated by the
monopoly of the diplomatic historians. They generally avoided the study of
current affairs .Thus no theory of international politics could be developed
during this period.
Second stage
 Second stage was started after the end of the first world war . During
this stage only the study of current affairs was emphasized. As a result no well
conceived theory could be developed.
Third stage

Like the second stage the third period also began after the first world war.
This stage stressed the institutionalization of international relations through
law ans organization and firmly believed that international problems could be
solved by international institutions.
Fourth stage
By the end of the second world war a new tendency came into forefront
and with that began the fourth phase of development of study of international
relations. In this phase the emphasis shifted from international law and
organizations to forces and influences which shape and condition the behavior
of the state such as determinants of foreign policy ,techniques and conduct of
foreign relations and mode of resolution of international conflicts.

Fifth stage
Fifth stage may be counted from the mid sixties to seventies when
international organizations,transnational institutions and multinational
corporations were added to study of international relations.Cold war was the
main subject of scholarly output in international relations in this period. The
disparities between the world's rich and poor continue to grow and the
demand of the south for a new International Economic Order became a
subject of discussion and analysis in international politics . Other concepts
used and studied were : neo imperialism ,dependence, structural aggression,
political economy,interdependence etc.

Sixth stage
Sixth stage runs from late 70's to first half of 80's. During this period doubts
were raised on the efficacy of detente and 'New cold war' emerged. The
Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan and the Ronald Regan administration
of the U.S threatened the world in the name of the Star War Programme. It
was also a period of strengthening of NAM, the polarization of third world
countries. The intellectuals of the third world challenged the western
perspective and theories of international relations. Also economic issues
,ecological and environmental problems became concern of whole world

Seventh stage
 The seventh stage began in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachew,the president
of USSR came to the scene with his "New political thinking ". His contributions
of Glasnost and Perestroika recognised " balance of interests" instead of
balance of power , co- operation instead of conformation ,internationalization
instead of nationalization ,disarmament instead of armament and de -
ideologization detente instead of cold war . It believed in peaceful
co-existence and equal security for all.

Eighth stage
The Eighth stage began in the early 90's with the disintegration of the
USSR. On the other hand, western European countries began to integrate
more and more resulting in the formation of the European union. The U.S
turned out to be only a super power . The great powers of today could not
use their traditional power resources against human activities of U.S. A. U.S
style of suppressing terrorism get support from all states. The co- operation of
Russia with NATO shows the latest stage of international relations and politics.

The study of international politics gives an idea relating to the changing

nature of world politics. The world community is in the stage of transition .

This discipline is still young and may pass through several more stages of
development in the years ahead. It is interdisciplinary and developed from
normative theory to casual theory. It is neither well organized nor fully
scientific.

Definition
● Hans .J. Morgenthau (1948) defined International Politics as the
“struggle for and use of power among nations “
● Norman Padelford and George Lincoln (1994)defined International
Politics as the interaction of state policies within the changing patterns of
power relationships.
● For Norman Palmer and Howard Perkins (1976) , the study of
international politics is essentially concerned with the state system.
● "International Politics is a process in which nations try to serve their
national interests, which may be in conflict with those of other nations,
through their policies and actions," says eminent Indian scholar
Mahendra Kumar. This definition, he claims, can be applied to
international politics at any time during the twentieth century.
 In this regard, it is important to note that the above definitions appear to
imply that International Politics is limited to the study of events involving
nation states. However, other aspects of international politics, such as political
actions among non-state units such as inter-state organisations like the
SouthAsian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), NATO, or
multi-national organisations like the United Nations (UN), or non-state
organisations like professional groups of scientists, labourers, human rights
organisations, and so on,play a significant role.

NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The context and nature of International Relations have undergone major
changes after the Second World War. Traditionally, world politics was centered
around Europe and relations among nations were largely conducted by officials
of foreign offices in secrecy. The common man was hardly ever involved, and
treaties were often kept secret. Today public opinion has begun to play an
important role in the decision-making process in foreign offices, thus changing
completely the nature of international relations. We live in the jet age where the
heads of state and government and their foreign ministers travel across the globe
and personally establish contacts and conduct international relations.
Decolonisation has resulted in the emergence of a large number of
sovereign states. The former colonies of the European Powers, including India,
have become important actors on the stage of international relations. They were
once silent spectators. Today, they participate in the conduct of world politics.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union has created 15 members of the United
Nations, instead of the previous three. The total number of UN members has
gone up from 51 in 1945 to 193 in 2021. Thus, international relations are now
conducted by such a large number of new nation-states. Besides, many non-state
actors such as multinational corporations and transnational bodies like terrorist
groups have been influencing international relations in a big way. With the
collapse of the Soviet Union as a Superpower, the United States has emerged as
the supreme monolithic power and can now dominate the international scene
almost without any challenge.
Due to increasing human-activities, the relations among various states has been
changing and due to these continuous changes in International Relations, the
nature of International Relations has been changing.Due to the changing nature
of International Relations, it is difficult to explain the nature of International
Relations.
However, these are the following important points explaining the nature of
International Relations.

1. Nations as primary actors of International Relations: Politics is a process

of interactions among groups and International politics is primarily a process of
interactions among nations. Nations-states are the key actors but along with the
several non-state, transnational and supra-national groups, these groups also
play an important role in International Relations. The primacy, however,
belongs to nations states because these still control all the instruments like
coercion and violence in International Relations.
2. National interest as the objective: National interest is the objective that
each nation attempts to secure in relations with other nations. International
Politics basically involves the art of preserving or securing goals of national
interests by using control over the other nations. It is the process by which each
nation rises to safeguard and secure its interests in conditions of conflict with
other nations.
3. Conflicts as the conditions of International Politics: the national interests
of various nations are neither fully compatible nor fully incompatible. The
incompatibility of the national interest of various nations is a source of conflict
at the international level which finds concrete manifestation in the form of
disputes. However, the possibility of making the interests compatible through
accommodation, adjustment and reconciliation leads to some cooperation
among nations. As such, conflicts and cooperation as well as coercion and
persuasion are always present in International Relations.
4. Power as the means as well as the end in International Politics: in
International Politics, power is both the means as well as end. Nations always
use power for securing the goal of their nation's interests. At the same time they
regard power as a vital part of their national interest and therefore try to build
and keep a reserve of national power. Each nation always works to maintain and
increase its National power.
5.International Politics as a process of conflict-resolution among Nations:
Conflicts are the condition of International politics. It is the most important elect
of International Politics because in the absence of conflicts of interests, power
can have little function to perform. Conflict is the very basis of International
Relations. It is at the root of both disputes and cooperation among nations.
Conflicts of interests are a reality of International Relations. However, at the
same time, it can’t be denied that the existence of conflict compels the nations
with similar goals of national interests to cooperate with each other.
6. International Politics involves continuous interaction among nations:
since the national interests of various nations are in conflict with one another,
conflict cannot be completely eliminated from International society. However, at
the same time, conflict must be resolved because unresolved conflicts can lead
to war. This necessitates continuous attempts on the part of nations to adjust
their relations with one another. Nations to achieve this bemoans their power
and resources.
7.Interaction among foreign Policies: Since the international environment is
very complex and dynamic and each nation has to act in conditions
characterized by conflict, cooperation, competition, war, tensions and
uncertainties, it is essential for each nation to perform on the basis of its foreign
policy. The relations among nations mostly take the form of interactions among
the foreign policies of the nations.

SCOPE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

As a subject of study, International Relations is a relatively
new and developing subject. Its scope has continuously expanded and
developed.
Grayson Kirk observed that the study of International
Politics contains five ingredients that we can accept as the foundation
of the field's scope:
(1) The state system's nature and operation.
(2) Factors that influence state power.
(3) Great powers' international positions and foreign policies.
(4) The recent history of international politics.
(5) The establishment of a more stable global order.
These components assist us in determining the fundamental scope of
InternationalPolitics. Let us now go over the scope of International Politics and
its components in detail:
(i) State System: The study of international relations begins with the
state system. One can see a great impact of the state system on the
international scene since the last three centuries. The individuals organize
themselves in sovereign states and through them strive to fulfill their
interests. The incompatible interests of these sovereign states cause
conflict, and international politics is those the natural outcome of the
conflict of sovereign states. Not all states assume every other national
state. Some are significant because of their neighborhood, some owing to
their military or economic power, whereas some others due to the racial
or cultural links. In brief, inter-state relations are the result of sovereign
state and international relations studies.
(ii)Relations in Conflict and Cooperation: International relations
studies relations between two or more states, which are very often
complex and influenced by a variety of geopolitical, historical, social,
religious, ideological, strategic and leadership factors. Broadly speaking,
these relationships have taken the form of cooperation and conflict.
Cooperation and conflict are two sides of the same coin. Inspired by the
fact that there were more conflicts in international history than
corporation Both Co-Existed throughout the various periods of history
International relations is primarily a study of both conflictual and
cooperative inter-state relations.
(iii) General and Diplomatic History: In the initial years of the
beginning of the discipline, its studies were mainly historical.
International relations was considered identical with international or
diplomatic history for quite a long time. Under this tradition, certain
major events were taken up for analysis against a historical perspective.
After some time, 1 historical approach was replaced by many new and
better approaches yet historical facts and events have not lost their
relevance to international relations. For example, to study the recent
indo-Pak relations one has to go back into the past to know their
historical background. The study of general and especially diplomatic
history cannot be separate from International relations.
(iv) Power: In the post Second World War period power became the
central theme in the study of international relations. According to
Morgenthau international politics is nothing else but power Politics and
can be realistically understood only if viewed as the concept of interest
defined in terms of power of a national state. Power has practical as well
as theoretical relevance. It is a major determinant of the policies of the
leading states of the world and of international relations generally. In
international relations one studies the nature, elements and measurement
of national power, balance of power, power equations and limitations on
national power. Major limitations on power which are being studied
 are:international law, international morality, world public opinion,
balance of power, collective security and international organisations.
(v) International Law and Organizations: International law acts as restriction
on national power and state action. Thus it is accepted as a very important
aspect of the study of international relations. International law contains a set of
rules, which regulates and determines the inter-state behaviour pattern both in
time of peace and war. Therefore, a sound knowledge of international law is a
must for understanding international relations. The United Nations, the most
comprehensive of all international organizations, regional arrangements NATO
OAS, EEC, and SAARC and other organisations of international or regional
character have assumed significant roles in the present world. These
international institutions provide forums for cooperation and conflict resolutions
and are governed by their own rule .These organizations came into existence for
economic, military, technological or cultural cooperation among member states.
Since all these organisations and institutions have bearings on inter-state
relations, they become a subject-matter of international relations to that extent.
(vi) War and Peace: It is the problem of war and peace around which almost all
the studies of international relations revolve. It is no less a problem than human
survival. Conflict of interests and struggle supremacy among nations often lead
to warfare between two or more nations or their groups. War is as old a
phenomenon as the state itself and it's essentially followed by some sort of
peace activity and settlement. War and peace activities are now studied more
systematically in this sphere, the study of international relations is of great
importance for all mankind and requires interdisciplinary approach and analysis.
(vii) National Interest. National interest are the objectives of sovereign
states.which the purpose with the help of power and through the instrument of
foreign policy. In a way national interests are the pivot around which
international relations clusters. Hartmann correctly says that international
relations as a field of study is focused upon the processes by which states adjust
their national interests to those of other states. Thus, the concern of national
interest becomes central to the Conduct national policies. The study of national
interest has become useful in analyzing the history and conduct of a nation’s
foreign policy.
(Viii) Foreign Policy. The sovereign states conduct their foreign relations and
interact with each other through their foreign policies and, thus foreign policies
is international politics is like a charter containing national interests showing the
areas of agreement and disagreement. It explains the ideals with which the state
would exert its influence and the limit of its total effectiveness. Though foreign
policies are not the be-all and end-all of international relations yet they
constitute a significant part of its study
(ix) Alliances and Groupings. No doubt, most of the major multilateral
alliances, including NATO, the Warsaw Pact, SEATO, CENTO etc. which
flourished in the fifties and early sixties have now lost their relevance yet
alliance politics became an important area of study in the postwar international
relations. The study of international relations focused on the factors that
contribute to the growth of such military alliances, the degree of their unity and
their impact on the balance of power situation among the states concerned.
There are also groupings other than military alliances such as communist
countries, the free world, the Islamic world, nonaligned countries, the Arab
world, African countries etc. They function unitedly on many common issues
inside and outside the UN. The uniting factors, the degree of their unity as well
as their conflicts with other groups, form the subject matter of international
relations
(x)Economic Factors: Economic interests, like defense interests, play a role in
political transactions among states and thus they assume importance in inter
state relations. No one can ignore in international relations the economic factors
such as food problem, economic planning and development, rates of exchange,
tariffs, exchange controls, commodity agreements, international trade, balance
of payments, foreign aid, disparities between developed and under-developed
economies, demand for New International Economic order, international
investment, multinational corporations, international economic agencies such as
the World Bank and international Monetary Fund and many other UN agencies
and regional economic agencies.

Purpose and importance of the study of international politics

Like any other subject the study of international politics has its
own importance, purpose and value. It has both theoretical as well as practical
utility.
❖ Firstly this discipline is useful for renewal education. Its emphasis
on renewal of facts regarding world geography, history and
scientific analysis of national and international relations and events
would make the students conscious of current world affairs.
❖ Secondly it contributes much to the day-by-day conduct of
international affairs. It assists in the practical activity of military
 and diplomatic officials, administrators, statesmen, politicians,
journalists and men in various other fields.
❖ Thirdly it gives enough data to researchers, who are eagerly
looking for and observing the different aspects of developments in
the national and international system.
❖ Above all the study of international politics explains how men and
nations survive and are progressing.
❖ It is also useful to understand many of the problems human beings
are facing. The people can contribute much to achieve peace and
order in the world, controlling of conflict and the related problems
and striving for peace are the main purposes of the study of
international politics. It is very essential to shape a better and just
world order.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
● ‘International Politics as an inalienable part of International
Relations.”Hans Morganthou, scholar

International relations ternational Politics

International relations is a
International politics lies within
magnified phrase for international
international relations.
politics.
International relations focuses on
cozy, homely and warm relations International politics is only related to
among political, non-political, the government, political parties, and
governmental, non-governmental officials.
groups or organizations.

International relation describes all International politics describes political

types of relations. relations only

International relation includes all

official, non-official, informal, and International politics emphasizes more
private relations among the people, on official relations.
group, or associations.
International relations is a wider International politics is a narrower
concept and has broader scope. concept.

The study of International relations The study of international politics uses

is more versatile and uses scientific descriptive, historical, and analytical
approaches and methods. methods.
It includes diverse range of issues
like globalization, sustainability, The range of issues discussed here are
economic development, finance, quite limited.
terrorism etc.
IR is a broad arena that helps to
create bonds between nations International politics is the subset of
through social, economic, and international relations.
political relationships.