Defining International Relations

The Development of the Discipline

What is Distinctive about the study of International Relations?

Players in International Relations

Defining International Relations

A working definition: "International relations is the study of political relations among states, international organisations, non-government organisations and individuals that participate in an international arena characterised by the absence of central governance."

Development of the Discipline

The focus of enquiry in International Relations has changed both in terms of content and scope since its inception after the First World War. Today, International Relations is a subject in dispute, but realism still remains the most favoured approach.

The Distinctiveness of International Relations

Internation Relations involves a search for both descriptive and theoretical knowledge.

The Players in International Relations

States remain the most dominant actors. A state is a territorial entity controlled by a government and inhabited by a population. States are sovereign because they have legal autonomy within their territory and acknowledge no higher authority beyond them. There are also non-state actors, including sub-state actors and transnational actors, as well as supranational elements.

3 factors make International relations complex: the scope and range of subject matter. As a social-science subject, it’s not self-defining and therefore there is no principle that commands wide agreement. Also it isn’t restricted by one discipline but is a very expansive subject. It includes dimensions such as: economics, human rights, and the environment etc.