MODULE 1: MEANING, NATURE AND SCOPE OF INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
UNIT 1: MEANING OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
INTRODUCTION
International Relations (IR) is a continuously popular subject. It concerns
peoples and cultures all over the world. The scope and complexity of the
interactions between the various groups makes IR a challenging subject to
master. IR is new and dynamic and has a special appeal to everybody.
However, some people perceive IR as a distant and abstract ritual conducted
by a small group of people like presidents, generals and diplomats. This
assumption is not accurate because despite the fact that leaders play a major
role in international affairs, many other people participate as well. For
instance, students and other citizens participate in international relations
every time they vote in an election or watch the news. In fact, the choices we
make in our daily lives ultimately affect the world we live in.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
a) Explain the meaning of international relations
b) Identify the boundaries of international relations.
Meaning of International Relations
International Relations is the study of conflict and cooperation by
international actors, as furthered by the development and testing of
hypotheses about international outcomes. The field of international relations
concerns the relationships among the various governments of the world.
These relationships linked with other actors such as international
organisations (IOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), transnational
corporations (TNCs) and notable individuals make them interdependent.
Indeed, no nation can live in isolation independent of other nations. Whether
big or small, rich or poor, powerful or weak, every nation depends on other
nations. This explains why all states in the international system live in an
atmosphere of interdependence.
, Owing to the fact that IR is in transition following emerging realities in the
international system, it has become difficult arriving at a universally
acceptable definition of the subject.
However, scholars have persisted in their attempt to define international
relations. In the words of Karl Deutsch, �international relations is that area
of human action where inescapable
Diplomacy and International Relations: An Introduction
Interdependence meets with inadequate control.� There is no escaping from
world affairs, yet we cannot shape them totally to our will. There is always
interplay between foreign policy and domestic politics, the two component
parts of international relations. There are multiple contests and conflicts of
interests, which ensure that both foreign policy and domestic politics that
constantly pushed and pulled in contradictory directions for the safety and
prosperity of each nation and indeed the survival of humanity hang on this
sea-saw.
Trevor Taylor defines IR as a discipline that tries to explain political
activities across states boundaries.
� Another scholar, Seymon Brown postulates that international relations is
the investigating and study of patterns of actions and reactions among
sovereign states as represented by their governing elites.� Quite often, IR
scholars view international relations as a mix of conflict and cooperation in
relationships among nations. Power is germane to international politics.
Indeed, power is the currency of the international system. This explains why
some scholars define international relations in terms of power relations
between states.
For example, Stanley (offman posits that �the discipline of international
relations is concerned with the factors and the activities which affect the
external policies and power of the basic units into which the world is
divided.
As a field of study, IR has elastic boundaries. To some extent, the field is
interdisciplinary relating international politics to economics, sociology,
history and other disciplines. Whereas some Universities offer separate
degrees or Departments of IR, others teach international relations as part of
political science. Before 1914, the conduct of international relations was the
RELATIONS
UNIT 1: MEANING OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
INTRODUCTION
International Relations (IR) is a continuously popular subject. It concerns
peoples and cultures all over the world. The scope and complexity of the
interactions between the various groups makes IR a challenging subject to
master. IR is new and dynamic and has a special appeal to everybody.
However, some people perceive IR as a distant and abstract ritual conducted
by a small group of people like presidents, generals and diplomats. This
assumption is not accurate because despite the fact that leaders play a major
role in international affairs, many other people participate as well. For
instance, students and other citizens participate in international relations
every time they vote in an election or watch the news. In fact, the choices we
make in our daily lives ultimately affect the world we live in.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
a) Explain the meaning of international relations
b) Identify the boundaries of international relations.
Meaning of International Relations
International Relations is the study of conflict and cooperation by
international actors, as furthered by the development and testing of
hypotheses about international outcomes. The field of international relations
concerns the relationships among the various governments of the world.
These relationships linked with other actors such as international
organisations (IOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), transnational
corporations (TNCs) and notable individuals make them interdependent.
Indeed, no nation can live in isolation independent of other nations. Whether
big or small, rich or poor, powerful or weak, every nation depends on other
nations. This explains why all states in the international system live in an
atmosphere of interdependence.
, Owing to the fact that IR is in transition following emerging realities in the
international system, it has become difficult arriving at a universally
acceptable definition of the subject.
However, scholars have persisted in their attempt to define international
relations. In the words of Karl Deutsch, �international relations is that area
of human action where inescapable
Diplomacy and International Relations: An Introduction
Interdependence meets with inadequate control.� There is no escaping from
world affairs, yet we cannot shape them totally to our will. There is always
interplay between foreign policy and domestic politics, the two component
parts of international relations. There are multiple contests and conflicts of
interests, which ensure that both foreign policy and domestic politics that
constantly pushed and pulled in contradictory directions for the safety and
prosperity of each nation and indeed the survival of humanity hang on this
sea-saw.
Trevor Taylor defines IR as a discipline that tries to explain political
activities across states boundaries.
� Another scholar, Seymon Brown postulates that international relations is
the investigating and study of patterns of actions and reactions among
sovereign states as represented by their governing elites.� Quite often, IR
scholars view international relations as a mix of conflict and cooperation in
relationships among nations. Power is germane to international politics.
Indeed, power is the currency of the international system. This explains why
some scholars define international relations in terms of power relations
between states.
For example, Stanley (offman posits that �the discipline of international
relations is concerned with the factors and the activities which affect the
external policies and power of the basic units into which the world is
divided.
As a field of study, IR has elastic boundaries. To some extent, the field is
interdisciplinary relating international politics to economics, sociology,
history and other disciplines. Whereas some Universities offer separate
degrees or Departments of IR, others teach international relations as part of
political science. Before 1914, the conduct of international relations was the
