INTERNATIONAL

POLITICS
What is International Politics?
According to Hans Morgenthau, it is the struggle for power between states in
the international system.

International politics can be defined as a study of those aspects of

International Relations which include the conflicts and controversies at
international level and their resolution.
Global Actors
• States- actors are strongly influenced by a variety of nonstate actors
• Intergovernment org.- refers to an entity created by treaty, involving two or
more nations
• Non-governmental Org.- provide services that fill gaps left by the private and
public sectors.
• Multinational corporation- operating on a worldwide basis in many countries
at the same time, with fixed facilities and employees in each
The Importance of Studying International
Politics
Blurring of the line between the global and the local with intermestic
issues such as:

•Trade and capital flow

•Defense spending

•Terrorism and political violence

•Disease

•Global warming
World Politics and Finances:
The Global Flow of Goods and Services

•Dependence of foreign sources for vital resources (i.e., crude oil prices)

•Jobs and trades – job gains and losses

•Foreign investment and international financial markets

World Politics and Living Space:
Sharing Air, Water and Land
• As population increases, resources deplete

• Pollution and environment destruction

Global warming leads flooding, droughts, and other weather-related
disasters
Public health and disease control
Deforestation and soil eroison
World Politics and LIFE
Transnational Disease and Political Violence
•Increased human contact through advances in technology
Syrian war
Worsening AIDS epidemic and others

•War and international security

Rise in civilian casualties
Terrorism- unconventional forms of violence
Nature of International Politics
•Sovereign states are chief actors

•Protection of National Interest is the objective

•International Politics is the struggle for power

•Conflicts are conditional of International Politics

•International Politics is a continuous process

Scope of International Politics
•Study of state system
•Study of relations among states
•Study of National Interest
•Study of National power
•Study of International law
•Study of War and Peace
•Study of Nationalism, Colonialism and Imperialism
•Study of problem of terrorism, and among other
Realism versus Liberalism
Two Competing Worldviews
•Realism: The traditional path that emphasizes the centrality of the state on the
world stage and the pursuit of national self-interest above all else.

•Liberalism: The alternative path that emphasizes a more cooperative, globalist

approach and the important role of global institutions and regional
organization as authoritative actors on the world stage.
Realism and the Nature of Politics
•Influence of Thomas Hobbes and Hans Morgenthau: Conflict is inevitable

•Largely hopeless: Humans are aggressive and self-serving, and they are
unlikely to change

•Neorealism: Focus on lawlessness nature of world system based on competing

sovereign states
Liberalism and the Nature of Politics
•Influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Humans join civil societies and cooperate
to achieve mutual benefits.

•Neoliberalism: Emphasize international organization to build effective

cooperation (also known as neoliberal institutionalism)
 Postmodernism
•Political reality determined by how we consider, define, and communicate
concepts such as technological/scientific progress

•Political values are merely mental constructs

•Postmodernists criticize liberals and realists for “narrow thinking”

•Postmodernists advocate an alternative path to peace that emphasizes the

creation and promotion of political identities other than nationalism
 Feminist Theory
•Argues that women have been excluded by men from the international politics
process and from the conceptualization of world politics

•More comprehensive concepts of peace and security represent examples of

how women perceive international politics issues differently than men

•Seeks to forge a distinct political identity and heightened feminist consciousness

for women living in nations around the world
 Economic Theories
•Economic nationalism—closely connected to realism with its emphasis on
using economic strength to increase national power and vice versa.

•Economic internationalism—closely related to liberalism with its belief free

economic interchange without political interference can bring
prosperity to all nations

•Economic structuralism—holds that economics plays a fundamental,

dominant role in determining world politics
 Constructivist Theory
•Affirms that the exchange of ideas among individuals , groups, and social
structures, including states, produces global “structures” such as treaties,
laws, and international organizations.

•These structures, in turn, shape the ideas of these individuals, groups, and
social structures, including states identified collectively as “agents.”

•Rejects the view of realists and liberals that the agents and structures such as
states and the international system are stable and unchanging.
 Constructivist Theory (cont…)
•National political identities, like all political identities, are more subject to
change and adaptation by citizens than generally assumed by liberals and
realists

•Nonmaterial goals such as ideology, morality, and other culture outlooks and
values motivate citizens, groups, and states in international politics.