Intro to IR 101 Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is the international? (Common)
Common argument is that it is located among’ between:
- Territories
- Borders
- States
- Communities
This is a state-focussed account of the “international”
What is the international truly?
A state-focussed (states and borders) account of the international is perhaps incomplete. World maps and its borders are highly misleading when it comes to the actual make-up of international politics.
- Borders and state boundaries are taken for granted but are a product of specific history and interests
- States, non-state actors, and people are involved
Enloe’s argument regarding international politics:
The personal is political (not her saying, but in line with her argument):
- Understanding of international politics is not just found through states, political parties and strategy rooms. Instead it is found in “kitchens, bedrooms, and secretarial pools”.
So where is the international?
Very simply, it is in states and IGOs, but also in our phones and kitchens.
What is International Relations?
International Relations is not an abstract theory, but a discipline theorized by people with their own background, history, and location.
However, it rose (as a field of study) from the aftermath of WW1 and out of Eurocentric views. As such, historical it has failed to achieve a circumspect view of international politics.
The “what” trap being used to analyse US vs China is an example of…..because…..
The Thucydides trap:
- Results from a war is ancient Greece. A term used to describe an apparent tendency towards war when an emerging power threatens to displace an existing great power as a regional or international hegemon.
Thucydides trap can be used to understand the potentiality of possible conflicts today such as between China and the USA. However as mentioned above, if we just apply a lesson learnt in ancient Greece to a potential 21st century conflict with two nations with their own interests, we will have a reductionist view of the current situation
According to Barkawi and Laffey, how does Al-Qaeda challenge conventional understanding of international politics and international security.
- Al-Qaeda is not a nation states. Historically, international security has focussed on the relationships and borders between stronger and weaker states. Al-Qaeda has no border, it is a trans-national organisation and (more importantly) an idea which rally’s people and attempts to threaten western democracy
- It highlights the need for re-defining how we study international security. While once conflicts in the global south were considered “peripheral to, and derived from, the main action among great powers”, the global actions of Al-Qaeda (which are not simply related to throwing of semi-colonial rule) and their presence in the news for two decades signify that perhaps we need to approach an understanding of global security in a different way.
How do Barkawi and Laffey define Eurocentrism?
The “European” in “Eurocentrism” is not fixed but focused on both a real and an imagined Europe. As an idea, it has become synonymous with the “west” (which comprises countries not only in the geographical west), and is a view of the world from that perspective.
- This view sees “Europe” (loose definition) as both self-contained and self-regenerating, yet always playing the core role in international issues.
How does International Relations (IR) change?
Yes, it can and has been changed by world leaders. But it also can be changed by activists and social movements.
- Think Greta Thumberg, women’s rights movement, black lives matter etc.
Women’s rights movement summary:
Gradual, non-linear progression towards success – not done overnight!
Nevertheless, achievements across many spheres: equal employment opportunities, rights to vote, political representation.
Normalisation of women’s rights – from a controversial notion to a ‘common-sense’ feature of the state and citizenship.
What was the effect of the women’s rights movement?
Recognition that there are political dimensions to the so-called ‘private’ life, e.g. power implications in spaces like the kitchen, nurseries, work etc.
Feminist IR theory became a part of the literature and changed the field. Gendered understanding of war, the private vs public debate and feminist political economy.
The decolonialisation movement:
Calls for decolonisation started much earlier than 1950s-1960s. A long struggle, characterized by multiple power struggles, failures, and often violence. Massive wave of decolonization in the mid 20th century. Global movements: various resistance groups across the world taking inspiration from each other.
The UN was formed in 1945 (around the time of mass decolonialisation). Since then, the number of people living in in non-self governing territories has decreased from 750 million, to under 2 million.
Significant implications of the decolonialisation movement:
Pushing boundaries of norms, transmissions of values into the mainstream political discourse.
Going beyond state-centric perspectives – social movements also can be seen as legitimate actors in world politics.
Because the movement influenced normative foundations of global and national governance structures, states are not the only ones with agency (the capacity to act in international politics).
