GOVT 2060 International Relations: Theories and Approaches Fall 2024 PDF

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES ST. AUGUSTINE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE GOVT 2060 International Relations: Theories and Approaches Fall 2024 Top...

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES ST. AUGUSTINE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE GOVT 2060 International Relations: Theories and Approaches Fall 2024 Topic 8 International Society Theory (The English School) - between classical realism and classical liberalism - the first step towards post-positivism 1/23  Course content  The History and Evolution of the International System  Levels of Analysis and Foreign Policy POSITIVIST THEORIES MAINSTREAM STRUCTURALIST APPROACHES APPROACHES  Liberalism  Classical Marxism  Realism  Dependency Theory  Neorealism  Structural Imperialism  Neoliberalism  World System Theory  International Society Theory (The English School) POST-POSITIVIST THEORIES  Constructivism  Postmodernism  Critical Theory  Feminism 2/23 The English School, which shares features of both classical realism and classical liberalism, was a contemporary of Neorealism and Neoliberalism. At that early stage, it brought an important contribution to the progress of International Relations theories as it represents the first step towards post- positivism. Readings: Sørensen, Georg, Jørgen Møller, and Robert Jackson, Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches, 8th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022, Ch. 5 International Society. Kauppi, Mark V., and Paul R. Viotti, International Relations Theory, 6th edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2020, Ch. 5 The English School: International Society and Grotian Rationalism. At the Caspian Sea University: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1_Z5ACd6MBPNGJDSUJLX2t4ZG8?resourcekey=0-ZQcvRcZSaE_zqP4DuJKFYA Robert Jackson and Georg Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations. Theories and Approaches, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013 (5th edition), Ch.5 International Society. P. Viotti and M. Kauppi, International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism, and Beyond. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2012 (5th edition), Ch.5 The English School. 3/23 The International Society tradition of IR - sometimes labelled the ‘English School’ - is an approach to world politics that focuses on  international history,  ideas,  structures,  institutions,  values. The basic assumptions and claims are: (1) At the heart of the subject are people and basic values such as independence, security, order, and justice. (2) IR scholars are called upon to interpret the thoughts and actions of the people involved with international relations. 4/23  (3) International anarchy is an important concept but not an exclusive premise. International society scholars argue that world politics is not merely an international system. It is an ‘anarchical society’ with distinctive rules, norms, and institutions that statespeople are involved with in their conduct of foreign policy. (4) Two other leading concepts of international society are the notion of  a pluralist society of multiple sovereign states, and that of  a solidarist world society of the human population on the planet. (Jackson and Sorensen 2013: 132) Forerunner: Hugo Grotius freedom of navigation; international law; limit (but not eliminate) war 5/23 Martin Wight - the three IR traditions: Machiavelli Grotius Kant "realism" "rationalism" "revolutionism" anarchy society humanity power politics evolutionary change revolutionary change conflict and warfare peaceful coexistence anti-state pessimism hope without utopianism illusions Revolutionary Realism English School Religions Utopian Liberalism Republican Liberalism Marxism-Leninism 6/23 English School Other authors: Martin Wight, [Raymond] John Vincent Main author: Hedley Bull (The Anarchical Society, 1977): - based on philosophy, history and law - "explicit reliance upon the exercise of judgement" - "traditional" approach (anti-behaviouralist): o IR ≠ value-neutral science that applies and tests models and hypotheses o There are no Waltz-type structures that impose with "law- like regularity" the behaviour of actors, thus allowing "predictions" o states do not have an existence separate from human beings 7/23  o IR = a special branch of human relations that involves rules, norms and values o IR issues = human issues = value-laden → no value- neutral scientific answer International Society Theory: - contemporary of Neorealism and Neoliberalism - a classical theory (rejects behaviouralism) - between classical realism and classical liberalism - the first step towards post-positivism 8/23 Martin Wight Hedley Bull (1913-1972) (1932-1985) 9/23 Core concepts human beings international structure solidarism system of states state sovereignty society of states pluralism Basic values Order Justice Characteristics Human-focused Interpretive Normative Historical-concrete IR main actors Sovereign states Importance of statespeople leading them IOs, NGOs, multinationals = subordinate to states 10/23 IR view IR = a study of war and peace States = human organizations Anarchy BUT There are mechanisms that regulate the international anarchy Key element Despite anarchy, there is a society of states = "anarchical society" = "international society" (a worldwide social order of independent states) Hedley Bull: international society = a group of states that share a set of rules and institutions A system of states (or international system) is formed when two 11/23 or more states have sufficient contact between them, and have sufficient impact on one another’s decisions to make the behaviour of each a necessary element in the calculations of the other. A society of states (or international society) exists when a group of states, conscious of certain common interests and common values, form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of rules in their relations with one another and share in the working of common institutions. Society = WEAK links (Community = strong links) ↑ Ferdinand Tönnies, Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Community and Society, 1887) 12/23 Tönnies distinguished between two types of social groupings. Gemeinschaft — often translated as community (or left untranslated) — refers to groupings based on feelings of togetherness and on mutual bonds, which are felt as a goal to be kept up, their members being means for this goal. Gesellschaft — often translated as society — on the other hand, refers to groups that are sustained by it being instrumental for their members' individual aims and goals. Gemeinschaft may be exemplified historically by a family or a neighborhood in a pre-modern (rural) society; Gesellschaft by a joint-stock company or a state in a modern society, i.e. the society when Tönnies lived. Gesellschaft relationships arose in an urban and capitalist setting, characterized by individualism and impersonal monetary connections between people. Social ties were 13/23  often instrumental and superficial, with self-interest and exploitation increasingly the norm. Examples are corporations, states, or voluntary associations. The English School speaks of a society of states, i.e. of WEAK links among states. Fundamental International order values International justice (= moral rules) State sovereignty Human rights 14/23 Order and justice Order Justice Order in social life - Human justice International order - Interstate justice World order - World justice Four dimensions of responsibility Responsible to Responsible for whom? what? National Our citizens National security International Other states International peace The Responsibility to Protect (R2P): Core Principles A. State sovereignty implies responsibility, and the primary responsibility for the protection of its people lies with the state itself. 15/23 B. Where a population is suffering serious harm, as a result of internal war, insurgency, repression or state failure, and the state in question is unwilling or unable to halt or avert it, the principle of non-intervention yields to the international responsibility to protect. This idea has been advocated at the United Nations, but it has encountered strong opposition from states that invoke the primacy of sovereignty. Institutions "Institutions" Institutions=a set of - (The managerial system (in fact, habits and practices of) great powers mechanisms) shaped towards the - Balance of power sustain the realisation of - International law international common goals - Diplomacy order - War 16/23 What various IR theories understand by international “institutions”: Utopian Liberalism fully-fledged international organisations (e.g. the League of Nations) Neoliberalism explicit or implicit frames of international cooperation = international regimes (which may or may not be actual organisations) The English School sets of habits and practices (including war) The English School: War (interstate war, not civil war) = an international institution: 17/23  - legitimate - includes norms and rules Helps regulate the international system. The historical alternative to Monopoly of war by states interstate war ↓ ≠ peace promoted the value of order = medieval social anarchy From pluralism to solidarism A key debate within the English school revolves around pluralism and solidarism.  Pluralism refers to international societies with a relatively low degree of shared norms, rules and institutions. 18/23   Solidarism refers to types of international society with a relatively high degree of shared norms, rules and institutions. The pluralist/solidarist debate is basically about how international society relates to world society or, in other words, to people. The main question has been how to reduce the tension between the needs and imperatives of states and the needs and imperatives of humankind. These are regularly in conflict both in real world situations and in the theory. Most English school scholars operate within this debate, taking the tension between the imperatives of order and justice as the core problem to be addressed. https://www.e-ir.info/2018/02/23/introducing-the-english-school-in-international-relations-theory Since the end of the Cold War the research agenda of International Society has expanded and changed to a degree. The 19/23 central normative concern has moved at least some distance away from order and towards justice in world politics. Not only has there been a shift of scholarly concern in the direction of justice, but there has also been a movement away from a concern about international justice and towards a concern about human justice (e.g. the International Criminal Court). There has also been an enlargement of the subject to include issues of world justice - such as environmental protection or the law of the sea. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, issues of distributive justice have grown in importance as the globe has shrunk and the plight of unfortunate peoples in foreign countries has become more immediately apparent. It indicates a tendency toward greater solidarism in international relations. Distributive justice concerns the fair allocation of resources among diverse members of a community. 20/23 The spread of humanitarianism and human rights marks a decline of state sovereignty, and the right of non-intervention. It may even point to the transformation of international society into a world society with shared values and common interests and concerns. That would be a shift—presumably irreversible—from rationalism to revolutionism in Martin Wight’s terms, or from pluralism to solidarism in Hedley Bull’s terms. As it called to interpret the thoughts and actions of the people involved in international interactions, the English School opened – in the 1970s! – the way to post-positivism and Constructivism. Today, there are many scholars who use the English School or combine it with Constructivism. 21/23 Three traditional critiques of International Society Realism Liberalism International Political Economy Weak evidence of Ignores domestic Ignores economics norms society Ignores the Interests dominate Ignores democracy developing world Ignores progress 22/23  TUTORIAL QUESTIONS Topic 8 International Society Theory (The English School) 1. Compare the English School with Classical Realism and Liberalism. 23/23