Three concepts of internationalism

Abstract

The subject-matter of the academic discipline of international relations is often thought of as being very much a question of facts: tracing the foreign policy of one country here, the relations between states in a particular region there. More loosely it can be described as the reflective analysis of current affairs. These elements are all, or should be, of interest to the academic study of international relations; but they do not constitute what one may term the core of the discipline as it has developed in universities since the first departments were established after the First World War. Rather, the core of international relations is constituted by two other, more general, concerns. One is the question how and with what concepts to analyse relations between states and across frontiers. What regularities can be observed, what causes can be divined, what analytical categories can best explain such phenomena as inter-state conflict, the impact of nationalism, the role of the economic in international contexts? The second is the question of value, of the normative. When is it legitimate to intervene or use force; what are our obligations to the states in which we happen to be born or find ourselves as opposed to other, international, entities; what forms of international economic relationship are preferable on grounds of justice; what forms of association and solidarity, and at what cost, is it appropriate to argue for?