International Relations Concepts Research Articles

Populism at the UN: comparing Netanyahu’s and Abbas’s speeches, 2010–19

ABSTRACT Populism impacts policy choices and may contribute to fuelling crises and limiting the prospects for conflict resolution. This paper applies a multidimensional populism theoretical framework to compare quantitatively and qualitatively 18 speeches by Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly between 2010 and 2019. Our analysis shows that while both Abbas and Netanyahu use populist language—mostly focused on antagonistic, moral and idealised depictions of the ‘people’ and the ‘other’—the latter consistently displayed a greater density of populist references in his UN speeches over the period analysed. Netanyahu’s discourses were both more aggressive and exclusionary and made more allusions to religion and securitisation than those of the Palestinian leader. His framing essentialised the ‘us’ (‘the Jewish people’) as threatened by an ‘enemy’; what he called ‘militant Islam’. By contrast, Abbas referred more to borders as a requirement for statehood. Their different communicative frames and language suggest discrepant worldviews. Abbas’s speeches reflected a more ‘liberal’ conception of international relations, relying more on international cooperation, institutions, and regulation to resolve the Palestinian question, while Netanyahu conveyed a realpolitik stance and stressed his concerns with external threats and willingness to act unilaterally.

Theory of world politics: assessing the potential for transfer

In international studies, there are many borrowings from other disciplines at the level of metaphors, concepts, etc. In this regard, the question is raised about a possible reverse transfer, i.e. from the sphere of world politics to other scientific spheres, including not only socio-humanitarian, but also the natural sciences. The article analyzes a successful example of such a transfer given by R. Axelrod in the early 2000s, as well as subsequent attempts to theoretically validate the conditions for export from the field of international studies to other areas. Two approaches have been identified. Within the framework of the first approach, it is proposed to create an interdisciplinary theory, since international relations are able to integrate various humanitarian and social disciplines. The second approach allows for a “pluralistic” and “blurred” subject field of the theory of international relations, in which various theoretical and methodological lines can coexist and enter into discussion with each other (societal multiplicity), rather than remain isolated. It provides opportunities for its “export” to other scientific fields. A critical analysis of these approaches allows us to conclude that in both the first and second cases, the political focus of international research is lost. The article substantiates the subject area of world politics as the exertion of political influence in the international arena by state and non-state actors. Based on this, the authors of the article put forward a third direction. The essence of it is that the search for the possibility of exporting from international research to other scientific fields does not lie in the creation of an interdisciplinary theory, and not in the formation of a “blurred” subject field that ensures “societal multiplicity”, but in the similarity of the situations under consideration. The authors show that the degree of similarity of situations depends on a number of factors, including the behavior of actors/objects being in conditions that are relatively the same. Examples are given by comparing situations and theoretical concepts of international relations and world politics with situations and concepts in other scientific fields - meteorology, medicine, ethology. At the same time, the place of the “political” in other spheres is occupied by the dominant object/factor.

Measuring Arms: Introducing the Global Military Spending Dataset

Military spending data measure key international relations concepts such as balancing, arms races, the distribution of power, and the severity of military burdens. Unfortunately, missing values and measurement error threaten the validity of existing findings. Addressing this challenge, we introduce the Global Military Spending Dataset (GMSD). GMSD collates new and existing expenditure variables from a comprehensive collection of sources, expands data coverage, and employs a latent variable model to estimate missing values and quantify measurement error. We validate the data and present new findings. First, correlations between economic surplus and military spending are currently higher than at any point in the last two-hundred years. Second, updating DiGiuseppe and Poast’s (2018) analysis, we find larger substantive effects. Specifically, we find that the (negative) effect of a democratic ally on military spending is three times larger, and the (positive) effect of an increase in GDP is five times larger than previously estimated.

EU Defence Policy: Between Functionalism, National Interests, and Transatlantic Realities

Abstract Existing insights into recent defence integration, including against the backdrop of Russia’s war, largely stem from EU governance studies. Although these studies might not explicitly delve into the EU’s politico-strategic role, when combined with the broader framework of International Relations (IR), they imply the EU’s effective progression, at least relatively, as a defence actor. However, a closer analysis of certain key developments and transatlantic dynamics suggests a persistent lack in the political and strategic dimensions of EU defence policy. This disparity arises when IR concepts are tailored to fit the EU context in integration studies.

Unmasking International Relations in the Times of War in Africa: Beyond Rhetoric, Reality and Trust

This paper unmasks the concept of international relations using the lenses of realist school of thought. Relations of nation states towards each other, and with international organisations, including sub national entities is what international relations (IR) is all about (Antunes and Camisao, 2018; Adams, 2003; Wendt, 1992; Axelrod and Keohane 1993). The significance of IR in the contemporary world, as it were in the past cannot be overemphasized. It seeks to comprehend the roots of war and the preservation of peace both stemming from the nature and exercise of power within the global system. To this effect, the discipline of international relations comprises of numerous theories, each attempting to explain the power relations and the resultant behaviour of nation states on the international scene. Of particular interest to this article is how the realism theory of IR enhances the prospects of cooperation within the international environment and the realists’ main obstacles to achieving cooperation in international development. As one of the many theories in the IR discourse, Realism claims to explain the reality of international politics. Realists believe that sovereign states are the principal actors on the international political system, having at their disposal justifiable actions or tools for the protection of their interests. Proponents of realism argue that states are unitary and rational actors of importance seeking to secure their survival through reliance on their own means even if it meant war (Glaser, 1994; Brown, 2007; Milner, 1992).Drawing from secondary sources of data and using a desk top review approach, this study found that realists come close to explaining the actual happenings on the IR scene i.e. the survival of the state at all costs, also called the ethics of responsibility rather than by moral principles as other theorists argue. Realism as a school of thought in the IR discourse has generated a significant volume of debate and criticisms igniting valuable insights and remains an important analytical tool for stakeholders in IR.

The Relevance of Fiqh Siyasah Dauliyah and Religion as Indonesian Soft Power in International Relations

This study aims to discuss Indonesia's efforts to use moderate Islam as its new identity in global politics, especially after the events of 9/11. One of the Indonesian efforts is pursued through inter-faith and inter-civilizational dialogue. This research is library research with qualitative methods. The approaches used are historical, political, and Islamic perspectives in contemporary international relations studies, namely Fiqh Siyasah Dauliyah. The study results show that there are two main relevancies between the inter-faith and inter-civilizational dialogue with the principles concept of international relations based on fiqh siyasah dauliyah. First, diversity in Islam is stated as part of God's plan for the benefit of mankind. In this context, the various inter-faith and inter-civilizational dialogues organized by Indonesia are necessary conditions for promoting peace, tolerance, harmony, and religious coexistence in the world today. Second, the concept of dialogue between civilizations and between religions is based on the study of textual analysis and historical interpretation of the Al-Quran and As-Sunnah. In this case, the Al-Quran shows various examples of dialogue, one of which is contained in the Al-Quran Surah An-Nahl verse 125 which asks Muslims to show the best courtesy and wisdom when arguing with people of other religions. 
 
 Keywords: inter-faith dialogue; fiqh siyasah dauliyah; moderate Islam.

The Monroe Doctrine: Republicans’ Perspective in the Formation Years of the Versailles-Washington System

The Monroe Doctrine occupies a unique place in the US history. It became one of the key foreign policy documents of its time and provided the basis for a wide variety of interpretations of the United States’ role and goals in the international arena at turning points of world history. One of these moments was the turn of the 1910s−1920s, when a new Versailles-Washington order of international relations was emerging. In the US public discourse, this period was marked by intense debates between supporters of the Democratic President V. Wilson and his isolationist opponents. Both Republicans and Democrats constantly referred to the Monroe Doctrine, on the one hand, to justify their own views on US foreign policy in the new conditions, and, on the other hand, to refute the arguments of their political opponents. The controversy surrounding the Monroe Doctrine has been reflected in publications in periodicals and analytical journals, as well as in cartoons. Studying these materials, it is possible to trace the evolution of the approaches of American politicians, experts, editors, and journalists to the Monroe Doctrine. The arguments of the Republicans against the ‘internationalist’ interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine that emerged in the face of the changing global context after the First World War are of particular interest. The study shows that at the initial stage of discussions (1920), the Monroe Doctrine was used by the Republicans primarily to criticize W. Wilson’s concept of international relations in general and his position on the League of Nations in particular. At the next stage (1921−1923), the debate focused around the need to revise the Monroe Doctrine itself, that aroused due to new trends in the development of international relations in the Far East and, in particular, because of the increasing competition between the United States and Japan. The author identifies several main approaches to the interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine formulated during the public debate in 1921−1923. It is shown that, despite significant divergences of view, both isolationists and internationalists eventually came to broader interpretations of the Monroe Doctrine, recognizing the need to extend its principles to the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Between (ir)responsibility and (in)appropriateness: Conceptualizing norm-related state behaviour in the Russian war against Ukraine

Abstract The Russian war against Ukraine has challenged fundamental norms such as sovereignty, non-interference and the prohibition of the use of force. It has led to diverse reactions from the international community. Only very few states sided with Russia, some states remained neutral, while the vast majority condemned the attack and supported Ukraine in its right to self-defence. Thus, although there is no legal obligation, many states display behaviour that goes beyond diplomatic support. They support Ukraine financially and even deliver weapons to support Ukraine in its right to self-defence. In this article, we conceptualize different types of actors’ behaviour in world politics. We distinguish between responsible, irresponsible, appropriate, and inappropriate behaviour. We apply this typology to states’ reaction to the Russian war against Ukraine. The typology enables us to analyse the variation of the responses with reference to norms and responsibility, two core concepts of International Relations (IR) Theory and global politics. Counterintuitively as it might seem, we argue that the support of Ukraine with weapons can be categorized as responsible behaviour as it displays an over-fulfilment of the right to self-defence norm, which leads to the emergence of a new norm: the responsibility to support norm.

The Struggle of the Great Powers between Maintaining Hegemony and Recreation of a New World Order from the Lens of the Balance of Power Theory

Balance of power is a crucial concept in international relations, driving decision-makers to confront US unilateralism. However, President Xi sees President Putin as the master key to the erosion of the Western-centric world order; therefore, the strategic partnership between Russia and China is not an emergency partnership; Mutual cooperation is constructed based on the leaders’ convictions and joint activities allow them to reset the balance of power as well as, form a new multipolar world order centered on the UN’s true purposes and principles. Yet, it seems the founding myth of emerging economies has faded and the BRICS countries’ are experiencing their geopolitical moment; the group attempting to establish themselves as a representative of the global South and as an alternative to existing West financial and political institutions.

When leaders disappoint: rejection and denial of leadership roles in international politics

International leadership failure by states is an underdeveloped concept in International Relations. Existing approaches commonly equate leadership with hegemony, arguing that leadership success and failure are contingent on primacy or shared material interests among states. In this article, we introduce a role theoretical approach, which defines international leadership as a social role that emerges from shared expectations among states pertaining to leadership purpose, group cohesion and time horizon. Accordingly, leadership failure occurs when role expectations between states diverge and states are unable to generate commensurate role-taking via alter-casting. Four leader-follower constellations can be distinguished: leadership enactment, denial, rejection and vacuum. The paper utilizes this theoretical heuristic to understand two cases of leadership failure. The first case involves Brazil’s attempted leadership role in response to the Latin American migration crisis following the political crisis in Venezuela. The second case examines Indonesia’s attempted leadership role in the South China Sea dispute. The empirical findings contribute to existing work on hegemony and leadership in international relations theory by showing that leadership failure comes in different variants and these variants are contingent on shared role expectations and alter-casting capacity of states involved.

Decolonising Politics and International Relations Classrooms: Reflections from the “Field”

International Relations (IR) is a discipline founded upon and shaped by colonialism and Eurocentrism. Its Eurocentric tropes and myths distort the discipline's historiography and its perceptions of why and how it was founded, and for what purpose, such that race and colonialism are eliminated from mainstream discussions of disciplinary history and IR's main themes, concepts, and theories. This is reproduced in both the teaching and research of IR. Focusing on the former, this paper reflects on my experiences as the convenor of a course on colonialism. This is a second year, core course in the Politics and IR program at UNSW Sydney. The explicit purpose of the course is to contribute to decolonising UNSW's Politics and IR curriculum by centring Indigenous perspectives of colonialism and IR, critically interrogating the racism and Eurocentricity of Politics and IR, and exploring how colonialism shaped the world we live in and continues to inform our world and our lived, everyday experiences. This paper explores the concepts and theory informing the pedagogical praxis employed in the course, this praxis itself, and critically reflects on the achievements, challenges, and pitfalls of actively attempting to contribute to decolonising the IR classroom within Australia's settler colonial context.

Before the Nation-State: Civilizations, World Orders, and the Origins of Global International Relations

Abstract The dominant perspectives on International Relations (IR) focus on the rise of the Western civilization and the global expansion of the European Westphalian system as their starting point. This leads to a narrow Eurocentric understanding of IR that obscures the role and contribution of other civilizations to the evolution of world order. However, during the last 5000 years, many civilizations have risen, fallen, and survived. This essay focuses on five world orders that made their mark before the “rise of the West” or the advent of European colonialism around roughly the 16th century AD: Near Eastern, Indian, Chinese, Islamic, and Indian Oceanic. A study of classical civilizations and world orders can help IR scholars to more fully engage history and reshape the study of IR theories and concepts in several ways. It helps us to understand, and if necessary, challenge, the dominance of certain key ideas that claim to be universal and have been taken for granted as such. Moreover, studying IR from a historical–civilizational perspective opens the door to understanding both material and ideational relationships among states and societies. It also encourages a shift in IR thinking from the conventional state-centric category of the “international system” to the broader framing of world order.

ASEAN ECONOMIC DYNAMICS: ECONOMIC SOCIETY, OPPORTUNITY, AND CHALLENGE IN DISRUPTION ERA IN INDONESIA 2015-2020

The global economy keeps the wheels of the economy turning and countries are starting to assemble regional groups to keep up with the flow. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is a form of realization of the free market in Southeast Asia that was born from the cross-regional association of countries. This article describes the dynamics of the economy in ASEAN which includes the economic community, its opportunities, and challenges. This article is examined using one of the concepts of international relations, namely regionalism integration. Because in this study the author sees the AEC phenomenon as an idea formed with an integral geographical background in the Southeast Asian region. The AEC's orientation is to form a highly competitive economic area with many policies, consumer protections, and various agreements to create competitive economic conditions. This article is reviewed through qualitative research methods sourced through books, scientific articles, news, and others.

Transiting From the East to the ‘Core’ West of Europe: Slovakia’s Ontological Liminality After the Outbreak of 2022 Russia’s War on Ukraine

This article examines the effects of the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022 on the reconstruction of the notion of ‘Eastern Europe’ in Slovak political discourse and the subsequent re-definition of Slovakia’s political subjectivity vis-à-vis the contested notion of the ‘East’. It aims to advance the application of ontological liminality concept in international relations integrating it with post-structuralist and post-colonial insights on identity formation. I seek to shed light on how Slovakia negotiates its liminal position of being ‘the East of the Western Europe’ under the new geopolitical and discursive realities. Drawing on the concept of ontological liminality and post-colonial notion of master, my principal argument suggests that Slovakia aspired to demonstrate its capability to define the normative meaning of EUrope as one of its ‘core’ members positioning itself as a superior European state, a ‘master’ in relation to Ukraine. Although, on Slovakia’s mental map, the notion of ‘East’ assumes a far-away position it escaped long time ago, at the same time ‘East’ with the tinge of orientalism has been constructed as an indispensable subject position that the future newcomers to EUrope carry when they are pursuing their transition to the West. Based on hierarchically underpinned discursive self-positioning of Slovakia, ‘East’ is thus made a pre-liminal attribute which post-communist countries let go when beginning their transition to/through the Central Europe that ultimately emerges as an intermediary post-colonial spatial and discursive setting where liminals undergo the ritual of becoming genuinely EUropean.

Концепция качества жизни как идейно-политическая основа устойчивого развития

The quality of life concept, which developed in the mid-XXth century as a response to the redefinition of the val-ues of mass consumption society, is increasingly important in international relations nowadays. Despite a sig-nificant shift in the theoretical approach to defining the term quality, there is still no unified methodology that would make it possible to assess the quality of life of the population most fully and accurately. When compiling indices, it is important to involve a large number of people in the process of subjective analysis of the quality of their own lives. The aim of the article is to confirm the increasing role of quality of life indicators in international relations. The object of the study is the UN policy on the implementation of statutory principles. The subject is the political attitudes to the development of quality of life indices. The novelty of the work is the complex ap-proach to the study of the quality of life concept in international relations. The novelty of the work is the complex approach to the study of the quality of life concept in international relations. Using the example of various methods of indexing the state of the world society, it shows how the priorities are gradually changing: moving away from the dominance of economic indicators (GDP) and refocusing on others, fixing the socio-political realities of the Earth’s population quality of life.

"The International Actor (The Individual) in International Relations"

The concept of international relations is very broad. In its modern usage, it encompasses not only the relations between states but also includes the relations between states and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and other actors. As a result of the scientific and technological advancements witnessed by humanity, along with the accompanying economic, social, and cultural developments, the state is no longer the sole actor in international relations. There are other international actors who have emerged successively, in harmony and accordance with these advancements. The international stage is no longer exclusive to the state alone. Alongside the state, international individuals have emerged who possess the ability to act, perform, and influence in international relations. The latest addition to these international actors is the individual international actor.

The American smart power project towards the Arab Spring revolutions

The concept of smart power is one of the relatively recent concepts in international relations, and it represents an important axis of the axes of the study of power, as on the one hand, soft power is the new measure for any emerging power after it possesses hard power, mainly in the military and economic aspects. This provides the academic field with more focus on smart power and studying it as a means of managing crises peacefully without falling into armed conflicts by relying on soft power and realizing the importance of hard power as an essential element of power without neglecting one of them, in addition to realizing the shift in the nature of the political hegemony of the major countries recently as they turned from colonialism Or even military intervention and periods of agency wars that lead to soft cultural or economic dominance...etc.

Indonesia’s South China Sea Policy under Joko Widodo: Building Credibility in Indo-Pacific Geostrategic Circuit

This research explains how states’ expanding security policy contributes to its credibility of threats in international relations. The context is represented by the case of Indonesia’s South China Sea policy expansion under Joko Widodo administration, which became more assertive. Most of the current literatures picture Indonesia’s South China Sea engagement in the setting of its relation with China and its effort to build regional stability. This paper aims to locate the case of Indonesia’s South China Sea policy into a broader context of Indo-Pacific geostrategic landscape. To achieve this objective, this research utilized credibility concept in international relations as analytical framework. This research argues that Indonesia’s bolder and more institutionalized security policy in navigating South China Sea stand-offs aims to build its credibility of threat in Indo-Pacific circuit. With more credibility of threat, it expects to escalate Indonesia’s strategic positioning as it has more credibility to deter China’s intrusion. By that, Indonesia is seen to be more reliable to maintain the maritime stability and lead more strategic partners be more committed to cooperate with Indonesia, as the linchpin connecting Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean.

Twitter, Public Diplomacy and Social Power in Soft-balancing China–France Relations

ABSTRACT This article is part of the Special Section on China’s Twitter diplomacy. Arguing that the concepts of hard power and soft power may no longer reflect the ever-intricate state of global politics in the twenty-first century, it intersects two distinct concepts in international relations, Peter van Ham’s social power and Robert Pape’s and T.V. Paul’s soft balancing theory, to examine China’s public diplomacy and its outcomes in the COVID-19 era (2019–2023). It is a case study of the communication strategies of the Chinese embassy in Paris, whose ambassador, Lu Shaye, proudly presents himself as a wolf warrior diplomat. To untangle China’s social power and soft-balancing mechanisms in Sino-French relations, this article uses quantitative and qualitative mix-methods, applied to three distinct datasets: N = 9,162 tweets from three Chinese diplomatic accounts in France; interviews and reports in the French broadcast and printed media; and foreign policy documents and statements. It shows that China’s social power consists of mainly place branding, while some of its communication attempts to frame certain issues and set the agenda in China–France relations and global affairs, by undermining, frustrating and delegitimizing, that is soft-balancing, the French and the West at large.

Hegemonia, criação de consenso e colonização pedagógica: Novas formas de ingerência externa?

Abstract This study is a theoretical effort to rethink International Relations from the perspective of Neo-Gramscian Critical Theory in which its empirical object is the US hegemony in the scope of Latin America. More specifically, this study refers to the fabrication of consensus directed by an American ruling class through its own vehicle for this – the Atlas Network – which finds legitimacy and support in its Latin American counterparts. Based on primary data, public documents, and specialised bibliography, this study aims to contribute to the rethinking of International Relations using this institute as an object of empirical relation to theoretical study. More than presenting domination strategies through private hegemony apparatus, this study encourages us to reflect on relatively forgotten (or marginalised) practices and concepts in International Relations, such as imperialism, hegemony, and the role of consensus building. Finally, from Critical Theory, it contributes to understand the role of ruling classes in the creation of consensus in subaltern countries and classes to maintain this same hegemonic structure.