Study Of International Relations Research Articles

The Global Animal Advocacy Movement in International Relations: toward an animal-inclusive IR

International Relations (IR) scholarship on Global Social Movements (GSMs) has helped usher in post-realist theories, such as constructivism and critical IR. Despite its innovativeness, extant GSM research is limited because it ignores the relevance of the Global Animal Advocacy Movement (GAAM), which seeks to end animal exploitation. The omission of GAAM is emblematic of IR’s anthropocentric disregard of the relevance of animals in global politics. An emergent literature recognizes the importance of animals in IR, and this paper contributes to the establishment of this animal-inclusive IR by examining the significance of GAAM. First, it demonstrates that GAAM fits the criteria of a GSM; therefore, it is worthy of study in IR. Additionally, this paper argues that IR should recognize that nonhuman animals also participate in GAAM. Both arguments not only demonstrate GAAM’s relevance, but they should also contribute to the development of an animal-inclusive IR. The paper closes by advocating for a methodologically diverse research agenda on GAAM.

Animals in International Relations: a research agenda

Animals are integral to world politics, yet largely neglected in International Relations (IR). This Special Issue (SI) aims to address this gap and offers a collection of original research articles that investigate issues pertaining to sovereignty, power, diplomacy, the ethics of war, justice and emancipation, environmental governance, activism and international law. The articles make animals visible within those realms, raise novel questions and develop approaches through which the specific role(s) of animals and human-animal relations in international politics may be theoretically understood and empirically explored. They open a conversation between IR and Critical Animal Studies (CAS). The SI contributes to a broader understanding of the complex and interconnected nature of human-animal relations, and therefore to the reorientation of IR towards a post-anthropocentric perspective of world politics that renders the field better equipped to understand and address our current Anthropocene predicament. To introduce the SI, this article starts by addressing the invisibility of animals in IR and why this is problematic. It then provides an overview of the articles included in the SI and concludes by outlining a research agenda for the study of animals in IR.

In Search of Ontological Security: Why the Anglo-American Special Relationship Endures

Abstract The period following World War II (WWII) marked a significant turning point in Britain’s global standing, characterized by the loss of its empire and the existential anxiety regarding its new role on the world stage. Dean Acheson’s famous quote, “Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role,” poignantly captures the sense of diminishing power and identity crisis experienced by the Kingdom since 1945. Along with the consequences of WWII, the process of decolonization, coupled with events such as the Suez Crisis, further confirmed Britain’s declining position in the international system, disrupting its established narrative of global power and leaving it in a state of ontological insecurity. This paper, focusing on ontological security studies in international relations, explores the connection between Britain’s ontological insecurity in the new global order after WWII, and the Anglo-American special relationship (AASR) as a response to these anxieties. In this context, the suggested theoretical framework promises to address the concepts of narrative identity and existential anxiety and their respective contributions to understanding the underlying factors in explaining the emergence and stability of the AASR.

Un-Disciplining the International

Writing in the context of the call for greater diversity, this short commentary makes a dual argument about the need to ‘un-discipline’ the discipline of International Relations. First: I return to an argument I made many years ago: the need to ‘Forget IR Theory’ and to explore the key issues in global politics without being constraint by the boundaries of existing debates. Key political problems, from climate change and pandemics, are far too complex to be understood as uniquely international phenomena and through the lenses of disciplinary debates. Second: to un-discipline is not to abandon the study of international relations. Quite the contrary, forgetting the constraining boundaries of academic disciplines can involve engaging back with the discipline of International Relations but, crucially, not on its own terms and not through the debates that have pre-set the boundaries of what is and is not thinkable. Un-disciplining is a process that entails convincing disciplinary scholars of the need to see key dilemmas in global politics in new and creative ways.

Historical sociology and its impact on international relations.

The challenges facing historical social studies in international relations are multifaceted and have different aspects. As the relationship between the science of social history and the science of international relations is deep, intertwined and interdependent because it relates to the history of societies and their social characteristics that determines its identity, lifestyle, and relationship with its peers from other societies. Therefore, the role that historical sociology plays in serving researchers in the field of international relations is essential. Most international relation theories are based on it.
 Also, the relationship of historical sociology with theories of international relations helps to understand generalizations in the field of international relations. It contributed to its interpretation, analysis and testing throughout history, in addition to the contribution of the science of social history in revealing the laws that control the conduct of events that societies go through during a certain period of time. Through research and analysis, it was found that historical sociology has a positive impact on international relations.
 By providing research material for specialists in this field, the interdependence and overlap between the social sciences makes it difficult to distinguish the boundaries and breaks between them. It also provides ample room for specialists in this field to cooperate with each other.

Влияние международного дискурса Индии на арктическую политику страны

Since the 20th century, international discourse has gradually become a hot topic in the study of political science and international relations, and its impact is especially important in new areas such as space, cyberspace and polar regions, where stable rules and governance system have not yet been developed. In this paper, the influence of international discourse is classified as verbal, structural, institutional and moral. Based on this classification, the increasing influence of India's international discourse on its Arctic policy through its verbal expression, national strength, institutional involvement, and sense of values is examined. The difficulty of developing a strategy in the Arctic is due to the fact that India is not an Arctic country, so there is a cautious attitude of the world community towards it. Northern countries believe that India can use the Arctic for additional natural resources or even political benefit. In addition, there is little coverage of Arctic policy in the Indian media and government activities. Therefore, due to the possible misunderstanding by the international community of India's involvement in the Arctic and the country's weak awareness of Arctic issues, its influence on the international Arctic discourse should be improved in several ways: government officials should participate more actively in international organizations (UN, Arctic Council); the media should fully cover the country's activities in addressing Arctic issues; academically, integration of research, creation of special educational programs should be required, etc. Last but not least, the interests of Arctic Indigenous peoples should be taken into account. The resolution of all these issues can enable India to strengthen its position in the Arctic and increase the country’s potential.

Reassembling the Social in the Study of Religion and International Relations

Abstract Research into religion and international relations (RIR) has come incredibly far in the decades since 9/11. However, a tension remains in this research program, as neopositivist scholars simultaneously argue religion both has an independent effect on and interacts with international politics. This has raised critiques of religion’s importance. Relational work in international relations—inspired by scholars such as Bourdieu, LaTour, and Tilly—provides a means to overcome this obstacle. While some works on RIR have drawn on this tradition, it has yet to be systematized. In this review article, I discuss three recent books that highlight both the limits of the current approach to RIR and the potential to move it forward by drawing on relational analyses. I also provide guidelines for adjusting future work in this research program.

UPAYA MILITER AZERBAIJAN DALAM MEMPERTAHANKAN PROVINSI NAGORNO KARABKH 2020

This paper refers to the phenomenon of conflict that occurred in 2020 in the Caucasus region. Where this conflict occurred between two countries, namely Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought over a territory of Nagorno-Karabakh province. The war, which lasted for 40 days or approximately six weeks, was a concern for many parties. Every effort has been made to resolve this conflict both negotiation and mediation. This research uses qualitative methods that will make literature studies in helping to provide maximum results in this research. This research focuses more on Azerbaijan's reasons why it prefers to take on the policy of confrontation in the resolution of the 2020 conflict. Using John Lovel's strategy, the policy adopted by Azerbaijan is the right strategy taking into account its capabilities and the strategy of the opposing country. This research is expected to help international relations studies in providing references and becoming reference material in research in the same region.

Decolonial Politics: State, Statelessness, and Coexistence in Peace

ABSTRACT Due to the colonial continuities encoded in postcolonial nation-states, formal decolonisation reproduced new dominations rather than peaceful intergroup coexistence. Reflecting on the ‘how’ of decolonial politics, I argue that self-determination beyond the nation-state and spatiotemporally embedded decolonial imaginations are the undecomposable components of decolonial politics. I exemplify the failures of the nation-state through Southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan and illustrate Western (Rojava-Syrian) Kurdistan as a possible example of stateless decolonial coexistence, despite major geopolitical and socio-historical stalemates. The argument contributes to peace studies in International Relations by rethinking inter-group coexistence at the intersection of violent geopolitics and decolonial imaginations.

The Impact of The Zimbabwe Government's Fiscal Policy on The Destruction of The Country's Economy

This political economy study in international relations explains the impact of the government's fiscal policy on foreign loans to the IMF in 2020. The fiscal policy carried out by the Robert Mugabe government has negatively impacted Zimbabwe's economy. The land reform policy was carried out to forcibly take land belonging to white farmers and give it to supporters of Robert Mugabe's political party. The land reform policy reduced economic growth and experienced hyperinflation, and as a result, the IMF suspended aid for Zimbabwe's foreign loans. This study aims to explain the impact of land reform policies on IMF foreign loans in 2020 and describe their impact on the Zimbabwean economy. The object of this research is land reform policies in Zimbabwe. This qualitative research uses descriptive methods and collects data from books, journals, official publications, and relevant websites. This paper uses a behavioralist perspective and the theory of international economic cooperation by Anne Kruenger, Deepak Lal. The results showed that hyperinflation in Zimbabwe was terrible for society, and the IMF decided to make economic aid to Zimbabwe worse.

Penerapan Algoritma K-Means Clustering untuk Mengetahui Pola Penerima Beasiswa Bank Indonesia (BI)

Bank Indonesia Scholarships are a type of scholarship sourced from Bank Indonesia for students from selected State Universities, Private Universities, and Polytechnics. From the data on scholarship recipients who have passed the selection from 2020, 2021, 2022 universities in Riau, it is necessary to look for the behavior patterns of scholarship recipien because Bank Indonesia does not yet have a pattern. To find the pattem from scholarship recipients using the method of data mining with K-Means Clustering algorithm. The parameters used are 4, namely study program, semester, GPA, and level. The results of the study using RapidMiner showed that cluster 0 was dominated by students from the Commerce Shipping Management study program, who were in semester 5 and D3 level. Cluster 1 is dominated by students from the Accounting and Management study program, in semester 7, with GPA greater than or equal to 3.51, and S1 level. Cluster 2 is dominated by students from the Nursing study program, in semester 5, with GPA greater than or equal to 3.51, and D3 level. Cluster 3 is dominated by students from the International Relations study program, in semester 7, with GPA greater than or equal to 3.51, and S1 level. Cluster 4 is dominated by students from the Informatics Engineering study program, in semester 5, with GPA greater than or equal to 3.51, and S1 level. It show that the recipients of Bank Indonesia scholarships are dominated by students with high GPA scores or equal to 3.51. In addition, it is also dominated by students who are at the S1 level. Tests were carried out using DBI with k=5 resulting in a validity value of 0.121.

Alexander Wendt’s “Social Theory of International Politics”: A Realist Critique

Since its publication, Alexander Wendt’s Social Theory of International Politics has become nearly synonymous with the constructivist school in the study of International Relations. Despite its innovative methodological approaches and bold challenges to neorealism’s hegemonic prevalence in the field, Wendt’s social theory faces issues on both theoretical and empirical grounds. With respect to the former, this critical evaluation of the social theory focuses primarily on Wendt’s neglect of causal questions in the examination of state formation as well as his omission of the psychological and sociological levels of analysis in the examination of cultural development. With respect to the latter, the evaluation focuses on instances in which the historical record contradicts Wendt’s proposed distinction between the Hobbesian culture of the past and the Lockean culture of the present as well as on instances in which international socialization and the establishment of commonly observed ideas and norms have not proven effective in preventing the exercise of power politics among states.

Aggressive geopolitics and questions about the theory of space

In the 21st century, no nation is immune from the problem of forced displacement, and many countries and communities are showing extraordinary generosity and compassion towards those who are forced to flee. However, the distribution of refugees around the world is still significantly skewed towards less affluent regions. Nearly 90% of UN-mandated refugees live in low- and middle-income countries, often very close to situations of conflict. Countries that are among the least developed host a quarter of all refugees in the world. The international refugee protection system developed after World War II was designed to respond to the potentially destabilizing effects of population displacement. International solidarity and responsibility-sharing are essential but often elusive elements of this system, vital to protecting the rights of refugees wherever they are, as well as providing support to host countries. At a time when solidarity and responsibility-sharing are needed more than ever, states are concerned about the security concerns of international terrorism and are once again focusing on border controls. Hostility towards foreigners is on the rise in many countries, and physical and legal barriers designed to prevent irregular migration affect many people who are trying to find security. As the authors of this Handbook attempt to explain, border management and refugee protection are not mutually exclusive. States can and should put in place robust mechanisms to identify individuals in need of protection, just as they can and should identify individuals who may pose a security threat. On the other hand, it should be noted that the states themselves are the cause of conflicts, since aggressive geopolitics leads to wars, changes in borders, and sometimes the creation of new states and, accordingly, people are forced to leave their homes. In the study of international relations, the question of interleaving, refugees and their new space has arisen, which causes new conflicts in the new space. In the theory of territories and space, there are several views on these issues, the coverage of these issues is the task of the presented article.

21st Century Feminism: A Significant Role to Play in the Study of International Relations

Feminist Theory began to gain attention in International Relations (IR) studies in the late 1980s, with women's rights no longer being ignored. Since then, more women have started to openly express their opinions on IR studies. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that Feminism has increased the role that it has to play in the study of IR in the 21st Century. In the first section of the article, there will be a brief explanation of the background and standpoint of Feminism. Then, it will explain the perspective of Feminist Theory from different approaches. In the next section, the role of feminist scholars in IR will be analyzed. Christine Sylvester and Cynthia Enloe are two obvious scholars who have had an influence on IR. Then, this article will analyze the standpoint of Feminism on war and peace issues. In the following section, the Iraq War will be taken into account as a case study. Then, this article will analyze this case through realist, liberal and feminist lenses - to compare the different standpoints of each theory. Moving to the next section, it will discuss why Feminism has not long played a significant role in the study of IR. Then, in the conclusion, it will sum up the feminist role in IR, to establish whether it has played a significant role or not.

Knowledge, power and the failure of US peacemaking in Afghanistan 2018–21

Abstract The power of narrative and norm entrepreneurship in shaping policy and practice is increasingly appreciated in the study of international relations but rarely investigated in the context of international peacemaking and mediation. Applying constructivist analyses and drawing on empirical evidence from US diplomacy in Afghanistan between 2018 and 2021, this article demonstrates how emergent western policy discourses, knowledge production, and the mediator's ideas and practices interacted in a dynamic context to induce a significant shift in US policy, legitimate it, and fundamentally reshape the conflict and peacemaking landscape. Approaching the reality of conflict and peacemaking as socially constructed and drawing on documentary analysis, in-depth interviews and insights from first-hand participation in the Afghan ‘peace’ process, I argue that these new narratives influenced and sanctioned a coercive US peacemaking approach that reshaped the interests and behaviors of Afghan stakeholders, with violent material consequences on the ground. In doing so, the article highlights the potential of constructivist analyses of peacemaking to provide a more holistic, multi-dimensional understanding of these processes and their outcomes in ways that purely rationalist or structurally-based accounts can not.

Doing epistemic justice in International Relations: women and the history of international thought

This article examines the meaning and implications of doing epistemic justice in the study of International Relations through the prism of the recovery of the international thought of Fannie Fern Andrews and Amy Ashwood Garvey and in dialogue with feminist epistemology. It argues that doing epistemic justice involves going beyond restorative justice for excluded voices in which the historical record is set straight, inclusionary justice in which previously excluded voices are added to disciplinary conversations, and transformative justice, in which the perspectives of the marginalised and oppressed become sources of epistemic authority and new knowledge. Over and above all of these things, doing epistemic justice entails practising a particular kind of epistemic collective responsibility, which actively and reflexively recognises and engages with power-laden relations between knowers, worlds and audiences in the production of international thought, then and now.

TEACHING METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES ON THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: CASE OF TÜRKİYE

This study focuses on the contents of the syllabuses of scientific research methods and equivalent courses in International Relations (IR) graduate programs in Türkiye. The study aims at analyzing what the subjects in the syllabus are and which subjects are taught. To display the distributions, two categories were determined under the theme of methodology and method. The first is the “meaning of science, philosophy of science and methodology” category, which represents the more philosophical and theoretical dimension, and the second is the “research methods” category, which represents the more technical dimension. Among 133 graduate programs, 141 syllabuses were scanned, and 68 syllabuses were examined. The research was designed according to the case study within the qualitative research approach. The data collection method of the study is document analysis. The data analysis method is content analysis. According to the findings, it was observed that there was a concentration on the “research methods” category at a rate of 81% and the category of “meaning of science, philosophy of science and methodology” at a rate of 19%. It was seen that the subjects of data collection methods, research designs, and data analysis methods were mostly covered in the category of “research methods”. The mixed research approach is almost non-existent in the syllabuses. It was determined that there is a concentration on the meaning of science and positivism within the category of the meaning of science, philosophy of science and methodology. Critical realism, anti-positivism, and pragmatism are among the least covered subjects. As a result, it showed that the syllabuses were not up-to-date, and the philosophical and theoretical part of the method was not discussed in depth in the lessons. In the study, a syllabus for research method courses was presented. This syllabus proposal is considered to be a guide for bringing method courses up-to-date.

Application of Cooperative and Collaborative Learning Methods in Learning Strategic Decision Making Courses

The purpose of this study is to determine the success rate of applying cooperative and collaborative learning methods in learning strategic decision-making courses for the International Relations Study Program. This research was conducted on students of the international relations study program class of 2020 Semester 5 who took strategic decision-making courses. The results of research from 3 classes obtained that students who obtained A grades of 67.65%, A- grades of 19.12%, B+ grades of 4.41%, B- grades of 2.94%, C grades of 0%, D grades of 1.47% and E grades of 4.41%. In addition, from this study, there was also an increase in students on affective, psychomotor and cognitive aspects. Affective aspects include discipline in task collection, honesty in conducting group assessments and honesty during tests, psychomotor aspects which include skills in applying basic principles and decision-making techniques From the results of descriptive analysis, it can be concluded that learning using cooperative and collaborative learning methods is proven to be able to increase student understanding of strategic decision-making techniques courses.

The return of the hero-leader? Volodymyr Zelensky’s international image and the global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

This article focuses on the notion of heroic leadership as it has been applied as an analytical framework to Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It presents an overview of Zelensky’s leadership strategies and their domestic and international reception and puts them in the wider context of the ways in which power is exercised in the global arena. It is argued that the authority and influence of Zelensky – the hero-leader – is the result of a reciprocal relationship between leader and followers, constructed out of the fear and desperation of warfare. One of the fundamental analytical tools in International Relations studies – the notion of soft and hard power – has been applied to Zelensky’s way of affecting the behaviors of others in order to shape their preferences and obtain his desired options. The perception of him as heroic has become the main instrument of the country’s power of attraction, which in turn enabled the president to expand his leadership. In this context the article reveals the mechanisms employed to build international recognition for Ukraine and build support for its resistance to the Russian invasion.

China-Us Militarized Interstate Disputes (2001-2022): The Escalation Of The Great Power Rivalry

Since the late 1990s, studying great power rivalry based on the approach from militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) has become increasingly prevalent. Also since the beginning of the 21st century, the competitive relationship between the US and China, the two leading great powers in Indo-Pacific, has become a focal point of studies in international relations. The escalation of the conflict is apparent in the economic realm and expanding into the security realm. To prove the increase of MIDs in China-US relations is to shed light on the escalation of this great power rivalry. It is argued in this article that the two sides have obviously engaged in a great power strategic rivalry since Obama’s adjustment of policy priority towards Asia-Pacific. Militarized disputes become increasingly frequent, displaying forces is the regular way the two leading great powers compete with each other, and the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait are the two points of tension.