International Relations Theory Research Articles

By What Jurisdiction? Law, Settler Colonialism, and the Geographical Assumptions of IR Theory

Abstract In this article, I consider critical writings on territory in International Relations, focusing on recent work on U.S. practices of extraterritorial jurisdiction. I suggest that, while such work has importantly traced the multiple ways in which U.S. authority often exceeds the supposed territorial boundaries of the United States, it has nonetheless failed to reckon with the contested and uneven nature of U.S. authority within such supposed boundaries. In particular, IR scholarship has failed to engage with the ways in which U.S. authority has been, and continued to be, contested by Indigenous people and nations. This failure is the product of an assumption that lies at the heart of the discipline—the assumption that Indigenous people are internal to colonizing or settler states. I suggest that the internalization of Indigenous people and Indigenous political organization that is at play in much IR scholarship is not simply a product of a generalized “state-centrism” or a product of histories of settler colonialism, writ large. Rather, at the heart of the territorial assignations and allotments of IR scholarship are assumptions about legal authority or jurisdiction—about who has jurisdiction to define and assign land, about who does not, and what law means at all. Critiquing these assumptions and their political implications, I show the importance of asking: “by what jurisdiction”? That is, what is the legal authority that we implicitly accept and assert when we designate territory in particular ways? The question insists that there are multiple laws (including multiple international laws) at play in global politics and opens up space for critical and postcolonial IR scholars to better take responsibility for their (often implicit) choices between multiple laws.

Causes and consequences of Israel-Palestine war

The war between Israel and Palestine is among the longest-lasting and most intricate geopolitical conflicts of the contemporary period. The dispute, which has its roots in a history of conflicting claims to land and national identity, has resulted in decades of violence, evictions, and political impasse. This study offers a thorough analysis of the Israel- Palestine conflict, emphasizing significant historical occurrences, underlying factors, and current dynamics influencing the conflict. The research follows the rise of rival nationalisms and the 1948 establishment of the State of Israel, starting with the early Zionist movement and the British Mandate era. It looks at the uprooting of Arab Palestinians, the Arab Israeli wars that followed, and the occupation of Palestinian lands, such as the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the study explores the intricacies of religious, cultural, and geopolitical elements that intensify hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians. This research attempts to give a comprehensive view of the Israel-Palestine conflict using an interdisciplinary approach based on political science, historical analysis, and international relations theory. The research aims to provide insight into the historical foundations and current expressions of this ongoing struggle to support educated discourse and attempts to find a fair and durable settlement.

The Moving Spirit of Settler Colonialism: Temsula Ao, Counter-Sovereignty, and the Politics of Intervention in the Borderlands of India

Abstract This paper investigates the incursions, or more accurately, the interventions of the Indian state into what are often called its “Northeast borderlands.” It grapples with the specific space occupied by those who belong to this minoritized region in India. Theoretically, it works through conceptions of “sovereignty” and “intervention” to underscore what is at stake for those who lie within the remit of recognized state sovereignty but are nonetheless subject to brutal and invasive “intervention.” The article engages Naga author Temsula Ao’s writing on questions of “tribal” identity, globalization, and borders to situate India as a postcolonial “settler” state. Finally, it puts her work in conversation with Manu Karuka’s notion of “counter-sovereignty” to highlight the ways in which even critical International Relations (IR) theory risks falling into the trap of reifying “sovereignty” and unwittingly giving credence to Westphalian and Euro-centric understandings of sovereignty at the expense of alternative and prior imaginaries.

Conditional Effects of the Spotlight: Electoral Institutions and the Enforcement of Global Corporate Norms

Abstract Under what conditions do governments discipline powerful multinational companies for breaching global corporate norms? Existing international relations theories have shown that peer monitoring and transnational advocacy are crucial strategies that shine a spotlight on norm violations. Despite the importance of those strategies, governments in the Global North have not consistently condemned their home-grown multinational companies for breaking norms related to climate or human rights in the Global South. This paper argues that the effect of such spotlighting is crucially moderated by electoral institutions, and legislators in proportional representation systems are more likely than those in majoritarian systems to push multinational companies to comply with global norms when such issues are in the spotlight. I find supporting evidence from the OECD Guidelines’ Specific Instance process and case studies. This article shows that traditional strategies to promote norm compliance, such as transnational advocacy and peer pressure, work differently in different countries, and electoral systems in the Global North can have unintended distributional consequences for norm beneficiaries.

Textbooks on the international relations theory: What they talk about, what they keep silent about, and what to do about it

Theory represents the highest form of scientific knowledge in any discipline, a sort of certificate of maturity of the latter, and, at the same time, the key to its systematic teaching and understanding. From this point of view, international studies show a somewhat paradoxical picture. On the one hand, at the moment there is no shortage of either theoretical studies of international political issues or textbooks on the theory of international relations. On the other hand, their common leitmotif remains the idea that international studies either have not yet acquired a full-f ledged theory, or, due to their inherent complexity, dynamism and inconsistency are not subject to systematic generalization in principle. As a result, teaching of the IR theory turns out to be equally inconvenient for the lecturers, if they want to not just bombard students with terms and personalities, but teach them to effectively use different concepts and approaches, and for students. The author argues that these difficulties stem not only from the objective complexity of international processes and problems, but also from the subjective theoretical, methodological and philosophical specifics of the textbooks on the IR theory. To substantiate this claim this paper examines a selection of modern Russian and foreign textbooks on IR theory. The first section summarizes their key advantages, which include, first of all, the fact that they all successfully perform an educational function, introducing the reader to the key approaches, schools and theories that form the ‘body’ of modern IR theory. In this regard, one can easily find both textbooks specially designed for an unprepared audience which provide an introduction to the discipline, and publications containing an in-depth analysis of the driving forces and internal logic of the IR theory development. At the same time, as shown in the second section, all modern textbooks on IR theory share a number of common short-comings, which can be divided into methodological and philosophical ones. The former include not sufficiently substantiated logic of presentation, the lack of clear criteria for structuring the material and explicitly formulated principles for selecting approaches to be considered. The latter imply reliance on extremely shaky philosophical assumptions, which, consciously or not, reproduce post-modernist views on the problems of ontology and epistemology of international relations and international studies. And it is in a critical revision of these basic philosophical principles where, according to the author, lies the key to addressing the problems in both teaching the IR theory and formulating the theory of international relations in the strict sense.

‘Bottom-up securitization’: A visual turn in security studies

In the digital age, images have pervaded almost all spheres of public life and politics. International relations are no exception. The visual dimension of world politics attracts increasing attention which resulted in the emergence of the so-called visual turn in the theory of international relations. It gained particular prominence within the framework of constructivism and particularly within one of the central and most widespread constructivist theories, i.e. the securitization theory. The first section of the paper examines the concept of ‘visual turn’. The second section considers the current state of art of the securitization theory. The third section outlines key features and possible implications of ‘visual securitization’ to the study of international relations. To this end, the authors refer to a resonant case of a Syrian migrant boy Aylan Kurdi, who died in 2015 while trying to immigrate to Europe. The fourth section examines some limitations of the ‘visual securitization’ theory. The authors conclude that the ‘visual turn’ has led to a certain democratization of securitization practices by opening up new opportunities for the ‘bottom-up securitization’, or ‘people’s securitization’. Thus, it questions the traditional monopoly of political elites on the molding of a security narrative. At the same time, the ‘visual turn’ extends the list of possible reference objects of securitization, which comes to include not only domestic audiences, but also other communities. As a result, ‘visual securitization’ raises a number of new issues. In contrast to a traditional ‘speech act’, an image can be open to various interpretations and as such would make the process of interaction with the audience too complicated and inconsistent. The possibility of incorrect interpretation places increased demands on the communicative context and hinders the use of an image as an independent securitization tool. The authors argue that the key to addressing these issues lies in a more active use of artificial intelligence technologies and social networks.

Neoclassical realism in international relations theory: Searching for its own path

Neoclassical realism emerged as part of the neorealists’ response to the criticism of their core theoretical provisions, intended to adapt the latter to the challenges of post-bipolar international relations. However, with further elucidation and formalization of the key ideas and premises of neoclassical realism it started to assert itself as an independent research approach, and even more so, as a special, metasynthetic theory. In order to assess the validity of these claims and, in general, to better understand the place of neoclassical realism in the theory of international relations, this paper considers it within the context of the evolutionary logic of the realist paradigm and neorealism, in particular. The first section identifies the origins and main theoretical provisions of neoclassical realism. The second section covers modern theoretical debates on the essence of and prospects for further development of analytical and methodological aspects of this approach. In order to provide a better understanding of the epistemological potential of the neoclassical realism, the third section examines empirical researches carried out within its framework. The author concludes that at the moment neoclassical realism can hardly qualify for the status of an independent theoretical position, let alone a meta-theory. It is more appropriate to consider it as a peculiar form, specific research model within the framework of the (neo)realist paradigm. As such, it allows putting forward verifiable hypotheses based on the analysis of the relationships between the independent, dependent and interfering variables, and also opens up new opportunities for conducting empirical research on a wide range of subject matters. At the same time, there is still a lot of work to be done to overcome the eclecticism inherent to neoclassical realism and to better define its ontological, epistemological and methodological foundations.

Scoping review of international relations theories in health security: A cue for health diplomacy.

Health security as a domain has gained tremendous importance in the recent past. Emerging and re-emerging diseases globally, coupled with the derailment of the determinants of health mainly the socio-political environment, has made health security a cross-cutting entity in diverse fields including International Relations (IR). With the ongoing global polycrisis, the health-related issues which were previously sidelined as a concept of less strategic importance in the IR field, are now contributing to the shift of the world order. This has instilled an increased participation of IR scholars in the discussions and debates on health security concerns. The field of IR contains numerous theoretical lenses through which scholars analyze such situations, policies, and systems of the world. In this paper, we use a scoping review method to inspect how IR theories have been applied in analyzing health security concerns. We observed that various diverging IR theories have been used to deliberate on states' actions in tackling the recent pandemic and have also been prescriptive about the changing notions of multilateralism and international governing organizations. Realism, liberalism, and securitization were among the most frequently applied IR theories in the context of health security discussions. This work provides an impetus to enhance the interaction among interdisciplinary teams leading to evolving solutions that can address issues of global importance in the contemporary world.

NATIONAL IDENTITY AND INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT AS FACTORS OF ECONOMIC SECURITY OF THE COUNTRY

Purpose. Study of the impact of national identity and economic innovativeness as factors of the country’s national and international security on international economic relations; defining the main foundations of national identity, which should be taken into account when developing state policy and forming a national geostrategy, as well as clarifying the relationship between national interests and economic growth based on innovation. Methodology of research. The following methods of scientific analysis were used to implement the identified goals and tasks of the research: historical, systemic, structural-functional and value-normative. The historical method made it possible to trace the nature and peculiarities of the formation of the national idea, as well as to determine the prospects for its development in the period of global transformations. The system method made it possible to comprehensively examine the national identity, to identify its main elements and connections. The structural-functional method helped to reveal the role of the functional unity of society united by the worldview and value concepts of the national idea, as well as to characterize the importance of innovative activity and technological development of industrially developed countries. The value-normative method helped reveal the relationship between national values and their impact on economic security and the course of international economic relations. Findings. The impact of national identity and economic innovativeness on international economic relations is determined, their role in ensuring national security and the formation of state policy is established. The analysis of the impact of globalization processes on the nature and content of the country’s national interests is carried out, the role of the geopolitical factor in this context is determined, and the problem of forming a modern Ukrainian geostrategy in the context of the struggle for the realization of national interests and ensuring the country’s national security is considered. It is substantiated that in the modern world, innovations become a determining factor in the dynamic development, transformation and competitiveness of socio-economic systems in the global space. Originality. The influence of national identity and economic innovativeness as factors of the country’s economic security on international economic relations was investigated on an interdisciplinary basis at the intersection of such scientific disciplines as political science, economics, history, cultural studies and the theory of international relations; some aspects of Ukraine’s economic development strategy are defined, emphasizing the importance of international cooperation, integration processes, and national collective strength for solving future post-war challenges. Practical value. Theoretical provisions, conclusions and recommendations are important for the scientific justification of the optimal mechanism for the implementation of the national economic strategy, taking into account the national identity and economic innovativeness in modern social and political conditions, as well as the possibility of applied application of these results in the educational process. Key words: national identity, innovation, innovative activity, national idea, geopolitics, economic security, economic nationalism, international economic relations.

AN ASSESSMENT OF MODERN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY

The scholarship of traditional International Relations Theory (IR) seems that has little to say to students, academicians and analysts at present days. The events of the last decade in world politics and the present geopolitical situation seem to have passed the centuries old relations between nations, accompanied with a new and unprecedented approach to international formal conventions and agreements. Modern political leaders often use elements of traditional IR theory when articulating solutions to national and international security dilemmas. But these solutions then translate into modern policies capturing courses of action for accomplishing national objectives with varying strategic implications. It appears that policies of today convert into acts aiming at strengthening power and influence, via corporations and military means. This paper presents the incompatibility of traditional IR theory with the modern one, accompanied with examples and analysis of the key events that have startled academicians, students and interpreters of IR studies.

Soft Power & Hegemony: Gramsci, Nye, and Cox’s Perspectives

This article highlights the significance of soft power and hegemony in the realms of international relations theory and political philosophy. Soft power serves as a political strategy utilized by nations to attract and shape ideas in other countries through influence and persuasion. Similarly, Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony emphasizes the influence of societal ideas by employing moral and intellectual leadership through consensus. In enriching this analysis, it incorporates perspectives from Robert Cox, who deepen the understanding of how hegemony intertwines with global power structures, social forces, and the construction of world order. This article provides a theoretical review of Joseph S. Nye's soft power concept and Antonio Gramsci's notion of hegemony, comparing both at the epistemological level of political science, encompassing concepts, praxis, and values. The study is based on Nye's Soft Power (2004) and Gramsci's Selections from the Prison Notebooks (2007) through a literature review. This article concludes that these concepts share similarities, such as utilizing intellectual leadership, promoting awareness within the intellectual class, and targeting civil society as a crucial influencer.

INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT POLICY PROHIBITS THE EXPORT OF NICKEL ORE IN THE FORM OF RAW MATERIALS

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to critically examine the Indonesian Government's policy of prohibiting the export of nickel ore and its implications from a legal, regulatory, and economic perspective. By conducting a thorough analysis of relevant regulations, including Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation (Permen ESDM) No. 11 of 2019, this study aims to elucidate the rationale behind the prohibition and assess its impact on Indonesia's economic sovereignty, value addition in the nickel industry, and international trade relations. Additionally, the research seeks to provide recommendations to stakeholders, particularly the Indonesian Government, on navigating the challenges and opportunities associated with the nickel ore export prohibition, with a view toward promoting sustainable economic development and maximizing the benefits derived from the country's mineral resources. Theoretical framework: This research uses a multidisciplinary theoretical framework to analyze the Indonesian Government's policy of prohibiting nickel ore exports. It uses normative legal theory, constitutional law, administrative law, resource curse theory, export-led growth theory, trade policy analysis, state sovereignty, political economy perspectives, and international relations theory to understand the policy's implications on legal, economic, and political dynamics at domestic and international levels. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research uses a mixed-methods approach, combining normative legal research with qualitative analysis, to examine the Indonesian Government's policy of prohibiting nickel ore exports. It examines the legal framework, aligns with international norms, and gathers insights from stakeholders through interviews, document analysis, and thematic analysis. The findings are then analyzed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the policy's legal, economic, and socio-political dimensions. Findings: The Indonesian Government's policy of prohibiting nickel ore exports has led to increased value addition, employment opportunities, and technology transfer. This policy aligns with Indonesia's sovereignty over its natural resources, aligns with international obligations, and enjoys domestic support. The policy has potential long-term implications for sustainable development and strategic positioning, highlighting the need for a holistic approach to resource management and international trade relations. Research, Practical & Social Implication: The research provides a comprehensive analysis of Indonesia's policy of prohibiting nickel ore exports, offering insights for future studies. It also informs comparative studies, policy design, diplomatic engagement, and social implications. The policy's potential for economic development and environmental protection is highlighted, promoting sustainable management of Indonesia's mineral resources. Originality/Value: This research explores Indonesia's policy prohibiting nickel ore exports, focusing on its economic, legal, and socio-political implications. It uses a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating legal, economic, and political perspectives. The empirical data from stakeholder interviews and document analysis provides valuable insights. The findings have practical implications for policymakers and international actors in resource governance and sustainable development.

The power of the “weak” and international organizations

By nearly every measure, power in the international system is concentrated, meaning that most states lack significant power resources. And yet international relations theory tends to focus on the behavior of great powers. This special issue instead explores the strategies that “weak” states use in the context of international organizations both to advance their interests and to resist pressure from stronger states. We define weakness as a relative lack of power across one or more dimensions. While the literature, to the extent it has focused on weak actors, has too often defined weakness solely in material terms, we adopt a broader conception that builds on the influential typology of power by Barnett and Duvall (Barnett and Duvall, 2005a, Barnett and Duvall, International Organization59, 39–75, 2005b). A multidimensional conceptualization of power allows analysts to show how actors that are weak in one dimension (often material power) may be stronger on other dimensions, giving them greater capacity for action than is often recognized. From this framework we create a typology of “strategies of the weak” that emphasizes the agency of weaker actors to make the most of their positions. The contributions to the special issue, summarized here, illuminate and substantiate many of these strategies across a diverse range of international organizations, understood as both forums and actors. As the articles show, these alternative theoretical mechanisms help explain how and why seemingly weak states sometimes fare better than a simplistic assessment of their material capabilities might suggest. By deepening our understanding of weakness and how it influences state behavior, the volume advances our theoretical understanding of how power is built, wielded, and resisted in and through international organization.

The End of Liberal Peacebuilding

The End of Liberal Peacebuilding

Soft Power and Small States: A Theoretical Discussion

This paper analyses global debates on soft power and its implications for small states in international relations. It primarily focuses on theoretical debates about the soft power of small states. It examines the conceptual development of soft power and how it relates to small states using a qualitative approach. It has observed small states from quantitative and qualitative definitions and found them to have divergent priorities with distinct characteristics. Furthermore, a soft power taxonomy was used to observe soft power resources, instruments, receptions, and outcomes. Methodologically, this paper follows the qualitative literature review approach, using a systematic framework. Finally, the paper examines the ontological position of soft power in international relations theory, providing a unique proposition that stands out from realism, liberalism, and constructivism. In conclusion, the paper reviews the opportunities, challenges, and practices of soft power in the foreign affairs of small states, drawing on theoretical and philosophical lenses to develop persuasive arguments.

Charting a Course in Troubled Waters: Towards a New Cold War in Global Commons

The global commons, encompassing the vast expanses of the world’s oceans and beyond, have emerged as the battlegrounds of a new era of great power competition. This article scrutinises the escalating great power competition in the global commons. Integrating geopolitics, maritime strategy, international relations theory and historical perspectives, we illuminate the multifaceted dimensions of this rivalry and its implications for global security. Our analysis examines U.S. naval strategies, China’s ascendance and the role of emerging technologies in naval power. Our findings unveil a rapidly evolving landscape where nations escalate their contest for pivotal sea routes, resources and strategic locales—a rivalry deeply rooted in historical precedents; within this context, China’s naval modernisation and Belt and Road Initiative are recalibrating the extant power equilibrium. As we enter a new era of competition, the global commons present both opportunities and challenges, requiring collective action for mutual benefits.

A dysfunctional family: Australia’s relationship with Pacific Island states and climate change

ABSTRACT I argue the instrumental, paternalistic strategic culture often adopted in Australian foreign policy circles is counter-productive, preventing Australia from having productive and sustainable relationships with Pacific states. If Australian officials want to follow through on rhetorical commitments to enhance Australia’s relationships in the Pacific, Australia must actively recognise the agency Pacific states have and place itself within this community of actors. Australia often positions itself as part of the ‘Pacific family,’ but to be a collaborative member of this family it must go beyond headline commitments and fundamentally reconsider the evolving agency of small Pacific states and how this shapes Australia’s interactions with them. We can understand this through the lens of normative communities. Revisiting constructivist International Relations theory, I reexamine who is included and excluded in the communities of actors that norms apply to. This has particularly significant implications around norms of climate change action and mitigation. Australia has historically tried to water down agreements and slow-role actions in this space. The ongoing bid to host COP31 perhaps offers an opportunity to both show leadership on climate-related issues and to reconfigure assumptions around Pacific agency and address the effects this has on Australia’s relationships in the Pacific.

Angell versus Mahan: revisiting International Relations on the eve of World War I

In 1912 a debate erupted between Alfred Thayer Mahan and Norman Angell. The debate revolved around what motivates states and what constitutes the fundamental bases of human conduct in relation to war, peace and material interests. The article traces the thrusts and counter thrusts of Angell and Mahan as they lay bare the errors and misconceptions of each other in a heated exchange that marked an important stage in the development of Angell’s thought and a fascinating coda for Mahan’s influential career. The article concludes that revisiting the debate entails a combination of estrangement and familiarity. To read Angell and Mahan’s imperialistic and often racist discourse is jarring and the level of disconnection experienced is evidence some progress has occurred in the field of IR theory. Yet there is also a certain degree to which we continue to live in Angell and Mahan’s world, one of competing theories of civilisational clashes and the supposedly pacific effects of trade and the rule of law.

Community and governance beyond the nation-state in the 21st century: introduction to the special issue on the legacy of Ernst B. Haas

ABSTRACT Ernst B. Haas was a leading authority on international relation theory who pioneered the fields of European integration and supra-national governance. This Special Issue re-evaluates the significance of his work for the present time and explores lesser known research areas opened by the founder of neo-functionalism. Two workshops at the European University Institute, Florence, in 2023 and the International Studies Association in 2024, produced original articles by scholars whose work builds on and engages with Haas’ approach. They address topics ranging from the role of expertise in politics, and the tension between liberalism and nationalism, to the rise of policy areas such as environmental change, human rights and migration. Haas’ work on these themes makes a crucial contribution to understand current global challenges. To complement this picture, an essay by Peter Haas links Ernst Haas’ intellectual development to his life experience.

Non-invertible symmetries along 4d RG flows

We explore novel examples of RG flows preserving a non-invertible self-duality symmetry. Our main focus is on N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 1 quadratic superpotential deformations of 4d N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 super-Yang-Mills theory with gauge algebra suN\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathfrak{su}(N) $$\\end{document}. A theory that can be obtained in this way is the so-called N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 1* SYM where all adjoint chiral multiplets have a mass. Such IR theory exhibits a rich structure of vacua which we thoroughly examine. Our analysis elucidates the physics of spontaneous breaking of self-duality symmetry occurring in the degenerate gapped vacua. The construction can be generalized, taking as UV starting point a theory of class S\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{S} $$\\end{document}, to demonstrate how non-invertible self-duality symmetries exist in a variety of N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 1 SCFTs. We finally apply this understanding to prove that the conifold theory has a non-invertible self-duality symmetry.