Introduction to
International
Relations
WHAT DOES
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS MEAN?
International Relations
 International
Relations (IR) is the
interaction among countries.
 IR
depends a lot on power, the ability of
one country to get another to do (or
sometimes not do) something.
 The
United States and sometimes Russia
are two of the major superpowers that use
power to get other countries to do
something.
Cold War Era
Using Power in IR
 Countries
acquire international power
through wealth and bullying smaller
countries through military intimidation.
Using Power in IR
 Some
order grows out of relative power
amongst nations.
 During
the 19th Century, the British Empire
arranged much of the globe to its liking,
and small, weak lands largely obeyed.
 Such
power relationships create
international systems, the way power is
distributed around the globe.
IR systems always change
 If
one country has overwhelming power,
enough to supervise the globe (unlikely), it
might be a unipolar system.
 Unipolar
country
 The
system: World led by one sovereign
world during the 20th century has
witnessed four IR systems.
1. Pre-World War I
 Dominance
of the Great European empires
in the 19th century until 1914. In system theory,
this period represents a balance-of-power
system, but by 1910 it has decayed.
2. World War I through World War 2
 The
empires destroy themselves from 19141945. With the major countries not willing to
respond to threats, this period is termed
“antibalance-of-power” system. These
systems are stable and temporary.
3. Cold War
 The
collapse of the traditional European
powers leaves the U.S. and the USSR facing
each other in a bipolar system (two country
system).
 The
superpowers block and exhaust
themselves from 1945 through the 1980s, and
the bipolar system falls apart.
4. Post-Cold War
 The
collapse of the Soviet Union end
bipolarity, which leaves the world in a
disputed era.
 Current
theories range from multipolar
(several power centers) to zones of chaos
and from globalization (interlocked world) to
clash of civilizations.
Remember….
 We
do not live in a perfect neat world where
we could put every world issue in a neat pile.
Same thing goes with IR.
 Systems
 Treating
can overlap.
Iraq and Afghanistan as Cold War
battles, has made new generations of
enemies (ISIS).
What kind of New System Will We
See?
 The
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 has
raised the question of what system theory are
we living in. There are seven possible theories.
Multipolar?
 The
most accepted model sees the world as
multipolar.
A
system of several centers of power, some of
them trading blocs and all of them engaged in
tough economic competition.
 Multipolar
would somewhat resemble the old
balance-of-power system, but the blocs and
major nations do not form new alliances.
 Instead,
they focus on their economies, and
economic growth becomes their main task in
order to gain power and respect.
Multipolar?
 This
model does not fit reality perfectly.
 The
blocs (the European Union, the Pacific
Rim, and others), cannot look after their own
security; all need U.S. help.
 Western
Europe asked for U.S. help during the
Yugoslavian uprising.
 South
Korea, Taiwan, and Japan are powerful
trade competitors with the U.S. but all want free
security from America.
Multipolar?
 Many
theorist believe that the United States
controls the world because of its military.
Without U.S. leadership in the world, little gets
done.
 If
trade disputes become too great, a
multipolar system would break down into
something else, perhaps a “resource war”
system.
Unipolar?
 The
world dominated by one power center.
 In
this picture, the United States would lead in
constructing what President Bush senior
called a “new world order”.
 The
U.S. leads the United Nations and the
middle-sized powers to stop an aggressor.
 New

World Order Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MADYzQstpsU
Unipolar?
 Would
the world unite and fight back against
the unipolar power?
 Bush
administration adopted the unipolar
view of the world and tried to implement it in
Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003.
Counterweight?

As Bush 43 pursued a unipolar model, many
European lands, Russia, China, and others
countries spoke of a “counterweight” to U.S.
powers.

They saw the U.S. as dominating and too eager for
war.

Here, instead of following the U.S., many other
nations agree among themselves to ignore or
oppose the U.S.

In reaction to U.S. policy on Iraq, the world tend
to form a counterweight, such as Russia and
China.
Stratified?
A
stratified model combines the unipolar and
multipolar models may fit reality better.
 Power
 1st
distributed by layers.
layer: The rich high-tech countries.
 2nd
layer: Rapidly industrializing lands such as
China, India, and Brazil.
 3rd
layer: “Zone of chaos” dominated by
crime, warlords, and instability. (Middle East,
Africa, Central America, Southern Asia)
Stratified?
 Many
of the world’s natural resources
(particularly oil) are in these chaotic zones, so
the first layer is inevitably drawn into their
difficulties.
 Rich
countries will like to keep these countries
chaotic in order to have an excuse to
intervene.
U.S.-China Duopoly?
 Two
big powers dominate.
 The
G-2 (Group of 2) indicating they are the
only two that really count now. In UN and in
G8 and G20 meetings.
 This
theory is being proven wrong.
 China
concentrates on its own economic growth
and avoids global problems such as nuclear
proliferation, peacekeeping, currency parties,
and climate change. (Isolationism)
Globalized?
 The
world turning into one big capitalist
market.
 Most
countries become economic players in
the world market, a capitalist competition
where goods, money, and ideas flow easily
to wherever there are costumers.
 The
motto of a globalized system: “Make
money, not war.”
Globalized?
 Problems
with a globalized system:
 If
one of the major countries falls into a recession
or a depression, it will disrupt the world’s
economy.
 Rich
 War
will take advantage of poor countries.
could lead to blockades and the
cancelation of business between countries.
Resource Wars?

Some researchers warn we are moving into an “age of scarcity”
marked by a scramble for natural resources, especially petroleum.

We might already be engaged in resources wars: the 1991 and 2003
wars in Iraq.

War over oil? War over water? War over land if seas rise?
Clash of Civilizations?
 The
biggest threat: Islamic extremist vs. the
West, Slavic/Orthodox, and Hindu
Civilizations.
 Saudi
Arabia and Iran, which both detested
Saddam’s dictatorship in Iraq, opposed the
2003 U.S. invasion. Pakistan felt the same way
about the Afghanistan invasion.
 One
should not invade a brother Muslim country.
Question:
 Which,
if any, of these models matches and
explains international relations today? Could
a combination provide a better fit? Explain
your answer. (2 paragraphs)
Is Sovereignty Slipping?
 The
authority of a state to govern itself. Being
the boss on your own turf.
 Sovereignty
has always partly fictional. Big,
rich, and powerful countries routinely
influence and even dominate small, poor,
and weak countries. (Become their puppets)
Is Sovereignty Slipping?
 The
United Nations has told Iran that they
can’t develop nuclear weapons (Iran not the
boss on their own turf).
 But
the world didn’t interfere in the massacre
of 800,000 Rwandans in 1994.
 Why
interfere in Iran and not Rwanda? Did a
major power have something to gain in
Rwanda?
Is Sovereignty Slipping?
 The
European Union (EU) is now one giant
economic market, and many important
decisions are made in Brussels headquarters,
not in it members’ capitals.
 EU
members have surrendered some of their
sovereignty to a higher body.
 Many
have given up control of their own
currency to the Euro.
 EU
is trying to build common foreign and defense
policies.

Blue Gold: World Water Wars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHWqLrMI_iI