First: THE STUDY of INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
I IR as a Field of Study II Levels of Analysis in IR
I-IR as a FIELD of STUDY What is IR? Difference between IR & Foreign Policy IR & Daily Life Subfields of IR IR & other Social Sciences
?WHAT IS IR
IR is the field of Political Science that studies the Interactions that take place among International Actors: Wars, alliances, trade, negotiations, integration…... 1- It is a Scientific study of the International Interactions: Defines, explains & predicts the phenomenon (International Interactions). 2- Interactions means Actions & Reactions that take place between International Actors. 3- Interactions might be cooperation, conflict, or neutral actions. 4- It is concerned with all interactions:Pol., Ec., cultural etc…. 5-Intractions are between International Actors( State & Non State actors).
IR & Foreign Policy
IR is not Foreign Policy: Foreign Policy is the declared program of action of an International Actor to deal with the external environment in order to achieve certain objectives. Foreign Policy is thus the actions of an Actor: A or a group of Actors towards another Actor: B or Actors or a certain Issue. How?
International Relations is all kinds of interactions between 2 or more Actors: Actions from A towards B & the reactions of B towards A. However, Foreign Policy & IR are related HOW? IR is the sum of Interactions of the Foreign Policies of 2 or more Actors. Ex: Arms race, Integration are results of actions & reactions of Actors.
IR & Daily Life
IR is not confined to official policy makers( Presidents, Ministers of Foreign Affairs & defense…) Ordinary people can influence IR, and they are affected by IR in their daily life: 1- Ordinary people can influence IR HOW? through voting in elections, Interest groups, demonstrations, boycotting certain products…. 2- Our daily life is affected by IR HOW? -Global economy & economic competition affects job opportunities. - Free trade affects industries in underdeveloped countries. - European Integration affects people in North Africa How ?
Subfields of IR IR is a field of Political Science. It covers a wide range of interactions: Wars, alliances, trade, integration…. There are 2 subfields of IR: 1- International Security Studies. 2- International Political Economy.
International Security Studies -1 :((ISS
Traditionally IR focused on questions of war, peace, alliances, arms race, treaties… The focus is different from International Law: studying the political aspects & implications of such issues not the legal aspects ,ex.
In the 1980’s peace studies program emerged to broaden the concept of security depending on an interdisciplinary approach. Security studies remain to occupy an important position in the study of IR in spite of the end of the Cold War.
International Political -2 :(Economy (IPE Emerged in the 1970’s & 1980’s. It studies trade & financial relations among nations, & international economic &financial institutions, & relations between north & south including topics such as dependency, debt, foreign aid, technology transfer, environmental management, & global telecommunications.
:Relationship between ISS & IPE 1- The principles & theories used to study international security can be used to understand IPE. 2- Political issues are affected by economics ( US policy in the Middle East is affected by its economic interests in the region). 3- Economic issues are affected by political considerations ( Foreign aid ).
IR & other fields of Social Sciences
The study of IR is an interdisciplinary study. Analysis in IR needs knowledge of other social science disciplines: History, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Comparative Politics….Why
II Levels of Analysis in IR
There are many factors affecting International Interactions.
Scholars classify those factors into groups of similar factors called levels of analysis.
Levels of analysis is a perspective on IR based on a set of similar factors that suggests possible explanations to WHY questions.
The most widely used scheme utilizes 3 levels: 1- System - Level. 2- State – Level. 3- Individual – Level.
:System – Level Analysis -1
It is a world view that takes a “top-down” approach to analyze IR.
This level theorizes that International System strongly influences the politics of International Actors.
It concentrates on the effect of the International System ( Structure & Pattern of interaction ) on IR.
The main focus is characteristics of the International System: distribution of power,, balance of power, alliances…regardless of the internal make up of states or their leaderships.
Ex: the effect of the cold war or the bipolar system on the relations between small States & the Super Powers.
:State – Level Analysis -2
This level theorizes that States are the key International Actors. The concern is with the characteristics of an individual State & its impact on its behavior in IR. This level studies the effect of political systems ( types of government: democracies & dictatorships ), economic characteristics, foreign policy bureaucracy, interest groups, ethnic politics, public opinion…. on IR
:Individual – Level Analysis -3 This level depends on the argument that people make policy. It argues that different persons act differently in the same situation. It stresses on the effect of psychological factors on decisions ( leaders personality, background, perceptions….)
:The Global – Level of Analysis This level explains IR in terms of global trends & forces that transcends (go beyond) interactions of states. EX.: - The evolution of human technology, of certain worldwide beliefs, the emergence of global culture. - the emergence of transnational integration through worldwide scientific, technical & business communities.
Levels of analysis offer different sorts of explanations to events: They suggest multiple explanations, & complement each other.
Ex.: The Gulf War in 1991 US invasion of Iraq March 2003 1999 Kosovo war between Serbia & NATO