1. Understanding International Relations

3. Aims of this course This course aims to:
• explore the evolution of the discipline of IR over the past century by examining our changing understandings of order within the anarchic international system
• consider the impact of major historical events on the evolution of academic IR, including the ongoing impact of globalization
• introduce you to a range of theoretical tools that will help you to examine the behavior of international actors and the nature of international systems
• define and discuss some of the main concepts within the discipline, including war, peace, the state and power
• critically assess challenges facing contemporary international society, including security, global governance and the rise of East Asian actors.

4. The subject area
what exactly is IR? What distinguishes it from history or law, economics or political science?
When did IR emerge as an academic subject?
How has it changed over time?
What does IR contribute to the sum of human knowledge? And
why has it become one of the most popular twenty-first century social sciences?

5. Definition of international relations
what are ‘international relations’?
A survey of the field suggests that a number of different definitions are employed
For some, international relations means the diplomatic–strategic relations of states, and the characteristic focus of IR is on issues of war and peace, conflict and cooperation.
Others see international relations as being about cross-border transactions of all kinds, political, economic and social,
and IR is as likely to study trade negotiations or the operation of non-state institutions such as Amnesty International as it is conventional peace talks or the workings of the United Nations (UN).

6. Definition of international relations
with increasing frequency in the twenty-first century, some focus on:
globalization, studying, for example, world communication, transport and financial systems, global business corporations and the putative emergence of a global society

7. Definition of international relations
The reason definitions matter in this way is because ‘international relations’ do not have some kind of essential existence in the real world of the sort that could define an academic discipline. Instead there is a continual interplay between the ‘real world’ and the world of knowledge

8. Development of international relations
IRs is the period associated with the development of the territorial, sovereign state.
is traditionally dated from 1648 and the ‘Peace of
Westphalia’, the collective term for the peace treaties that drew an end to the Thirty Years War in Europe and heralded the formal beginning of the modern European states system.

9. Development of international relations
the principles and instruments of international law, and the generation of international governmental organizations, from the ad hoc Congress of Vienna (1815), to the League of Nations (1919) and the UN (1945), are all important aspects of the modern period.

10. Development of international relations
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic

11. Development of international relations
The first world war, or the Great War, was a global war centered in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved

12. Development of international relations
The war drew in all the world's economic great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies(based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom/British Empire, France and the Russian Empire) versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Although Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary, it did not join the Central Powers, as Austria-Hungary had taken the offensive, against the terms of the alliance. These alliances were reorganized and expanded as more nations entered the war: Italy, Japan and the United States joined the Allies, while the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers

13. Development of international relations
the Allies
the Central Powers
United Kingdom/British Empire, 
France 
the Russian Empire
Italy
Japan and
the United States
Germany  
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire 
and Bulgaria

14. Development of international relations
The Top 5 Causes That Led to World War I
The reason why war erupted is actually much more complicated than a simple list of causes

15. Development of international relations
1.  Mutual Defense Alliances
Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. These treaties meant that if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the following alliances existed:
Russia and Serbia
Germany and Austria-Hungary
France and Russia
Britain and France and Belgium
Japan and Britain
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.

16. Development of international relations
2.  Imperialism
Imperialism is when a country increases their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. Before World War I, Africa and parts of Asia were points of contention among the European countries. This was especially true because of the raw materials these areas could provide. The increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped push the world into World War I.

17. Development of international relations
3.  Militarism
As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved into war.

18. Development of international relations
4.  Nationalism
Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Austria Hungary but instead be part of Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War. But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance and power.

19. Development of international relations
5.  Immediate Cause: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
The immediate cause of World War I that made the aforementioned items come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, a Serbian-nationalist terrorist group called the Black Hand sent groups to assassinate the Archduke. Their first attempt failed when a driver avoided a grenade thrown at their car. However, later that day a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of Austria-Hungary. This was in protest to Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina. This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus began the expansion of the war to include all those involved in the mutual defense alliances.

20. Development of international relations
The War to End All Wars
World War I saw a change in warfare, from the hand-to-hand style of older wars to the inclusion of weapons that used technology and removed the individual from close combat. The war had extremely high casualties over 15 million dead and 20 million injured. The face of warfare would never be the same again.

21. Development of international relations
After World war first, there was something about the system of international relations that was culpable, and a variety of different thinkers, politicians and philanthropists gave thought as to how to change the system to prevent a recurrence. Most of these individuals were American or British

22. Development of international relations
the new thinking that was produced in Britain and America is conveniently summarized as ‘liberal internationalism’ – the adaptation of broadly liberal political principles to the management of the international system.

23. Development of international relations
In Britain, liberal internationalist ideas were developed by Fabians and radical liberals through bodies such as the Union for Democratic Control
Their account of what went wrong in 1914 stressed the failure of diplomacy, and
in particular the slowness of the great powers in mobilizing an international conference on the problems of the Balkans, rather than any systemic failure

24. Development of international relations
in the United States the ideas of British liberal were espoused by the President himself, Woodrow Wilson, set out in the Fourteen Points speech of January 1918, in which America’s war aims were specified.

25. Development of international relations
There was no mechanism in 1914 to prevent war, except for the ‘balance of power’ – a notion which was associated with unprincipled power politics. What was deemed necessary was the establishment of new principles of international relations, such as ‘open covenants openly arrived at’, but, most of all, a new institutional structure for international relations – a League of Nations.

26. Development of international relations
The aim of a League of Nations would be to provide the security that nations attempted, unsuccessfully, to find under the old, balance of power, system

27. Development of international relations
the League would provide public assurances of security backed by the collective will of all nations – hence the term ‘collective security’
The basic principle would be ‘one for all and all for one’
Each country would guarantee the security of every other country, and thus there would be no need for nations to resort to expedients such as military alliances or the balance of power

28. Development of international relations
The principle of national self-determination was promoted, but only in Europe – and even there it was rather too frequently abused when it was the rights of Germans or Hungarians that were in question.

29. Development of international relations
the 1930s saw economic collapse, the rise of the dictators, a series of acts of aggression in Asia, Africa and Europe, an inability of the League powers led by Britain and France to develop a coherent policy in response to these events, and, finally, the global war that the peace settlement of 1919 had been designed to prevent