University of Juba

School of Social and Economic Studies

Introduction

International politics is one of the rising stars of political science. It is sometimes interchangeably used for foreign affairs
and geopolitics. It’s usually concerned with the power struggle that is going on all around the globe. However, its nature
is changing and its scope is expanding. Now, major world organizations, corporate houses, etc. are also becoming
significant players in this game. Global issues like terrorism, environmental degradation, world peace, etc. are some of its
chief components.

Meaning

▪ The field of international relations is concerned with the relations among the world's various governments.
▪ These relationships are connected with other actors such as international organizations (IOs) non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) transnational corporations (TNCs) and notable individuals.

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▪ People always confuse themselves among the terms ‘International Relations’, ‘International Politics’ and ‘Global
Politics’. Sometimes, these terms are used interchangeably.
▪ The core of international relations is international politics". However, International Relations include political,
economic and cultural relations among nations. Similarly,
▪ According to Hans Morgenthau - "the wider in scope than International Politics. Politics among nations is a
‘struggle for power’ whereas
▪ Palmer and Perkins express that international politics is essentially concerned with the relations of the state system,
while international relations include all types of relationships between sovereign states.
▪ Therefore, international relations are wider, and international politics is narrower in scope.
▪ Politics is usually concerned with power struggles. This struggle at a global level is called international politics.
▪ This field emerged at the dawn of the 20th century but gained more importance after the failure of the League of
Nations. So after World War II, a greater need to thoroughly study the reasons for conflicts and find ways to avoid
them arose. Hence, international politics came into the limelight.
▪ At its core, it is a subject that pulls from many different fields, such as politics, history, economics, geography,
philosophy, law, and sociology.
▪ Aberystwyth University defines it as understanding and explaining global challenges and coming up with ideas for
change at the international, state, and sub-state levels.
▪ International Politics has been described as the “process of influencing, manipulating or controlling major groups
in the world, so as to safeguard and advance the interests of some against the opposition of others”

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 ▪ Charles Schleicher includes all inter–state relations in International Politics, although he concedes that all inter–
state relations are not political.

▪ Norman J. Padelford and George A. Lincoln define International Politics as “the interaction of individual
nation-states in the pursuit of their perceived national interests and goals.”
▪ Norman D. Palmer and Howard C. Perkins, International Politics is essentially concerned with the state system.

Nature

[1] Sovereign States: only autonomous states can participate in geopolitics because if a state is not independent, its
foreign policy is controlled by the mother country, and thus participation by that country is limited. so, sovereignty is
very important.

[2] National Interest: every country in the world is first concerned about its own national interest. The US gives aid
packages to Pakistan, china gives huge loans to developing countries, and India helps Afghanistan with food, medical
supplies, etc. all of these packages and assistance are provided to gain favour from other countries, and they are always
beneficial to national interests.

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[3] Struggle for Power: the main objective of countries is to gain more power and diminish the power of their enemies.
for example, the continuous race to create better weapons is deliberately going on. at the moment, the us is the leader in
fighter jets and Russia is the leader in missiles.

[4] Power Brings Power: powerful countries will naturally fight for it because they can. countries that are not powerful
usually don’t play any great role in geopolitics. powerful countries include the ones present in groups like the g7 or g20.

[5] Conflict: where there will be a struggle for power, there will be conflicts. due to this, the world witnessed two world
wars and many small-scale wars in the previous century. even today, a huge conflict is going on between Ukraine and
Russia. this is an important part of international politics.

[6] Cooperation: every coin has two sides. if there are conflicts, then there are ways for cooperation and peace. many
organizations, like the UN, work to maintain international peace and security.

[7] Deliberate: it is an endless process. even after world war ii ended, power struggles continued. The USSR and the us
fought proxy wars by supporting various countries. then the USSR disintegrated after the fall of the berlin wall, and
Russia took its place in competing with the us. today, china is the US’s biggest competitor, and this struggle will never
end.

[8] Behavioural Analysis: it has been observed that various countries’ behaviour patterns change over time. during the
cold war, India was a little bit pro-USSR, but there was never an official alliance. after the USSR fell, India kept getting
closer to the us, and now the us call India one of its most important strategic partners.
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[9] Scientific Analysis: data science and statistics are used sometimes to study and predict international politics. in a
recent article, an American journalist has shown with the help of a graph that inflation is going up in Britain and going
down in Russia. this was a bit ironic because Britain has imposed sanctions on Russia but not vice versa.

[10] Inter-disciplinary Nature: international politics is absolutely interdisciplinary. it depends greatly on other subjects
like history, geography, economics, etc.

Scope

[1] Power: as international politics is all about power, it is necessary to study different types of powers. power is of two
types—hot power and soft power. hot power is the military capacity of any given country, and soft power is the influential
capacity of the same. both of these are important and need to be studied.

[2] National Interests: Every country has different national interests, and it is very important to study them in
international politics. India is trying to keep good relations with Afghanistan even after the Taliban came to power again,
and China keeps good relations with Pakistan. in both cases, national interests are the main driving force.

[3] Environment: environmental problems have become an important part of geopolitics these days. the Kyoto Protocol
was signed by more than 150 countries in 1997, and today the number has reached 192. this protocol is very important
to curb global warming. similarly, other agreements have also been made to save the environment. some of the other
environmental issues include deforestation, water crisis, ozone depletion, etc.

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[4] International Organizations: the role of international organizations is quite significant in international politics. In
1945, UNO was formed to maintain peace in the world. other countries form other groups for regional cooperation,
trade, etc., such as the EU, SAARC, ASEAN, BRICS, quad, i2u2, etc. Then we have organizations like the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), which is a part of the un and helps bring development and stability to the world.

[5] International Laws: these laws are derived from international treaties, and agreements, or are passed by the UN.
they are also of many types, like civil, criminal, and human rights laws, etc. they are very important in studying geopolitics
because, in a way, they are the legal backbone of the world.

[6] Foreign Policy is the root of a country’s behaviour toward other countries. India has followed the policy of
nonalignment since independence. today, India has good relations both with the West and the Russia-China block.

[7] War and Peace: even with all the agreements, treaties, etc., wars are sometimes inevitable. so the wars, the reason
behind them, and how to avoid them are studied in geopolitics.

[8] Economic Factors your economy plays a significant role in measuring your power in international politics. The US
has the biggest economy in the world, which helps it maintain its influence in geopolitics. The US has the most voting
power in the IMF, which it uses sometimes to achieve its goals.

[9] Disarmament: this word is generally used for the idea of diminishing or completely removing the weapons of mass
destruction from the world. it emerged during the cold war period but has lost some of its significance today.

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[10] Terrorism: this is also becoming a prominent topic of discussion in international politics. countries are now coming
together to face this issue. the attack on the World Trade Center, also known as the 9/11 attack, forced America to start
the war on terror in Afghanistan.

[11] Ideologies: every country on earth has an ideology. although there might be some small shifts from time to time,
the basic foundation is always there. china is a communist state, the us is a democracy, Saudi Arabia has a monarchy, and
so on. ideologies have a big impact on a country’s foreign policy, so they are important in international politics.

[12] Demographic Factors: demography is the study of the population of any given country. this includes local
problems like poverty, and unemployment, etc. reports such as the human development index, happiness index, press
freedom index, etc. are some parameters by which a country is judged by the world.

[13] Level of Analysis: in international relations, the levels of analysis refer to different levels at which one can study or
analyze global politics. there are three main levels of analysis: the individual level, the state level, and the international
level. each level offers a different perspective on the causes and consequences of international relations and foreign
policy.

1. Individual Level: this level of analysis focuses on the role of individual actors, such as politicians, government
officials, and individual citizens, in shaping international relations. for example, an individual-level analysis might
examine how the personal beliefs or motivations of a political leader influence their foreign policy decisions.

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 2. State Level: this level of analysis looks at the role of states and governments in shaping international relations. it
considers factors such as a state’s military capabilities, economic power, and political institutions as they relate to
its foreign policy.
3. International Level: this level of analysis examines the role of international organizations, such as the United
Nations or the World Trade Organization, in shaping global politics. it also looks at the role of global economic
and cultural forces, as well as the interaction between states in the international system.

Each of these levels of analysis can be useful in understanding different aspects of international relations and foreign
policy. For example, an individual-level analysis might be useful in understanding the motivations behind a particular
leader’s foreign policy decisions, while a state-level analysis might be more useful in understanding the broader factors
that influence a state’s foreign policy.

Conclusion

So, international politics is an ever-changing and complex piece of study. Its domain is too large and is getting larger
every day. With increasing global challenges, which include wars, unemployment, water crises, climate change, poverty,
etc., international politics might become one of the most important topics of discussion in the future!