History of the discipline of International Relations

  • Treaty of Westphalia

    This treaty has ended one of the most damaging wars of European History (Thirty Years War), which also weakened Holy Roman Empire and therefore gave a rise to sovereign states.
  • French Revolution

    It gave a rise to nationalism and therefore nation states. This led them to create relations in order to protect their national interests.
  • First World War

    People started understanding that relations were to be built between countries in order to protect the peace and preventing the harm wars create.
  • The Creation of "International Relations" discipline

    A field called "International Relations" was added to University of Wales and later Aberystwyth, it followed a domino effect adding the field to many universities.
  • Idealism

    Idealism could be explained as an approach that is interested in finding "what should be" rather than "what it is (utopic). This was common in 1920s
  • League of Nations

    It was founded on an idealist approach to prevent wars and protect the peace. In this period, legality of international relations has increased
  • Realism

    After World War II, people found "realism" approach which addresses the real situation rather than the idealist approach
  • The Diplomatic War

    Cold War created different "groups" of countries, whom had to create diplomacy to survive