The History of the discipline of International Relations

By Beccapople

  • Prior to 1919

    Before 1919, the discipline of International Relations wasn’t widely discussed.
    Before institutionalisation

  • 1919 - The First Great Debate

    • This was an ontological debate
    • The first university was born for IR, Woodrow Wilson Chair of International politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
    • Realism > liberalism
    • Proposed the question of how to avoid war? This highlighted the main areas of thinking to be addressed on classical diplomacy and the balances of power.

  • 1930's

    Economic Crisis - criticisms allowed for realism to emerge as new questions were raised.
    Edward Carr - proposed double establishment of the discipline. Carr is one of the highest regarding realists of all time.
    "liberal thought is nothing else than utopia" "utopians guilty of naivety"

  • 1950's - The Second Great Debate

    • this was a epistemological debate.
    • argument Behaviourism vsTraditionalism -Behaviourism is the scientific approach and enforcing methods of natural sciences
    • the classical way of traditionalism is more interpretive historical and better suited for normative judgement

  • 1950's - The Great Debate continued

    -Question of "what is the most appropriate way of pursuing and acquiring knowledge in International Relations"
    -Morgenthau (1960's) theoretical framework believed to be impressionistic in nature. Framework lagged behind study of Economics. Economics used a sophisticated methodology from drawn from natural sciences to test hypothesises.

  • 1960's & 1970's

    -Rapid increase of the development of the study of International Relations.
    - Academic Department appeared in the US, Britain and Europe

  • 1970's - The 3rd Great Debate

    -ontological debate
    -focused on approaches from Neo-Realism & Neo-Liberalism
    -first appearance of Neo-marxism > Neo-neo debate/ interparadigm debate
    -Neo-Marxist: global dominance and dependance which divided the world between the North and South
    Representative: Robert Cox and Immannual Wallerstein - theory of IR has to deal with social forces
    -'Inter-paradigm debate"-1970/80's shows early consensus about nature of discipline had been replaced by spectrum of contending approaches.

  • 1970's continued

    -The rise of the study of Inter-dependance.
    -Liberal theories of inter-dependance and the later Neo-liberal institutionalist.
    -Chief proponents: Robert O. Keohane, John Burton, Ernest Haas

  • 1980's/1988's - The Great Fourth Debate

    -This was an epistemological debate
    -focused on if the theories are ultimately social methodological and substantial issues as post- positivist approach.
    -Constructivism > Rational, Positivist approaches (liberalism, realism, Marxism)
    -4th debate is about how we should study IR
    -most adequate tools of analysis of methods
    1 Constructivism
    -central question of todays discipline
    -Alexander Wendt
    2 Rationalism
    -positivist approaches