INL500: International Relations Theories, War, and Security Analysis

This essay delves into the core of international relations, examining the intricate relationship between theory and policy. It questions whether theories serve as pre-packaged tools for policymakers, exploring the potential disconnect when different theoretical perspectives lead to opposing policy recommendations. The essay investigates various international relations theories, particularly realism, liberalism, and behavioralism, to understand their explanatory power regarding human behavior and their plausibility in interpreting events. It then analyzes the structure of the US government, as reflected in the Constitution, considering whether it aligns more with realist or liberal principles. The essay further explores theories of war, their significance, and their role in managing security, encompassing Western war theory, the theory of justice, and the theory of state. The document also explores the perpetual union of the United States in 1787 and how the union is related to the realism and liberalism approaches of international relations theories. Overall, the essay provides a comprehensive analysis of international relations theories and their implications for policy, human behavior, and global security.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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Essay 1: International Relations Theories
Relationship between Theory and Policy. Theories pre-packaged conceptual tools or
interpretation of actual events. A particular event and a theory that explains it. Explaining
two realist opting for two different solution to the same problem- actual policy.
There is a huge gap in the literature of the International Relationships. It is often
found that the policy makers have no regard of the theories that are available, while the
scholars involved in this field, do not consider the policy makers, therefore, the literature
produced have a huge gap that entails, a gap between the theories of the international
relationship and the policies that are made and followed in practical. However, assuming that
no relationship is there will be a false idea, as there are certain policies that have developed
from the theories provided. More importantly, it is necessary before forming a policy to
review and consider the theories that are available. Theories are essential to analyse a
situation, explaining the causes and understanding the solutions that can included1. However,
during the time of policy formation, it is often seen that the policy makers do not include the
theoretical concepts and this often leads to foreign policy disasters and disrupted relation.
Theories are the lenses, through which a particular event could be analysed and
understood. However, there are often situations, which differ in a great amount, when
happening in real. Therefore, theories are definitely the tools to analyse and interpret
relationships and the international situations, taking place at the international forum, but in
certain cases they can vary greatly. In this notion it is important to mention the Realism
Approach of the International Theories, which depends upon three things, first, the rationality
form the individual perspective, can differ, than the rationality form the state perspective.
Secondly, in the international relationships, the whole nation state is involved, and the power
1 Walt, Stephen M. "The relationship between theory and policy in international relations." Annu. Rev. Polit.
Sci. 8 (2005): 23-48.

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of the state is not as limited to as an individual or an organization. Lastly, in the international
perspective, every nation state is on their own, and the relationship with the other nations,
have a causal relationship2. Therefore, it is a debatable point to discuss that whether a state is
a conceptual tool or is it related to the reality, however, theories are essentially the tools that
help in understanding and realising a current situation.
As mentioned, it will be wrong to assume that the international theories are not
included in the policies that are practiced by the nation. For example, the Russian policies
have a realism approach. The Russian policies related to the Nato and the European Union,
reflect a realism approach. The security related policies, regarding the protection of the
European protection and guarding the borders, between the two states, have been made in a
detailed and structured manner that would ensure both the protection of each of the territories
and to ensure a robust relationship among the states.
The actual politics or the Real Politik, is a doctrine or a concept of politics that refers
to the diplomacy. The diplomatic structure or conducts is a part of the political structure and
conduct, which I soften used and implied based on the situations or the contexts, irrespective
of the ideological concepts existing within the doctrine or the ethical and the moral grounds,
related to the same3. The Real Politik or the actual politics is more a pragmatic form of
understanding and behaviour and had been included in the political concepts during the time
of enlightenment, and the use of the same had become widespread during to the inclusion of
the liberalism4. ‘
2 Ehrenberg, Ronald G., and Robert S. Smith. Modern labor economics: Theory and public policy. Routledge,
2017.
3 Dunne, Tim, Lene Hansen, and Colin Wight. "The end of International Relations theory?." European Journal
of International Relations 19.3 (2013): 405-425.
4 Bew, John. "The real origins of realpolitik." The national interest 130 (2014): 40-52.

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However, the concept of Real Politik or the actual politics had been used differently,
by different political and social thinkers over different periods of time. A simple example of
Bismarck and Machiavelli can be included to exemplify this. Otto von Bismarck is still
regarded as one of the greatest diplomat of the history. Bismarck was one of political entities
who had made use of the concept of actual politics. It was completely because of his
diplomacy and his political understanding, he could unify the whole of the Germany.
On the other hand, Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian Political Philosopher, had also
used the concept of actual politics, and stated that the basic ground of employing actual
politics in the political conducts, is to seek power, which again, can be exemplified by the
works of Bismarck, who had essentially used the Real Politik, to rise into power. However,
the point of difference between these two entities is that, one used the concept in a more
pragmatic form, and one had presented an academic version of the concept.
IR Theory that explains the Human Behaviour. Multiples theories are plausible.
The international relationship theory of Behaviouralism, is one of the dominant
political theory that that tends to develop upon the human behaviours. The theory of
Behaviouralism, is a recent development in the political discourses, and stems from the
political behaviour shown by different political entities and the decision making process of
the same. It has been observed that the decisions taken by the political entities or the political
leaders have changed the state relationships. The discourse is more like revolution within the
doctrine of international relationships, and as per the definition of Behaviouralism, it can be
stated that the political discourse had been developed form the behavioural aspects of the
political actors and the observation of the patterns of their conducts and their decision making
processes5. The stand point of behaviouralism is that, it is depending only upon the
observations of the political actors and then it should further be quantified in order to
5 Booth, Ken, and Toni Erskine, eds. International relations theory today. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

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measure the data and then to develop a basis or a concept. According to the school of
behaviouralism, all the political decisions and the political conducts are essentially drawn and
developed for individual gains of the political leaders and the individual decision making
processes6. It can further be exemplified by the conduct of Osama bin Laden, or the decisions
taken by the president of America. For example, the decisions of Trump, can essentially be
attached to the concepts of Behaviouralism. The decision taken by Trump to manage the
citizenship to the non- Americans, and his decisions to keep the jobs for the Americans only,
can essentially be attached to the discourse of political behaviouralism and can be explained,
that the decision is completely driven by the individual perception.
The question that has been developed and presented here regarding the plausibility of
the theories, can be affirmed with two simple explanations. Firstly, theories can never be
plausible. The definition of theory is that, it is a set of assumptions that have been developed
upon observation of certain facts, and then it has been analysed upon practical settings. A
theory ‘is essentially related to and developed upon a particular phenomenon and a particular
practical setting, and the causes, impacts, and the underlying factors are developed to form a
theory that can be applied to further similar situations. Moreover, the theories stem from a
situation, which ignites from a particular thought or understanding and then, these are applied
on certain other situations to explain them. Thus, the plausibility of the theories are
established.
Secondly, the behaviouralism, is a discourse which has recently been developed. It is
the newest international relationship theory. Therefore, the thinkers of this particular school
of thought should have realised the literature gap that had been existing, and therefore, felt
the need to develop such a theory which will justly analyse the relationship between the
6 Smith, Steve, Amelia Hadfield, and Timothy Dunne, eds. Foreign policy: theories, actors, cases. Oxford
University Press, 2016.

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political conducts and the human behaviour, and from such an understanding the discourse
has been developed. Therefore it can be clearly said that the theories of international
relationship has a plausibility.
The Structure of US Government and the Theory of Human Behaviour. Is the ‘more
perfect union’ of 1787 infused with a more realist or more liberal spirit, or maybe a bit of
both? Explain the possibilities concisely yet clearly with examples?
The structure of the US Government is derived from its constitutions, and as per the
constitution of the country, the government of the country, is divided into three structure or
three segments. First is the Legislative structure that is consisted of the congress, who make
all the laws; the second is the Executive Structure, which is consisted of the President, Vice
president and the Cabinet; and lastly the Judicial Layer, consisted of the Supreme Court and
other courts. The most importunate aspect of the US government is that, it can be each branch
of the government can influence upon the acts and the conducts of the other branches7. For
example, the President can always veto the laws passed by the Congress. Similarly the
congress can keep their opinion upon the election and selection of the president. Lastly, the
Supreme Court is an independent body, that can, deny the laws or the rules appointed by the
president or the congress, in case they are unconstitutional.
Therefore, as can be understood, the country is essentially a Democratic country, and
follows the rules of Federalism, where by the Federal government can influence the decisions
of tee state government and vice versa.
The 1787 union was essentially an important aspect of the international theories. The 1787
union marked the acquisition of Pennsylvania, and the union of the American territory. The
activity had two grounds, one, is that, it was done essentially to increase the power of the
7 Vernon, Philip E. The structure of human abilities (psychology revivals). Routledge, 2014.

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country. The 1787 union, or the Perpetual Union, as it is referred, marks America as the
United States of America, a national entity and unity. It also meant that all the states are
under one constitutional law and the states are permitted to overthrow or deny the
constitutional regulations. Abraham Lincoln was the inaugurator of this campaign8. Which
started around 1770, and was ended with the inclusion of Pennsylvania, ain 1787. The
constitution was called the declarations of Independence. This particular political conduct is
essentially an example of the liberal theory of international relations. The liberalism approach
of international relationship theory questions the principles of warfare that come with
realism. It further talks about the mutual benefits that the states can have through
international cooperation. The liberalism approach also confers the rights on the international
organizations and the non-governmental actors to shape the polity and the constitution for the
state. Therefore, the 1787 union can be regarded as both, related to realism and liberalism.
The principles of realism as mentioned previously deals essentially with the practical
approaches. Therefore, it deals with the principles of warfare as well, which was included in
the formation of the Perpetual Union. Secondly, as it marks the benefits that can be derived
by all the states and the inclusion of the international organizations for the political conducts,
therefore, it can be said that the perpetual Union is also related to the liberalism approach of
international relationship theories9.
Essay 2: War & Security
Importance of Theories of War. How and Why Theories Help Us to Manage Security?
War had always been very common in the history of mankind and societal evolution,
and each culture has different experience and exposure to the war concept. There are three
very important theories related to the war. There are essentially three main war theories, as
8 Storing, Herbert J., and Murray Dry. "The constitutional convention: Toward a more perfect union." American
Political Thought. Routledge, 2017. 107-124.
9 Waters, Meghan A. "" A more perfect union": exploring the nature and terms of the American Union." (2014).

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developed by the history and and the social scientists. These are the Western or the European
War Theory, the Theory of Justice, and the Theory of State. As claimed by the social
scientists, the War Theory, got its name from the establishment of the rules, which are culture
and society specific. Therefore, as could be found, the war theories act as social tools, to
understand the particularities of the social setting. The war theories are also important as it
gives one the understanding and the perception of the development of a particular social
structure10. The war theories also act as a social tool to understand and analyse the social
structure. The war theories also provide one the notion and understanding of the concept of
justice, as evolved over the time and civilizations, and societies. As have been analysed thee
war te3ories have provide the justification for change, for the existence of a particular social
structure, and the assimilations of culture. One of the major contribution of the war theories is
to understand the culture of various societies and the cultural understandings of different
cultural settings and cultural norms as they have been developed11. The war theories also
explain the different formations, structures of the societies and the religious underpinnings of
various societies. The war theories are also excellent tools to describe the formation of the
statehood across nations and provide a justification behind the different structures of the
states.
The theories of security generally stem from the Risk Theories. The practitioners of
security management states that the management of security has a scientific understanding
and background. According tote academicians, every understanding and every discourse has
a scientific understanding and a theory, upon which, the conducts sand the understandings are
developed. Therefore, the theory of security was indeed a need, and the theories are used in
the,
10 Vayrynen, Raimo, ed. The waning of major war: Theories and debates. Routledge, 2013.
11 Rahmanovic, Faruk. Three theories of just war: understanding warfare as a social tool through comparative
analysis of Western, Chinese, and Islamic classical theories of war. Diss. [Honolulu]:[University of Hawaii at
Manoa],[May 2012], 2012.

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 Understanding of the security management.
 Understanding the methodologies of the security management.
 Understanding the social concerns and the needs for the applications of the security
management. And
 To understand the processes and the integration of the threat and vulnerability of the
risk management process12.
Particular Theory for the Better Understanding of the Management of the State Security.
As mentioned, the concept of safety and security of today’s time have a more
practical or pragmatic approach, and it has been realised that each of the industries have their
own way of understanding of the independent management of the security and safety of the
industries. There are essentially three theories related to this particular filed, and these are,
the Risk Theory, the Copenhagen School of Security Studies, the Causality Theory and the
Crisis Theory. All of these theories are much common and popular and effective, however,
the most popular theory is the Risk Theory. The Risk theory is essentially based on the
identification of the threats that are related. Therefore, the basic notion is that, all, the
organizations, must, at first, try to realise and analyse that may be faced while continuing
with the business conducts. If the threats or thee risk associated with the fields can be
analysed, then, it will be easier for the industries to include a certain security management
strategies that will be helpful and effective to deal with the crisis situations13. Also, each of
the industries are faced and posed with different sets of risk factors. Therefore, it has been
proved to be helpful and effective for the industries to have analysed the risk factors to
manage the security and safety management.
12 Blader, S.L. and Tyler, T.R., 2013. How can theories of organizational justice explain the Efl’ects of fairness?.
In Handbook of organizational justice (pp. 329-354). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
13 Smith, Clifton, and David J. Brooks. Security science: The theory and practice of security. Butterworth-
Heinemann, 2012.

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Limits and Possibilities of the “Laws of War”. Identify the Conditions of War under
which They Succeed or Fail.
The laws of war refer to the rules or the international laws that are followed by the
nation states in order to maintain peace among themselves. All the nation states are now
involved with each other in certain economic and political relations. Therefore, they are often
posed with situations, where there can be chances of political and economic unrests.
Therefore, each of the countries and the states are provided with certain rules and regulations
that help the nations to avoid certain war situations. These rules have been developed since
World War I and II, and also, the onset of globalization have also contributed in the
formation of the laws of war14. However, there are certain limitations and benefits of the laws
of war.
Limitations-
 The rules re not followed properly by the nation states, while dealing with the non-
state actors.
 There have been nothing done to comply the states with the laws of war.
 There are many loop holes in the rules of the laws of war.
 There is a lack of practical approach in the maintenance of the laws of war15.
Benefits-
 The laws stop the countries to get involved in the war situations.
 The laws help in maintaining peace within and among the nation states.
 The laws also help in dealing with situation that can actually result into a warfare.
14 Fernandez, Sergio, and Hal G. Rainey. "Managing successful organizational change in the public
sector." Debating Public Administration. Routledge, 2017. 7-26.
15 Nadarajah, Suthaharan, and David Rampton. "The limits of hybridity and the crisis of liberal peace." Review
of International Studies 41.1 (2015): 49-72.

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As it can be understood that the war situation depends upon and can be influence by many
factors. Both, the success and the failure of a warfare are dependent upon or rather influenced
certain conditions.
The success of a warfare, is influenced, firstly, by the coercive power, secondly, it is
influenced by the chances and options of rewards. Thirdly, the warfare, are also influenced
and dependant upon the internal cohesion among the groups of nations fighting together, and
the mediating coalition among the nations fighting against16. According to the social
scientists, and the social researchers, the Mutually Hurting Stalemate is another factor that
influence upon the success factor of the warfare.
The failure of a warfare is also dependent upon the certain situations and certain factors.
Firstly, the failure of warfare depends upon the intensity of the war on the part of the nations
or the groups of nations involved into it. It is often seen that the intensity level of a particular
warfare affects the chances of success and failure or the war. Secondly, the political and the
economic factors, involved behind a warfare, also influence upon the failure factors of the
war17. An economically weak country or nation is likely to fail in the war, also, a nation with
poor strategies and poor political strategies are likely to fail in the warfare.
Essay 3: International Political Economy & Globalization
Definition of Globalization. Usefulness of Globalization in International Trade and
Finance. Disadvantage of Globalization in International Trade and Finance.
Globalization can be referred to a process through which, the concepts of politics,
traits of culture, forms of ideologies and goods, and schools of philosophies are spread about
and across the world. However, the term globalization is essentially related to the types and
16 Uniacke, Suzanne. "Reasonable Prospect of Success." How We Fight: Ethics in War (2014): 62.
17 Braunwald, Eugene. "The war against heart failure: the Lancet lecture." The Lancet 385.9970 (2015): 812-
824.

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forms of economic and trade relationships among and across the countries18. The onset of free
trade and free economy, and the technological advancements had marked the development
and the popularity of globalization.
Therefore, the globalization has, both, negatively and positively, impacted upon the
trade and finance relationships across the nations.
The two major positive contributions of Globalization in the expansion of trade and
economy are, firstly, the interconnectedness and an open market. The globalization, and the
advancements of technology, has made the world, one big and free market, therefore, it has
become easier for the business houses to get access into the industry, and to reach to people.
The cultural assimilation that have generated because of this interconnectedness, have also
contributed positively in the trade and fiancé industry19. For example, the advancement of
technology and the free trade policies, have made it easier for the smaller business
organizations like the Uber, which was essentially a start- up, to spread across countries, and
to step into the developing countries, in a very shorter amount of time.
Secondly, the globalization has also helped in maintaining competitiveness within the
market. The companies are now expanding their target market, and are rigorously involving
their research and development industry and their innovation skills, in order to maintain their
customer base and their position within the market. They have included concepts like
outsourcing, into their business, to include cultural diversity within the workforce and again
to be more economic in orientation20. For example, Infosys is one of the major companies
which includes huge outsourcing within its structure.
18 Steger, Manfred B. Globalization: A very short introduction. Vol. 86. Oxford University Press, 2017.
19 Jaumotte, Florence, Subir Lall, and Chris Papageorgiou. "Rising income inequality: technology, or trade and
financial globalization?." IMF Economic Review 61.2 (2013): 271-309.
20 Jaumotte, Florence, Subir Lall, and Chris Papageorgiou. "Rising income inequality: technology, or trade and
financial globalization?." IMF Economic Review 61.2 (2013): 271-309.