Contending Theories of International Relation from Idealism to Globalization
تاريخ النشر: 01/12/2004
الناشر: المؤسسة الحديثة للكتاب
نبذة الناشر:In a general sense, international relations theory attempts to deal with the ambiguity of the relationship between unique events and general trends. As might be expected, observes of contemporary international relations have adopted a variety of approaches to explain the essential characteristics of global politics. Indeed, the absence of a ...world wide consensus on how best to explain international relations has its profound cause in the fundamental changes which have taken place in the structure of these relations, and in the nature of the units among which these relations occur. Throughout this process the result has remained intact: the field of international relations, which was once unified to its fundamental assumptions regarding the question of war and peace, has become increasingly fragmented.
In terms of one dimension, the development of international relations theory between the two world wars reflects the growing gap between the utopians and the realists.
In a more practical vein, the utopians regard international legal rights and obligations, the natural harmony of national interests, and the role of reason in human affairs as a regulator for the preservation of international peace. The realists, on the other hand, stress rationality, power, and need for military force support diplomacy and global security.
In the final analysis, it would be misleading to draw a sharp distinction between the traditional approach and the so-called scientific one. Doubts about the capability of either a traditionalist or a scientific approach to developing a general theory that can be demonstrated to have substantial validity, as well as fertility in opening up new frontiers for research, has led to some diminishment of the debate. Perhaps the difference between the two methods underlined to some degrees the differences between a law and a theory. In fact, it is only recently that a theory – especially in the study of international relation- began to be differentiated from law. إقرأ المزيد