Hello aspirants,
Today’s revision capsule of PSIR optional preparation covers Approaches to International Relations. There are four 20-markers, twelve 15-markers, and nie 10-markers from this topic in the last 12 years.
Origins of the Idea
| Year | Term / Author | Key Point |
| 1650s | Richard Zouche – inter gentes | Early “law of nations”. |
| 1780s | Jeremy Bentham – “International” | Coined the English word. |
| 1919 | Aberystwyth Chair (Alfred Zimmern) | First university chair in IR. |
IR as Condition vs Discipline
- Quincy Wright:
- Condition → real-world political, economic, cultural, military dealings among sovereign states & other actors.
- Discipline → systematic, scientific study of those dealings.
Early scepticism: Palmer & Perkins call IR a “loose bundle”; Zimmern “no distinct framework.”
Post-WW II shift: E.H. Carr, Hans Morgenthau inject critical, analytical rigour → IR becomes a bona-fide academic field.
Realism: Generations
| Branch | Core Claim | Prime Names | Signature Texts / Concepts |
| Classical Realism | Power rooted in human nature (egoism, domination). | Thucydides, Kautilya, Machiavelli, Hobbes, E.H. Carr, Hans Morgenthau, Niebuhr | Melian Dialogue; Arthashastra; “ends justify means” ; Leviathan; Twenty Years’ Crisis; Politics Among Nations (6 principles). |
| Structural / Neo-Realism | Anarchic structure of system compels states to seek security. | Kenneth Waltz (Theory of International Politics) | Anarchy, relative gains, security dilemma, bipolar stability. |
| Defensive Realism | States seek enough power for security; over-accumulation backfires. | Waltz, Jack Snyder, Stephen Van Evera | Costly conquest, balancing. |
| Offensive Realism | Best path to survival = maximise power, pursue (regional) hegemony. | John Mearsheimer | “Back-passing, bait-and-bleed, bloodletting”; China’s rise; Thucydides Trap; critique of ‘peaceful rise’. |
| Strategic Realism | Focus on rational coercion & bargaining, not morality. | Thomas Schelling (Strategy of Conflict, Arms & Influence) | Game theory, deterrence, brute force vs coercion, “diplomacy of violence”. |
| Neo-classical Realism | System + domestic intervening variables (leaders’ perceptions, state-society, state capacity). | Gideon Rose, Randall Schweller, Lobell–Ripsman–Taliaferro, Stephen Walt | Status-quo vs revisionist states, extraction capacity, perception of power. |
Realist Keywords
- Anarchy – no central authority.
- Security dilemma (Herz/Jervis).
- Balancing vs Bandwagoning.
- Relative gains.
- Self-help.
- Status-quo / Revisionist / Imperialist states (Morgenthau).
- Thucydides’ Trap – rising vs ruling power tension.
- Brute force vs Coercion (Schelling).
Structural Realism
- Waltz: Units equal in functions; differ in capabilities (power).
- Anarchy + capability distribution ⇒ systemic constraints → limited policy autonomy.
- Market analogy: states ≈ firms; survival the bottom line.
Key Realist Applications
- Cold War “long peace” → bipolar stability (Waltz).
- NATO expansion – Russia/Ukraine crisis → security dilemma (Mearsheimer, Wertheimer).
- US regional hegemony in Western Hemisphere & effort to block Eurasian peers (Mearsheimer).
Major Critiques of Realism
| Critique Line | Scholars / Schools | Points |
| Over-power & war bias | Liberal-institutionalists (Keohane & Nye – Complex Interdependence) | Underplays cooperation, IGOs, UN collective security. |
| State-centrism obsolete | NGO / MNC / Trans-national turn; post-Cold-War pluralists | Non-state actors, climate change, terrorism. |
| Degenerating paradigm | Legro & Moravcsik | Conceptual stretching – “is everybody now a realist?”. |
| Emancipatory / Critical | Ken Booth, Andrew Linklater | Human security > state security, need for emancipation & global justice. |
| International Society | Martin Wight, Henry Kissinger | Must weave realism, rationalism (Grotius), revolutionism (Kant). |
| Constructivist | Alexander Wendt, others | Interests shaped by identities & norms, not just material power. |
| Feminist | J. Ann Tickner | Realism marginalises women & gendered power relations. |
Timeline of Disciplinary Landmarks
1919 – Aberystwyth chair (IR born)
1919–39 – Idealist/utopian phase
1939–45 – E.H. Carr critique; WWII trauma
1948 – Morgenthau Politics Among Nations
1950s–60s – Behavioural revolution; Schelling’s game theory
1979 – Waltz Theory of International Politics
1990s – End of Cold War → neoclassical realism, constructivism, liberal revival
2001 – Mearsheimer Tragedy of Great Power Politics
2010s–20s – Debates on China’s rise, Ukraine war, climate security, pandemic governance.
Other Approaches
| INTELLECTUAL ROOTS & CORE PROPOSITIONS | KEY SCHOLARS / TEXTS | LEADING CONCEPTS & MODELS | CANONICAL CRITIQUES | ||||
| I. LIBERAL TRADITION | States/peoples are rational; cooperation can tame anarchy. | Locke Two Treatises – consent & limited rule. Kant Perpetual Peace – republicanism + free-trade pacify. Smith Wealth of Nations – laissez-faire & “invisible hand.” Cobden – trade-as-peace. Angell Great Illusion – war ≠ wealth. Bentham – utilitarian int’l court. Wilson Fourteen Points → League of Nations. | Republican peace · Economic interdependence · Open diplomacy · Self-determination. | Realists: cooperation fragile; secrecy & power trump law. | |||
| Schools of Liberal IR | |||||||
| ➊ Institutionalism | Institutions mitigate anarchy, supply info, lower costs. | Nye & Keohane – complex interdependence. | IGOs/NGOs; supranational rule-making; multiple issue-areas. | Legitimacy deficits; IOs = tools of great-power interest (Realism). | |||
| ➋ Sociological Liberalism | Society-to-society links trump billiard-ball states. | John Burton – cobweb; Karl Deutsch – security community; trends flagged by Rousseau (global media, migration). | Transnationalism; mutual responsiveness; shared values (EU, ASEAN). | Underplays hard-power revivals. | |||
| ➌ (Neo-)Functionalism | “Peace-by-pieces”: technical cooperation spills into politics. | David Mitrany; Ernst Haas – political spill-over, ECSC→EU. | Track-two diplomacy; incremental integration. | Euro-centric, economic bias. | |||
| ➍ Interdependence Liberalism | Trade & finance weave pacific ties. | T. Friedman – “Golden Arches.” Rosecrance – Trading State. | Cost-of-war > gains; MNCs as actors. | Asymmetry lets strong exploit interdependence. | |||
| ➎ Democratic Peace | Democracies (Doyle, Russett, Ray) rarely fight each other. | Dyadic & monadic logics; institutional/cultural constraints. | Used normatively to justify intervention; exceptions & Euro-centrism noted. | ||||
| Neo-liberalism & “Neo-Neo” Debate | Accept anarchy (Waltz) but stress absolute gains. | Keohane After Hegemony; Axelrod Evolution of Cooperation. | Regime theory; issue-linkage; shadow-of-the-future. | Neo-realists: states covet relative gains; institutions epiphenomenal. | |||
| HISTORICAL-MATERIAL LENSES | MAJOR VOICES | STRUCTURES & DYNAMICS | REJOINDERS | ||||
| II. MARXIST / NEO-MARXIST IR | Capitalist world-system, class struggle, imperialism. | Marx-Engels – proletarian internationalism. Lenin Imperialism – export of capital & monopolies. | Core/periphery; conflictual order; historical materialism. | Ignores non-economic motives; over-deterministic (Waltz). | |||
| Dependency & World-System | External linkage breeds under-development. | Frank, Cardoso, Amin, Prebisch, Wallerstein (core / semi / periphery). | Unequal exchange, development of underdevelopment. | Over-emphasis on external factors; East-Asian NICs. | |||
| Neo-Gramscian / Critical | Hegemony via consent & coercion. | Gramsci – civil & political society. Robert Cox – ideas + institutions + material capabilities; “theory is always for someone.” | International organisations as legitimacy machines; counter-hegemonic movements. | Eurocentric; may reify status quo. | |||
| Frankfurt / Habermas / Linklater | Emancipation, communicative action, cosmopolitan citizenship. | Horkheimer, Habermas, Linklater. | Norm-creation through discourse; widening moral community. | Abstract; thin policy prescriptions. | |||
| New Marxism | Globalization as endemic to capitalism. | Justin Rosenberg – Empire of Civil Society; uneven-combined development. | Interplay of economic & political structures. | Complexity dilutes class centrality. | |||
| SOCIETY-CENTRIC & IDEATIONAL TURNS | KEY THEORISTS | SIGNATURE IDEAS | STANDARD OBJECTIONS | |
| III. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY / ENGLISH SCHOOL | Middle ground: anarchy and order. | Hedley Bull, Martin Wight, R.J. Vincent (Grotius & Kant lineage). | System vs Society; institutions (law, diplomacy, BOP); goals—prevent war, uphold agreements, limit violence; neo-medieval shared sovereignty. | Structure-realists: anarchy timeless; radicals: Eurocentric. |
| IV. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM | World is socially made; ideas > material givens. | Alexander Wendt (“anarchy is what states make of it”; Hobbesian/Lockean/Kantian cultures). Onuf, Katzenstein, Finnemore, Tannenwald (nuclear taboo). | Intersubjective meanings; identity formation; IOs as norm entrepreneurs. | Realists: norms fragile; deceptive signalling (Krasner, Copeland, Mearsheimer). |
| V. FEMINISM (Empirical · Analytical · Normative) | Gender shapes & is shaped by IR. | Cynthia Enloe, J. Goldstein, Ann Tickner, Ann Towns. | Add women (empirical); deconstruct masculinist concepts (analytical); transformative equality (normative). Tickner’s reformulation of Morgenthau; “protection myth”; bottom-up human security. | Focus on elites?; integration into mainstream still patchy. |
| VI. POST-COLONIALISM | Power/knowledge nexus; de-centring the West. | Edward Said Orientalism; John Hobson (Eurocentrism); Doty, Winter, Laffey & Weldes, Sabaratnam, Bhambra, Shilliam, Bhabha, Spivak, Fanon. | Hierarchical discourse; racial capitalism (Cox, Robinson); case studies—US-Philippines, “asymmetric war”, Cuba, Brexit. | Language barriers; risk of relativism; engagement with IR still uneven. |
Cross-Theory
- Actors → States, classes, transnational networks, genders, “subalterns.”
- Structures → Anarchy, capitalism, hegemony, norms, patriarchy, Eurocentric discourse.
- Drivers of Change → Institutions & interdependence (liberals), crises & class struggle (Marxists), dialogue & learning (constructivists / critical / feminist), decolonising knowledge (post-colonial).
- Security Conceptions → Military balance (realist), liberal-institutional collective security, democratic peace, human emancipation, gendered & everyday security.
Practice Questions
Question 1. Explain the various facets of the idealist approach to the study of international relations. Comment on its contemporary relevance. [2024/10 m]
Question 2. What is ‘complex interdependence’? Discuss the role of transnational actors in the international system. [2021/15 m]
Question 3. Is Realism the best method to understand international relations? Examine this in the context of classical Realism. 2024/20m]
📌 Model answers available on the Telegram channel: https://t.me/psirbyamitpratap – keep notifications on.
See you tomorrow on Day 32. Keep practicing!
—Amit Pratap Singh & Team
A quick note on submissions of copies and mentorship
- 2025 Mains writers: Cohort 2 of ATS starts on 13 July. The above practice set will serve as your revision tool, just do not miss booking your mentorship sessions for personalised feedback especially for starting tests. Come with your evaluated test copies.
- 2026 Mains writers – keep uploading through your usual dashboard. Act on the feedback and improve consistently.
- Alternate between mini-tests (O-AWFG) and full mocks (ATS) has been designed to tackle speed, content depth, and structured revision—line-by-line evaluation pinpoints your weaknesses and errors. Follow your PSIR O-AWFG & ATS schedule and use the model answers to enrich your content, as rankers recommended based on their own success.
