PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Key Concepts in International Relations

“A combination of internal pressures (ethnic and regional forces) and external threats (EU, UN, TNC, global market, etc.) has produced what is commonly 999 referred to as a ‘crisis of the nation-state.” Elaborate.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
R1 nation-state as long-central actor → now squeezed from three directions at once → subnational + transnational + supranational * R2 the ‘crisis’ = simultaneous pressure from below, across and above → state pressed on all three fronts
Body flow
internal squeeze (militancy / secession / autonomy / identity denial / regional discrimination → Yugoslavia) → external squeeze (globalisation + regionalisation → sovereignty made multinational) → Nye: MNC direct/indirect pressure → Simmons: NGO policy influence → forced re-regulation (climate / terrorism / finance via transnational frameworks) → hyperglobalist redundancy claim
Counter-view
Buzan → economic role reduced, but state still the sole security provider → uniquely holds both capacity to act + authority to define a threat
Conclusion routes
rs R1 reshaped, not dissolved → survives as the central unit * R2 continuous crisis, not collapse → the state is remade, not ended

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2016, Key Concepts in International Relations