PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Approaches to International Relations
What are the core assumptions of idealism as an approach to study international relations? Explain its continuing relevance in peace building.
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 interwar liberal thought = idealism → Enlightenment faith: humans rational, world Intro routes reformable → war removable, peace reachable R2 idealist optimism vs realist pessimism → good nature + shared interests → these very premises still drive peace- building
Body flow
human nature good → war from bad institutions, not fixed drive → reform removes it Body flow – individuals primary, states pluralistic (group bargaining) → interests dynamic (self- + other-regarding) → mutual interests → cooperation without ahegemon → Hoffmann: self-restraint / moderation / compromise / peace → three pillars (institutions, interdependence, democracy) → Couloumbis & Wolfe: “art of good government" -. pillars carried into practice → Kant (republican constitutionalism + federation) → Wilson (collective security) → Doyle (democratic peace) → contemporary survival: UN, Paris Agreement, SDGs
Counter-view
| realists brand idealism utopian → its harmony-of-interests optimism doubted Counter-view
Conclusion routes
R1 assumptions are no utopian relic → enduring rule-based cooperation Conclusion routes vindicates the institutional wager R2 idealism survives as the working logic of institution-based peace — sharpened by realism, not defeated by it
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
