Topic: Approaches to the Study of International Relations
Discuss the commonalities between the Marxist and Realist approach to the study of International Politics.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 ideological opposites → yet both read world politics as material + conflict, not ideals/moralityRoute 2 open on the shared lens →…
In what ways does the functionalist approach in international relations help in maintaining peace and order in global politics?
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 high politics keeps failing to secure peace → Mitrany’s “peace by pieces” → order built from below, not imposedRoute 2 peace…
What do you mean by offensive and defensive realism?
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 both neorealist strands → shared anarchy / self-help / survival → split on how much power = securityRoute 2 realism’s puzzle…
Explain the central tenets of the World-Systems Theory.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 global inequality is structural, not a gap between isolated nations → one capitalist world-economy since the sixteenth centuryRoute 2 Wallerstein’s single…
Explain the various facets of the idealist approach to the study of international relations. Comment on its contemporary relevance.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 idealism = interwar liberal dominance → politics around morality, cooperation, peace, not powerRoute 2 set against realist power politics → rejects…
Critically examine the functional and system approaches to the study international relations.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 both products of the behavioural turn → push IR past human nature → one to cooperation, one to structureRoute 2 two…
Bring out the major differences between the Classical Realism of Hans Morgenthau and the Neorealism of Kenneth Waltz.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 common realist ground (power, anarchy, self-help) → one root difference: the source of the power-struggleRoute 2 both realist → disagree on…
What are the core assumptions of idealism as an approach to study international relations? Explain its continuing relevance in peace building.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 interwar liberal thought = idealism → Enlightenment faith: humans rational, world reformable → war removable, peace reachableRoute 2 idealist optimism vs…
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