Evolution of the Discipline-II

0:00 [Music] hello students now we will discuss the evolution of the discipline in its second part here we will basically discuss what are the major world events particularly the events in Europe and America that contributed for the evolution and growth of our discipline so we will be proceeding like this first we will be talking of the major world events in international relations particularly called as Big Bangs within those big Banks we will be first talking

0:48 of the treaties of West Pia then we will be covering on the European imperialism and colonialism then the first world war then the second world war then we will will shift our Focus to the evolution of international relations in India then we will be talking of the end of the Cold War the globalization process and the major events since 2000 ending with some important concluding points so let us start to our first major event that contributed for a major change in the discipline of international relations that is what is called the treaties of West FIA for for some Western Scholars the field history

1:33 from European State system to the present has been events driven so if you look at those major events they are so great that contributed in a major way to the evolution and growth of our discipline contemporary State system in Europe originated in 1648 with the treaties of West FIA that ended the 30 Years War particularly it marked the emergence of secular authorities in Europe you may have some knowledge about the medieval history where the Kings and the Queens ruled the territorial entities with the support of the Lords Who provided Military Support when there was a need

2:19 there was no nation state no nationalism no permanent Army and the pope who had given some kind of unity to the continent was for possessing enormous power and that is how the kings and queens derived their Authority particularly from the pope who was the head of the Christian religion the Treaty of West Pia had certain major impacts uh first it embraced the notion of sovereignty you must be knowing that when we say sovereignty sovereignty refers to that supreme power of the state by virtue of which which the state is internally and externally independent so nobody can challenge the state

3:06 Authority within the state in case you challenge the state Authority then the state has enormous squarey power that it can use against you similarly if anybody challenges the state Authority from outside that may result in a war so for the first time the Treaty of West FIA popularized and embarassed the notion of sovereignty for the states second the leaders of Europe's most powerful countries established their own permanent National militaries as I said there was no concept of permanent military and National military so you know the military support was given by the Lords whom we called in India as

3:51 jars to those kings and queens who were ruling Europe in different kingdoms and different regions third a core group of states dominated the world until the beginning of 19th century you know you will find at that time the powerful countries like Austria Russia Prussia England and France so these were the countries that took major advantage at that time and Consolidated their power and that's why there was what is called a long piece for those 100 Years starting from 1819 to 19 19 so it is about 100 years now let me talk about the European imperialism and

4:37 colonialism the European imperialism and colonialism reinforced Europe's hemony in international relations for several centuries to come still today we talk about eurocentricism in international relations and how Europe and America dominated the discipline of international relations so this European imperalism and colonialism had a major impact on the evolution and growth of the discipline undoubtedly imperialism and Empires it created did Havoc with the colonialized population and destroyed their societies culture and economy if you get a chance you go through the famous book by davai naroi

5:23 called poverty and on British rule in India you would find what was the exploitative character of British imperialism in India and how that contributed for the betterment of and richness of the European continent it also acted as a driving force behind the creation of today's Global International Society you can call this at the beginning of the first era of globalization because it linked previously isolated political communities and economies through Power and Conquest those territories and communities which were living outside Europe you know they were conquered through the demonstration of naked Power by the colonial countries and that is

6:09 how they integrated those you know political communities through their policy of imperialism and colonialism the same process of globalization led to the disolution of these empires in the 20th century once you integrated them you know definitely there was a chance you know that everything was influenced your way of life your ideas your education system your transportation and communication so that definitely integrated Those Distant communities and geographies but it also led to the destruction of European imperialism and colonialism European ideas about the statud and National self-determination encouraged Colonial Liberation movements

6:54 across the world you know what happened after the end of the second World War when the process of decolonialization LED uh you know many countries of know Africa Asia and Latin America to get their independent and and they were integrated into the International System so basically the ideas of statehood and National self-determination these ideas their education system loyalty towards one's Nation you know these kind of ideas help the colonial people to uh mobilize themselves against the Imperial powers and that led to the end of imperialism and colonialism at least in a geographical sense then you know uh the British Hony played a key role in

7:40 maintaining the long peace in Europe from 1814 to 1914 so because the United Kingdom were the superpower at that time so there was a continuity in its foreign policy and that helped it to maintain at least some kind of balance of power between and among different powerful countries of Europe at that time and that led to what we call the long peace in Europe at least for 100 years now let me talk about the first world war and its impact on the discipline of international relations the rise of Germany the Imperial competition in non-european world and the Advent of modern Industrial Technologies all cited as the causes of the first world war so

8:27 there is not a single cause you will find so many caes but these were all the immediate caes of the first world war it fundamentally received International Affairs ended the long piece and created an urgency in the study of international relations leading to its institutional establishment in 1919 so when the first World War Began it you know in a major way it contributed for the transformation of international Affairs ended the long piece of last 100 years and it also led to the institutional establishment of international relations as a separate discipline in the year 1919 the first chair was established at the University of Wales in 1919 and

9:15 devoted to the systematic study of the causes of war and conditions for Peace So in a way you can say this was the primary objective of international relations right from its beginning because those issues were the pressing issues at that time and as a discipline it was devoted for studying for understanding and analyzing what are the causes of war and how could peace be established it was offered as a separate branch of study in many European and American universities since 1920s onwards so you would find not just in UK rather it became a separate discipline and and studied and researched as a for discipline in many countries in uh in

10:03 Europe in America and in many other parts of the world think tanks also made a long-standing contribution think tanks means know research institutes that also played a major role a vital role for the consolidation of the discipline the Cari Endowment for International Peace established in the year 1910 The raal Institute of international Affairs in the United Kingdom established in 19 1920 the Australian and the New Zealand Institute of international Affairs emerged in 1933 and 1934 so this is how you know those think tanks those research institutes you know they concentrated a lot of their efforts on on studying international relations you know on researching on international

10:49 relations and that is how in a major way they contributed for the growth of the discipline the inter War years were optimistic period as the leue of Nations was established as a forum to manage the interstate disputes through negotiation and not work so this is for the first time you would find an international institution that was devoted for the cause of preventing war and establish peace and not just the League of Nations there was also the international court of justice at heg that was also there to resolve the interstate disputes of that time then later Focus about the second world war and its impact on the discipline of international relations

11:35 the second world war started as certain states were unhappy with the inter World status quo especially Germany and Japan so when the first world war concluded there was peace plan and that peace plan was in a way unjust for countries like Germany and that was the major reason why Germany was unhappy why it was unhappy and there was also Japan in Asia that in a major way also contributed for the beginning of second world war this led to the collapse of the League of Nations and the beginning of another deadly World War so when this second world war started so the the institutional framework that was there

12:22 to prevent the cause of war or the onset of war that was demolished and the League of Nations collapsed like a play of cards and that led to the beginning of a big world war a group of states called the Allied Powers presently those who are the permanent members of the United Nations security Council they were all in that block that is called Allied Powers opposed Axis Powers ending with the occupation of Germany and the surrender of Japan you know how the United States entered into the second world war used nuclear weapons against Japan twice uh within a span of 2 3 days and how that led Japan to surrender at is how the second world war ended it is

13:10 considered as the most significant War due to its scale and devastating impact it reinforced the realist belief that Warfare was endemic to Mankind's past and likely to be a central problem in our future so this is the period in which you know the ideal Paradigm of international relations you know that was in a crisis and this is the period when realism actually got the opportunity to consolidate itself the post second world war period also some other major developments that had implications for the discipline of international relations the first was the end of the European Imperial power and the beginning of decolonialization

13:55 process in Asia Africa and Latin America that led to what we call the so-called third world countries and the establishment of the N after a few years and it also expanded the scope of international relations because the IR was now at least you know dealing with an international system that was not just Europe but few countries from Asia Africa and Latin America they got their independence and that is how you know the boundaries of inter relations was ex expanded to some extent there was also the first attempt to establish the formal organizations for Global governance leading to what you call the

14:42 United Nations system and the Britain Hood system I called it as the first serious attempt because you know although the League of Nations were there and woodro Wilson the former American president played an important role for its establishment America was not a member so that was was one of the reasons why the League of Nations was not a success so this was the first time that know there was an organization which was having Universal membership and this was the organization that was in a way you know established to contribute for the prevention of another major world or another Major World War the second world war created structural changes in the global distribution of

15:28 power lead to what is called the domination of two superpowers and the beginning of the Cold War after this you know the end of the Cold War you know there was the United States and the Soviet Union those who emerged as leading superpowers of that time and and that the ideological rivalry between these two countries led to what we call the cold war that continued for a long period of time new ideological rivalry arms race proxy war Mutual AO destruction through the nuclear Factor all became the new issues of study under the international relations so earlier the agenda was just to prevention of war

16:14 and finding the possibility of peace now because of Cold War rivalry between the two superpowers new issues emerg for the study and that was you know this kind of arms race you know balance of power you know proxy war Mutual assure destruction nuclear discernment so many other issues captured the attention of international relation Scholars and that became the new agenda of the discipline new dimension was also added in the form of non-state actors influencing and shaping the working of international relations this was a minor Factor because the new actors that we call the non-state actors they were not influential but that was the time at least there was a need and and some you know non-state actors

17:00 emerged of course in the 50s and 60s but they were not as influential as they are today so that was in any way you know a major development in the post second world war period now let me Focus the evolution of international relations in India you know amidst the major developments in the world and Europe you know serious efforts were being made to study international relations in India so it's not that you know international relations became a separate discipline in Europe and America to some extent you know the Indians particularly during the freedom struggle and during the period before uh India's independence you know some efforts were made to study the discipline but in a different way

17:47 institutionalization started with the Indian Council of world affairs which is considered as India's first independent International Affairs think tank in 1943 just see in the year 1943 there was a need and there was an urgency to study and research on the discipline of international relations the icw publishes a prestigious research Journal called India quarterly and this journal started publishing since 1945 it was followed by the Indian School of International Studies uh which began at Delhi University in 1955 and as in subsequent years it moved to javal neru University in 1970 and it was named as the school of international

18:34 studies the sis publishes a peer review journal called International Studies the international relations department in jadur University was established in the year 1956 and considered as the first Bonafide distinct University Department it also publishes a prestigious research Journal called jadur Journal of international relations after the jnu and the jadur university experiment many other Premier universities were offering you know Masters and PHD programs in international relations area studies and peace and conflict studies some of them include the Delhi University the Jamia

19:20 Mia islamia University the pacher university aligar Muslim University Mahatma Gandhi University South as University Ashoka University Jindal University Shad University crash University and many other Central universities established during the last two decades the institutional Foundation was farther strengthen by rapid mushrooming of both governmental and non-governmental research institutes and think tanks like the institute for defense studies and Analysis The Institute for peace and studies the center for air power studies the Center for Land welfare studies the institute

20:06 for Chinese studies the center for policy research the foreign policy Research Center The Observer Research Foundation the Delhi policy group The Gateway house and many others both in in the national capital and in other parts of the country they conduct significant research on Indian international relations but play a very small role in the process of teaching of international relations in Indian universities and colleges so that is how the discipline of international relations emerg in India let me now shift our Focus to the next big bang event that is called the end of the Cold War the end of the Cold War had major effects that we still feel

20:54 in international relations it left the United States and only superpower because of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 leading to what the US international relations schar called the unipolar moment this introduced new set of dangers and opportunities into International Society you must remember the 1991 Gulf crisis and that was in a way caused because of the US hemony in international relations and after 2 years you know there was a collapse of Soviet Union various Global changes generated anomalies between existing theories and World developments particularly you will find that the

21:40 failure to predict the collapse of the Soviet Union was highly damaging for the realist who dominated throughout the period of Cold War this led to Renewal interest in alternative IR theories such as you know feminism critical theory post modern Theory and many other theories so basically you will find that it reduce the importance of the mainstream theories and that is the reason why there was a lot of alternative theories challenging the Monopoly and Hony of the mainstream theories although the critical theories in a way explain the changes in international relations but they also failed to provide a comprehensive theory

22:26 of change so that's why they are also criticize you know they rejected the possibility of a grand theoretical synthesis but accused of causing fragmentation of international relations and leading to a movement towards what James and rosu says a movement towards post International politics now basically when Roso is saying about post International politics he meant to say that you know nowadays there is no agreement on many issues in inter interal relations unlike the the realist tradition or the liberal tradition and we also don't know where we're actually uh going through these major changes so that is the reason why he used this term you know post International politics it

23:14 greatly also we can n the non alland movement defying its cold war logic you know the N was established in the beginning of the Cold War when the two superpowers you know try to bring the newly independent countries of Asia Africa and Latin America into their military camp but they refused because of their own priorities and concerns and that is how it was established in the Year 1961 in Belgrade and called the non allign movement it also led to the establishment of the WTO the World Trade Organization and hope for reforming the United Nations and expansion of the European Union and n so you know this is

23:59 the period the United Nations was in a way paralyzed due to the frequent use of VTO Powers by both the superpowers and when the Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed you know there was a hope that the United Nations could play an important role in international politics because of the absence of the Soviet Union and that is the reason why there was a lot of debate and discussion for reforming the United Nations system especially its most powerful organ the security Council now let me focus on another major world event that is called globalization you know the whole concept of globalization is highly contested and even debated but it is widely understood as the widening deepening and speeding

24:47 off of the global interconnectedness facilitated by the information technology Revolution so basically it is the information technology Revolution and the a structural adjustment program different countries of Africa Asia and Latin America that contributed for the integration of the world for the interconnectedness of the world Thomas fredman identifies three areas of globalization driven first by the states then by the companies and finally by the individuals globalization driven by the US Hony in international relations if uh the process of globalization started in the third phase is what we can say you know it is because of the US hemony in international relations allowing it to

25:34 establish liberal democracy and economy are the world's preferred political and economic ideologies you know if you need to expand the ideology if you need to popularize any ideology in international politics you need the backing of a major power or a superpower so that is how the process of globalization was popularized it was implemented in many countries of the world through the structural adjustment program uh and and many other economic and non economic reforms and to to establish and penetrate the process of globalization liberal ideology institutionalized through International organizations like the establishment of the World Trade organizations the World

26:20 Bank and the IMF though the World Bank and the IMF were established after the second world war under the Britain system the World Trade Organization was established in the early 1990s and that in a way contributed for the penetration of you know economic ideas suitable for globalization the another process can be called as the democratization process which became a key element of US foreign policy at that time it basically sought to extend the zone of democratic peace supported by the Democratic peace Theory the process of democratization or democracy as an element of US foreign policy became popular in those days and this was the reason why the United

27:07 States attacked countries like Afghanistan and Iraq to establish democracy in those countries because there was a perception that less democracy leads to more violence and terrorism so that that was the reason why it became an important element of US foreign policy the globalization critics point out that the states Remain the key actors in international society setting the rules by which globalization continues to unfold so there was a lot of debate in the globalization process that whether it has affected the states Authority the state sovereignty whether people were talking of the borderless world so those who you know basically criticize the globalization process they argued that the state facilitated the

27:54 globalization process they were not eclipsed or they not uh you know lose their Authority because of globalization still they are the primary actors and although there are other actors in international politics states are the primary actors so that was basically the perception it supporters point to non-state actors as an influential category in international politics and also the key beneficiary connecting the previously isolated groups and potentially creating a global Civil Society so the whole concept of civil International Civil Society or Global Society came in early 1990s uh particularly after this globalization economic liberalization and the information technology Revolution and you now feel how the

28:41 world is connected how the world is deeply integrated and if there is anything happens in in New York Stock Exchange you feel its impact in the Bombay Stock Exchange if there is any problem in India you feel its impact in Europe if there is any problem in in Europe the impact is felt all over the world so that is how we are now deeply integrated that you know anything can be felt in any other parts of the world and that is how the globalization process facilitated the integration of the whole world it has the potential to disrupt International Society by allowing people goods and ideas to cross borders more easily threatening sovereignty of the state so when there is globalization

29:28 that naturally helps and allows the people to move from this part of the world to that part of the world not just the people you know goods and ideas also acoss different countries and that is how in a way that has affected the state sovereignty the 911 terrorist attack the 2008 Global financial crisis the covid the Russia Ukraine war are some of the few examples that went Global thanks to the changes brought out by the process of globalization so if there is Russia Ukraine war the whole world is getting affected if there was covid you know the whole world was paralyzed so that is the impact of globalization that if something happened in China if something

30:14 happened in in wahan you know you fail the impact and you not only fa the impact in your country rather you remember what happened during the covid years so that is how the process of globalization has affected all of because it not only just integrated different economies it not only just brought technology advanced communication you know encourage the people ideas and goods and services to move from different countries to other parts of the world rather it also made us highly dependent and also vulnerable at the same time now let me focus on some major events since 2000 you know during the last few years the world witnessed an era of globalization and de

31:01 globalization just remember when President Donald Trump was there how we made this famous statement America first so that explains the Del globalization process the rise of big te companies challenging the authority of the States you know there was a lot of controversy between Google and the Australian State and the Google and many states in Europe particularly about the power of the state to control these big tech companies right and then there was the costly us Imperial Adventure in Afghanistan and Iraq the rise of India and China and the discussion about in the Asian Century the 2008 and 9 economic crisis the decline of us power

31:48 uh particularly its super power status having major implications on the units processes and structure of International System and its main theories and Concepts so these are some of the major events that are in a way substantially affected the way we did research the way we theorized on on many important events and the way we understood the concepts a variety of global issues and threats like environmental crisis the danger of additional nuclear weapon States the turmoil across parts of Africa and Asia International terrorism China's built Road initiative the outbreak of covid and the USA China trade War Russia

32:33 Ukraine war economic recession in many Advanced countries such as in Japan in Germany and to some extent in USA and now in China so these are the events that had significant effects on the structure of the International System and in their practical political implication so these events you know in a way contributed for major changes in international relations at the same time there is a general inability of international institutions to deal with those challenges raising a question mark on their effectiveness and legitimacy you will find this in the frustrations of many countries including India Japan and many other countries when we discuss

33:19 about the expansion of the UN Security Council and although there was a lot of efforts there was a lot of Hope for the reform of the United Nations security Council and uh you know still the matter is still not resolved and these countries are feeling you know frustrated they are feeling neglected and that is the reason why the whole you know concept of international relations the whole concept of international organizations that has come to a question mark now let us end our discussion with some important points you know the first point is now the disciplinary history provides interesting ins Ides for understanding how the field attempted to establish its identity so we have seen how different

34:04 traditions of thought how the you know major events in Europe and America they contributed for the evolution and the growth of the discipline to establish its own independent identity but there are many issues when we look at the disciplinary growth you know there is no consensus on the essential dimensions of the fields Evolution you know some are saying big events are responsible some are saying you know different Traditions are responsible some are saying great debates are responsible some are saying those events only focus on Europe and America not the global South so you know there is no unanimity on the essential dimensions of the fields Evolution there is also a concern about the little or no

34:50 attention to methodological issues particularly you know when I'm talking of methodological issues many of the me thirds used in international relations they are based on the western experience the Western culture Western history it doesn't uh say anything it doesn't study the experience and ideas from the global South so there are methodological errors and methodological problems when we try to understand the history of international relations the Dynamics of disciplinary formation uh can tell us a lot or even hide us a lot I can give you the example of the role of marginalized and excluded voices including those of women so nobody knows what are the role of the marginalized people in the growth

35:36 of the discipline in the history of the discipline and although we know something about them through the study of feminism particularly it was originated and popularized only in in the second world war and especially in 1990s want to know about the history of the international relations discipline in a much systematic way or in a more better way then that doesn't help us to understand the role of many marginalized people then there are issues of race and Empire missing from mainstream theories we make a lot of claim that you know realism best explains the working of international relations or there is an alternative Mega Theory called liberalism but this liberalism and manism they may be big theories they may

36:22 be popularized in the discipline of international relations but they don't explain and analyze important issues that affect us particularly the issues of race and Empire you know each of the two ways has its own merits and when applied combinedly they hold the promise of confirming what John gunels pointed out that truth is very often more convincing Than Fiction and it carries as much critical Force so the point is now there are different traditions of thought through which we can understand international relations there are big events but it would be better if you combine both the approaches that will give us some idea about the disciplinary you know history of international

37:09 relations these complexities and uncertainties make the study of international relations so interesting fascinating and useful today so as we discussed you know you know the discipline has undergone several changes it was influenced by major events there was different kind of tradition so if you combine all these events all the changes all these debates so combinely together they help us to have a better understanding of the growth of the discipline what we describe as international relations so thank you very much for your patient hearing thank you [Music]