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0:04 [Music] hello students today we'll be talking about the nomenclature of the discipline which is the very first question of the first unit while talking about the nomenclature we will be basically focusing on two important questions the first is why there are so many nomenclatures used for the discipline and secondly what are the reasons we use different nomenclatures for the discipline we will be proceeding like this first we will be talking of the
0:50 contested nomenclature for the discipline second we'll be talking of international politics and international relations and then we'll be different sitting between the two third we'll be talking of international studies fourth we will be covering of the emergence of global politics and how that has affected the earlier use of the term International politics and international relations then we'll be ending our discussion with certain import and concluding points let us now focus on the contested nomenclature of the discipline when you see the nomenclature of any other social science discipline
1:37 you will find that the nomenclature of international relations is highly contested and even debated many International Scholars call it differently some call it as International politics some call it as international relations some call it as international studies and even some call it as world political definitely there is a overlap in the focus of all these nomenclatures and that is the reason why many scholars including academics use these nomenclatures interchangeably but these nomenclatures are different from each other the objective International was C
2:24 by the British political philosopher jery Bentham in the year 1780 to capture relations among nations in a single word and that he wrote In the book the principles of morals and legislation International in this sense means International so I'm using hyen in between the two International or Interstate Politics As a student of political science you may be knowing the difference between a nation and a state a nation may have a common history common culture common language common geography but it is not a state unless and until it has five elements of State
3:13 the first is geography the second is population the third is government the fourth is sovereignty and the fifth is international recognition out of these five elements sovereignty is considered the most important one because that gives you the status of a state similarly when we say international relations basically it refers to the state Centric nature of the system and that is the reason why we call International System as a state system when we say it as a state system it basically refers to the composition of various Sovereign and autonomous
4:01 States let me now focus on International politics International politics term was used mostly in the postc world period for international Scholars like maranto who is known as the father of modern realism in international Politics the core of international politics was the politics between and among the sovereign nation states and that is the reason why he chose to write the title of the book as politics among nations for the realist and particularly for maranto power is understood at the key element in international politics and
4:49 that's why International politics was described as a struggle for power international system was divided into a collection of states and functioning under the condition of Anarchy when I'm saying Anarchy or for the realist Anarchy doesn't mean chaos or disorder rather Anarchy means there was the absence of any International Authority that could control the sovereign states this anarchical state centic approach can be Illustrated through a model called bilard B model let me show you the Billard ball model of international politics you can
5:36 see how these balls are there and they can be equated with the working of the sovereign state system they are different from each other at the same time you know they are operating in the same principle under the international politics states are compared with billiard balls and are viewed as independent and autonomous entities sovereign states behave like a collection of bil Worlds moving over the table and colliding with each other because you all are sovereign states because you are all independent states so you behave in a very different kind and there is the possibility that
6:22 you may Collide you may class with the other states so that is what the Bard model says collusion linked basically to the military and security matters you know when your military issues and my military issues are different and we consider the same thing as important so it is natural that we collide with each other power self-help and survival are the key concerns so as I said you know nations are self-seeking entities and the more you acquire power the more you would be able to secure your National interest and because all are independent states all are sovereign states so the
7:08 only way you can secure your National interest is through the policy of self-help and you always fear that other states May attack you other states May occupy you that's why you always think survival as your key concern International politics is basically oriented mainly around issues of War and Peace so because there is a possibility of collusion there is a possibility of War so basically you know you as a scholar of international politics focused on these issues diplomacy balance of power and possible military action constituted the principal forms of State interaction right so these were considered as different foreign policy
7:53 tools by the realist particularly for The Sovereign and Powerful Nation States The Bard B model has two key implications first it accepts that there is a clear distinction between the domestic politics and international politics so when we talk of domestic politics we are talking of order and when we're talking of international politics we are talking of Anarchy and secondly not all Bard balls are of the same size because of the uneven distribution of power in International politics political conflicts the reasons behind those conflicts conflict resolution fall within the perview of international politics so these were the
8:40 main issues for which the scholars of international politics worked and researched focus on competition and conflictual side of State interaction so if you look at the issues like War peace diplomacy balance of power and many other things so basically those who highlighted those issues they talked about or they covered about the conflictual and competitive nature of the states intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations were studied for their impact on the political relations of states the scholars who use the term International politics considers Politics as an autonomous discipline so
9:25 the scholars who particularly talk of international politics they highlight only the political aspects of the interaction between and among the sovereign states now let me focus on international relations the scholars who use the term international relations focus on all kinds of interactions between and among the sovereign states those kind of interactions may be political maybe economic maybe social maybe cultural maybe scientific it also includes State interactions with intergovernmental organizations transnational corporations and non-governmental organiz but for these schar state is considered as the
10:12 only significant actor so other actors are there but they are not considered as primary like the states interaction is always asymmetrical rather than symmetrical so there are other kinds of actors but their inter action with the state is not based on equality rather it is based on inequality or asymmetrical relationship no transnational Corporation or NOS can rival the states in terms of its coip power so state is not only the entity that possesses sovereignty it also possesses query power which differentiate it from all other actors
10:57 those who focus on coop itive side of interaction they basically talk about International relation so we can make a difference here between those who focus on the conflictual side of State interaction so they use the term International politics and those who talk about the Cooperative relations between the sovereign states or among the sovereign states they use the term international relations those who consider the term international relations they highlight the multi-disciplinary character of the discipline you know there are different kinds of approaches we use in political science in international relations first is what is called disciplinary approach the second is called interdisciplinary approach the third is called
11:44 multidisiplinary approach and the fourth is called transdisciplinary approach so when you do research or study your own discipline and you don't bother what is happening in other disciplines that is called disciplinary approach interdisciplinary means more than one but limited to two so when two subjects influence each other in terms of research in terms of ideas in terms of theory in terms of methodology that is called interdisciplinary approach the third is called multidisiplinary multidisiplinary means more than two discipline when there is a research give and take between different social science disciplines such as history
12:29 political science economics or sociology that is called multidisiplinary approach right in the multidisiplinary approach you borrow ideas Concepts methods and theories from other disciplines and also influence those disciplines when we talk of transdisciplinary approach it is based on two features first it is based on the unity of knowledge that is it doesn't believe in the existence of artificial boundaries between and among different social science disciplines second it also believes that there is a research give and take between social sciences Natural Sciences medical Sciences Arts
13:14 and Humanities or any other discipline so they're open for ideas Concepts methods and theories from any other discipline for the sake of totality of knowledge or comp comprehensive knowledge so after discussing what is international politics and international relations you can yourself make a difference between the two for instance international relations Is much wider and broader in scope than International politics we already discussed that in international politics only the political aspects of Interstate relations are highlighted but in international relations not just political
13:59 but nonpolitical interactions are given priority so there is a difference between the two now let me talk about International Studies Scholars particularly focuses on this term because of its wider scope those who use international studies as a nomenclature for our discipline they basically focus on societies cultures languages and systems of government so just see how this International Studies term is different from international relations because they focus only on state interactions and to a limited extent States interactions with non-state entities but here they
14:45 not only focus on the states and non-state actors they also focus on societies cultures language and comparison between different forms of government their focus is not limited rather they focus on planetary and Humanity issues and their impact on the globe so basically they're talking not just about the states and States interactions with non-state entities rather they're talking of the humanity they're talking of the globe they're talking of the whole planet also see the big picture not just the details if something is happening they not only just go through why it is is happening rather they look at the big picture they
15:32 analyze the big picture they consider the big picture but for the scholars of international studies they will not just look at the Ripple rather they they will look at the whole pond so that differentiate international relations and International Studies from each other now let me talk about global politics basically the whole concept of global politics is identified with the works of Joseph n and Robert Cohen in their famous work called transnational relations and World politics which they published in the year 1972 they are of the view that it is difficult to sustain the state Centric approach due to increased globalization
16:18 and Global interdependence you know how the present world is not only interconnected it is also closely linked with each other you know how the concept of globalization Information Technology Revolution economic liberalization they have made it possible for the whole world to get integrated and interconnected they are also of the view that the transnational corporations and non-governmental organizations exert influence on the working of international politics although in a different way and through different approaches you can site the example of alqaeda Amnesty International Google Facebook infosis Reliance and other how they save
17:06 World politics and in what way they are playing an important role in world Politics the concept of global politics is also based on mixed Factor model and the cway model of complex interdependence given by Joseph NY and Robert Quan as you can see in the next slide you know this is how we can understand the cway model here there are so many lines but there're not a clearcut line and each line is connected with the other in a very complicated way in a very different way other Scholars who believe in the concept of global politics they argue for a borderless and transplanetary approach basically you know how the
17:54 concept of globalization concept of economic liberalization how it has made the boundaries irrelevant how the concept of sovereignty is losing its importance so this is how they are talking of the borderless and transdisciplinary world so the concept of global politics has multiple meanings first Global means worldwide that is the whole planet or the whole of humanity not we can divide them into different parts or different units you can take the example of United Nations that has chained Universal membership and it is also called as a global organization we also talk about global issues like environment terrorism or the issue of
18:40 global capitalism second Global means comprehensive that is worldwide Regional National sub Regional and so on so when we say comprehensive it doesn't mean we believe in The Great Divide that is the division between the domestic politics and international politics finally those who focus on global politics they also focus on global not International governance earlier we focused on International governance that was a lose kind of governance model meant for the interstate relations but the concept of global governance is a model that not only looks at the interest of the state rather it also looks at the interest of
19:28 State State actors and also the non-state actors now let me focus on the search for a correct nen clature after discussing the whole concept of international politics international relations international studies and World politics definitely you may be thinking that what should be the correct nomenclature for our discipline let me explain that those who are talking of the borderless world or state is dead and the sovereignty is irrelevant we still think that these are all fanciful ideas because it is the states who facilitated the globalization process and projects so you can't think of globalization without the role of the
20:13 states so still we are governed by the states although other International actors are there but the states they have retained their Monopoly and they're still dictating the terms of international engagement secondly the states are also considered as primary providers of military security this you can find in the context of the present war between Russia and Ukraine or Hamas and Israel so we may be talking of different actors in international politics but when it comes to military security it is the state that provides security to its citizens then it is the states that articulate this National communities voices so if you have to
21:00 take a position in international organization if you have to take a position in international politics so it is your state that represent the population and take a common view on the basis of its population so if India wants to take a position on Kashmir so it is the Indian state that has to take that position if Pakistan has to take a position in Kashmir they have to take a position in the United Nations and that position is taken by the Pakistani State the states are indispensable to global economic exchanges you must have seen in recent years how America and the countries belonging to the West they have imposed economic sanctions against Russia to dissuade it from its war from
21:49 Ukraine so the global and international are complimentary to each other and should not be seen as rivals we have seen how the importance of the term International is still there because of the importance given to the states also we cannot forget the emerging issues the emerging actors that also in a very significant way influence the working of international politics so now let me end the discussion with some important concluding points first IR should incorporate glob global perspective as we have discussed because there are many things pointed out by the global
22:34 perspective that we can't ignore for the study of international relations so it is needed that international relations should also incorporate those issues and concerns highlighted by the global perspective approach secondly we should not forget that relevant research and theorization has been done in international relation so those who talk about realist Theory those who talk about liberal Theory those who talk about Marxism you know they have all done work keeping in view of the states or focusing on the states so Global issues are important so also theories and perspectives that base their analysis on the nation states
23:21 second do you think that international relations is a global discipline it is actually not because it doesn't give importance to nonwestern forms of knowledge particularly the perspective from the global South in terms of their history in terms of their culture in terms of their writings in terms of of their civilization so these are not reflected in the present concept of international relations in fact the debates and disputes we have discussed in the context of the nomenclature of the discipline might have caused confusion and frustration to you because you still may be thinking that what is this that now we don't agree to the
24:08 nomenclature of a discipline why there is international relations why there is international politics why there is World politics why there is international studies and you may be still approaching that still we are not agreeing to a common point that whether it is actually International or not you may now be thinking that we have settled with the term international relations and we can use this term without any controversy without any debate but international relations Is Yet To Be A truly Global discipline because it still doesn't cover the nonwestern forms of knowledge derived from their history culture civilization and
24:54 writings you may also finding it's confusing and frustrating that there are lots of controversies and debates in the field but it must be mentioned that contestation advances human knowledge there may be debate there may be discussion there may be argument there may be counterargument but this is how we advance our knowledge in social science disciplines so we would be using the term international relations for our discipline but at the same time we will follow it with a Global Perspective which we have discussed earlier so thank you for your patient hearing [Music]
