DHS 2025 International Relations -Part 1 (Lecture Notes)

Dunman High School General Paper Department 2025 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Part 1: Consensus & Collaboration Essential Questions 1. What are they? What are the types of states and intergovernmental organisations? 2. Why? What for? What essential purposes do these states and intergovernmental organisations serve in the international arena? [Value/Importance] 3. What tools do states and intergovernmental organisations use to fulfill their goals and roles in the international arena? How effective are these tools? [Power] 4. How far? How are collective/global responsibilities distributed amongst states? [Control/Resp] 5. How far? How do the self-interests of states conflict with each other or with international organisations’ goals? How are conflicts resolved and consensus reached? [Conflict and Consensus] DEFINITIONS (A) International Relations (IR) is a scholarly discipline which seeks to understand events. On the other hand, ‘international relations’ (not capitalised) is used to describe interactions (eg. war, trade, diplomacy and foreign policy) between: ● Sovereign states and ● International actors such as - o Intergovernmental organisations (eg. UN, ASEAN, NATO) o International legal bodies (eg. ICC, ICJ) Other interchangeable terms are ‘global politics’, ‘world politics’ or ‘international politics’. Practically speaking, Multinational corporations and Non-governmental organisations (eg. Oxfam, Doctors without borders, Amnesty International) also have great influence in the international arena. Theories of International Relations: Realism Liberalism ● Gained momentum in WW2 ● States are seen to be insecure, __________ and power seeking ● States live in the context of ______________ -ie. absence of someone being in charge (often used analogy of there being ‘no one to call’ in an international emergency). ● Political leaders are attempting to survive in a competitive environment and would not take actions which would make the state weak or vulnerable, and are even willing to use ● Seen to be the ‘utopian’ theory and the current world order post WW2 ● Based on the moral argument that the right of the individual to life and liberty is the highest goal of the government, with powers being checked. ● Anarchic nature of the international system is mitigated by ________________ among the states via trade, and belief in the international system and norms ● Self-interest of states is managed by international ____________ and 1

Dunman High School General Paper Department 2025 violence to guarantee survival of their own sta