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Discuss the meaning and scope of international relations. What is the media of the international relations in modern times?

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This is an age of science the scientific inventions have reduced time and space factors to nil .Now a days, no state can offered to live in isolation .It has to cultivate relations with other states of the world to its necessity .As no individual can live outside the society so no state can live outside the international community.

Hence, international relational ship is as much a product of necessity as social existence itself. The study of international relations is considered to be a modern phenomenon but in fact in its rudimentary form, it can be traced back to the drawn of history. The code of inter-state conduct was developed thousands of years back when the ezyptain, Chinese, Greek and Indian Civilizations were flourishing. But at that time, the international relations were designed to serve the limited purpose of assisting the rulers to consolidate their powers tactfully. Infact, international relations in ancient and medieval times were not international in character. Till the end of the medieval period, relations of the states were regional relations.
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International relations, as they are understand today, had their beginning in the later half of the nineteenth century when circumstances in European countries brought about the need of international understanding, which gradually spread to other parts of the world. The two world wars are important milestones in the development of international affairs and diplomacy. These two wars compelled nations to realize that war is not the lasting solution of the interest of different classes.
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Scientific inventions, growth of industries coupled with spirit of nationalism has virtually demolished the frontiers between nations and now there is a greater coming together of nations. The "more abundant" penetration of trade and communication and anxieties of each nation into the domain of others and the consequent increase in the impact of any action of government upon the interests of others has made it increasingly necessary that there should be a proper establishment of relationships between national interest and international obligations. It is being realized that it is the peaceful co-existence or the observance of the maximum of "Live and Let Live" which is necessary for the purpose of international peace and understanding.

Because of this realization that compromises, co-operation and, as far as possible, peaceful settlement of disputes receive greater consideration in international affairs. In a sense, international relations are now increasingly based on these principles of peaceful co-existence rather than a military

Meaning of International Relations

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Palmer and Perkins write, " The study of international relations is not a science with which we solve the problems of international life. At its best it is an objective and systematic approach to those problems".
In fact the term international Relations can be interrelated and defined in two senses narrow and broad. In narrow sense, the term is confined to the study of official relations conducted by authorized leaders of the state. However the relations between businessmen, scientists etc. of the various countries are not covered in the scope of international relations.
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The term ' International Relations ", in the words of Heart man covers, "All intercourse, among states and movements of people, goods and ideas across national frontiers. However as a field of study its focus is on the processes by which states adjust their national interests to those of other states."

Stanley Hoffmann is of the opinion that "The discipline of international relations is concerned with the factors and activities which affect the external policies and the power of the basic units into which the world is divided." Some other writers give the more broader definitions of international relations by equating the term international affairs. For example Teygve Mathiesen says that international relations embraces” All kinds of relations traversing state boundaries, no matter whether they are of an economic, legal, political are any other character, whether they be private or official, and "All human behaviors originating on one side of a state boundary and affecting human behaviors on the other side of the boundary".

Scope Of International Relations:

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In broader sense, relationships between the states can be two types - co-operative and oppositional. The co-operative relations are usually economic and cultural. They are mainly of non-political character and do not involve any use of power. On the other hand oppositional relations imply conflict among groups and demand use of power. This is the reason that Morgenthau had equated international politics with power politics. Thus, we can say that international relations are a study of both co-operative and oppositional relations among the states of the world.
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In the beginning, international relations were treated as a study of international or diplomatic history. Under it a study of contemporary foreign affairs, as conditioned by the happenings of the past, was made in order to find out the shortcomings of the previous statesmen. Later on, it incorporated a study of international law is important for understanding the international relations. In this way general history, diplomatic history and international law became the three corner stones of the study international relations.
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With the establishment of the League of Nations, The scope of the study of international relations further widened and now the study of international institution or organizations was also included in it. After Second World War the frontier of the study of international relations further widened. Firstly, it was realized that as foreign policy and military policy are closely related, study of war and its strategy should also find place in the study of international relations. Secondly, with the advancement in the field of psychology, certain people thought it proper to study international relations through personality and background analysis. These people started a study of the behavior of leaders, groups, and the role of public opinion. Thirdly, the world war gave a break to the study of certain areas or region. In the post-war period the study of areas or regions assumed great importance.

Thus we see that the scope of the study of international relations want on increasing day by day. Now international relations include “The study of diplomatic history, international politics, internationl organization and administration, international law, area studies as well as a study of the motivation of inter-state relations”.

Significance of the study International relations

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In this inter-dependence world the significance of the study of international relations has greatly increased. Its study gives us an opportunity to know the basic motivation of the states in world affairs, the way these objectives are pursued and the reasons, which ultimately undermine their success or failure. It is fact that such a study does not in any way increase the prospects of world peace and harmony but it do provides the people of the world an insight into their problems, and increases their boldness to live confidently in this world of immense diversity.
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The study of the international relations also convinced the people that narrow nationalism is the root cause of all international conflicts. Nationalism abused or exaggerated is a major obstacle to the world peace. The world peace is disturbed because each nation peruses its own interest. The study of international relations demonstrates that the concept of the sovereignty has become outdated. It creates a faith in solving the problem in a collective form. The study of international relations also strengthens faith in problems of collective security and disarmament. Now, the international relations are increasingly based on the principles of peaceful existence rather of military pacts and alliances and so the study of the international relations also develops the feelings of universal brotherhood, which is a must for the advancement of human race.

Media of International Relations

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The present day world is more or less organized on a nation-state system. Inother words, the surface of the earth is divided into many units, each politically self-government sovereign state having a political, economic, sociological and geographical system and ‘composed more or less of divergent racial and cultural strains.’ The varying socio-economic system gives rise to different political systems, each having foreign policy of its own in the matter of dealing with other states. The department dealing with the foreign policy of state or country is known as the department of International affairs of Foreign Affairs. It is this department which deals with the international affairs of a nation in relation to the other states or nations or countries, and ascertain the responsibilities, obligations, interest of that particular nation in the international field protecting simultaneously, among others, the national interests, sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, embodied in the policy of the nation through diplomacy.

Examine the various approaches to the study of International Relations. Which in your opinion is most useful?

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The approaches for study of International relations can be classified under two heads – the classical or traditional approach and scientific approach. Classical approach holds that substances are more important than method. On the other hand, the scientific or modern approach attaches more importance to the method and the techniques. Under the traditional approach the historical and philosophical aspects are dealt with while the supporters of the scientific approach try to build up a theory of International relations on the basis of logical, mathematical and empirical approaches.

Historical Approach:

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It was the earliest approach adopted for the study of International relations. Under this approach diplomacy and inter-state relations for a fixed period were studied. This approach worked well till the time only the international relations of the European countries were studied. But with the emergence of Asia and Africa, the field of study of international relations widened and this approach assumed doubtful value. However, this cannot be denied that historical approach was a great importance as it tried to express contemporary relations in the light of the recent past. This, on one hand gave deeper understanding on the problems and on the other, enabled the students to know the weaknesses of previous statesmen.

International Organization Approach:

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International organization approach was adopted after the establishment of League of Nations. Under this approach the international relations are studied in the light of the behavior of the different states to the various international organisatios. However, this method has serious limitations. All the international activities of the states are not conducted through international organization ( at present U.N.O ) and so the study remains incomplete. However, this cannot be denied that this approach helps to understand how are the various states working with in the international community.

International Law Approach:

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Under this approach the international law is considered the most important factor to the interpretation of international relations. Those, who believe in this approach, constantly search the common elements in different national systems and believe that there is an obligation upon states to abide by them. However, they fail to understand that international politics and domestic politics are two different things and the principles applicable to national politics cannot be applied to international states.
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Behavioral Approach: Historical approach, international organization approach and international law approach are the variants of the traditional or classical approach but the behavioral approach is most scientific. It gained prominence after world war IInd. With the advancement in the field of psychology, behavioral approach became more different. Behavioral approach tries to analyze international relations as strife between various national characters. Those, who sup pot this approach, are of the opinion that every state exhibits a peculiar approach of its own towards the various world problems. However, fault of the approach is that it attaches too much importance to the constantly changing national character.
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Different behaviorists have adopted the different theories. Karl Deutach developed the ‘Quantitative Theory ‘, which says that the communications or flow of nations is vital to healthy international relations. Richard C.Synder developed the “Decision Making Approach “ in which much emphasis was given to the need of probing the minds of the decision makers. This approach held that decisions are nothing but reactions to a given situation-taking place in a certain setting. This approach was criticized on the ground that the international relations are not made of highly coutious moves and choices, which can be analyzed.
Liska propogated ‘Equilibrium Theory of international Relations and Institutions.’ According to him, the states seek to secure the best attainable position of equilibrium and this is a desirable policy for safeguarding human values. Professor Kaplan and McClelland built the system Theory that holds that a theory of international politics, normally, cannot be accepted to predict individual actions.
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The chief defect of these approaches is that their supporters try to reduce everything to quantitative variables, but it is not possible to quantitative variables like ideology. The result of these approaches is, in the words of Hoffman to Produce system rather than help to achieve understanding of the social world.
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Power Approach Theory: the maximum number of people adopted this theory for the maximum period. Morgenthau and Spykman were the chief supporters of this theory. This theory tries to understand international politics in terms of state interest. Under this approach it is assumed that the interest guides the statesmen more than any other factor. They may talk in terms of philosophy and ideologies but in actual actions, they only act in terms of national interests.
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The power approach theory has been the most popular and acceptable. It is criticized because it attaches too much importance to political power. Man is not merely a political animal interested in controlling the action of others. Other factors also determine his action. The supporters of this theory consider the power as an end and fail to realize that it is only a mean. To define national interest in terms of power is also incorrect.
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Conclusion: “A study of the various approaches and theories of international relations shows that study of international relations has become increasingly interdisciplinary, behavioral, comparative and scientific. This obviously has been to place the study within a border and more meaningful theoretical framework. And to give it more adequate methodological and conceptual tools.”