International Relations

International Relations

Introduciton

The study of International Relations (IR) touches or overlaps with every other social science, which leads to several problems with the concepts, methods and theories within the field. Because the scope of IR is so broad terminology is not clearly defined leading to confusion or a lack or clarity to all students. A common term in IR might not carry the same meaning or a clear definition in Economics, Sociology or any other social science. Another problem with the concepts, methods and theories is that IR encompasses and touches all parts of life making the field as a whole hard to define, teach or learn. There are multiple methods of study and theories in IR. This is problematic and further aggravates the study of IR. Unlike Biology, where there is one way to test theories, IR employs a variety of possible theories to study social phenomenon. (Buzan 1991: 162)

No one method or approach will work perfectly without the support of another. It is possible to study using only one or multiple methods or theories. This is a double-edged sword as it allows more flexibility and more work than only having one theory. There are minimal problems with the actual theories in IR as they are very stable. Because a theory is something that has been tested and can be duplicated the theories in place are reliable.

Discussion

It is necessary to note in the beginning that "scope" is a dangerously ambiguous word. It suggests that the subject matter under inquiry has clearly discernible limits, and that all one has to do in defining its scope is to trace out these boundaries in much the manner of a surveyor marking out the bounds of a piece of real property. New subjects of learning have always in the past grown out of new bodies of questions that have insistently called for answers by some means other than consulting the stars or tossing coins. Invariably, such subjects were originally attached to existing divisions of knowledge and appeared as mere extensions of them. Eventually, as the complexities of the newly observed body of questions began to mount and the inadequacies of offhand answers became apparent, some adventurous minds put in a good deal of time and effort finding aids to better solutions. Their labours led to the building up of a special body of knowledge which everyone who wanted to become expert in answering questions in the field had to master. As soon as this became a full-time occupation and a proper label was found, a new branch of knowledge was born. (Deudney 1991: 75-85)

The following statements are dogmatically phrased for the reason that sufficient space is not available to express. all the possible qualifications. For the same reason, no attempt has been made to squeeze out the last drop of ambiguity from them. (Carson 1962: 65-74)

1. IR may be looked upon as the actual relations that take place across national boundaries, or as the body of knowledge which we have of those relations at ...