A locus is a position or place where something is or has happened. In math is a set of points whose location satisfies or is determined by one or more specified conditions: “the locus of points equidistant from a given point is a circle.” The locus of the points P in x,y in Cartesian coordinates that have a given ratio of distances k = d1/d2 to two given points in the plane to describe the center of a circle.
The meaning of locus when extended to international relations is “an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the interaction of the many actors in international politics” This includes states and non-state entities, like the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and Amnesty International among others. Ole Holsti defines international relations and foreign policy as theories in three most prominent areas “realism, liberalism and constructivism.”
“In international relations, constructivism is the claim that significant aspects of international relations are historically and socially constructed, rather than inevitable consequences of human nature or other essential characteristics of world politics.”
“Realism is a school of thought in international relations theory, theoretically formalizing the Realpolitik statesmanship of early modern Europe. Although a highly diverse body of thought, it can be thought of as unified by the belief that world politics ultimately is always and necessarily a field of conflict among actors pursuing power.”
“Liberalism believes that international institutions play a key role in cooperation among states. With the correct international institutions, and increasing interdependence including economic and cultural exchanges states have the opportunity to reduce conflict.”
The doctrine of constructivism claims that significant aspects of international relations are historically and socially modeled, rather than unavoidable consequences of human nature or other indispensable features of world governments.
The philosophical theory of positivism states that our knowledge is based on natural phenomena, their properties and associations. Moreover, all information derived from sensory experience and interpreted with our reasoning and logic, makes up the unique basis of all definite knowledge. In addition, positivism embraces the idea that society is like any other part of the physical world, and behaves according to natural laws. A more modern approach was framed by philosopher Auguste Comte in the early 19th century as he argued that, “much of the physical world operates according to gravity and other absolute laws, so does society, and further developed positivism into a Religion of Humanity.”
Furthermore, positivism is also part of an ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry, as it was remarkably laid out by Plato. Later on Plato reformulated his view as a disagreement between science and the humanities when he particularizes an assessment of poetry from the perspective of philosophy in his dialogues “Phaedrus.”
“Positivism asserts that all authentic knowledge allows verification and that all authentic knowledge assumes that the only valid knowledge is scientific. Thinkers such as Henri de Saint-Simon (1760–1825), Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827) and Auguste Comte (1798–1857) believed the scientific method, the circular dependence of theory and observation, must replace metaphysics in the history of thought.”
According to Karl Popper who was an Austrian and British philosopher and professor in political dissertation and others aligned with same way of thinking stated: “scientific theory is a mathematical model that describes and codifies the observations we make.”
Stephen Hawking has added himself as a recent high-profile advocate of positivism, at least in the physical sciences.
In conclusion the study of the theories of international relations with the subject areas of Realism, Idealism and Constructivism can be summarize in its three main components:
REALISM
- Power: the ability to sway others
- Triviality of morality, ethics and law
- Triviality of domestic political systems
- Is power over others the only thing that matters?
- Human nature in a socio-economic setting
- Anarchic world: no rules or a golden rule
IDEALISM
- Power is not the only thing that matters in national interest
- States have in common interests and values
- Trade is a key component of national interest
- A Global Marketplace assures mutual survival
- Interdependence of all nations
- Rules for protection of human and gender rights
- Need for predictability and stability of the world
- International system based in laws, treaties and institutions (UN, OECD, WTO)
- International law
CONSTRUCTIVISM
- Nation-states are not all alike but diverse
- Political culture shapes foreign policy
- Form of government shapes foreign policy
- History shapes foreign policy
- Domestic political trends and debates shape foreign policy
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