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Global trade war triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs keeps countries on alert, with China on Monday saying it firmly opposes any party reaching a deal with the US at the expense of its interests.
The warnings by Beijing, which faces the highest tariffs, coincided with Indian trade negotiators’ visit to the US on April 23 to advance trade deal discussions, alongside US Vice-President J D Vance’s visit to India.
How do you see these developments? Is Trump simply fulfilling his election promise, and embracing protectionism to safeguard American businesses? Or is there something deeper at play – a struggle over who sets the rules of the international system, a challenge to unipolarity, a shift in global order?
This is where theories of international relations become essential. They take us beyond headlines and provide explanations of state behaviour – their actions, underlying motives, structural dynamics and possible future trajectories.
Ajay Darshan Behera, an expert on international relations theories, explores these questions in a series of articles related to the approaches to the study of international relations. First, let’s understand what is a theory and how it is essential to decipher the complexities of global politics.
Theorising international relations
A theory is a systematic set of ideas to explain certain phenomena, varying from specific and narrow issues to complex, broad topics. Observations or data from the natural or social world do not inherently explain themselves; instead, they must be gathered, organised, and systematically interpreted. This process is known as theorising.
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In international relations, theories provide essential frameworks for understanding the complexities of global politics. Different theoretical perspectives enable scholars to interpret international events by emphasising particular aspects such as state behaviour, power dynamics, and global structures.
No single theory fully encapsulates the international system; each offers a partial viewpoint, highlighting certain aspects while overlooking others. Some international relations theories are empirical, meaning they rely heavily on measurable data and quantitative methods. These empirical approaches, grounded in positivism, aim to produce objective knowledge that is universally applicable and free from personal biases.
However, other theories emphasise abstract ideas and interpretive analyses, focusing on normative issues such as ethics, human rights, equity, and justice. These subjective concerns underscore the challenges of achieving completely objective knowledge.
Critics contend that even theories which claim objectivity inevitably harbour subjective biases, implying that universally valid knowledge is unattainable. Some theorists embrace integrated approaches, merging empirical data with interpretive analysis to offer more nuanced explanations.
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Four major debates
Theories in international relations often compete, each asserting its superiority in explaining or interpreting reality. This competition has resulted in four major debates over the subject matter and the methodology used in theorising.
Today, in international relations, we have a diverse array of approaches that explore key issues such as international conflict, cooperation, the distribution of power, systemic transformations, and globalisation, etc.
Broadly, international relations theories can be categorised into traditional, scientific or positivist, and interpretive or post-positivist approaches. Traditional theories dominated the early development of the discipline, while positivist theories gained prominence from the mid-20th century onwards.
Post-positivist theories emerged significantly during the post-Cold War period. The discussion here focuses on the foundational traditional approaches — idealism, realism, and Marxism — and sets the stage for subsequent developments such as neorealism and neoliberal institutionalism.
Traditional approaches to international relations
Idealism
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Idealism, often referred to as liberal internationalism, emerged after World War I. It promoted a normative and legalistic approach to international politics, rooted in the belief that ethical principles and cooperative institutions could foster peace and progress among nations. Idealists argued that a state’s internal values — democracy, justice, and the rule of law — should shape its foreign policy.
US President Woodrow Wilson epitomised idealist thinking through his Fourteen Points (1918), which called for open diplomacy, self-determination, and the establishment of a general association of nations, ultimately leading to the League of Nations.
Idealism was rooted in Enlightenment optimism about human rationality and moral advancement, suggesting that international relations could be governed by law and reason rather than by power and conflict.
However, idealism faced significant criticism during the interwar years. The failure of the League of Nations, the ineffectiveness of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and the outbreak of World War II exposed the limitations of idealist assumptions.
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In The Twenty Years’ Crisis (1939), British scholar E. H. Carr famously critiqued idealism, labelling it “utopian.” Carr argued that idealist thought neglected the enduring role of power and self-interest in global affairs. He maintained that so-called universal moral values often masked the interests of powerful states, and that morality in international politics is inherently relative.
Carr’s critique marked a turning point in international relations theory, paving the way for the rise of realism. His emphasis on power politics and pragmatic analysis served as a foundational challenge to the moral universalism of idealism.
Realism
Realism emerged as a direct reaction to the perceived failures of idealism. Realists adopt a more sceptical view of human nature and international politics, emphasising competition, conflict, and the pursuit of power. In the realist worldview, the international system is anarchic, lacking a central authority, compelling states to prioritise their own survival and security.
States are viewed as the principal actors in this system, acting rationally to maximise their national interests, which are typically defined in terms of power. The intellectual heritage of realism can be traced back to thinkers such as Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes, who regarded political behaviour as inherently conflictual and driven by self-interest.
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In the 20th century, realism was systematised by scholars such as E. H. Carr and Hans J. Morgenthau. Morgenthau’s Politics Among Nations (1948) outlined six principles of realism, chief among them the notion that national interest is defined in terms of power. He argued that while foreign policy goals may vary, they are consistently framed in terms of power—whether military, economic, or diplomatic.
Morgenthau insisted that while morality plays a role in international affairs, it must be viewed through the lens of prudence and national interest. Universal ethical standards cannot be applied wholesale to state behaviour; instead, decisions must reflect the context-specific realities of international politics.
Classical realists thus advocate for a cautious, interest-based approach to policy, warning against ideological crusades and moral absolutism. Though often depicted as pessimistic, realism gained traction during the Cold War for its ability to explain alliance formation, deterrence, and rivalry in conditions of anarchy.
While classical realism recognises the significance of ethics and human agency, its core assertion remains that the international arena is characterised by power politics, a condition unlikely to be transcended.
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Marxism
Marxism presents a radically different approach to international relations, focusing not solely on inter-state relations but on the global capitalist system and class dynamics. Rooted in the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Marxist theory perceives history as driven by material forces and class struggle. While Marx and Engels primarily addressed domestic socioeconomic structures, their insights extend to the global level, suggesting that capitalism inherently produces international inequality.
Marxist theory in international relations posits that capitalist expansion transcends national borders and that the imperative of capital accumulation shapes global politics. Instead of emphasising state power, Marxists argue that economic structures and the interests of the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie) drive international relations, often at the expense of the working class (the proletariat), whose struggles are inherently transnational.
In Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917), Lenin expanded Marxist thought to include international politics, arguing that imperialism arises from the advanced capitalist states’ need to locate new markets, resources, and investment opportunities. This analysis influenced dependency theory in the 1960s and 1970s, which asserted that the development of the Global South was hindered by its structural subordination to the Global North.
Beyond state and diplomacy
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Marxist approaches critique the realist and liberal focus on states and diplomacy, examining global capitalism as the primary driver of inequality and conflict. Influential neo-Marxists like Immanuel Wallerstein developed world-systems theory, which perceives the world economy as a hierarchical structure of core, semi-peripheral, and peripheral states interlocked in unequal exchange.
Marxist theories are critical in orientation, aiming not only to explain but also to change the world. They argue that the international system is historically contingent, shaped by colonialism and capitalism instead of timeless laws of state behaviour. While outside the mainstream in US academia, Marxism has provided influential critiques of global inequality and has informed fields such as international political economy and critical theory.
To sum up, theories of international relations go beyond academic exercises; they influence our understanding of global events and steer foreign policy decisions. Traditional theories — idealism, realism, and Marxism — established the foundation for the discipline, each providing unique perspectives on power, morality, and economic structures. These theories were further refined by a scientific approach to theorisation to address the changing international landscape.
In your opinion, what are the possible explanations that international theories offer for issues, such as the trade war, the Russia-Ukraine War, the Gaza War and the US-Iran nuclear talks?
Post Read Questions
What is a theory? Why do we need to theorise international relations?
How do international relations theories help us understand the complexities of global politics?
Can theories like liberalism, realism, or marxism explain the actions and motivations of states involved in the ongoing trade war triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs?
Theory of realism views the international system as anarchic, which shapes state behaviour. Evaluate.
In what ways does Marxism challenge the focus on state power in international relations and emphasise economic structures instead?
(The author is a Professor at MMAJ Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.)
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