Key Concepts and Assumptions of Major International Relations Theories

Classical Liberalism

• Key Thinkers: Adam Smith, John Locke, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Woodrow Wilson.
• Core Assumptions: Objectivity is weak; the system is anarchic.
• Game Theory: Positive-sum game; Prisoner's Dilemma leads to mutual and collective gains.
• Key Actors (Institutions): Individuals, states, markets, International Governmental Organizations (IGOs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and pressure groups.
• Individual Preferences: Utilitarian and idealistic.
• Intervening Variables: Non-state actors (political parties, markets, lobbies).
• Explanatory/Predictive Scope: Normative international, foreign, and domestic policy.
• Goals: Self-determination, cooperation, security, wealth, peace, and stability.
• Key Concepts: Just War Theory, Collective Security, Wilsonian policies.
• Examples: The League of Nations, The United Nations (UN).

Democratic Peace Theory

• Key Thinkers: Immanuel Kant, Michael Doyle, Rudolph Rummel.
• Core Assumptions: Objectivity is weak; the system is anarchic.
• Game Theory: Positive-sum game; Prisoner's Dilemma leads to mutual and collective gains.
• Key Actors: Individuals and states.
• Constraints: Kantian constraints (democratic rule and form of government).
• Intervening Variables: Other non-state actors (same as Classical Liberalism).
• Explanatory/Predictive Scope: Normative international, foreign, and domestic politics.
• Types of Peace: Dyadic and Monadic Democratic Peace.
• Goals: Security, wealth, peace, and stability through the spread of liberal democracy.
• Key Concepts: "Perpetual Peace," "End of History," "League of Democracies."
• Examples: Peaceful relations between Britain and the US, and the US and Europe since the end of WWII.

Neo-Liberalism (Neo-Liberal Institutionalism)

• Key Thinkers: Immanuel Kant (inspiration), Robert Keohane, Joseph Nye, Milton Friedman.
• Core Assumptions: Objectivity is weak; the system is anarchic.
• Differences from Democratic Peace Theory:
  • Key Actors: States, markets, and IGOs.
  • Focus Areas: Trade, complex interdependence, and regime theory.
  • Mechanisms: Market economics and international institutions are central.
• Key Concepts: "Dell Theory," "Golden Arches Theory."
• Examples: Peaceful relations between the US and Europe since the end of WWII, the spread of NATO and the European Union (EU).

The English School (International Society)

• Key Thinkers: Hugo Grotius (Just War), Robert Jackson, Hedley Bull.
• Core Assumptions: Objectivity is weak; existence of an International Society.
• Game Theory: Limited positive-sum game.
• Driving Forces: Systemic pressures and societal cohesion.
• Key Actors: States, International Society, and World Society.
• System Structure: Anarchy tempered by social cohesion.
• Intervening Variables: Ethics, values, and norms.
• Explanatory/Predictive Scope: Normative, lacking a rigorous theoretical framework.
• Security Focus: State and societal security, alongside World Society's normative action.
• Key Debates:
  • Pluralism (communitarian order) vs. Solidarity (transitional and humanitarian concern).
  • Traditional sovereignty vs. Sovereignty as Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
• Example: Debates surrounding Article 2.7 of the UN Charter during the Cold War (referencing the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China).