Key Concepts in Global Politics and International Relations Theory

Posted on Dec 19, 2025 in Social sciences

The Concept of International Power

International power is characterized by two fundamental aspects:

1. Decentralized Power

International power is decentralized, considering the innumerable groups that enjoy sufficient autonomy to exercise a certain degree of influence. This decentralization makes it much more difficult to adopt universally accepted or rejected patterns of behavior and to translate them into norms or institutions that unify the forms and limits of the exercise of international power.

2. Highly Unstable Power

International power is highly unstable, manifested in the difficulty of maintaining certain power relations unaltered over time. This instability stems from two fundamental causes:

  1. The degree of decentralization of international power.
  2. The character of international actors, since any crisis or significant alteration in the internal power relations of one or several actors will affect their internal acts of power, and with them, the very stability of the International Relations (IR) in which they participate.

Rostow’s Theory of Development by Stages

W.W. Rostow proposed five stages through which societies progress economically:

  1. Traditional Society

    The economy in this period is characterized by subsistence activity, where the totality of production is intended for the consumption of producers rather than for trade. Small-scale trade is developed on the basis of barter systems, in a society where agriculture is the most important industry.

  2. Conditions Prior to the Initial Impulse (Preconditions for Takeoff)

    This is a period of transition during which the traditional society acquires the skills necessary to take full advantage of the results of modern science and technology.

  3. The Initial Impulse or Takeoff

    This stage involves the rapid growth of a limited group of sectors where modern industrial techniques are applied. These sectors are known as the guiding sectors.

  4. The March Towards Maturity

    This is the period in which a society has effectively applied all the possibilities of modern technology to all its resources.

  5. The Era of High Mass Consumption

    The main sectors move towards consumer goods and services. The services sector increasingly becomes the dominant area of the economy.

Migration and Refugee Status Definitions

Migrant

A person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons. (Estimated global total: 281 million)

Refugee

A refugee is defined as a third-country national who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country. This definition also applies to a stateless person who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons, is unable or unwilling to return to it, and to whom Article 12 does not apply.

Conditions for Refugee Status:

  • Person-by-person classification.
  • Must be a third-country national (or stateless person).
  • Must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution.
  • Reasons for persecution must be based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group.
  • Must be outside the country of nationality.
  • Must be unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country due to fear.
  • For a stateless person, the same reasons apply, but referred to the country of former habitual residence.

Societal Integration Models

The Melting Pot Theory

The Melting Pot theory suggests that immigrant groups will tend to “melt together,” abandoning their individual cultures and eventually becoming fully assimilated into the predominant society. This model has been criticized for reducing diversity, causing people to lose their traditions, and for sometimes requiring enforcement through governmental policy. Critics argue that the melting pot paradigm often reinforces oppressive structures presently existing within society while blaming the victims of those structures for their own oppression.

The Salad Bowl Theory

The Salad Bowl theory describes a heterogeneous society in which people coexist but retain at least some of the unique characteristics of their traditional culture. Like a salad’s ingredients, different cultures are brought together, but rather than coalescing into a single homogeneous culture, they retain their own distinct flavors. On the negative side, the cultural differences encouraged by the salad bowl model can divide a society, resulting in prejudice and discrimination.

The Process of Urbanization

Urbanization is a fundamental stage in the development process of an economy, though it generates numerous externalities:

Positive Externalities:

  • Generation of ideas and knowledge.
  • Accumulation of capital.

Negative Externalities:

  • Pollution and congestion.
  • Increase in housing prices.

Two relevant trends are associated with urbanization:

  1. The creation of a middle class (economic and social), resulting from the distribution of income among the inhabitants of the territory.
  2. The consolidation of the Welfare State.

Urbanization is often analyzed alongside globalization. Romer identified four fundamental variables influenced by urbanization and globalization:

  • Ideas
  • Institutions
  • Population
  • Human capital

The Napoleonic Empire and the Congress of Vienna

The legitimacies established by the settlements of Westphalia and Utrecht were anti-hegemonic. The formal commitment to a multilateral balance of power at Utrecht lasted for three-quarters of a century. However, the French Revolution stimulated new energies and aspirations in France and in most of Europe that Napoleon was able to harness and exploit. It made radical changes both in relations between the communities in the European system and internally. Though Napoleon’s order lasted only briefly, the changes which it induced were lasting. Napoleon’s empire changed the social structures of Western and much of Central Europe. The system which emerged from the Vienna Congress (1814–1815) stands about halfway between the Napoleonic and the 18th-century systems, representing a synthesis between two opposing ways of organizing Europe.

Agreements of the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815)

  1. The remains of the Napoleonic Empire were distributed, with a commitment to maintain the current territorial status.
  2. Vigilance was extended to detect and stifle liberal revolutionary initiatives.
  3. Congresses or meetings were to be held periodically in order to update the guidelines to be followed.
  4. An armed force (the Holy Alliance) was created, ready to intervene in case of need.

The European Concert

The operation of the European Concert system can be divided into three periods:

  • 1815–1848: A period of peace between the great powers, coupled with the repression of social and political revolution.
  • 1848–1871: Marked by revolutionary nationalism and wars of adjustment.
  • From 1871 to the end of the century: Again a period of peace in Europe, with the Concert largely dominated by Bismarck.

The Cold War (1947–1991)

Classic Definition

The Cold War was a state of permanent tension, first between the two superpowers and then between the two blocs led by them, which did not lead to direct conflict due to the danger of mutual destruction inherent in the use of nuclear weapons.

Causes and Interpretations

  • Traditional View: The USSR was indisputably the cause, viewed as a territorially and ideologically expansionist power that wanted to extend its influence and power throughout the world, trying to overthrow capitalism and democracy.
  • Realist School: Argues that this conflict was inevitable because of the vacuum created in the international system by World War II, especially in the face of the crisis in Europe and the emergence of two poles of power: the US and the USSR.
  • Revisionist School: Considers the US largely responsible for its military interventions and power politics.
  • Other Interpretations: The Cold War is seen as an inter-systemic confrontation, through which each power wanted to establish a specific international order.

The Bipolar System

In this new order, two powers have superior capabilities compared to the other units in the system. The two powers exercise general coercive power and impose their values, agenda, and policies on the states and territories they control in their respective blocs. The stability of the system is based on the hegemony they exercise.

Characteristics of the Cold War Bipolar System

  • It was a direct, non-belligerent confrontation that began in 1947 between the US and the USSR.
  • This confrontation acquired a new “status” in international politics.
  • This new power relationship gave rise to a bipolar and flexible international system.
  • This created an international structure based on two axes: an East-West axis with political and ideological characteristics, and a North-South axis with economic and social characteristics.
  • The superpowers delimited their zones of influence.
  • The confrontation between the two blocs became globalized after the first clashes in Europe.
  • The permanent tension prompted the development of a policy of calculated risks, with nuclear deterrence as the basic axis.

Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations

Samuel Huntington refuted past paradigms and developed a new “Civilization Paradigm” to create a new understanding of the post-Cold War order. Huntington divides the world into eight major civilizations:

  • Sinic
  • Japanese
  • Hindu
  • Islamic
  • Orthodox
  • Western
  • Latin American
  • African

Balance of Civilization

Huntington describes three characteristics of the Western decline:

  1. The current Western decline is a very slow process and is not an immediate threat to world powers today.
  2. The decline of power does not occur in a straight line; it may reverse, speed up, or pause.
  3. The power of a state is controlled and influenced by the behavior and decisions of those holding power.

Clashes of Civilizations

Huntington noted the potential for coalition or cooperation between Islamic and Sinic cultures to work against the West. Three issues that separate the West from the rest are:

  • The West’s ability to maintain military superiority.
  • The promotion of Western political values.
  • The restriction of non-Western immigrants and refugees into Western societies.

Huntington discusses the challengers to the West:

  • External challenges include the emerging cultural identities in the non-Western world.
  • Internal challenges include the erosion of principle values.

He states that a multicultural world is unavoidable because global empire is impossible. The preservation of the United States and the West requires the renewal of Western identity.

Bipolarity in World Politics

Specialists use the term “bipolarity” to describe the state of world politics when two powerful countries far outstrip all others. These two countries are called “superpowers” or “poles.”

Historical examples of bipolarity include:

  • The competition between Britain and France from the War of the Spanish Succession through the Seven Years’ War.
  • The competition between the Soviet Union and the USA after World War II. Under the shadow of nuclear forces, both sides competed militarily and ideologically, but bipolarity ended not because of armed conflict but because of the economic implosion of the Soviet Union.

Note: China is often cited as a potential emerging third pole in contemporary discussions of international structure.

Globalization and Deglobalization

Globalization is not just about economics. From a medical point of view, it includes the global spread of microbes, including pathogenic viruses that cause diseases such as yellow fever, influenza, AIDS, and COVID-19. Globalization does not necessarily go hand in hand with a liberal international order. The number of refugees, social unrest, and more authoritarian tendencies in host states could also be results of globalization. Whether the global governance mechanisms set up by the liberal international order will be able to handle these challenges is doubtful.

What is Deglobalization?

Deglobalization is a movement towards a less connected world, characterized by powerful nation states, local solutions, and border controls rather than global institutions, treaties, and free movement.

Is the World in a Period of Deglobalization?

Some consider the world to have entered a period of deglobalization, but it would be wrong to say the world is definitively in such a period. Phenomena such as the COVID-19 pandemic, international crime, and climate change demonstrate the continuing relevance of global collaboration and interconnectivity.

Benefits of Deglobalization

  • The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the danger of relying on global supply chains for essential medical supplies.
  • Climate change demands reductions in the enormous carbon footprint of international trade.
  • Deglobalization addresses inherent disadvantages of globalization, such as the emergence of unaccountable world monopolies.

Risks of Deglobalization

  • International crime cannot be effectively countered without more integrated policing and accepted standards of justice.
  • The climate crisis cannot be met by states setting their own independent goals without reference to others’ activities.
  • Cyberattacks cannot be prevented without universal standards of cyber hygiene and international conventions to limit the creation of offensive cyber weapons.

Future of Deglobalization

Allowing international agreements and institutions to decay only makes the world less efficient in its efforts to hold international corporations to account. Deglobalization may pass quickly, but it could remain until policymakers are able to define international institutions with sufficient power to react efficiently and strong democratic accountability.

European Union Fundamental Values (Lisbon Treaty)

The European Union’s fundamental values are respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law. These values unite all the member states—no country that does not recognize these values can belong to the Union. The main goal is to defend these values in Europe and promote peace and the well-being of the citizens.

Respect for Human Dignity

  • Human dignity is inviolable.
  • Nobody may be hurt physically or mentally.
  • Everyone has the right to life. Nobody may be condemned to death or executed.
  • Torture and degrading punishment are forbidden.
  • Slavery, forced labor, and trafficking in human beings are forbidden.

Freedom

  • Everyone has the right to be free and secure.
  • Home, family, and personal communications must be respected.
  • Everyone has the right to marry and found a family.
  • Personal data may be protected and kept secret.
  • Freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly belong to all.
  • Everyone has the right to education, work, to run a business, and own property.
  • Refugees have the right to apply for asylum.

Equality

  • Everyone is equal before the law. All discrimination is forbidden.
  • Different cultures, religions, and languages are respected.
  • Men and women must be equal in all areas and must receive the same pay for the same work.
  • The child’s best interest must always be considered.
  • Old people have the right to a life of dignity and independence.
  • People with disabilities have the right to take part in activities that help them to integrate into society and live independently.

Solidarity

  • Workers have the right to receive information and be heard by employers.
  • Everyone has the right to free labor exchange services.
  • Every employee has the right to healthy, safe, and humane working conditions and terms of employment.
  • Maximum working hours are limited; there must be enough time for rest every day and every week. Employees receive pay for holidays as well.
  • Child labor may not be used. Young people must have safe working conditions.
  • Family life is protected, and nobody may be dismissed because of the birth of a baby.
  • Everyone living in the Union legally has the right to social assistance.
  • Everyone has the right to preventive health care and medical care. (Social benefits and health services are always determined by national laws.)
  • Consumer protection is provided for consumers.
  • Efforts must be made to protect the environment.

Citizens’ Rights

  • Citizens have the right to vote in the elections to the European Parliament.
  • Every EU citizen has the right to good, impartial, and fair administration and to have their affairs handled within a reasonable period of time.
  • Everyone has the right of access to the documents of all EU institutions and agencies.
  • Every EU citizen has the right to live and move freely within the territory of the EU member states.
  • Every EU citizen is entitled to protection by the diplomatic missions or consular authorities of any member state.

Justice

  • Every EU citizen has the right to effective legal remedies and the right to be heard before an impartial court of law.
  • Every defendant must be held innocent unless legally proven guilty.
  • Everyone charged with a crime has the right to legal defense.
  • No punishment may be more severe than prescribed by law.
  • No one may be tried and punished for the same crime twice.