What is meant by International Relation? Discuss the methods of peaceful relations.

Question: What is meant by International Relation? Discuss the methods of peaceful relations.

Answer

In ancient and medieval period there was no concept of International Relation. In this period, the people always try to dominate others. It means that the relation among the states was completely hostile. No one expects the existing of others. After a long time, this type of brutal concept had been replaced the dictator of the states. In 15th Century many leaders around the world had established a peaceful relationship with others. They started to send Diplomatic Ambassadors to others. From that the concept of International relation had been aroused among nation. Now-a-days International Relation has become an important topic for the people of the world.

What is International Relation

International Relations (IR) (occasionally referred to as International Studies (IS)) [1] is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs). It is both an academic and public policy field, and can be either positive or normative as it both seeks to analyze as well as formulate the foreign policy of particular states. It is often considered a branch of political science(especially after 1988 UNESCO nomenclature), but an important sector of academia prefer to treat it as an interdisciplinary field of study. So we can say it that International Relation means the official contract among the government of independent countries.

Apart from political science, IR draws upon such diverse fields as economics, history, international law, philosophy, geography, social work, sociology & social sciences, anthropology, psychology,women's studies/gender studies, and cultural studies / culturology. It involves a diverse range of issues including but not limited to: globalization, state sovereignty, ecological sustainability, nuclear proliferation, nationalism, economic development, global finance, terrorism, organized crime, human security, foreign interventionism and human rights.

“The World Book of Encyclopedia” has prescribed it that,

“The term international relation also refers to other kinds of international contacts besides relations among governance. This co-operations(business that operate into or more countries) and such world-wide programs as the Red-Cross and the United Nations children fund. International relations also involves such activities as the flow of trade and the movement people between countries.”

At present, all nations need to communicate with others because the well-fare of their own citizens. Without a good relation a poor nation will never be able to send labor in any developing country. On the other hand, there are some problems in this world which are bothered by the all states like environmental problem, AIDS, Drug addiction, Illiteracy and many other things. All nations around the world should come forward to remove this problem together by creating a good relationship among the nations and this type of relationship is called International Relation.

The history of international relations is often traced back to the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, where the modern state system was developed. Prior to this, the European medieval organization of political authority was based on a vaguely hierarchical religious order.

Terminological Definition

Professor Quincy Wright says,

“International relations are concerned with the study of the behavior of group of major importance in the life of the world.”

Professor Pamar and Parkins says,

“The study of international relations like the world community itself is in translation.”

 Professor Adi H says,

“The study of international relations is mainly concerned with the study of actions, re-actions and interactions among certain entities usually national states.”

After mentioning the definitions of International Relation we can say it that the relationship among the different states is International Relation.

Method of maintenance of International Relation:

The countries maintain the peaceful International Relations by a number of methods, including the use of diplomacy, Treaties, International Organization and following International Law.

The leaders of around the world know it that it is essential to maintain peaceful relation with others. Otherwise, they will be destroyed like many civilization of past. Everyone has started to realize it after World War II. So that’s why they began to create peaceful relations among of them. At presence, all leaders of the countries are aware of the method of peaceful relation. The methodology of peaceful relation has been given below:

1. 1.   Diplomacy:  

 Diplomacy is a total task of resolving problems among states through officially recognized represents. From the beginning one state appoints diplomat to another state to enrich relations between the states. These diplomats continue daily relation accomplish pact, achieve expatriate facilities, and resolve different crisis’s. They resolve the disputes between the two states through negotiation. Ambassadors and other diplomats carry on day to day relations between their government and the government of the country in which they serve. They arrange treaties, protect the rights of citizens who are abroad and work to gain political advantages for their government. Each and every government has a separate foreign ministry for the maintenance of diplomatic relation. Foreign affair ministry appoints the diplomats for each country. Sometimes foreign affairs send special diplomats and ambassadors to negotiate the disputes between two countries. For example, Henry .A Kisisinger carried out several important diplomatic assignments for president Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. During that time he served as Nixon’s assistant for national security affairs.

1. 2.   International summit, conference and organization:

One of the most important processes to uphold international relations is to arrange international conferences and joining in several international organizations. International problems may involve many countries for several disagreements may have to be settled at the same time. To deal with such problems governments may send representatives to an International conference. For example, the United Nation has sponsored a series of meetings in order to draw up an international treaty governing the development and protection of the oceans.  In the same case, two or more heads of government may hold a summit conference. President Jimmy Carter held such a conference in 1978 with Egyptian and Israeli leaders at Camp David in Mary land. President Bill Clinton held a conference between the leaders of Palestine and Israel in 1993.   The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that describes itself as a "global association of governments facilitating co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity"; It is the most prominent international institution. The security Council is the main peace-keeping agency of of the UN. The council also may ask UN members to furish military forces to settle an international dispute. Many of the legal institutions follow the same organizational structure as the UN such as, African Union, ASEAN, Arab League, CIS, European Union, G8, G20, League of Nations, Organization of American States

Economic institutions:The World Bank headquarters inWashington, D.C. Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization

International legal bodies

Human rights :Human Rights Committee, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ,United Nations Human Rights Council

Legal: African Court of Justice, European Court of Justice, International Court of Justice, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

       Regional security arrangements:  NATO E-3A flying with USAF F-16sin a NATO exercise, CSCAP, GUAM, Maritime security regime, NATO, SCO, SAARC, UNASUR

1. 3.   Treaties:  A treaty is a formal agreement made by national governments. The agreement may be bilateral (signed by two countries) or multilateral (signed by more than two countries). Only official representatives of the independent countries may draw up a treaty. Many treaties have been signed among many nations. Some examples of famous treaties have been given below:

1958

979

1994

1994

2000

2002

Year

Name

Summary

628

Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

Between Muslims and the Quraish.

638

Treaty of Ili river

Between Eastern Turks and the Western Turks (Onok).

651

The Bakt

Between Nubia and Egypt.

1237

Treaty of York

A feudal agreement between Henry III of England and Alexander III of Scotland.

1244

Treaty of Almizra[13]

Establishes the borders of the Kingdom of Valencia.

Treaty of Jativa

Permits the Moors of Spain to hold on to the Castle of Jativa for two years before relinquishing it to King Jaime I of Aragon.

1245

Al-Azraq Treaty

Between the King Jaime I of Aragon and the Muslim commander Mohammad Abu Abdallah Ben Hudzail al Sahuir.

1907

Treaty of Union

Unites the Kingdoms of England and Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1949

North Atlantic Treaty[165]

Establishes NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

1947

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade[163]

Establishes international trade rules.

1947

Paris Peace Treaties

Formally ends World War II.

1950

Liaquat-Nehru Pact

Between Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

1953

Korean War Armistice Agreement[172]

Ended the fighting between the United Nations Command and the Korean People's Army & PRC People's Liberation Army.

1955

1978

1994

2000

2001

Warsaw Pact[177]

Alliance of Central and Eastern European communist states.

1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement

Bilateral treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom on nuclear weapons cooperation.

Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty

Israel and Egypt agree to mutually recognize each other; Israel agrees to withdraw its troops from the Sinai Peninsula in return for Israeli ships to gain free passage through the Suez Canal.

  Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty[218]

Normalizes relations between Israel and Jordan and resolves territorial disputes between them.

 

Treaty of Jedda

Resolves a border dispute between Saudi Arabia and Yemen that dates backs to Saudi boundary claims made in 1934.

ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution

Between ASEAN nations to bring haze pollution under control in Southeast Asia.

International treaties have played a vital role for the maintenance of good relation among the states of all over the world.

1. 4.   International Law:

International Law consists of rules that governments are expected to observe in their relations with one-another. Some rules have developed through custom,. Others have been established in treaties. In earlier day, international law meant as laws of governing states. The hisroty of international law is not modern, it is also ancient. Many customs, religious rules, doctrine of different nations, treaties, research of the exparts and many other things are the part of International Law. Caliph Harunur Rashid defines international law as those body of rules which not only deal with states in relation to each other but also a body of rules that deal with inter-governmental organization and individuals. The International laws may trace back to divine and natural laws. A large number of European authors also made substantial contribution for the development of international law. International law deals with such matters as the rights of people travelling abroad and the rights of merchant ships outside their own waters. International law can be divided into three parts. First one is the law of power that compromises of peace treaties, boundary agreements and the presentation of political independence. The second one is the law of reciprocity that covers among others, diplomatic immunities, extradition, trade and communications. Finally category is the law of community that be found among others in the law of international rivers, Law of sea, Law of protection of environment etc. Peace and security will be ensured in the international community if it is observed strictly. Some experts have divided internatiomal law into three parts those are law of peace, law of war and law of neutrality.  

(a)   Law of peace: The situation of keeping peaceful relation between two countries or among more countries is known as Peaceful relation. In this time, the duties and the responsibilities of those countries are known as included in the Law of peace. World Brotherhood, Independence, equity etc are maintained in the Law of peace.

(b)   Law of war: The main topics of this law are weapons, hostages, region of war, activities of war and the maintenance of human rights during the war

(c)   Law of neutrality: When any state don’t involve with any types of confliction on that time they maintain some rules for using air space, underground and water boundary.     

Conclusion:

To conclude, a state will never be survived without the maintenance of International Law. So it is an important method in the foreign affairs of every country.