Politics

International Relations

Analysis of Theories

The field of international relations is based on many competing and complementary theories. These include realism, liberalism, constructivism, dependency theory, Marxism, etc. The theories are many; the field is expansive. What international relations seek to do is both formulate and analyze international politics, and work concomitantly with world governments, non-governmental organizations, and multi-national corporations. Due to the nature of work in these global affairs, several of the theories mentioned above are utilized to explain various phenomena. This paper will thus focus on a few questions as they relate to international relations and, specifically, to the theories which it employs.

To begin, one must understand that the field of international politics can be segmented into various categories, or levels of analysis. The most famous of these categories are Kenneth Waltz' groups, which include explanations of politics as being driven by individuals, by psychology, by states,...
[ View Full Essay]