International politics focuses on the patterns of political relationships between sovereign states. It explores the issues that arise at national, bilateral, multilateral, regional and global levels of politics and policy. In essence, it explains how and why some countries can protect and project their interests in the world while others cannot.
Many schools of thought have emerged in this field of study, with some of the most prominent being realism, liberalism and constructivism. The field also draws on other disciplines such as sociology, history, economics, geography and law to broaden its perspective.
For example, democratic peace theory argues that the inherent nature of democracy means that nations will not go to war with each other, because democracies will externalise their norms and only fight for justified causes. The idea is that this will lead to a more peaceful world, in which all countries benefit from each other’s prosperity.
Other theories, such as neorealism, argue that the international system is structurally anarchic and it is this that drives state behaviour. It also claims that all states have offensive military capability and can never be sure of another country’s intentions, thereby leading to a situation of ‘buck passing’ where each state assumes the other will deal with an emerging threat.
Other schools of thought, such as post-positivism and critical theory, reject the assumptions of positivism, arguing that it is not possible to understand international relations without considering factors such as power relations and the interplay of different cultures. They further argue that the study of international politics should include analysis of non-state actors such as international organisations, companies and individuals.