History Is Very Important In Understanding International Rel ✓ Solved

History is very important in understanding international rel

History is very important in understanding international relations (IR). Based on your reading in Mingst (use Chapter 2 outline as a guide but broaden your answers), write a short paragraph for each of the following questions: 1. Why do we care about history when studying IR? 2. Why is the Treaty of Westphalia so important in modern IR and history? 3. When was the 'Concert of Europe' and how does your book characterize it? 4. Describe what 'Balance of Power' means in IR. 5. According to your book, what are the major events in IR during the years between WWI and WWII? 6. During WWII what was going on between Japan and China at that time that could impact decisions of both those countries today? 7. Why were the Geneva Conventions created after WWII? 8. When was the United Nations created and why? 9. Name and discuss briefly 4 factors that contributed to the emergence of the Cold War. 10. What is the purpose of NATO? Why was it founded? Does it matter to the U.S. today? Why or why not? 11. When did the Cold War end and why? 12. What major world events marked the 1990s? One last question: What global issues interest you the most? What would you like to find out more about this fall? Finally, consider how 21st-century developments (terrorism, financial crisis, China's rise, Russia's actions, nuclear proliferation, populism, and pandemics) challenge traditional IR theories and whether states can cooperate to address global problems.

Paper For Above Instructions

1. Why we care about history when studying IR

History provides the context and causal chains that explain how state identities, institutions, and expectations developed. Familiarity with past treaties, wars, alliances, and diplomatic practice helps students and analysts recognize patterns, root causes, and the persistence of norms such as sovereignty and nonintervention (Mingst, 2018). Without historical perspective IR becomes ahistorical description; with it, theory and policy can better anticipate outcomes and craft strategies informed by precedent rather than purely by presentist assumptions (Mingst, 2018).

2. Importance of the Treaty of Westphalia

The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) is often credited with institutionalizing state sovereignty and the territorial state system that underpins modern international law and diplomacy (Osiander, 2001). Westphalia curtailed transnational religious authority in favor of legal equality among territorial rulers, thereby embedding the norm of noninterference and creating a baseline framework for interstate relations that persists in IR theory and practice (Krasner; Osiander, 2001).

3. The Concert of Europe: timing and characterization

The Concert of Europe emerged after the Napoleonic Wars, roughly 1815–1848, as the great powers (Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, later France) coordinated to manage European stability (Schroeder, 1994; Mingst, 2018). Mingst characterizes it as a pragmatic, informal collective-security arrangement that combined diplomacy and balance-of-power politics to prevent continental war—an early example of multilateral order built around elite consultation rather than universal institutions (Schroeder, 1994).

4. Balance of Power in IR

Balance of power refers to the distribution of capabilities among states that prevents any one state or coalition from dominating others; states align, arm, or bandwagon to preserve autonomy and security (Mingst, 2018). It is both a descriptive concept—explaining alliance formation—and a prescriptive strategy policymakers have used to deter aggression. Realists emphasize balancing as a central mechanism that stabilizes international anarchy by limiting hegemonic ambitions (Mingst, 2018).

5. Major events between WWI and WWII

Between the world wars the international system experienced the collapse of empires, the punitive Versailles settlement, economic turmoil (Great Depression), the rise of revisionist ideologies, and weak collective security under the League of Nations (Mingst, 2018). These factors produced nationalist revanchism, expansionist policies in Germany, Italy, and Japan, and a failure of multilateral institutions that ultimately paved the way to WWII (Mingst, 2018).

6. Japan–China dynamics during WWII and contemporary impacts

Japan’s invasion of China in the 1930s (notably the 1937 Nanjing atrocities) created long-standing trauma, territorial disputes, and contested narratives that still shape bilateral relations (Mitter, 2013). Wartime memories, unresolved historical grievances, and disputes over wartime history, textbooks, and islands (e.g., Senkaku/Diaoyu) affect contemporary policy choices and domestic politics in both countries, influencing strategic posture and public opinion today (Mitter, 2013).

7. Why the Geneva Conventions were created after WWII

The Geneva Conventions were revised and augmented after WWII to respond to the unprecedented scale of civilian suffering and wartime atrocities, setting clearer legal standards for the humane treatment of civilians, prisoners, and wounded combatants (ICRC, n.d.). The postwar codification reflects an effort to constrain wartime conduct, promote humanitarian norms, and provide legal mechanisms to hold violators accountable (ICRC, n.d.).

8. When and why the United Nations was created

The United Nations was founded in 1945 to prevent another global war, promote collective security, uphold human rights, and foster international cooperation (UN, 1945). Delegates sought to improve on the League of Nations’ weaknesses by creating stronger institutional structures—Security Council enforcement mechanisms and broader membership—to provide a forum for diplomacy and crisis management (UN, 1945; Mingst, 2018).

9. Four factors contributing to the emergence of the Cold War

Key factors include ideological conflict between liberal capitalism and Soviet communism; wartime alliance strains and mutual distrust; competing security interests in Europe and Eastern Europe’s postwar settlement; and the nuclear arms revolution that raised stakes and hardened blocs (Gaddis, 2005; Mingst, 2018). Economic reconstruction programs (e.g., Marshall Plan) and competing visions for international order further institutionalized rivalry (Gaddis, 2005).

10. Purpose and founding rationale of NATO; contemporary U.S. relevance

NATO was founded in 1949 as a collective-defense alliance to deter Soviet aggression in Europe and bind the U.S. to European security (NATO, n.d.). Its Article 5 mutual-defense pledge remains central to transatlantic stability. NATO still matters to the U.S. as a platform for burden-sharing, interoperability, crisis management, and projecting stability, though debates persist about cost-sharing and strategic focus in the post-Cold War era (NATO, n.d.; Mingst, 2018).

11. When and why the Cold War ended

The Cold War effectively ended between 1989–1991 with the fall of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, the reunification of Germany (1990), and the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991). Internal economic stagnation, political reforms under Gorbachev (glasnost and perestroika), and popular movements eroded Soviet control and reduced ideological confrontation, allowing a shift from bipolar rivalry to a U.S.-led unipolar moment (Gaddis, 2005).

12. Major world events of the 1990s

The 1990s saw post-Cold War realignments: Balkan wars and humanitarian interventions, the Rwandan genocide, NATO expansion debates, the Gulf War (1990–1991), globalization and economic integration, EU deepening, and the rise of regional institutions and peacekeeping as core tools of international engagement (Mingst, 2018).

One last question: personal interests and contemporary challenge

Personally, I am most interested in climate governance, great-power competition (U.S.–China), and the governance of emerging technologies (cyber, AI). This fall I would explore how institutional design and historical legacies enable or impede cooperation on transnational issues. The 21st-century shocks—terrorism, financial crises, China’s rise, Russian assertiveness, nuclear proliferation, populism, and pandemics—test whether liberal institutionalism can adapt or whether realist competition will reassert dominance (Mingst, 2018; Ikenberry, 2018).

Concluding reflection: continuity and change in IR

Long-standing patterns (power balancing, alliance politics, and state self-interest) coexist with new drivers (interdependence, transnational threats, technological change). History shows both the persistence of power-seeking behavior and the possibility of sustained cooperation when institutions and reciprocal interests align. Addressing collective problems—climate change, pandemics, migration—will require coupling historical lessons with innovative institutional responses to encourage cooperation beyond short-term national calculations (Mingst, 2018; Ikenberry, 2018).

References

• Mingst, K. A., & Arreguín‑Toft, I. M. (2018). Essentials of International Relations (7th ed.). W.W. Norton & Company.
• Osiander, A. (2001). Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth. International Organization, 55(2), 251–287.
• Schroeder, P. W. (1994). The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848. Oxford University Press.
• Gaddis, J. L. (2005). The Cold War: A New History. Penguin Press.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). (n.d.). The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/geneva-conventions-1949-additional-protocols
• United Nations. (1945). Charter of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter
• NATO. (n.d.). What is NATO? https://www.nato.int/
• Mitter, R. (2013). Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937–1945. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF). (2009). The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences. https://www.imf.org
• World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019