What is the Difference between International Politics and International Relations?
Many tend to ask the question “What is the Difference between International Politics and International Relations?”
International Politics describes the Power Politics and Power Relations among major global players. On the other hand, International Relations is a broad area which covers Power Relations, among others.
These two terms are used interchangeably by many when they are not supposed to be because, one is broader than the other. The hierarchy could be illustrated as the following;
Political Science >> International Relations >> International/Global Politics.
To explain their differences, we will have to understand how the two terms differ from each other.
What is International Relations?
International Relations is a sub-field of Political Science which covers broad areas of relations between nations with two main sub-fields; International Security and International Political Economy.
The other areas include; International/Global Politics, IR Theories, International Organizations, International Law, etc, are to enrich the field of IR (or as a study discipline).
What is International Politics?
International Politics or Global Politics is a term used to describe the shift of Power in the world or Power Relations. Moreover, it explains how major global players try to dominate, influence and balance the power of other players. While playing Power Politics, they take into consideration their respective national interest as being paramount.
Therefore, International Politics is to do with Power Politics and Power Relations among states, which is part of the many areas covered under International Relations.
The power-balancing game is age-old as it had been observed over the years. The Arms Race in Europe, the Eight Superpowers or G8 and the US-USSR rivalry during the Cold War are examples of Power Relations and Power Politics.
Comparably, in the present global scenario, we can see Power Politics being played by great players such as; US, China, EU, Russia and others. They try to maneuver their economies (and power/dominance) in challenging times of Globalization.
The examples of this include; the Free Trade Agreements, Regionalization such as the EU, Capital and Labor Flows, Out-sourcing of MNCs and Climate Change talks.
Moreover, they (major players) instigate and sometimes escalate smaller conflicts. Such conflicts include; the crisis in Syria, Iran & N/Korea nuclear issues, Ukraine crisis and others. For this reason, such conflicts are referred to as ‘Proxies Conflicts/Wars’.
Can International Politics and International Relations be used Interchangeably?
Basically, International Relations is a sub-field of Political Science. It covers broad areas and part of those areas is International/Global Politics (power politics or power shifts, especially for regional or global dominance by major players).
Therefore, it is inappropriate to use the two terms interchangeably.
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This article is a response to a Quora article on the same topic.
