LSN FIVE - Basic Values of International Relations

5 Basic values of International Relations
Five basic social values that states are usually expected to uphold: (1) security; (2) freedom; (3)
order; (4) justice and (5) welfare. Social values that are so fundamental to human well-being,
they must be protected or encouraged on some way.
1. Security: States form alliances to offset threats and preserve the security of the states in the
group. A good balance of power (through military power) helps maintain the security of nations.
Because security is so important, the REALIST THEORY in IR, pioneered in 1960 by
Morgenthau, postulates that the best way to characterize how IR goes, is in thinking about the
states as competing rivals who are 'armed and dangerous' and sometimes even go to war with
each other. In the modern era, the state in expected to ensure the value of national security (the
protection of citizens from internal and external threat and it is a fundamental concern or interest
of states).
Paradox of the state system is that ‘security dilemma’, i.e. states present problems as well as
provide solutions. Most states are friendly, non-threatening, peace-loving while new states may
be hostile and aggressive, no world government to constrain them. That poses a basic and age-
old problem of state systems: national security.
Security is obviously one of the most fundamental values of international relations. That
approach to the study of world politics is typical of realist theories of IR. The main assumption
of security values is that relations of states can be best characterized as a world in which armed
states are competing rivals and periodically go to war with each other.
2. Freedom- There are two types of freedom: i) personal freedom and ii) national freedom or
independence. Individuals cannot be free unless our country is free too. War threatens and
sometimes destroys freedom peace but peace fosters freedom. Peace also makes progressive
international change possible, that is, the creation of a better world.
This approach to the study of world politics is typical of liberal theories. And the main
assumption: international relations can be best characterized as a world in which states operate
with each other to maintain peace and to pursue progressive change.
Because freedom is so important, the liberal theory of IR, says that we can characterize states as
entities that cooperate with each other to maintain peace, freedom for each other and progressive
change.

3/4. Order and Justice. We expect states to uphold justice and in doing so, promote social order,
instead of social chaos. The state acts as judge, jury and executioner- when common folk serve
on juries, they are acting in the name of the state, which in our democratic republic. States have a
common interest in establishing and maintaining international order so that they can coexist and
interact on a basis of stability, certainty and predictability. To that end, states are expected;
i. to uphold international law: to keep their treaty commitments and to observe the rules,
conventions and customs of the international legal order.
ii. to follow accepted practices of diplomacy and to support international organizations.

iii. To uphold human rights.
Today there is an elaborate international legal framework of human rights - civil, political,
social and economic - which has been developed since the end of the Second World War.
Order/Justice obviously are among the most fundamental values of international relations.
That approach to the study of world politics is typically of international society theories of
IR.
The main assumption is that international relations can be best characterized as a world in which
states are socially responsible actors and have a common interest in preserving international
order and promoting international justices.
4. The population’s socio-economic wealth and welfare- States are expected to adopt
appropriate policies to encourage high employment, low inflation, steady investment, the
uninterrupted flow of trade and commerce, and so forth. States today try to frame and implement
economic policies that can maintain the stability of the international economy upon which they
are all increasingly dependent.
Internationally, states have a common interest in order and justice too, so they can coexist in a
stable system. Trading is an economic benefit, so some international law needs to regulate it that
all states follow. In order to negotiate those laws and norms, diplomatic ties are fostered. In this
day-in-age, some made up 'human rights', that people automatically get when they are born, have
been extended to everyone on Earth (except people living in the territory of a great power that no
international alliance of other states will agitate on their behalf). Protecting these 'human rights'
are used as a pretext for intervention into states, think Serbia in the 1990s and Iraq in the 2000s.

Because justice and social and international order are so important, the international society
theory of IR takes as its thesis the idea that states can be characterized best as socially
responsible actors who have a common interest that can be appealed to, in international order and
stability through justice.
5. Welfare- This should be addressed through economic policies that can deal adequately;
-with international markets,
-the economic policies of other states,
-foreign investment,
-foreign exchange rates,
-international trade,
-international transportations and communications and
-other international economic relations that affect national wealth and welfare.
Economics are very important to people in most all the states. In fact, a state with a good
economic policy that has less resources can yet have a higher standard of living than one with an
inefficient economic policy but with lot of resources. States economically act together now, and
interdependence is growing into a global economy. This can be good, like when people in one
country are made free by the global economy to do something more specialized and sell it in a
bigger marketplace, or bad, as in when national freedom is lessened by dependence on foreign
goods and services.

Because economics, poverty and wealth are important to people, deciding if they are destitute or
prosperous, the IPE (International Political Economy) Theory of IR, pioneered by Gilpin in
1987, argues that International Relations is best characterized by looking at the world and the
state system in socioeconomic terms, not 'just' political or military ones.

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5 Basic values of International Relations

ii. to follow accepted practices of diplomacy and to support international organizations.

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