Comparison between International Relations and International History
International relations is considered as the study of existing relationships among countries. This includes the roles of non-governmental organization, inter-governmental organization, and multinational corporations. It is considered to be public policy as well as an academic field and can be termed as being normative and sometimes positive.
Its main aim is to analyze foreign policies of given states and formulate them. It is considered by many as a major branch of political science but academics like to classify it as a field of study that is interdisciplinary. International relations and its aspects have been studied for many years, and it came to be separate and definable on its own in the 20th Century. Apart from the similarities that International Relations and political science have it also relates to other disciplines like international law, psychology, philosophy, cultural studies, and history. It handles a variety of issues including human rights, nationalism, psychological sustainability, sociology, and organized crime. The International History is involved with the history of conflicts that are current and those occurring as a result of current interest.
This contributes to development of a thought, internationally, and involves diplomatic history and also the history behind international relations theory. International history is also composed of the history involving international theories. It also gives histories of global governance and international organizations (Best 2008). From the definitions, International Relations are different from international History in what the two aspects deal with. International relations are a study that involves knowing the xisting ties between countries while International history aims at identifying the historic background of those countries.
Despite their differences, the two terms also have their similar traits especially on what they are associated with. International relations can be measured by use of the organizations and corporations existing in the country, which is unlike International history. The method used is where two countries with similar or almost similar organizations and corporations are being compared. Countries with similar corporations are likely to have similarities either in governance or political practices. This is because their policies for business start ups are similar which has led to emergence of similar corporations.
The corporations and companies in a country cannot be used to precisely determine the country’s history as some nations develop faster than others. Some countries also have more resources than others, which gives them an edge when it comes to development and emergence of companies (Weber 2009).International history can be used to evaluate the rate of growth of a nation especially if it’s in comparison with another nation. This is done by noting a country’s resources sometimes back and then analyzing where it is at the moment. The same is done for another country and its progress is also analyzed. The two analyses from the two countries are compared to determine which one has a better history and which one is currently better than the other.
The analysis can be international, and is not restricted to countries in the same region or continent. When using international relations, the same theory can apply to some extent as it can also incorporate history. The history of the relationship between two nations can be used to determine their ccurrent relationship. International relations can also be used as a measure for a country’s development by looking at its close ally nations. A country that has enjoyed a good history for long, it is most likely to maintain the status if no extreme leadership assumes power. Another concept that makes international relations and international history different is the fact that countries can have an international history together but do not have international relations at the moment.
Due to various reasons, countries are bound to break a once strong relationship that may take some time and effort to mend. This not only happens to neighboring nations, but also internationally. To avoid this, strong international relations should be maintained between countries and fast solutions made incase of a conflict. International relations play a big role in determining how countries are going to interact as compared to International history (Best 2008).Among the key roles practiced by international relations is analyze polices from other country, and determine how they can best be used to suit his/her own home country. It is up to the people involved in the international relations to compare different policies from different countries, and settle for the best policy that is most likely to have a positive change in the country.
Like the name suggests, people in international relations are expected to strengthen ties between nations, and mend them incase of any conflicts. International history is mostly used when formulating plans that need some historical information. For example if a country wishes to pass a certain bill, research has to be done on the consequences the same bill has had on other countries so as to decide how to best implement it.
