Journal of International Studies

Introduction International Relations, as an academic discipline, is considered an ever changing subject which has greatly evolved through the years due to the emergence of different and diverse political theories. It is from these that various interpretations are drawn and used to understand events and conflicts that shape how the world functions today. When studying the subject, one is confronted with three main approaches: Liberal Internationalism, the English School, and finally, realism. All of these dogmas have distinct outlooks on the nature of the state, on war, and on the international society. Realism and Liberal Internationalism (which, for the continuation of this essay, will also be referred to as liberalism or idealism) are identified as the two extremes of the academic arena. On one hand, the main realist theme is that “states find themselves in the shadow of anarchy such that their security cannot be taken for granted” (Dunne, Schmidt, 2008: 95). Liberalism on the o...

A man paints the logo of CHOGM 2013, ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013, in Colombo, Sri Lanka November 11, 2013 (Dinuka Liyanawatte/Courtesy Reuters). On Friday, November 15, the biennial  Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting  (CHOGM) convenes in Sri Lanka. This year’s gathering of  fifty-three Commonwealth members  has been anything but routine, however. A number of countries have had heated internal debates about their attendance and its intended signals; three have elected to send delegations below the “head of government” level as a way to highlight concerns about Sri Lanka’s limited progress on post-conflict reconciliation, human rights and democracy, and accountability for violations at the 2009 end of the nearly thirty-year conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a  public statement  explaining his decision to skip this year’s CHOGM by ...

Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 The Emergence of a Nuclear Programme Iran’s nuclear programme was born on 5 March 1957 after the Shah had signed the ‘Atoms for Peace’ Programme, a US initiative to promote peaceful nuclear development in the world. [1]  With support from western countries like the US, France, Germany and South Africa the nuclear programme accelerated fast, and by 1979 Iran had acquired basic nuclear capabilities. [2]  The Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed in 1967, and in 1974 Iran completed its Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). [3]   Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, however, Western concerns were raised about the intentions behind the programme. US, French and German support was withdrawn. [4]  In combination with Ayatollah Khomeini’s dislike of nuclear technology and the Iran-Iraq war, this meant a halt to the nuclear development. In the 1990s the programme saw a rebirth and development has...