Key concepts in International Relations: PSIR Optional PYQs

Key concepts in International Relations: National interest, Security and power; Balance of power and deterrence; Transnational actors and collective security; World capitalist economy and globalisation.

a. National Interest

1. Comment: National Interest and Capability. (1993)
2. Comment: National Interest and Ideology. (1999)
3. Comment: The realist vision of ‘national interest’. (2004)
4. Should National Interest be viewed as a constant category or is it situation- specific? Bring out your perspective. (2010)
5. National Interests are Dynamic’. Identify the contemporary world politics with suitable examples. (200 words) (2013)
6. Explain the instruments and methods devised for the promotion of national interest. (2016)
7. National Interest is an essentially contested concept. Comment. (2022)

b. Security and Power

1. One cannot understand the international politics of arms control without taking into account the domestic political forces which have a stake in maintaining large defence expenditure. Analyse these force which help in promoting international arms races. (1993)
2. Comment: Effective government as a source of national power.  (1997)
3. Comment: Power. (1998)
4. Comment: Information Technology – an element of national power. (2000)
5. “International politics, like all politics is a struggle for power.” Comment. (2000)
6. Comment: Changing nature and dynamics of national security. (2002)
7. Discuss various elements and limitations of national power. (2002)
8. Comment: “International politics, like all politics, is a struggle for power. (2006)
9. Explain the difference between security dilemma and insecurity dilemma. (2008)
10. Explain the concept of ‘Hegemonic stability’.  (2008)
11. Examine the changing nature of security in the recent times. (2010)
12. What is comprehensive approach to national security? (2011)
13. Do you agree with the view that over-widening of the concept of ‘national security’ has made it a more amorphous concept? Discuss. (2011)
14. Is ‘terrorism’ an essentially ‘contested’ concept? What are the different manifestations of ‘terrorism’ as a concept, and as practice? (250 words) (2012)
15. What constitutes ‘national security discourses’? How far have the IR Feminists questioned how ‘security’ has been problematised? (200 words) (2012)
16. Is power a zero – sum or variable game in international relations? Can zero – sum game explain the mixture of conflict and cooperation of the present dynamics of international relations? (250 words) (2012)
17. Examine the idea of a ‘balance’ between ‘security’ and ‘liberty’ in modern international politics. Do you think the liberal international order is more ‘security – friendly? (250 words) (2012)
18. Critically assess the changing nature of the concept of national security. (2014)

c. Balance of Power and deterrence

1. Define Alliance. What is the role of Alliances in power politics? Discuss the relevance of Alliance in a nuclear age. (1992)
2. Explain the essential rules of the balance of power system and evaluate the role which balance of power plays in the stability of the global order in a multi-polar system. (1993)
3. “The relations of the Balance of Power to Collective Security have been at the same time complementary and antagonistic.” Elucidate. (1997)
4. Comment: Alliances. (1998)
5. Comment: Balance of power and its impact on world politics. (2003)
6. Why is the ‘polarity of power’ thesis less relevant and meaningful in the present architecture of ‘balance of power’? (150 words) (2012)
7. How would you explain the future of ‘Nuclear Deterrence’? Do you think that ‘preventive war’ is a good substitute for Nuclear Deterrence? (250 words) (2012)
8. Discuss the theory of Nuclear Deterrence. Did Nuclear Deterrence prevent a superpower war? (2015)
9. “The notion of balance of power is notoriously full of confusion.” In the light of this quotation, do you think that the concept of balance of power is relevant? (2016)
10. Discuss the utility of Nuclear Deterrence Theory in the context of the recent standoff between India and Pakistan. (2019)
11. Identify the benefits of a multi-polar world. (2019)
12. Explain the concept of balance of power. What are the various techniques of maintaining balance of power? (2020)
13. Bipolar structure of the world is more stable than the multipolar one. Comment. (2022)

d. Transnational actors and collective security

1. Comment: Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific. (1995)
2. “A well-established system of collective globalization security is a guarantee of world peace.” Explain. (2006)
3. Explain the meaning and application of the concept of ‘strategic engagement’. (2010)
4. Assess in detail the prospects of the emergence of a nuclear-weapons free world. (2010)
5. Review the increasing role of Multi-National Corporations in the policy making process of developing countries. (150 words) (2012)
6. “Transnational actors have become driving forces of global politics.” Elaborate. (200 words) (2013)
7. ‘Collective Security and Collective Defence are the institutional and State mechanisms to sustain the domination of powers that be in International politics.’ Elaborate. (2013)
8. How do you explain the growing importance of multi-national corporations (MNCs) and civil society in contemporary international politics? (2014)
9. Discuss the changing nature of modern state with reference to transnational actors. (2017)
10. “Some feel Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are a vital new road to economic growth, whereas others feel they perpetuate under development.” Discuss. (2018)
11. Enumerate the challenges in the operation of the principles related to collective security in the UN Charter. (2020)
12. What is ‘complex interdependence’? Discuss the role of transnational actors in the international system. (2021)
13. Discuss the conceptual dimensions of collective security. (2022)

e. World Capitalist economy and globalization

1. How has the development of Global Capitalism changed the nature of socialist economies and developing societies? (2017)

Diplomacy

1. Comment: Open versus Secret Diplomacy. (1992)
2. Diplomacy is not only a technique of foreign policy implementation, but also an instrument by which other techniques-military and economic- can be successfully deployed. Discuss the significance of diplomacy in the conduct of foreign relations. (1994)
3. Comment: Relevance of Diplomacy in the Nuclear Age. (1999)
4. Comment: Summit Diplomacy. (2000)