The Sources of International Relations have always played a funfamental role in the resolution of crisis. The Treaties, seen as the main sources of International Relations since then, had been used to resolve crises through Diplomatic ways.This time, several schemes which have nothing to do with problem solving in International Relations has been used. My question addresses precisely this new paradigm. So, what will be taught in the future and what will be the role of Diplomacy in the international context?
I do not think that this drastically changed the paradigm. The armed conflicts, including international were present in international relations even before this conflict.
The fact that diplomacy, or pacific means of dispute settlement in general, failed in this instance does not invalidate their usage in other cases.
To begin with, International Relations is a broad field of study beyond just diplomacy. I feel like your question aggregates the entire field into just diplomacy which is a sub-specialization among many others.
Having said that, both diplomacy and war are considered tools of foreign policy that various theories in the field explain. Before Ukraine-Russian wars there were many other wars and one can even claim that it was the two World Wars that led to the development of IR as a field of study.
So, rather than changing its paradigm various theories will use Ukraine-Russian war to (in)validate some theoretical assumptions.
I would like to suggest reading the paper entitled "Diplomacy: Meaning, Nature, Functions and Role in Crisis Management."
@Marecek, @Usman, What we need to observe in this crisis, is the luck of a true balance fugure. As happened in other international crises, the figure of balance, such as the United Nations is missing here.Yhe is the real difference that changes the paradigms. How to deal with a serious international crisis like this, without the hope and direct involvement of the United Nations? This does not detract from the enormous Peace efforts of the Turkish President, HE Erdogan. So, what kind of International Relation is this?
Better to learn from history, even geohistory, that to get your mind addled by IR theories, most of which depend, parasitically, on models and paradigms from the natural sciences, disagree wiuth each other, and are ideologically motivated, rather than dispassionatey analytical.
The Ukraine/Russia war will be a great source for Lessons Learned as future students of IR and Military Operations study it. That said, it will be important to view this conflict in the context of the last 15+ years. The military and economic indicators have been building for years. Putin's unchecked aggression in Georgia (2008) and in the Donbas region and Crimea (2014), coupled with European dependence on Russian energy, western countries washing their hands of the conflict in Syria, and the list goes on. All these factors set the conditions for Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Bottom line: Students of IR and diplomacy need to look at the broad picture rather than the single event if they hope to have any influence.
Hopefully, more history. Diplomacy, esrecially in the West, is now more Twitterised than ever, and the slave of (international) politics.....
The Ukraine Crisis is, definitely, going to be a milestone in our understanding of international relations. It is not only challenging the traditional IR knowledge, but also some of the basic ideas like 'sovereignty' in the 21st century context. It has also revealed a downside of the so-called 'complex interdependence' the liberal IR scholars have been talking about. Because of that interdependence, going after any state for its perceived crime has become increasingly difficult, unless that state is internationally insignificant.
I believe this crisis will create new opportunities for knowledge-building in IR. International Relations may become, finally, truly 'international' going beyond the narrow state-centric paradigms. In fact, what we have largely been studying so far in the name of International Relations is actually 'inter-state relations'. Most importantly, the idea of 'nation' must be reclaimed and rescued from the clutch of the states.
Thank you for asking such an interesting question!
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