International perspectives are an effective and valuable way to see the problems that occur taking place in the world. To better understand the reasons and the essence of these issues, the fundamental theories of international relations, such as realism, liberalism, and constructivism, have been developed. These approaches help examine the basics and causes of what is happening in society and the world around us. Theories provide various kinds of prisms for evaluating these aspects. Therefore, this work aims to examine the main theories of international relations and analyze the Paris Agreement through the prism of constructivism approaches.
The first theory of international relations is realism. Following the name, this approach considers a realistic attitude to the political side of the events of the world, which puts the state in as the leading actor. It is noted that the moral side is not always taken into account when making decisions to achieve political power. Research states that realism considers “a basic scepticism that there can be progress in international politics which is comparable to that in domestic political life (Sørensen, Jackson, and Møller 2022, 70). In addition, the more power a country has, the higher the level of prosperity of the region. A particular danger is that many states often take harsh and violent measures to achieve their goals.
The second theory of international relations, which provides a perspective on the events taking place in the world, is liberalism. Unlike realism, this approach focuses on the belief that the world is capable of achieving a peaceful order (Sørensen, Jackson, and Møller 2022, 108). Therefore, instead of using cruelty and violence, this theory considers cooperation and communication as the primary measure to achieve this goal. The main way to achieve strength and power in this way, politicians to use the economy and society.
The third theory that forms the basis of international relations is constructivism, which has its own unique characteristics. It is based on the view that the policies of countries should take into account historical, cultural, and social systems. Thus, the basis and value for the formation of international relations are such participants as international institutions and other non-state actors (Burchill et al., 2022). For this reason, this theory of international relations is considered to be one of the main ones that explains the world events.
Further, the Paris Agreement from the perspective of the theory of constructivism will be analyzed. This world event is a gathering of countries, the primary purpose of which is to maintain the sustainability of the environment and reduce emissions from the industrial activities of states. At the moment, the agreement includes almost two hundred countries. United States recently left it which is unfavourable because the U.S. is holds second place among the countries that have the most significant impact on environmental pollution (Sustainability for All n.d.). Constructivism is a valuable theory for considering this event, as it puts emphasis on the importance of the participation of all involved state and non-state agents. Among them, there are “cities, states, regions, companies, investors, foundations, civil society organizations, and cooperative initiatives” (Act Sweden 2018). Thus, they become the driving force for maintaining the activities of the Paris Agreement.
In conclusion, this work considered the main theories of international relations, which constitute various perspectives for the interpretation of current events in the world. Hence, the main theories are liberalism, constructivism, and realism, each of which has a unique view of the policies of countries. Moreover, within the framework of this paper, the Paris Agreement is considered within the framework of the constructivist theory of international relations. The choice of approach is since it considers state and non-state agents to be the main ones and emphasizes the importance of social relations in the process of resolving world problems.
References
Act Sweden. “Project overview”. 2018.
Burchill, Scott, Andrew Linklater, Jack Donnelly, Terry Nardin, Matthew Paterson, Christian Reus-Smit, André Saramago, Toni Haastrup, and Alina Sajed. 2022. Theories of International Relations. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Sørensen, Georg, Robert H. Jackson, and Jørgen Møller. (2022). Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sustainability for All. “Top 5 most polluting countries”. n.d.