Theory Of International Relations Theory

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY AND THE PRINCIPLE OF ORIGINATION

Abstract
Theories of International Relations (IR) explain how international relations work or how states behave in the international arena. Western theories of IR such as realism or neo-realism, liberalism or neo-liberalism, English School or International Society, constructivism, and critical theories such as Marxism, feminism, etc are familiar to scholars and students of international relations. In recent times, there have been, and there are, attempts to discover or develop theories of IR that are non-Western. Africa is one place where such attempt is going on. But the question is: Is there an African theory of IR?

Ultimately, I will use what I refer to as ‘the principle of origination’ to judge whether there is such thing as African IR theory. The principle of origination says an IR theory is African only if it originates from Africa, an IR theory is Western only if it originates from the West, an IR theory is Chinese only if it originates from China, so on and so forth. It is based on this principle I shall argue that there is no known African IR theory.
The paper is divided into three parts. The first paper of the paper – International Relations Theory and Its Function – explicates what a theory is and what a theory does, then deductively explicates what IR theory is and what IR theory does. This is meant to help us understand what African IR theory should be and what it should be doing if at all there is any such thing as African IR

The discussion starts with an interrogation of what is African about African IR. But to have a plausible response to the interrogation, the discussion first interrogates what is Western about Western IR theories. The result of the this interrogation of what is Western about Western IR theories helps compare ‘Westerness’ of Western IR theories to the ‘Africaness’ of any plausible and possible African IR theory that might exist.
Essentially, the analysis in the third part of the paper concludes that the ‘Westerness’ of Western IR theories or what makes Western IR theories Western is that they originate from the Western. So also the ‘Africaness’ of African IR theory or what makes an African IR theory African is that it originates from Africa. Hence the principle of origination which says an IR theory is African only if it originates from Africa, an IR theory is Western only if it originates from the West, an IR theory is Chinese only if it originates from China, so on and so