International Relations (IR), as a separate discipline, is almost 100 years old but in Pakistan its academic life is nearly 50 years. Mostly promoted by US and Britain as major powers, it drew its roots from the discipline of Political Science and Area Studies in post- World War II. It has fared well under Cold War conditions in becoming a separate discipline in universities and think tanks, and defense institutions. It became mainstream with developing countries like China, India and Pakistan, who after joining the nuclear league started introducing them in their universities and think tanks.
Political science, as the mother of IR, has become increasingly focused on disciplinary methods and has mostly neglected the study of war, peace, and diplomacy. While there are some exceptions, last few years provide little practical methods to bridge gaps academics and practitioner of international affairs. The disciplines, most closely associated with global affairs - political science and history primarily bear a smattering of economics and sociology - have been far more static and less adaptable in face of dramatically changing world.
Even in the developed world, it has been observed that IR has not been able to address seismic events such as the end of Cold War, collapse of the then Soviet Union, the Arab Spring, the event of 9/11, rise of Brexit and other salient developments on the global firmament.
Granted, it is too much to expect neat prediction of world developments in an increasingly complex, interdependent world, as one can safely talks about the past and present but hardly of the future world.
An interconnected, interlocking and complex globe has underpinnings of economics, ideology, great power tussles and other intangible factors. This underscores that many fields have encroached upon, infiltrated and influenced the traditional IR discipline and are continually doing so. To this could be mentioned the rise of the Trump era which has compounded global unpredictability and uncertainty due to his peculiar style.
Globalization has profoundly altered political, socio-economic, and cultural forces around the world, and despite the efforts of populists, the trend is unlikely to be reversed. The world, for better or worse, is trending towards closed inter-dependence. This deepening of inter-dependence is happening at a time of shifting players, rising and declining of states and increased importance of various non-state actors. Hence it is becoming difficult to understand most pressing issues or opportunities through local or even national frame.
Rapid advances in technology will continue to have profound, unknown consequences that will defy borders, nationalism and challenge political, intellectual, socio-economic and military environment. One needs not only answers but novel ways of thinking about, framing, and analyzing the most important global questions. And this applies not only to government but also to the private and nonprofit sector. As Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other large technology companies recognize the mount of training in computer science or marketing can fully prepare global corporation for challenges of operating in a deeply politicized, complex and often counterintuitive international environment. Other industries, old and new, for profit and nonprofit, will join tech companies, if they in requiring that employees have a richer, and deeper understanding of international affairs. Yet this is hardly enough to understand the dynamics of a changing world.
Surely, in developed nations such as the US institutions of higher education have been critical factors in civic health, technological prowess, effective statecraft and economic growth - while forging lasting ties with much of the world. Their record of achievements is impressive, as they remain repositories of knowledge, research, and education. Yet ironically for the US, its higher education institutions are small conservative entities - often slower to adapt to a changing world than other institutions in society.
Pakistani universities and think tanks, like other national institutions, are not well-versed in creating such knowledge. English language issue mostly inhibits research and creative thought process in social sciences. Universities cater for degrees and mostly pursuit of jobs. There is need for attachments with industry and government to gain practical experience. Higher education should undertake reform and building of infrastructure and improvement in funding by making teaching and research respectable vocation.
Schools of international affairs - through intellectual diversity, have close ties to non-academic world, and institutional flexibility are instruments to help universities evolve, innovate, and reform to meet the new challenges of society. New courses on interfaith harmony, cyber security, environmental ethics and good governance are needed.
Global policy schools can be engines of much-needed change and reform within higher education - enlarging and innovating on what, whom, and how international affairs is researched and taught. These programs are attracting new audiences to the world of international affairs, acting as bridges between theory and praxis among generations and communities, public- private and non-profit outfits.
Thus international affairs programmes can be better situated than other disciplines and professional programs. This is to help understand and develop solutions to the complex and ever-changing array of global challenges and opportunities. Rapid advances in technology will continue to have profound, unknown repercussions that will defy borders, shaping political, intellectual, socio-economic and military environment.
Hence, disciplines such as economics, statistics, psychology, climatology, military strategy, AI, cybernetics and hybrid wars are in need of induction to face oncoming challenges.
(The writer is presently Visiting Faculty, Dept of Defence and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, former Adviser, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, and ex-President, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad)
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