International Relations / internationale Beziehungen

The British utilitarian philosopher and social engineer, Jeremy Bentham in 1780 coined the modern usage of the term ‘international’ with reference to International Law (Bentham 1996). In the nineteenth century the main usage of the adjective ‘international’ was with respect to international exchange and the relations between principalities, nations and empires. Nevertheless, the theory and practice of International Relations originates in ancient times, for example in the writings of the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, whose On the Art of War was written approximately 2,500 years ago (Sun 1993) and in the writings of Greeks such as Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War of 431-404 B.C. (Thucydides 1934). Other noted historical sources include Ibn Khaldun, who wrote about the rise and fall of political forms and regional patterns of trade, war and peace in the Mahgreb in the Middle Ages (Ibn 1967).