The world-systems analysis and the international politics: an alternative boarding of the theories of the international relations

Abstract

This paper intends to discuss the contribution of the “world-system” analysis in the field of epistemology of International Relations. This field has been widely dominated by Realism and Liberalism. These mainstream approaches maintain active influence to developed countries, mainly the USA. Since the 1970s, the works of Immanuel Wallerstein and Giovanni Arrighi have opened the possibility of an alternative approach to dominant liberal and realistic ideas. In this paper, we intend to evaluate some of these contributions, such as the definition of the study field of IR, the role of state and non-state players and mainly the role of international capital to the field of international politics.