Content area
Full Text
Introduction
The concern for the development of theories in the field of international relations is very paramount. This is because different events in the world require different theoretical explanations. As such, no one can look at everything in global politics or in any field of study at once without becoming completely confused. The effort to identify patterns in global politics entails theorising. It is on this basis that one can state that theorising fits individual events and cases into larger patterns, allowing us to generalise about global politics. Therefore, the question to be asked is what is a theory? In an attempt to provide an answer to this, it is important to make reference to scholarly postulations so as to situate issues within the proper context of the field. In the first place, Mansbach and Rafferty (2008:14) maintain that a theory consists of abstract, simplified, and general propositions that answer 'why' and 'how' questions such as 'why do wars begin?' or 'how do collective identities shape our behaviour?' To them, mostly theory involves an effort to explain and/or predict actors' behaviour in global politics. Theory is built on certain assumptions that are the initial claims that must be accepted without further investigation. These lead theorists to point to some particular features of global politics in their attempts to offer explanation to events. Similarly, Singer (1969: 380) states that theory is "a body of internally consistent empirical generalisations of descriptive, predictive, and explanatory power" (cited in Couloumbus and Wolfe, 1986: 29). This means that for us to have a theory there must be the formulation of testable hypotheses and propositions.
Daddow (2009) also perceives that theories by their nature are simplified versions of a complex reality. This indicates that theory is a collection of verifiable facts. In another instance, Baylis and Smith (2005:3) state that a theory is some kind of simplifying device that allows you to decide which facts matter and which do not. According to them, individuals studying international relations perceive and explain events around the world differently. They suggest that individuals develop theories about world politics through what they called an analogy with sunglasses with different coloured lenses; put on the red pair and the world looks red and if put on...