E X C L U S I O N

"Strength, power, autonomy, independence, and rationality, all typically associated with men and masculinity, are characteristics we most value in those to whom we entrust the conduct of our foreign policy and the defense of our national interest" (Tickner 3).

The discipline of international relations has been influenced strongly by a Western, industrial perspective (Pirages 19). This has developed into an exclusionist view of global politics, the familiar "us versus them" bipolarity.

IR is rife with Western, and particularly Anglo-American self-references (Holsti 146). We need to incorporate Third World, Australian, and other viewpoints too, in order for international relations to be truly an international discipline.

IR has also been a state-centered politics. The emphasis has been on the nation-state as the fundamental unit of analysis, as opposed to the individual or to a political concept.

In this paradigm, international affairs are construed as struggles for power among competing nations.

Now, faced with a fragmented international order, we need to build a more inclusionist approach to hold countries and ideas together.