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Political Science (International Relations and Organisation)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4
2015 Dec (100 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Political Science (International Relations and Organisation) 2015 Dec (100 marks) Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Dec (100 marks) examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 Dec (100 marks) examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Write the meaning of National Power. Discuss the important elements of National Power.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: definitions of national power (Palmer and Perkins: "the totality of a state's effectiveness in world politics"; Morgenthau); why the elements are interrelated and "defy statistical calculation"; the important elements, each with how it adds to power, how it can limit power, and an example: (1) geography, with size (Russia in 1812 and 1941; Japan in 1904), location (England's insularity; the Low Countries), shape and topography, and the geopolitics of Mackinder, Mahan and Spykman; (2) natural resources; (3) population; (4) industrial capacity and technology ("oil without engineers is almost valueless"); (5) military preparedness; (6) national character and morale; (7) leadership, government and diplomacy; (8) ideology and soft power (Nye); the elements applied to India; a conclusion.
Definition of national power
Palmer and Perkins wrote: "To the totality of a state's effectiveness in world politics we apply the term 'power'." Hans Morgenthau defined power as "man's control over the minds and actions of other men", and called international politics "a struggle for power". National power is therefore a state's capacity to make other states act as it wishes, and to resist their pressure.
All states possess power, Palmer and Perkins noted, but in very different amounts and kinds. Battleships and armies plainly make for power. Geography, technology and morale do so less visibly, but they are "highly important elements of national power".
The elements are interrelated
The elements depend on one another. In Palmer and Perkins's words, "oil without engineers is almost valueless, and so is radio without ideas". For this reason, they wrote, "the separate elements of national power defy statistical calculation". Even if each could be given a figure, the total would not give a correct measure of a nation's power. The elements below must therefore be read together.
The important elements of national power
1. Geography
Size. A large territory can be an asset or a burden. Palmer and Perkins pointed out that size alone says little: the Sahara is huge, while Belgium and Japan are small. Japan was not too small to defeat Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 to 1905. Russia's vastness made it hard to move armies to distant Siberia. Yet size helped Russia turn back Napoleon's invasion of 1812 and, in the end, defeat Germany in the Second World War. Russia could "trade space for time", retreating while the invader's supply lines stretched. Great size can also make national unity and administration harder.
Location. Location may matter even more than size. It shapes climate, economy and culture, and it fixes a state's relation to trade routes and neighbours. England's insularity, Palmer and Perkins observed, gave it partial exemption from the continental struggles of medieval Europe. The Low Countries, by contrast, have often been invaded because they lie between great powers. Location may make a state a battleground or a respected buffer.
Shape and topography. Coastlines, ports, rivers and mountains affect trade, defence and unity. Mountains may bar invaders but also trade; rivers may give transport and irrigation.
Geopolitics. Some thinkers made geography the master key to power. Sir Halford Mackinder taught: "Who rules eastern Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island. Who rules the World-Island commands the world." Alfred Thayer Mahan argued instead for the decisive role of naval power. His best-known book appeared in 1890. Nicholas Spykman replied to Mackinder: "Who controls the Rimland rules Eurasia; who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of the world." These theories exaggerate geography, but they show how much it shapes strategy.
2. Natural resources
Food is the most basic resource. Morgenthau noted that before the Second World War Britain grew only about thirty per cent of its own food. Its survival therefore depended on keeping the sea lanes open. Raw materials such as oil, coal, iron and rare minerals feed industry and war. A state rich in resources has bargaining power, while one that lacks them depends on others and is exposed to blockade. Resources can also be a curse: states rich in one commodity may neglect industry, or attract the greed of stronger neighbours. Control over resources at sea now matters too, which is why maritime boundaries are fiercely negotiated.
3. Population
People supply soldiers, workers and taxpayers. Morgenthau held that "no country can remain or become a first-rate power which does not belong to the more populous nations of the earth". But numbers alone are not power. A large population that is poor, unhealthy or untrained may be a burden. What counts is its size together with its age structure, health, education and skills, and its trends over time.
4. Industrial capacity and technology
Resources become power only when industry and technology can use them. Morgenthau's example was uranium: the Belgian Congo held vast deposits, but without industrial plant they did not make Belgium powerful. Technology decides the quality of weapons, the speed of transport and communication, and the wealth of the economy. Today it includes computing, space and biotechnology.
5. Military preparedness
Morgenthau wrote that "What gives the factors of geography, natural resources, and industrial capacity their actual importance for the power of a nation is military preparedness." It depends on technological innovation, the quality of military leadership, and the quantity and quality of the armed forces. Nuclear weapons have added a new dimension: they deter attack but cannot easily be used.
6. National character and morale
National character is the set of qualities of mind and conduct that are more common in one people than another. National morale, in Morgenthau's words, is "the degree of determination with which a nation supports the foreign policies of its government in peace or war". A nation with high morale can survive defeats; one with low morale may collapse even when well armed.
7. Leadership, government and diplomacy
Good leadership turns potential into actual power. Palmer and Perkins listed leadership, in government, war and diplomacy, as a separate element. Morgenthau called the quality of diplomacy "the most important, if the most unstable" factor, the element that combines all the others, and later added the quality of government. A government that balances its commitments against its resources, and wins public support, makes a nation stronger than its raw assets suggest.
8. Ideology and soft power
Ideas also give power. Joseph Nye described "soft power" as the attraction of a country's culture, political values and foreign policies, which can make others want what it wants. A respected democracy, a widely loved culture or a principled foreign policy can win friends without force. Soft power works slowly and cannot replace hard power, but it makes hard power more acceptable to others.
The elements applied to India
- Geography. India lies between the Asian land mass and the Indian Ocean, with the Himalayas to the north and a long coastline. Its location gives it strategic weight but also two difficult land frontiers.
- Resources. India has land, water and minerals, but it imports most of its oil.
- Population. A UN DESA policy brief records that "India overtakes China as the world's most populous country". Its power depends on educating and employing its young people.
- Industry and technology. India's space programme and information technology industry are strengths; manufacturing capacity is still growing.
- Military. India maintains large armed forces and nuclear weapons.
- Character, morale and leadership. A democratic constitution and a long freedom struggle give it national cohesion, but social divisions remain a challenge.
- Soft power. Its culture, democracy and diaspora attract goodwill.
In 1954 Palmer and Perkins wrote that India "seems to possess the human and natural resources and the qualities of mind and spirit to become a major power". Whether that potential is realised depends on how the elements are combined.
Conclusion. National power is "the totality of a state's effectiveness in world politics", its capacity to control the conduct of others. Its important elements are geography, natural resources, population, industrial capacity and technology, and military preparedness. National character and morale, leadership, government and diplomacy, and ideology and soft power complete them. Each can add to power or limit it, and none works alone, since "oil without engineers is almost valueless". The elements "defy statistical calculation" and must be judged together, as India's case shows.
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