Placing Environment at the Center of International Relations: The Fundamental Approaches, and the Debates

This study aims to bring light the reasons of peripherical place of environment in the discipline by analyzing the views of various theoretical approaches in International Relations. The study is divided into two parts as problem-solving and critical approaches. Problem-solving approaches are the ones considering environment in case there is only a problem and searching for solutions in the existing global system. Critical approaches, beyond environmental problems, are the ones, which possess aim to form a sustainable system and, because of this, putting forward that the system should be restructured, which question the national and international political, economic and social order. In this context, first of all, approaches of “environmental security” and “liberal institutionalism” are examined. After that, under the title of “Tragedy of Commons”, the perspectives of eco-authoritarians are referred to. In the part of critical approaches, “eco-centrism”, “ecological modernization” and “decentralization” are discussed. In the conclusion part, it is put forward the factors that why the environmental issues couldn’t be placed at the center of the discipline