Between Geography and International Relations: Explaining the Neighborhood

Geographical distance has always been one of the factors affecting relations between states. This has highlighted the position of neighbors in the foreign policy of countries and they have often adopted special strategies towards them. However, a glance at theories of International Relations (IR) shows that there is no specific theory about the neighborhood. Therefore, the main question is how to achieve a plan to explain the neighborhood in international politics? It seems that a hybrid theoretical approach can be presented by means of an eclectic approach and relying on the capacity and relevance of IR theories with geographical proximity and neighborhood. Therefore, the four approaches of Regionalism, Economic Interdependence, the English School and the Copenhagen School have been selected from different theories in the discipline of IR. Then, by collecting the scattered statements of the theorists of the mentioned approaches about the relations of states in close geographical distances, an attempt has been made to formulate a theoretical framework for explaining the neighborhood in international politics. This scheme not only explains the neighborhood in international politics but also introduces the link between Geography and IR.