CSS International Relations Past-Paper Analysis: 2016–2026

We have analysed the descriptive portions of International Relations Papers I and II by grouping differently worded questions under common conceptual themes. This method is more useful than searching for identical wording because the FPSC examiner usually repeats the underlying topic but changes the country, conflict, theoretical framework, or analytical demand.

A question may fall under more than one category. For example, an India–Pakistan nuclear question covers deterrence theory, regional security, foreign policy, and strategic stability simultaneously.

Top Five Recurring Question Families

1. IR Theories, Power and the Changing International Order

Master Question

Critically compare the major theories of International Relations and evaluate their ability to explain power, state behaviour, balance of power and changes in the contemporary international system.

This is the broadest and most consistently tested area. In some years, the examiner asks directly about realism, liberalism or constructivism. In others, the theories appear indirectly through balance of power, polarity, sovereignty, national interest or state behaviour.

How the Examiner Has Approached It

• 2016: National power and its essential elements; realism, neoliberalism, feminism and social constructivism.
• 2017: Liberal internationalism versus realism; positivist versus post-positivist approaches; the rise of China and the return of balance-of-power politics.
• 2018: Neorealism versus constructivism in explaining state behaviour.
• 2019: Idealism, the modern state system, world order and functionalism.
• 2020: Neorealism and constructivism were again compared; strategic culture also appeared.
• 2021: Realism and liberalism were compared with feminism and constructivism.
• 2022: Power was examined through hard, soft, and smart power.
• 2023: Constructivism was compared with realism, while another question examined global power transition.
• 2024: Liberal internationalism, post-Cold War interpretations, and foreign-policy decision-making models appeared.
• 2025: The origins of IR as a discipline and non-Western theoretical perspectives received attention.
• 2026: The examiner returned to classical theory through Morgenthau’s balance of power and the stability of bipolarity versus multipolarity. 2016 paper, 2017 paper, 2023 paper, official 2026 Paper I

IR Topics Covered

• Realism, classical realism and neorealism
• Liberalism and neoliberal institutionalism
• Constructivism
• Feminism and post-positivism
• National power and national interest
• Balance of power
• Sovereignty and the nation-state
• Bipolarity, unipolarity and multipolarity
• Foreign-policy decision-making
• Strategic culture
• Changing world order

What the Examiner Actually Expects

The examiner does not merely want definitions. A high-scoring answer must:

1. Identify the theory’s principal assumptions.
2. Mention leading scholars such as Morgenthau, Waltz, Keohane, Nye, Wendt and Mearsheimer.
3. Explain its key concepts.
4. Apply it to a contemporary case.
5. Discuss its limitations.
6. Compare its explanatory power with a rival theory.

This topic should be prepared as a comparative framework, not as disconnected theoretical notes.

2. India–Pakistan Relations and Nuclear Deterrence

Master Question

Critically evaluate India–Pakistan relations with particular reference to nuclear deterrence, strategic stability, Kashmir, water disputes, conventional asymmetry and prospects for sustainable peace.

This is the most important country-specific theme in the entire compilation. It appears through different dimensions instead of one standard question.

How the Examiner Has Approached It

• 2016: Moral and strategic dimensions of Pakistan’s nuclear programme.
• 2017: India–Pakistan conflict in relation to terrorism; the Indus Waters Treaty; and the nuclear factor involving Pakistan, India and the United States.
• 2018: Measures for normalization between India and Pakistan; possible models for resolving Kashmir.
• 2019: India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime and its effects on South Asian strategic stability.
• 2022: Evolution of Indian and Pakistani nuclear doctrines and their implications for deterrence stability.
• 2023: Legal consequences of India’s revocation of Articles 370 and 35A for the Kashmir dispute.
• 2024: Possibility of sustained peace despite the Simla Agreement, Composite Dialogue and other initiatives.
• 2025: Effects of nuclearization on South Asian geopolitics and measures adopted to preserve stability.
• 2026: Deterrence theory was applied directly to the May 2025 India–Pakistan conflict. 2017 paper, 2018 paper, 2022 paper, 2025 paper

Perspectives Used by the Examiner

Nuclear and strategic perspective

The focus has moved from simply describing nuclear programmes to evaluating:

• Minimum credible deterrence
• Full Spectrum Deterrence
• India’s nuclear doctrine
• No First Use and its possible transformation
• Tactical nuclear weapons
• Counterforce capabilities
• Missile defence
• Escalation dominance
• Crisis stability

Political and diplomatic perspective

Questions have examined why peace initiatives failed and whether sustained normalization remains possible.

Legal perspective

Kashmir has been examined through:

• UN Security Council resolutions
• Self-determination
• Bilateralism under the Simla Agreement
• Articles 370 and 35A
• International humanitarian and human-rights law

Resource-security perspective

The Indus Waters Treaty converts the bilateral rivalry into a question of hydropolitics, environmental stress, and treaty compliance.

Preparation Requirement

Aspirants should prepare one integrated South Asian strategic-security file covering:

• History of India–Pakistan relations
• Kashmir dispute
• Nuclear doctrines
• Conventional military imbalance
• Water conflict
• Terrorism and cross-border allegations
• Confidence-building measures
• Crisis-management mechanisms
• Role of China, the United States and international institutions
• A realistic roadmap for normalization

3. International Political Economy, Globalization and Financial Institutions

Master Question

Critically examine how globalization and international financial institutions influence the sovereignty, development, foreign policy and economic security of developing states, particularly Pakistan.

This theme repeatedly connects theoretical International Political Economy with Pakistan’s practical economic difficulties.

How the Examiner Has Approached It

• 2016: Greece’s economic crisis and the role of the European Union and IMF.
• 2017: Globalization as neo-imperialism; neoliberal institutionalism; international financial institutions and Pakistan.
• 2018: Economic liberalism, dependency, neo-imperialism and the political consequences of globalization.
• 2019: Dependency and interdependence; Pakistan’s external debt; IMF and World Bank structural-adjustment policies.
• 2020: International Political Economy and dependency; Washington Consensus versus Beijing Consensus; resource power and the resource curse.
• 2021: Economy as a determinant of national interest; BRI, CPEC, energy policy and BRICS.
• 2022: IMF loans, globalization, and EU–Pakistan relations from an IPE perspective.
• 2023: Positive and negative implications of IMF programmes; FATF and international institutions as instruments of coercion; Pakistan’s SDG performance.
• 2025: IMF and World Bank policies and their effects on Pakistan’s economic stability and social development. 2019 paper, 2020 paper, 2021 paper

IR Topics Covered

• Economic liberalism
• Mercantilism and economic nationalism
• Marxist and dependency approaches
• Globalization and interdependence
• Neo-imperialism
• IMF and World Bank
• Structural adjustment
• Washington Consensus
• Beijing Consensus
• Debt dependency
• Economic sanctions
• FATF and financial coercion
• BRI and CPEC
• Geoeconomics
• Sustainable development

Changing Nature of the Questions

Earlier questions treated globalization as a theoretical debate: whether it promotes prosperity or reproduces imperial dependency. Later papers increasingly applied this debate to Pakistan through IMF programmes, debt, FATF, CPEC and economic security.

Therefore, candidates must avoid writing a purely economic answer. They should explain how economic institutions affect:

• Sovereignty
• Foreign-policy autonomy
• National security
• Domestic political stability
• Social expenditure
• Relations with major powers
• Pakistan’s bargaining position

4. Rise of China, US–China Rivalry and Global Power Transition

Master Question

Is the rise of China producing a peaceful power transition or a destabilizing rivalry with the United States? Evaluate its implications for the world order, the Indo-Pacific region, and Pakistan.

This has become the most important contemporary great-power question.

How the Examiner Has Approached It

• 2017: China’s rise as the return of balance-of-power politics and movement towards multipolarity.
• 2020: US Indo-Pacific strategy as a possible containment policy against China; Washington Consensus versus Beijing Consensus.
• 2021: China’s strategic vision behind BRI and the importance of BRICS.
• 2022: Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy and its treatment of China; China’s interests in Afghanistan; Pakistan’s balancing relations with major powers.
• 2023: China’s challenge to the global political system; its implications for balance of power; Pakistan’s choices under the Indo-Pacific construct.
• 2024: Whether the United States and China could escape the Thucydides Trap.
• 2025: Whether US–China competition would generate a stable or unstable order; competition in economic, technological and military sectors.
• 2026: The debate over bipolar versus multipolar stability indirectly continued the power-transition theme. 2023 paper, 2024 paper, 2025 paper

Theoretical Perspectives Required

Candidates should connect this question with:

• Power Transition Theory
• Thucydides Trap
• Balance of Power
• Offensive and defensive realism
• Security dilemma
• Hegemonic Stability Theory
• Complex interdependence
• Liberal institutionalism
• Multipolarity
• Containment and strategic competition

Major Dimensions to Prepare

• Trade and tariff competition
• Technology and semiconductor rivalry
• Artificial intelligence and digital power
• Taiwan and the South China Sea
• BRI and alternative Western connectivity initiatives
• QUAD, AUKUS and Indo-Pacific strategy
• China–Russia strategic cooperation
• Competition within international institutions
• China’s expanding influence in the Global South
• Implications for CPEC and Pakistan
• Pakistan’s balancing between China and the United States

The examiner expects an argument on whether economic interdependence will moderate competition or whether structural power transition will intensify confrontation.

5. Changing Security, Terrorism and Non-Traditional Threats

Master Question

How has the concept of security expanded from territorial defence to comprehensive human and global security? Discuss with reference to terrorism, hybrid warfare, climate change, pandemics and non-state actors.

This theme demonstrates the examiner’s movement away from traditional military security toward multidimensional security.

How the Examiner Has Approached It

• 2016: International security versus global security in the context of terrorism and human security.
• 2017: ISIS as a non-state military actor; climate change and Pakistan’s vulnerability.
• 2018: Changing dimensions of security compared with the classical conception.
• 2019: Post-Cold War security; hybrid and social media warfare.
• 2020: Climate change through a security framework; terrorism in its state, commercial, criminal and gendered forms.
• 2021: Comprehensive security; hybrid warfare; pandemics; water conflict.
• 2022: Globalization’s impact on security and new maritime-security challenges in the Indian Ocean.
• 2023: Asymmetrical warfare and climate security.
• 2026: Climate change, terrorism and supranational organizations were presented as challenges to the nation-state; non-state actors and state terrorism were also emphasized.

IR Topics Covered

• Traditional security
• National, international and global security
• Human security
• Comprehensive security
• Terrorism and state terrorism
• Non-state actors
• Asymmetrical warfare
• Hybrid and information warfare
• Cybersecurity
• Climate security
• Water and food security
• Health security and pandemics
• Maritime security
• Conflict prevention and resolution
• International law and the United Nations

Examiner’s Central Concern

The examiner repeatedly asks whether the state-centred military concept of security remains adequate. A strong answer should explain that contemporary threats:

• Cross national boundaries
• Cannot be addressed by military power alone
• Require international cooperation
• Affect individuals as well as states
• Blur the line between war and peace
• Involve state and non-state actors simultaneously

Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: The Cross-Cutting Theme

Pakistan’s foreign policy deserves separate preparation even though it operates across all five leading themes.

The examiner has tested:

• Objectives and determinants of Pakistan’s foreign policy
• Pakistan’s strategic culture
• Pakistan’s response to the war on terror
• Decision-making during the Yemen crisis
• Relations with China and the United States
• Balancing among major powers
• Afghanistan policy
• Climate diplomacy
• CPEC and economic diplomacy
• Cold War alliances
• India–Pakistan relations
• IMF, FATF and economic constraints

The examiner normally expects candidates to connect Pakistan’s foreign policy with concepts such as national interest, strategic autonomy, balancing, bandwagoning, economic dependence, security dilemma and geoeconomics.

Final Preparation Priority

For effective preparation, aspirants should develop five comprehensive files:

1. IR Theories and World Order
2. India–Pakistan Relations and Nuclear Deterrence
3. International Political Economy and Pakistan
4. US–China Rivalry and the Rise of China
5. Traditional and Non-Traditional Security

Each file should contain:

• Definitions and conceptual foundations
• Major scholars and theories
• Historical development
• Arguments and counterarguments
• Relevant case studies
• Pakistan-specific implications
• Recent developments
• Critical evaluation
• Policy recommendations
• A balanced conclusion

Central Finding

The 2016–2026 papers show that FPSC increasingly prefers theory-applied questions. Memorizing isolated facts will not be sufficient. The successful candidate must follow this analytical chain:

Concept → theory → historical development → contemporary case → Pakistan dimension → critical evaluation → practical way forward

Therefore, these five question families should form the core of CSS International Relations preparation, while topics such as Afghanistan, the Middle East, international law, regional organizations and the United Nations should be prepared as supporting case studies.