Security
Liberalism, with regard to International Relations, focuses on the freedom and security of the individual (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2014). Additionally, it holds that humans are basically good and that all people should be treated equally under the law and that peace is a priority. By contrast, realists believe that humans and the institutions that they make up are naturally hostile and because there is no overarching government between countries, that states must scramble for power and military resources to maintain their autonomy. With such different ideals concerning security, liberalism and realism contain different philosophies on why states are able to preserve security and further, how security is upheld.
As mentioned, realists
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believe that the world is in a perpetual state of anarchy, but not as chaotic as one is led to believe. According to Baylis, Smith, and Owens (2014) this anarchy creates a rather resilient structure in which future international relations are to just as hostile and violent as past international relations. Moreover, realism holds that states are most secure when there is a balance of power-- meaning that states are most secure where multiple powers could compete to ensure their own security. The liberal philosophy regarding security is much less intense than the realist counterpart. Because they strive to maximize the freedom of the individual, liberals believe in a representative government and institutions. Such institutions such as the EU, UN, and NATO, can be used to maintain security. These institutions force states to cooperate with each other to achieve security for all participating states. Along with liberalism and realism, there is also constructivism.
Constructivists argue that international relations is not only a matter of power and institutions, but of ideas as well (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2014). According to constructivism, matters of security can be influenced by the social interactions between multiple states. Furthermore, they believe that the anarchic structure that realists believe in is largely socially constructed and is a byproduct of these social interactions. In considering the relationship amongst the USSR and U.S. during the Cold War, a constructivist would argue that the tension between the two countries was really a matter of ideological distrust and poor social …show more content…
interaction. Bretton Woods Institutions and the Global Economy From July 1st through July 22nd in 1944, 730 representatives from 44 different countries gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in order to form an allied international monetary system following WWII (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2014). This monetary system was created to facilitate global trade. Out of the Bretton Woods Conference the IMF, World Bank Group, ITO, International Finance Corporation, WTO, and several other organizations were formed. While these organizations have served many countries well, they tend to broaden the gap between industrialized and developing countries. According to Baylis, Smith, and Owens (2014), from 1960-2002, the 20 wealthiest countries in the world experienced a 300% GDP growth while the 20 poorest countries only saw a 20% increase. Such a disparity brings the performance and goals of these international organizations into question. Though the present goals of the Bretton Woods institutions are to promote global trade and to provide states with financial stability, to be able to do so many states face conditionalities (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2014). With such conditionalities, states that are eligible for IMF or World Bank funding may have to ignore domestic obligations in order to fulfill the respective institution’s prerequisites. As a result, politicians, especially in Third World may not be able to achieve domestic goals that could improve their state’s situation such as poverty. Additionally, while the developing countries that participate in the WTO are able to signal to other global investors that their markets are a safe place to do business, they are often forced to let wealthier countries tap into their agricultural markets, free of charge. Furthermore, developing countries are forced to align their economic policies with other participating states, even if it doesn’t pay to do so. All of these factors have the potential to worsen the domestic economic situation for developing states participating in the Bretton Woods institutions. When evaluating whether the Bretton Woods institutions have upheld the economic divisions between the developed and underdeveloped world, it may be appropriate to consider how the impoverished have been affected (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2014). With that being said, even the definition of poverty is subjective. From an orthodox perspective, one may argue that the inequality created from institutions such as the IMF and WTO is not necessarily a bad thing. This is because the orthodox perspective holds that inequality, and thus poverty, stimulate economic and entrepreneurial competition; after all, the proportion of people living on less that $1.25 a day sharply declined from 1990 to 2012. In contrast, an alternate view to international inequality argues that while developing states might have experienced economic growth, the lack of individual growth their citizens have faced is extremely problematic. Human Rights Human rights play a vital role in global politics (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2014).
Developed within the last century, an international regime has created a system of norms and principles surrounding human rights that international actors follow in lieu of credibility. These international norms and principles are to be nationally implemented and enforced. The institutions and mechanisms surrounding human rights regime preserve life, dignity, and security of people throughout the world. While individuals benefit from the freedom of life, sustenance, liberty, and freedom from fear, states benefit by being able to strong-arm other states that violate human rights regulations as well as being able to incorporate additional human rights regulations into their own rule of
law. Despite the fact that the human rights regime is founded on firm and internationally accepted principles and norms, the mechanisms, such as the Human Rights Council that report on human rights violations, are largely ineffective (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2014). Treaty bodies such as these have no authority to determine whether states are really complying with human rights laws and must take what state representatives say as the whole truth. With such a flaw, states can violate norms such as national laws and legal protections without other states knowing about it. As a result, bilateral forms of human right protection might be implemented where wealthier or more influential states to persuade, nicely or not so nicely, less powerful states to abide by international standards and norms. With that being said, which human rights violations that a more powerful state chooses to correct in a less powerful state may not necessarily be to protect the individuals being violated, but to serve other selfish interests.
...heories outlined in this paper. One of the defining principles of realism is that the state is paramount to anything else, including morality. Realists argue that deviation from the state interests in an anarchic system creates vulnerability. Morality of state theorists uphold state sovereignty and argue that intervention is not permissible unless the circumstances are crass and warrant action. They talk about aggression as the only crime that one state can commit to another and suggest that aggression should only be allowed as a retaliatory measure. Finally, cosmopolitans believe that morality can be achieved at the individual level and that morality can be somewhat universally applied. Non-realists do not support preemptive actions or intervention under almost any condition, and the criteria by which intervention is warranted aligns with the principles of justice.
The political ideologies of the USA and of the Soviet Union were of profound significance in the development of the Cold War. Problems between the two power nations arose when America refused to accept the Soviet Union in the international community. The relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union was filled with mutual distrust and hostility. Many historians believe the cold war was “inevitable” between a democratic, capitalist nation and a communist Union. Winston Churchill called the cold war “The balance of terror” (1). Cold war anxieties began to build up with America and the Soviet Union advancing in the arms race for world dominance and supremacy. America feared the spread of Communism
There have been many attempts to explain the origins of the Cold War that developed between the capitalist West and the communist East after the Second World War. Indeed, there is great disagreement in explaining the source for the Cold War; some explanations draw on events pre-1945; some draw only on issues of ideology; others look to economics; security concerns dominate some arguments; personalities are seen as the root cause for some historians. So wide is the range of the historiography of the origins of the Cold War that is has been said "the Cold War has also spawned a war among historians, a controversy over how the Cold War got started, whether or not it was inevitable, and (above all) who bears the main responsibility for starting it" (Hammond 4). There are three main schools of thought in the historiography: the traditional view, known alternatively as the orthodox or liberal view, which finds fault lying mostly with the Russians and deems security concerns to be the root cause of the Cold War; the revisionist view, which argues that it is, in fact, the United States and the West to blame for the Cold War and not the Russians, and cites economic open-door interests for spawning the Cold War; finally, the post-revisionist view which finds fault with both sides in the conflict and points to issues raised both by the traditionalists as well as the revisionists for combining to cause the Cold War. While strong arguments are made by historians writing from the traditionalist school, as well as those writing from the revisionist school, I claim that the viewpoint of the post-revisionists is the most accurate in describing the origins of the Cold War.
The issue of human rights has arisen only in the post-cold war whereby it was addressed by an international institution that is the United Nation. In the United Nation’s preamble stated that human rights are given to all humans and that there is equality for everyone. There will not be any sovereign states to diminish its people from taking these rights. The globalization of capitalism after the Cold War makes the issue of human rights seems admirable as there were sufferings in other parts of the world. This is because it is perceived that the western states are the champion of democracy which therefore provides a perfect body to carry out human rights activities. Such human sufferings occur in a sovereign state humanitarian intervention led by the international institution will be carried out to end the menace.
There have been many humanitarians that strive to help countries suffering with human right abuses. People think that the help from IGOs and NGOs will be enough to stop human rights violations. However, it hasn’t been effective. Every day, more and more human rights violations happen. The problem is escalating. People, including children, are still being forced to work to death, innocent civilians are still suffering the consequences of war, and families are struggling to stay firm together. Despite the efforts from the people, IGOs, and NGOs, In the year 2100, human rights abuse will not end.
In 1945, most of the countries around the world are devastated further to World War II which had stroke the globe for six years. Only the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, also called USSR, seem to be in a stable economic situation despite weighty losses. Both states are considered to be the great winners of the war and this is the beginning of a confrontation between two superpowers but also the confrontation between two distinct ideologies: communism and capitalism.
Realist thought on international relations fit comfortably within the context of the great wars of the twentieth century. Powerful nations possessing massive military forces took aim at one another to affect the hierarchical structure of the international system for the good of their own security and power. These wars, however, differ greatly from today’s unconventional war on terrorism. Therefore, the realist theories of yesterday, while still useful, require at least some tweaking to fit the present situation.
Both of these are international relations theories. International relations theories aid the individual in better understanding why states behave the way in which they do and “several major schools of thought are discernable, differentiated principally by the variables they emphasize” (Slaughter 1). That being said, to understand offensive neorealism, one must firstly be able to know the basis of realism in itself, as well as differentiate neorealism from neoclassical realism. Stephen G. Brooks argues in his article “Dueling Realisms” that both “neorealism and postclassical realism do share important similarities: both have a systemic focus; both are state-centric; both view international politics as inherently competitive; both emphasize material factors, rather than nonmaterial factors, such as ideas and institutions; and both assume states are egoistic actors that pursue self-help” (Brooks 446). Structural realism is another term for neorealism, and both will be used interchangeably in the following case study. Aside from these shared values that both reflect, the two forms of realism both present very different or conflicting views on state behaviour. For one, neorealists believe “the international system is defined by anarchy—the absence of a central authority” (Slaughter 2) and that states take action based on the possibility of conflict, always looking at a worst-case scenario, whereas postclassical realists believe that states make decisions and take actions based on the probability of an attack or act of aggression from other states (Brooks 446). To expand on neorealism’s possibility outlook, Kenneth Waltz argues, “in the absence of a supreme authority [due to anarchy], there is then constant possibility that conflicts will be settled by force” (Brooks 447). Neorealists look at the possibility of conflict due to the potential cost of war, due to
The prominent scholar of Political Science, Kenneth N. Waltz, founder of neorealism, has proposed controversial realist theories in his work. Publications such as "Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis", "Theory of International Politics” and “The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate,” demonstrate how Waltz's approach was motivated by the American military power. In acquaintance of this fact, the purpose of this paper is to critically analyze Waltz theoretical argument from the journal "Structural Realism after the Cold War". Firstly, this paper will indicate the author's thesis and the arguments supporting it. Secondly, limitations found in theoretical arguments will be illustrated and thirdly, synergies between the author's thesis and this analysis will be exposed.
The creation of the study of international relations in the early 20th century has allowed multiple political theories to be compared, contrasted, debated, and argued against one another for the past century. These theories were created based on certain understandings of human principles or social nature and project these concepts onto the international system. They examine the international political structure and thrive to predict or explain how states will react under certain situations, pressures, and threats. Two of the most popular theories are known as constructivism and realism. When compared, these theories are different in many ways and argue on a range of topics. The topics include the role of the individual and the use of empirical data or science to explain rationally. They also have different ideological approaches to political structure, political groups, and the idea that international relations are in an environment of anarchy.
People’s ideas and assumptions about world politics shape and construct the theories that help explain world conflicts and events. These assumptions can be classified into various known theoretical perspectives; the most dominant is political realism. Political realism is the most common theoretical approach when it is in means of foreign policy and international issues. It is known as “realpolitik” and emphasis that the most important actor in global politics is the state, which pursues self-interests, security, and growing power (Ray and Kaarbo 3). Realists generally suggest that interstate cooperation is severely limited by each state’s need to guarantee its own security in a global condition of anarchy. Political realist view international politics as a struggle for power dominated by organized violence, “All history shows that nations active in international politics are continuously preparing for, actively involved in, or recovering from organized violence in the form of war” (Kegley 94). The downside of the political realist perspective is that their emphasis on power and self-interest is their skepticism regarding the relevance of ethical norms to relations among states.
To conclude, there are four main components of the realist approach to international relations, they are: state which includes egoism as the states are composed by the selfish people, self-help which includes balance of power as power is used to enhance the survival rate, survival which includes hegemony in order to maintain its position and anarchical system which related to lust for power and led to security dilemma.
On December 10th in 1948, the general assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration, although not legally binding, created “a common standard of achievement of all people and all nations…to promote respect for those rights and freedoms” (Goodhart, 379). However, many cultures assert that the human rights policies outlined in the declaration undermine cultural beliefs and practices. This assertion makes the search for universal human rights very difficult to achieve. I would like to focus on articles 3, 14 and 25 to address how these articles could be modified to incorporate cultural differences, without completely undermining the search for human rights practices.
The balance of power is closer with first great debate. The realists also diverge on some issues. So-called offensive Realists maintain that, in order to ensure survival, States will seek to maximize their power relative to others (Mearsheimer 2001). If rival countries possess enough power to threaten a State, it can never be safe. The hegemony is thus the best strategy for a country to pursue, if it can. Defensive Realists, in contrast, believe that domination is an unwise strategy for State survival. They note that seeking hegemony may bring a State into dangerous conflicts with its peers. Instead, defensive Realists emphasize the stabi...
The role that globalization plays in spreading and promoting human rights and democracy is a subject that is capable spurring great debate. Human rights are to be seen as the standards that gives any human walking the earth regardless of any differences equal privileges. The United Nations goes a step further and defines human rights as,