As the Cold War began to wind down, many foreign policy and international relations experts, scholars and public intellectuals raced to synthesize new paradigms on what the new World Order would look like on the eve of the 21st century. First in a speech in 1993, then in an article published by the well-regarded Foreign Policy magazine titled “The Clash of Civilizations?”, Dr. Huntington argued that interactions between nations in the international arena, would largely begin to form along cultural and civilizations boundaries. He names eight civilizations with distinct A more powerful speculative theory in the realm of current and near-future international relations systems is the one advanced by Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye in “Power and Interdependence.” This paper will discuss the main thesis and arguments by Huntington, display which arguments are weak or insufficient, then discuss why the idea of complex interdependence is a more valid and powerful systems level analysis tool for our time. #FINISHED
WHAT IS A CIVILIZATION? WHICH CIVIZILAZTIONS EXIST? HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?
Huntington defines a civilization as the “highest grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species. It is defined by common objective elements such as language, history, religion, customs and institutions…” He says most westerners think of nation states as the principle actors in global affairs, but that the broader reaches of human history shows a multitude of civilizations, 21 major civilizations as identified by Arnold Toynbee, of which only about 6 exist in the modern world. Huntington goes on to say that the 8 major civilizations: Western, Confucian, Japanese...
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...cial relationships that were traditionally reserved for those geographically close to one another. A primary example is the relationship between Japan and the United States, which are although two opposing civilizations, have benefited from each other in innumerable ways. Japan’s economic interdependence since the end of WWII, with the United States has allowed it to become the strongest in the region (when comparing GDP per capita). They do not share language, religion, or culture. But each is keenly aware, respectlful and understanding of the positive effects of a continued alliance.
TALK ABOUT HOW NATION STATES HAVE BECOME MORE POWERFUL in the information age:
Talk about how nation states that do share a simple interdependence are more like to fight than nation-states that share a complex interdependence. For example the US between IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.
The non-fictional work Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance - and Why They Fall, by Amy Chua, evaluates how hyperpowers came to be, how they maintained strength, and how they declined. Chua’s thesis is exercised throughout many segments of her writing and is as follows, “For all their enormous differences, every single world hyperpower in history ... was extraordinarily pluralistic and tolerant during it’s rise to preeminence. Indeed, in every case tolerance was the indispensable to … hegemony. But … It was also tolerance that sowed the seeds of decline. In virtually every case tolerance … [led to] conflict, hatred, and violence.” Chua’s thesis is strongly supported through her examples of how great empires like The Persians, Romans, Chinese, and Mongols surged to power and the reasons for their deterioration.
The United States and Japan have had bad blood between each other ever since the end of the First World War, not just during World War Two. Both the United States and Japan were major industrial powers at the turn of the 1900s, competing with each other on the world stage (Ember, 2011). Also, going back to World War One, the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy all had leaders that were key in the making of the Treaty of Versailles (Buchanan, 2001). The “Big Four” did not feel the need to allow any country other than them to contribute to the treaty. The countries that wante...
Huntington’s argument rests on the assumption that the world is consolidating along regional and cultural lines, which make up each civilization, and would become the driving force of conflict*. He divided the world into seven major civilizations, such as Western, Islamic, orthodox to name a few. Each civilization will act independently or with the west depending on their preference*. Take China, for instance, who integrated capitalism with authoritarian governance. Huntington argues that as China grows they will seek to gain hegemonic influence over Asia, which will become a source of conflict, as the West seeks to maintain global dominance*. Similarly, he argues that his thesis
I share the view of Edward Said who responded to Huntington’s thesis in his 2001 article, “ The Clash of Ignorance”. He argued that Huntington’s categorization of the world’s fixed “civilizations” omits the dynamic interdependency and interaction of culture. Said (2004) also argues that the clash of civilizations thesis is an example of “ the purest individious racism, a sort of parody of Hitlerian science
Mearsheimer J. J. (2010). Structural Realism. International Relations Thoeries, Discipline and Diversity (Second Edition), p.77-94
Around the world, countries came together to support each other in critical times. This would be called an alliance. For example, Canada and The United States have both stepped in for each other when it was needed. Americans created a large impact on Canadians for centuries, but Canadians having little impact on the United States. Given the difference of size and power of the two countries, the relationship generates tension. In 1914, millions of Canadians and Americans had taken Britain’s side in World War I and World War II. There were lots of military relations between the two for a long period of time, but after 1958 they have been cooperating with military forces. The military collaboration continued throughout the Cold War, bilaterally
In 1992 within a lecture Samuel P. Huntington proposed a theory that suggests that people's cultural and religious identities will undoubtedly be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world, this theory is known as the Clash of Civilizations. Therefore this essay provides a criticism of this theory, whether I agree or disagree with it and also the aspects I like or dislike about the theory as a whole.
The courtroom is very much a ritualised space. Many elements are based on customs and traditions that are expected to be followed. The courtroom is also very much a place which involves the use of power and power relations. As observed in the courtroom, power is the ability to influence or direct others in their behaviour or the ability to act or perform in a way different to others. In many cases, the power that was observed could be thought of as authority. That is, legitimate use of power that is used with consent for example, power that has been given through professional qualifications. The use of power in the courtroom is particularly evident through the courtroom actors and this includes relationships between actors who may or may not have as much power; the way in which the courtroom actors dress as well as the language used by various courtroom actors. Power is also demonstrated in the courtroom architecture and spatial organisation. Both of these areas will be discussed below to demonstrate power in the courts.
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.
A civilization is the starting point of a society. Civilizations have existed for millions of years and are the basic unit of structure for a society. Civilizations were the base of great societies such as Egypt and Rome. If not for civilizations these societies would not have flourished or even existed.
Baylis, Smith and Patricia Owens. 2014. The globalization of World Politics: An introduction to international relations. London. Oxford University Press.
A country’s location plays a great part in dealing with other nearby countries, and how they can aid, support, or possibly fight each other. For instance, Canada is the closest country to the United States, and near Europe, so trade between these three places is inevitable of course. However, Canada does not exactly have the strongest military in the world, and the country that has what is considered to be the most powerful, and well equip army is the United States, and is closest to Canada, so relations between these countries must be excellent, which allows Canada to be protected by the United States, and Canada having to economically support the United States, while also cooperating with their military forces (http://can-am.gc.ca/relations/security_defence-securite_defense.aspx?lang=eng). With different countries being geographically placed in a variety of different locations, while also having different strengths or weakness in various sectors from one another, it helps nations to try to build a healthy relationship with other nearby nations in order to get support, and giving it. On the other hand, some countries would try to at first have a healthy relation to another country, but later would try to back stab them, or to control another nation. Before 1941, the relationship between Germany, and Russia was rather great as both countries were pretty close
For thousands of years, people all over the world have developed, progressed, and eventually formed civilizations. A civilization is a community characterized by elements such as a system of writing, a development of social classes, and cities. Early civilizations such as ancient Greece, classical Rome, Mesopotamia, and classical China have made many contributions to society that still affect people in the modern world. The inventions, progress, and contributions of the people of these ancient civilizations and others have shaped the world that we all live in today.
The study of international relations takes a wide range of theoretical approaches. Some emerge from within the discipline itself others have been imported, in whole or in part, from disciplines such as economics or sociology. Indeed, few social scientific theories have not been applied to the study of relations amongst nations. Many theories of international relations are internally and externally contested, and few scholars believe only in one or another. In spite of this diversity, several major schools of thought are discernable, differentiated principally by the variables they emphasize on military power, material interests, or ideological beliefs. International Relations thinking have evolved in stages that are marked by specific debates between groups of scholars. The first major debate is between utopian liberalism and realism, the second debate is on method, between traditional approaches and behavioralism. The third debate is between neorealism/neoliberalism and neo-Marxism, and an emerging fourth debate is between established traditions and post-positivist alternatives (Jackson, 2007).
In this paper, I will argue that the current system is hegemonial. My explanation to hegemony will then be centered on the sources of the United States as a hegemonial power. Furthermore, I will state the different primary implications associated with the rise of China and what the Roman Empire offers for understanding the United Sta...