Essays on World Politics

Korea was bisected at the end of the Second World War, as a response to the differing political climates which each half of the peninsula espoused – North Korea preferred the communism of the Soviet Union, while South Korea was more in line with the policies and politics espoused by the west, the U.S. in particular. During the early fifties, hostilities between the two halves of the country reached breaking point, and the Korean War broke out, with the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea attempting to reunify the country by conquering South Korea, and the American army attempting to ...

When it comes to the term coercion, there are usually negative connotations mentioned and covered. Indeed, to coerce someone is to be perhaps punitive and harsh when it comes to leveraging someone to comply with a preference or directive. However, there are some areas of concern and discussion where the usual shades of black and white when it comes to coercion instead fade to shades of gray. For example, if a person charged with a crime is clearly guilty but is not pleading to that effect, they can be offered a plea deal or told that the death penalty ...

United States has for decades been deeply involved in the Middle East, and particularly in the ongoing conflict between Israel and its various neighbors. This is why there is been a good deal of speculation of late as to how US policy toward Israel during a future Hillary Clinton presidency might differ from (or be similar to) that of the current Obama administration. Since leaving the State Department, Clinton has provided some indication about what her policies would be in the Middle East in general and Israel in particular. Nevertheless, a certain degree of uncertainty still exists. While there ...

Question 1. What is the World System theory and how does it explain the structure of the international system and actions of states? World-systems theory is a macrohistorical paradigm of research of international relations that examines the social evolution of the economies, historical systems and civilizations as a structural relationship within the broad historical and geographic community, the so-called "world-system". World-systems analysis is considered as an alternative to traditional interdisciplinary social sciences, since it criticizes stadial concepts of history, is focused on supranational perspective and rejects the dichotomous opposition between East and West (Halsall, 1997). The key concept of ...

Major Themes

1) The increased role of the government has led to significant changes in the Economic system of the USA. Many experts consider the New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt the beginning of the social security system of the federal government. In the middle of the Great Depression, many people did not have work, many families were affected by poverty and hunger, respectively. However, a number of New Deal programs such as the Federal Office for Emergency Relief, which provided considerable financial support for state and municipal relief operations, emerged. Administration provided the fund for the population and ...

U.S. and the Middle-East Conflict Amid bouts of political and economic instabilities brought about by unending chaos and internal conflicts in the Middle-East particularly between Israel and Palestine, most political scientists argue that the US is largely to blame. For instance, according to Admin (6), the engagement or intervention of the US in the ongoing Israeli-Palestine war is viewed by many as being skewed towards Israel as a key American Ally since the end of the WWII. Moreover, the “Israel First” approach adopted by President George Bush helped to fuel the chaos due to what were seen by Arab ...

General background

The western supremacy which has persisted for the past two hundred years is slowly depreciating due to the shift of power towards the eastern region. The western states are losing the authority to sustain a multilateral order based on the set rules. In 2008 during the wake of great brash, the G20 leaders took initiative steps to reinforce the multilateral order, which included the reinforcement of the IMF and the World Bank governance. This was to reflect an increasing weight of the economy of the developing countries. It will be shown that the reforms at the IMF and the ...

The main reason of the beginning of the World War I was to pinpoint the differences between the leading countries such as: Britain, France, Russia, on the one hand and Germany, Austria-Hungary on the other. The UK could not forgive Germany the support of Boers in the Anglo-Boer War of 1898-1902. In addition, already at that time between the two rivals waged undeclared economic and trade war. Both countries have built up their military and had an interconnected arms race. France also wanted revenge for the defeat of Germany in the war of 1870-1871's., She wanted to return Alsace ...

Abstract

The historic incident of the U.S attack on the Iraqi Ba’arthist troops headed by Saddam Hussein on 1991 and the annexation of the country in 2003 have generated different debates on the actual intention of the stakeholders. Critics in favor of America’s action opine that these incidents were actually moral projects undertaken by America in order to release the Iraqi civilians from the claustrophobic ambiance prevailing in the country because of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. These critics believe that America took over the ethical duty to organize the law and order of Iraq and establish a democratic ...

Question Number One

The realist international relations theory stipulates that a competitive self-interest is the main driving force of world politics. The theory is based on premises that the international political system is anarchic. States are the most important players in world politics and they tend to seek self-interest and survival is the major concern of all states. It has been theorized that “nations dwell in perpetual anarchy for no central authority imposes limits on the pursuit of sovereign interests” (Oye, 1). Anarchy stems from the fact that there is no common or central government in world politics (Axelrod and Keohane, 226). ...

There are different perspectives of international politics and relations. While some ideologists assert that there is constant competition between different members of the international structures and politics, others indicate that these structures work together and in turn affect the ideas and communication of the agents. Constructivism seems to disagree with the realists and liberals in most of their assertions. However, the latter two perspectives share some concepts as discussed in this paper. Neo-realists and neo-liberalists have greatly debated on several issues based on a shared commitment to rationalism. Most of the social theoretical perspectives rely on rational choice in asking ...

Why is the Renaissance considered the Age of Rebirth?

OR, if you are so inclined, watch this video and, combined with the material you read from the text, consider Machiavelli's Prince and tackle one of the following prompts.

1. Consider legality vs. morality as expressed by Machiavelli and any other ideologies present at the time, discuss how it is similar or different than political/legal practice today, and explore any legal issues/themes that strike your interests about it or related works.

2. Consider the impact that Machiavelli's theories and their practice might have and/or did have on the economic climate, explore the economic pros and cons of a ...

Jack Snyder talks of realism, liberalism and idealism in the context of United States of America. The effects these two theories have on foreign policies are enormous as is evident from the policies undertaken by the United States of America. The theoretical debate between idealism and realism is also a matter of discussion. In his essay, the author discusses the intricacies and complexities of the theories of international relations in view of the contemporary state of affairs in world politics. In reference to another essay by him, one can get to know of the democracies and wars and the effects ...

The National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created when a treaty was signed in 1949 by all the Allies except for the Soviet Union after World War II. That means that approximately 65 years after WWII ended and thirteen years after the end of the Cold War NATO is still active. The NATO website states that there were three main reasons for creating NATO. One reason was to build an organization of countries that could rely on each other to work together against any threat from the Soviet Union. The second reason mentioned was to get a North American presence in ...

The Cold war period can be described as the duration during there was political and military tension between USA and the Soviet Union. The war was between the Eastern bloc and the Western Bloc. The Eastern bloc primarily consisted of the Soviet Union, which included countries like Russia. The Western bloc, on the other hand, comprised of The United States of America and the National Alliance Treaty Organization (NATO). There are twenty-eight NATO member states, which include France, Italy, Canada, Germany, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Spain, just to mention a few(Kerkendall, 2010, p. 34). It is ...

Introduction

The paper is a review of the writings of Kenneth waltz and Alexander Wendt. The two differ in the approach of discussing the anarchical realms of the world. They agree on the use of force as a method of survival for the states. Thesis Statement The main argument of the paper is the contention that anarchy is relative a states. The paper takes the social constructivism approach is discussing anarchy in the world. International political arena is equated to a jungle where there are no rules.

Body

The paper delves into the discussion of the three principles of political structures ...

Adolf Hitler showered death over millions of human lives not because of his personal hatred, but because to save Germany from the depression. He was cruel towards people just to retaliate what he met and got from the society. His intension to give back to the people whom he considered as enemies of his growth and his country grew from his childhood until he started his vengeance. It is a common nature of the human beings to have vengeance over the other if they get hurt at any cost. However, there were political and religious reasons behind all his cruelties. ...

How can theory help us to study, understand, and explain the twenty-first-century world?

Twenty Five years back, three broad perspectives were dominated on International Relations with theoretical reflection. 1950s and 1960s behavioral revolution in the United States was intensely influenced by numerous assumptions based on natural sciences. This theory has helped in making the field. The behaviorist camp has existed with a number of varieties. The 1960s were the influential years for the quantitative approach, whereas others were found rational and public choice come from game theoretic approaches as pioneered by the RAND Corporation. In the late 1970s Kenneth Waltz was the most influential theoretical voice of the time as he has developed a ...

International relations experience radical changes in how security is conceptualized. Traditional studies of inter-state relations typically define security in military 1 and determinism 2 or fear and conflict 3. However, in light of recent international developments, particularly in a post-Cold War era, non-state actors are increasingly viewed as fundamental in international relations not only between but also within states 4. The case for security is lent further urgency, moreover, due to an increasing privatization of military skills in an international market of corporate warfighting 5. This is not to mention notable gaps in women's roles during war – gaps which highlight ...

Classical Realism, or Traditional Realism (Waltz, 2003: 21), and Neorealism, or Structural Realism (Jakobsen, 2013), are “two of the major approaches” in the study of international politics (Waltz, 2003: 21). Robert Keohane (1986: 159) considers Classical Realism as the “central tradition” in the study of international politics, while Jo Jakobsen (2013) considered Neorealism as the “bedrock theory of International Relations.” Despite the efforts of their respective proponents to distinguish one theory from the other, commonalities between Classical Realism and Neorealism do occur. First, both would agree that changes in policymaking among states “happen” more than making it happen ( ...

- What political or economic factors contribute to religion’s violent or peaceful outcomes? In the modern world, religion is the foundation of traditional cultures, involved in the processes of ethnic self-determination, and is an element of the value system of many modern societies. Religion in political life of society influences on the public consciousness, so it is capable of forming people's opinion of the secular power, the policy of the state, etc. However, the most important thing is that religion has a strong positive impact on the spiritual sphere of life and thus determines all other spheres of ...

Analysis of “On Terror,” by Philip E. Devine and Robert J. Rafalko

Introduction

There have been several views on terrorism. However, research on terrorism differs from the standard social science research. As one is dealing with underground organizations, often there is little or incomplete data. Terrorism is like a war in the shadows that creates massive publicity. For the majority of researchers, it can be dangerous to do investigative research in danger zones, and therefore, majority of the research is carried out on the basis of reports released by the government and media news stories. Research on terrorism has more often ...

Introduction

NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an agreement between participating countries to support and give assistance to other allied countries who have signed treaty to the agreement. This concept of supporting each other and giving each member a sense of security when it comes to attacking elements from external parties give members of the organization a chance to grow and give attention to aspects of development without necessarily being fully or over-concerned about how they are going to fair in case military operations rise against them. Considerably, NATO’s role is to serve as the safety-net that every country ...

Introduction

Promoting democracy is not a new phenomenon to many countries. Developed democracies all over the world appreciate the significance of promoting democracy because of its importance in developing foreign policies. Moreover, democracy is much related to politics because it is linked to authority and legitimacy in the world of politics. Politics are linked to international conflicts by global governance and global civil society address issues. More so, the democratic level of the decision-making process within international organizations determines the relationship between democracy and politics (Ribeiro-Hoffmann). The issue of promoting democracy on the international level has not been taken seriously by ...

Analysis on terrorism

Introduction There have been several views on terrorism. However, research on terrorism differs from the standard social science research. As one is dealing with underground organizations, often there is little or incomplete data. Terrorism is like a war in the shadows that creates massive publicity. For the majority of researchers, it can be dangerous to do investigative research in danger zones, and therefore, majority of the research is carried out on the basis of reports released by the government and media news stories. Research on terrorism has more often been criticized as it is believed that most of the ...

Perhaps the most notable effect of World War II is the formation of the United Nations, a body that reins over most of today’s world issues. Initially, the term United Nations was used in 1942 as the World War II raged on. In the month of January 1942, representatives from about 26 nations that were at war gathered in Washington and signed the Atlantic Charter and pledged that their governments would fight together against the Axis. However, major leaders of the Allies nations proposed an international organization that would be based on the equality of all nations with their ...

There seems to be a consensus among scientist in regards to liberal democracies and the peace they seem to bring to the world. Many would say that this liberal peace is just a transitory state of things, and the perpetual peace is just an idealist fantasy. Others would hold that there have been liberal countries that go to war with each other, or that have a warlike attitude towards illiberal countries, casting doubt about their peacefulness. International Relations Professor Michael Doyle finds that the problem resides on how liberalism is conceived in the first place. This work will first find a definition of ...

The term “globalization” has in recent times been subjected to several interpretations. The term particularly came into prominence in the 1980’s and was used to express the increased movement of goods, services, knowledge, ideas as well as people across national boundaries that has essentially led to augmented interconnectedness among the populations of earth. This interconnectedness exemplifies itself politically, economically and culturally. Although in many circles globalization is expressed in economical terms, this process has many political and social implications as well. Many local communities often associate the globalization process with modernization. At the global platform however, globalization is ...

What is the difference between Realism and Neorealism?

The nature of international politics has long been a subject of immense debate between scholars since time in memorial. These scholars would present their own ideology as to why states go to war and what should be the main focus of actors in terms of policy-making and the use of force. Several ideologies have come and go in terms of explaining the erratic nature of international politics with only a few considered to be one of the foundations of international relations theory. One of these founding theories is known as Realism or classical realism and like its fellow international politics theories, ...

Introduction

Michael Doyle is one of the most outstanding scholar international relations. In his famous work on liberalism and international politics, Doyle seeks to re-examine the belief that authorities or government founded on individual liberty formulate and implement foreign policies that are restraint and peaceful (Fearon 577). In efforts to give a theoretical explanation of the world politics, Doyle examines three types of liberalism, that is, liberal pacificism as attributed by Schumpeter, liberal imperialism by Machiavelli and liberal internationalism as developed by Immanuel Kant (Doyle 1152).

Liberalism and International Politics

Liberal pacificism Liberal pacificism lacks a canonical description. Hence, the theory is resembled to a family ...

In the present social setting in the world, women play a very vital role in the field of politics. The roles that women play are diverse in the sense that women are both at the forefront in the political arena and they also constitute the most vulnerable and marginalised victims of political related adversities and atrocities. Many political decisions in the world today are influenced to some extent be feminist principles. In the same way, the dynamics of the world’s politics affect women in a great way. For instance, during wars, women are the majority of the victims. Currently there ...

Political Science

Introduction Networks proved to be a growing power in the year 1996 where they enjoyed success human rights, transnational crime, insurgency and terror. Networks may be for licit or illicit intentions such as terrorist groups such as the Al-Qaeda or drug networks Zapatistas in Mexico. Currently, or networks rely on the internet to maintain cohesion and for expansion. Networks are often in conflictive relationship with nation states be they civil or uncivil. In the past nation faced challenges from empires, classical liberalism and Marxism. The networks aims were to push, pod and confront by use of swords. Though loyalty ...

Philosophy

Explain why globalization is one of the key phenomena of current history and culture as the world has become smaller and economy has become increasingly global and intertwined. Describe what globalization is by examining some globalized entities (from Ferrell or your own). What moral problems does this situation pose? I. Introduction Globalization is one of the key phenomena of current history and culture as the world has become smaller and economy has become increasingly global and intertwined due to the unprecedented interconnectedness of human, economic, political, cultural, and informational resources the world has come to know. Ever ...

Introduction

The formation and disappearance of states and nations at the end of the Cold War became confusing to both policy makers and theorists. There have been arguments that the lack of theoretical preparation originates from two tendencies in the conventional theorizing. The first conventional theorizing is the dominant focus on cohesive nation-state as the sole actors of world politics makes it uneasy to determine the differences between the nation and the state. The second conventional theory according to these arguments is that traditional theory usually treats these two units as fixed (Zurich, 2009). In the modern turbulent world of ...

Introduction

The history of hybrid electric vehicles in the United States dates back in 1834 when they were first invented. By the year 1900, there were close to 1680 electric automobiles sold within the United States (Mi, Masrur & Gao, 2010). However, the world’s first hybrid electric automobile was built in 1898 by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche that was made using an ice that could spin the generator located at the wheel that could power the electric motor (Kenney, 2010). Quite a number of electric car companies emerged in the United States in the 1920s, with Woods of Chicago and Baker of ...

How Military Technology Influences International Relations and Politics

All nations on earth need to protect themselves from external and internal attack. As a result, there is need to invest on military equipment so as to always to be ready to protect themselves and also avoid attack from other countries. Hence all countries have military equipments at their disposal. With the changes in technology, military equipments have been advancing over the years, this has resulted in construction of various complex military equipments and weapons including nuclear weapons, atomic bombs and other chemical bombs beyond human thinking. This gives countries which posses such weapons advantage over others as they ...

Introduction:

Distinctions and similarities between bureaucratic and patron-client organizations include similarities and differences between the main models of organized crime. Knowing these similarities and differences is important for understanding organized crime

Comparisons in Organizational Structures:

In order to understand the relationship between these bureaucratic, patron – client and criminal organizational models it is first necessary to define and examine them individually. In some ways they are quite similar in that the ultimate power and responsibility is concentrated in the upper echelons. How that translates down through the organization varies. Additionally, most organizations contain elements of both structural designs.

Bureaucratic organizations

Most organizations contain elements of the top ...

Introduction

World politics involve states and nations coming up together with organizations and agencies that cannot be understood independently. In order to understand world politics, we need to grasp the domestic structures that are defined by the ordering of principles. World politics are different and specific in functionality and capabilities and are distributed in the units. Nowadays, some political systems are aimed at giving commands while others obey the commands. World politics are created by some group of self-regarding political units in some period or scale such as empires, cities, and nations. World political systems are differentiated by nations or ...

Response Paper

International politics cannot be understood independently without involving the states and nations that come up with such agencies and organizations. The fact that international politics operate independently without outside interference or rule is an intriguing question. How can such politics affect world politics without a source of such orders? It means that some form of groupings have hidden themselves into the structure with intent to benefit from international politics while at the same time hiding such state intents. This paper will look at how anarchy and hierarchy can be used to explain and understand international politics. The big question ...

Part 1: How the Process of Globalization Affected Education

Globalization refers to the interconnectedness of human, economic, political, cultural, and informational resources across the world. Ever increasing global pathways and networks help speed up, intensify, and narrow down large-scale distribution and acquisition of local and national good and services. Nowadays, with globalization, the world became a “global village” wherein all sorts of individuals, companies, organizations, and governments perform a variety of activities (that is, online communication, distance and online education, e-transactions, etc.). Some of the various aspects of globalization are evident in world politics, religious works, ecommerce, and education. Specifically, globalization has made possible the worldwide understanding among member ...

The debate between the neorealists and the neoliberals had swept the international relations theory for the past decade, especially in the United States. The ‘neo-neo’ debate had shifted the views of many theorists regarding the international system and the definition of what is international politics. Both neo-realism and neoliberalism are considered the progeny of the main theories of realism and liberalism respectively, presenting a new definition and framework to determine the nature of issue. Under these two progenies are also several versions, which diversifies the debate of both IR theories on issues pertaining to international relations and politics. However, while ...

The end of the Second World War left the world with two super powers who competed to control every aspect of the world politics, economics and social life. The United State had a doctrine based on western civilization that was imprinted in the Capitalistic theory. The USSR had its own theory of civilization based on the communist form of leadership. The capitalistic mode of development was blamed on placing powers on individual leaving the government with minimal control. The communist theory believed that property should be owned by the society with control by the government on its utilization. The two ...

In the first reading, the author is describing the state as an important cog in the machine of politics. He focuses on the strength of certain policy decisions which can influence people and persons where life and lives are generally affected. The author provides several case studies to support the argument explaining for example how the policy of thawing employed by John F Kennedy created a better worldview in respect of Communism which eventually faltered after decades of dominance. However he is also adamant that violence still plays an important part in the subjugation of peoples such as what happened ...

The U.S. has the largest national economy in the world with nominal GDP estimated to be above $ 15 trillion (in the year 2011). This figure accounts for approximately 25% of the world’s GDP. Apart from being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the U.S. also has an abundant supply of natural resources and good infrastructure, which accounts for its high productivity. Moreover, the U.S. is the world’s second largest producer of natural gas and the third world’s largest producer of oil. Add this to the fact that the US dollar is the widely traded ...

The last decade has had policy makers, governments and the media see an increase in the emergence of powers in the global economy and governance. Countries such as China, South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Japan, India and Germany have significant influence in political and economic matters, in world politics and their respective regions. These countries have labels such as middle powers, uncertain powers, regional powers and new titans. This is because the countries have significant influence in the world today and this has seen previously powerful countries such as U.S. and Britain evaluate their international relations. Gaining international power is ...

In the past few years where Afghanistan has gained some impressive achievements at the same time the country still remains amongst the list of world’s poorest countries. Not only the poorest, in fact Afghanistan has been considered as the second worst corrupted country of the world due to the rule incompetent government who is unable to make decisions on its own and in the right path. The country has suffered from destruction, war and terrorism since a decade due to the hold of Taliban who shattered every nook and corner of the country to the worst extent. But since ...

Title of Research

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, under Mikhail Gorbachev, the United States has been considered as being the world hegemon. Though many scholars, especially those who embrace the realist point of view, argue that no country can be a world hegemon, the United States plays a great role in influencing global politics. This research intends to look at how the US Military Spending shapes world politics. Some of the aspects within this research question seeks to address include, the countries that are most affected by this policy, the economic and social effects that US military spending has to ...

Abstract

As early as the times of the Roman Empire, warfare plays a huge role in the determination of who dominates a territory. The scramble for resources has made war a necessary evil that is hard to ignore. The geographical and economic expansion of the United States of America can to a large extent is attributed to the military and the naval supreme powers that it possesses. The United States of America is considered a world hegemon due to its involvement in world politics. The other states in other world possess resources that are often of interest to the United States. For instance, the invasion ...

Introduction: Soft Power

Everybody wants something and power is a way to get things. But power can also be divided into two types Hard Power and Soft Power. Getting things done by hard power means using hard ways like coercing and bribing people to get things done. Soft power is opposite of it. Getting things done through soft concepts like co-option and attraction is can be called as Soft power. This concept of soft power was first introduced by Joseph Nye of Harvard University in 1990 through his book, “Bound to lead: Changing the nature of American Power”. The concept was further developed ...

I. Title of Research After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, under Mikhail Gorbachev, the United States has been considered as being the world hegemon. Though many scholars, especially those who embrace the realist point of view, argue that no country can be a world hegemon, the United States plays a great role in influencing global politics. This research intends to look at how the US Military Spending shapes world politics. Some of the aspects within this research question seeks to address include, the countries that are most affected by this policy, the economic and social effects that ...

First of all it is important to define what human security is in order to understand the concept of security. Recent research (James, Steve and Patricia, 2011) shows that human security means an individual is free from threats or violence within his surroundings. The term human security has gained wide usage in recent years and there are number of concepts that relate to this term. According to Richard and Deepayan Basu (2006) human security can be defined as; ‘human security represents and effort to re-conceptualize security in a fundamental manner. It is primarily an analytical tool that focuses on ensuring ...

This paper takes a position on the historical question: Which International Relations theory, at the system, and state level of analysis, is most helpful in explaining Russia's position in opposing the invasion of Iraq’s politics by the United States in 2003? This paper seeks to prove how the integration of the international system caused Russia to have a preference of global diplomacy over short-term economic gains from the attack of Iraq. First of all, it is important to know that the invasion of Iraq by the United States was triggered by the fact that the United States believed that Iraq, ...

In What Ways Can a Classical Realist Be Critical of Waltz’s Neorealism?

The international political playing field has long been rife with commentary and criticism: the sheer nature of every country being independent of others in their politics but are still wholly dependent on others for their security (war and economy are but two factors reliant on other nations). Classical realism and Waltz’s Neorealism are two such theories which comment on international relations and attempt to explain the behaviour of individual states within the global perspective. Both relate directly to the Realism Movement, which dictates having a realistic approach which prioritizes the national interest over ideology and moral concerns (Moseley). Political ...