International Relations - Essay Example

?About International Relations Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Thesis ment 3 Expansive Detail of the Event 4 Arguments 5 Realist Theory 5 Liberal theory 7 Conclusion 9 References 10 11 Introduction International relations can be defined as an expanded antagonism between the realist, liberal and radical traditions. Realism theory focuses on the continuing tendency for arising disputes between two countries or states, whereas, the liberalism theory helps to identify the various ways to diminish the conflicting tendencies. The radical theory traditionally describes how the entire system of maintaining relations between countries should be altered. In other words, the realists believe that the critical force among countries is to preserve the struggle for power by improving its military security and fiscal welfare in comparison to other countries. Furthermore, the competition between countries is observed as ‘zero-sum game’ in which a country’s gain is a loss for the other country (Dumbaugh 2009). Thesis Statement The paper will discuss the international relations shared between the United States and China for exporting Chinese Tires to the US. Moreover, the paper will focus mainly on the realist and liberal theories for evaluating and better understanding of the relations between the two countries. Furthermore, it has been observed that the US government has issued new tariff rules for the US firms in importing tire products from China, which have discouraged many buyers from importing. The issue has bothered many large tire manufacturer companies of China, such as Giti tires which are expecting huge losses (Dumbaugh 2009). Thus, with regard to the challenging policy imposed by the US government, relationship between the two countries will be evaluated. The current situation has instigated a comprehensive list of mutual and polygonal issues that have developed recently (Dumbaugh 2009). Expansive Detail of the Event Hufbauer & Lowry’s findings state that the entire cost to American consumers due to the increased prices which are the affects of imposing hire tariffs to the Chinese tires, was approximately US$1.1 billion in 2011. This has led to job cuts rather than employments which saved nearly US $ 900,000 in the same year. Therefore, the additional costs that the US citizens had to pay in buying the tires made them reduce the amount spent on other retail products, thereby affecting employment in the retail sector as well. Furthermore, the tire protectionism affected the US economy with more than 2,531 job cuts which were due to the increased losses in the retail sector (Hufbauer and Lowry 2012). The recent updates state that the Chinese government greatly opposed to the decision taken by US President Barack Obama about the tariffs imposed on the tire imports from China. In this regard, this case would be brought under the judgment of World Trade Organization (WTO) as concluded by the Asian country’s Ministry of Commerce. The ministry further said that by imposing higher import duties the US government violated the rules implemented by WTO which was a breach in commitments made by the US at the Group of 20 summits. Thus, it can be stated that the decision to register the case in WTO will affect the international relations between the two countries, thereby leading to a chain reaction towards trade protectionism (Bloomberg L.P. 2009). The decision to increase the import duties on tires was followed by a complaint from the United Steelworkers union which is one of the biggest US trading partners. The complaint was to discourage imports from China and encourage using tires produced in own country. Moreover, the steelworkers union that represented more than 15,000 employees working at the 13 tire plants in the US supported the decision as their job cuts were being frequent due to the shutdown of the factories which were being affected by the cheap imports (Bloomberg L.P. 2009). Arguments Realist Theory According to Donnelly (2000), realism is considered as an advancement towards international relations that has come forward steadily through the study of various analysts who have located themselves within, and therefore, enclosed an unique style of diversification of analysis. The theory of realism evolved during the Cold War for achieving the power among different countries and states thereby, decreasing the probability for eliminating conflicts and war. Furthermore, the author observed that states, similar to human beings have the tendency to dominate others in terms of power or superiority which led to the beginning of war. In contrast, the advanced theory introduced by Kenneth Waltz neglected the human nature and emphasized on the effects of international systems. He stated that the international systems consisted of large numbers of great powers i.e. countries, which are focused on surviving. Due to the non-availability of a central authority protecting countries against countries, it is the responsibility of the nation to determine its survival strategies. Thus, the author concludes that the identification of survival strategies makes the weaker countries balance among themselves, rather than encouraging rivalry with other powerful countries. He further stated that conflicts in between two countries are much more stable than multiple countries (Waltz 2010). According to Rourke (2007), classical realists believe that a country should normally follow the authorities of power; however, they agreed that they usually do not follow this theory. Alternatively, they believe that the country’s national leaders disrupt the international relations by depending on morality and principles rather than power realities in order to govern foreign policies. Whereas, neorealists’ generally do not involve on the interior policy making of a country, because they consider that countries are realistic actors that react to the power authorities in whatever the situation may be. Therefore, one similarity between the realists as well as neorealists is that they both believe that conflicts cannot be avoided (Rourke 2007). In context to the above discussions of the realist theory, it can be stated that the US government imposed higher taxes for importing tire products from China in order to avoid job cuts of the United Steelworkers union, because the manufacturing plants were shutting their infrastructures due to lesser sales. The volume of sales decreased as the cost of imported tires was less compared to own country’s tires. Furthermore, the trade relations between the two countries existed from a very long period which has seen a growth in the year 2008. However, the higher duties imposed in importing tires from China infuriated the tire companies thereby, resulting in trade disruptions (Bloomberg L.P. 2009). Liberal theory According to Ikenberry (2012), the liberal theorist argued that interdependence due to the economic needs has discouraged countries from indulging in war as it would lead to threaten the prosperity of each nation. Furthermore, the author stated that the spread of democracy will discourage the warfare between the countries, hence, attaining peace around the world (Ikenberry 2012). As observed by Shimko (2009), the most leading substitute to realism and conservatism in an approach to understand the social reality of international relations is liberalism. In other words, liberalism is a social and political philosophy that provided precise view of the social and political aspects of a country. Moreover, liberalism can be considered as a concept of a person who desires freedom and is capable for exercising logic free choices. Furthermore, the liberal thoughts are at times referred as the ‘harmony of interests’ which is the core aspect that focuses on the existence of common interests among nations and people (Shimko 2009). According to the observation made by Badie, Schlosser and Morlino (2011), the principal theory of liberalism can be defined by the characteristics and principles of democratic societies that demonstrate individual freedom, equal opportunities, private property and political participation that are shared to a certain extent. Furthermore, the political theorists define liberalism as the freedom of an individual with the belief of treating people ethically and morally and not as objects (Badie, Schlosser and Morlino 2011). Thus, in relation to the theories provided by the authors, it can be stated that in this globalization era where many US tire manufacturers that operate from China have been affected due to the higher duties imposed in importing tires. Furthermore, analysts predicted that the imposing tariffs will damage the economy of the US as the prices of tires are bound to increase due to higher cost of imported tires. In retaliation, the Chinese government imposed higher duties in chicken imports from the US that discouraged US companies to rely on exports. Moreover, the government conflicts regarding the trade exchanges affected both the countries’ entrepreneurs in terms to growth thereby, leading to economic downfall in the times of global financial crisis. Conclusion The trade war in between the US and China has primarily benefitted other exporters from different countries, selling low cost tires. However, the domestic tire manufacturers were the secondary beneficiaries as their products were priced higher than the exporters. Thus, the Steelworkers union who instigated the movement in imposing higher tariff rates to the Chinese exporters, hardly benefitted as the domestic tire manufacturers still found it difficult to offer competitive prices compared to the exporters low priced tires. This affected the retail sectors largely, hence creating job opportunities. Furthermore, the US chicken firms encountered huge losses due to loss in export sales. In relation to the conflicts aroused between the two countries, it can be stated that a kind of realism theory prevails among them. However, the chances of getting engaged in a war are minimum, as economic and infrastructure losses of both the countries are evident in case of war. In addition, the liberalism theory too does not support the international relations as both the countries are not willing to create a mutual understanding between them. Thus, the most affected in these international disputes are the entrepreneurs who operate in the multinational levels. In relation to globalization, many US tire manufacturers operate from China due to availability of cheap laborers which results in lesser cost of production thereby, bringing about low prices of the product. However, the trade war will impose a threat to these entrepreneurs in terms of growth that is directly related to the enhancement of the economy. References Bloomberg L.P. 2009. “China ‘Strongly Opposes’ Obama’s Tire Import Tariffs”. News, September 12. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aIMC3B3J0bQE (July 02, 2012). Badie Bertrand, Schlosser Dirk-Berg and Morlino Leonardo. 2011. International Encyclopedia of Political Science. United States: Sage Publications. Donnelly, Jack. 2000. Realism and International Relations. England: Cambridge University Press. Dumbaugh, K. 2009. “China-U.S. Relations: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy”. Congressional Research Service. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40457.pdf (July 02, 2012). Hufbauer, G. C. and Lowry, S. 2012. “US Tire Tariffs: Saving Few Jobs at High Cost”. Peterson Institute for International Economics. http://www.iie.com/publications/pb/pb12-9.pdf (July 02, 2012). Ikenberry, G. John. 2012. Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order. United States: Princeton University Press. Rourke, John. 2007. International Politics on the World Stage. India: MacGraw Hill. Shimko, Keith L. 2009. International Relations: Perspectives and Controversies. United States: Cengage Learning. Waltz, Kenneth. 2010. Theory of International Politics. United States: Waveland Press. Read More