The Role of Scholars and Practitioners of International Politics in the International Realm - Essay Example

Ethics and International Politics The role of scholars and practitioners of international politics in the international realm of ‘the political’ with regards to morality & justice The international political system has a structure that is a categorizing principle called anarchy. However, there are people who think that this principle is not organizing at all, but rather, a disorganizing one. In this case, this principle expresses the way in which the utmost ethical basics relate to one another. This is a relationship of anarchy and not hierarchy because the world is neither an ordered nor a law bound place. It is, however, an anarchic system, which means that its various components have to figure out ways in which they are going to co-exist with each other (Kreisler, 2003). This, therefore, creates a need for applying ethical theories that can ensure a clear line between practical and moral issues in the international relations scene. As a result, there have to be some individuals such as scholars and practitioners who determine the direction of morality and justice. In this paper, I will examine the roles scholars and practitioners of international politics envision for morality and justice in the international realm of the political. Morality and justice in the international realm is a responsibility that requires a sense of duty in all the key players. According to Kant (1988), everyone has an obligation to assume the introduction of justice in terms of the arrival of perpetual peace and the ethical commonwealth. Morality can only be ascertained on the grounds that endless development of the capacity of humans to do good is a fact under consideration. All in all, sense of responsibility and duty in all humans are what directs us to assume the development of the world, bearing the concept of justice in mind (Kant, 1988). As such, since justice can be some necessity, then moral actions can no longer be regarded as noble, but rather rational. This is because of the need to act according to the projected development of the world’s gradual just system (Rakic, 2010). There is a wide distribution of potential in units of the realm, some of which has more potential than others and thus determines the shape of the realm, as well as poses the problems that the not so capable ones have to handle. This position, in one way or the other, creates tragedy between international politics and oligopolistic sectors of a unit’s economy. This is because the major actors with immense potential control the actions of the others with no potential. According to Frost (2003) and Mayall (2003), scholars of politics and international relations need to consider tragedy on a more serious ground than they have been doing in the recent past. This is because of the relationship between international politics and tragedy in the world. In this way, they will be able to consider the role of morality and justice in their bid to resolve tragedy issues facing the states. Realists, as a group of scholars, look at national interests in terms of power. They consider international law and what it entails as obstacles to interests of the states unless they have rhetorical cover for policies that have the interest of the states in mind. This group of scholars urges statesmen to resist common pressures to manipulate foreign policy for the case of humanitarian or ideological reasons (Lebow, 2005). These pressures may lead to boycotting of morality and thus eliminate the duty and responsibility that lead to obtaining of justice. For there to be homogeneity in terms of world peace and justice, states need to act in accordance with guiding principles and values of morality and justice so as to offer positive economic and political benefits to one another (Lebow, 2005). The knowledge of tragedy and the ability of the global civil society has had vast, influential benefits in the transformation of the international system. This is because human beings have can learn from the impacts of experience, art, and history, and use them to their advantage. It is a fact that the human condition and tragedy will always go hand in hand because of the nature differences in human perspectives. However, this fact does not prevent humans from learning from their experiences and making considerable improvements in the state on human rights and management of conflicts with regards to domestic and international issues. As a result, scholars and practitioners of international politics need to commit their efforts to objective of ensuring that people do not repeat the mistakes of the past. This will result in the possibility of avoiding pessimistic viewpoints that are self-fulfilling and focus will be on achieving morality and justice independent of personal estimates of definitive success (Lebow, 2005). Sensitivity to the penalty and roots of tragedy should not, in any way, affect the expectations and reactions toward attaining equal international standards. This, in most cases, results from the ethical issues that guide individuals in matters of morality and justice. It is true that scholars of ethical, international relations have not been keen in addressing matters of tragedy in international affairs (Brown, 2007). Theoretically, classical tragedies showcased in drama had lots of political content and one could the evidence of ethical issues. Therefore, it would seem proper that scholars researching international ethics would come across tragedy as a pertinent topic. They ought to notice that tragedy is significant in standard theories of international relations. This is because tragedy gives us a chance to perceive ethical dilemmas clearly and to regard other possible practices transformations of the international, scene. Scholars of international ethics should make informing people about tragedy a priority of their work so as to familiarize the world with how to deal with its effects (Frost, 2003). Looking into the past can give insight on tragedy and how it has been affecting the international political realm. This is because the context of tragedy is significant for understanding the works of some scholars such as Thucydides. In addition, ethical and political dilemmas explore actions in the past that could be used or avoided in future. Ignoring the context of this dilemmas is, in way, accepting the ways tragedy poses a challenge on the understanding of past events, and on the views and the ways we study politics (Euben, 2007). From this point of view, scholars and practitioners of international politics need to consider the enterprise of refreshing classical realism with the study of tragedy. Consequently, this will improve the process of dealing tragedy pertaining the international political realm. Further, it will be easier to consider the moral standing and the basis of justice given during that time. According to Mayall (2003), the modern world cannot easily avoid the implications of tragedy, even though it commits to the progressive notion of international politics as well as informed attempts to develop a world order based on democracy. This mainly results from the way human nature deals with challenging situations on the basis of moral grounds. Frost (2007) identified two points disagreement with regards to tragedy and international relations. The first point of disagreement concerns the evidence produced regarding the evolution of a culture of global human rights. In this case, the subject of morality is in place, given that most aspects of human rights base on what is right and what is wrong. The second disagreement regards the weight to be given to obstacles of progress as embodied by the external world. This point focuses on the fact that these obstacles can result from other countries who unjustifiably impose their actions to those who cannot handle stress (Mayall, 2007). It is, therefore, the duty of scholars and practitioners of international politics to ensure that all decisions regarding tragedy and international relational relations regard the accepted morality and justice standards. In summary, scholars and practitioners of international politics play a significant role in ensuring that morality and justice in the international realm of the political has a forefront representation. They can do this by taking their works seriously with keen attention not to omit the aspects of tragedy (Brown, 2007). However, it is true that the world faces problems, but it could be much better if people would seek to exhaust all possible options for resolving the problems rather than resorting to tragic outcomes. From a cosmopolitan point, of view regarding the political realm, the difference between ethics and politics is negligible, and questions regarding politics and the ethical are intertwined. Therefore, there is no way one can separate morality and justice because they support each other in terms of general principles (Wendt, 2003). References Barry, B. (2009) Theories of Justice. London: Harvester-Wheatsheaf. Beitz, C. (2009) Political Theory and International Realtions. 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European Journal of International Relations, 3, p.491–542. Read More