Political Economy - Europe and Russia - Essay Example

Political Economy - Europe and Russia Russia failed from being the superpower of the world to being the country it is today because of a number of factors. Communism was the centre of Russian economy and it failed drastically, leading to not only economic disintegration but also the political disintegration as the many countries from the Euro-Asia region (Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Lithunia, Kazakhstan among many others) separated themselves from the main Russia. With the fail of communication came the failure of the USSR (Joseph Bohling Spring 2014). There can be many explanations of the reason why communism failed, but most of these can be summarized as follows; Economic perspective Communism is one economic system that is very different from most of the other economic systems that have ever been used in any state. In particular, it is fundamentally different from the capitalism that has been used in the west such as the United States and many states in the west of Europe. Communism failed primarily because it was inherently and greatly flawed in its structure and ideology. Unlike capitalism, communism does not encourage economic production and creativity. Communism has one major flaw that has made it harder for the nations that use it to succeed. For instance, under communism individuals are not motivated to work or be productive because they only need to be productive up to the minimum level necessary. Communism does not create an environment where an individual can have the biggest benefit from their production. This is because the government aggregates the needs of the people and all production is then distributed equally or equitably among the users. For instance, a grain farmer does not stand to gain more if he increases production. Even if he produces the minimum required, or increases the production, the benefit is the same since the governed takes the produce and distributes it to the rest of the people. In return, the grain farmer may receive milk from the dairy farmer, not necessarily in proportion to the amount of grain he has produced but only to meet his needs and those of his family. This, from an ideological point of view may look like a very good system especially when it is argued that it brings social and economic equality. However, a closer look indicates why this system of production is highly and inherently flawed. It does not lead to innovation Under capitalism, if a grain farmer produces one ton of grain, he may be able to achieve some economic gain. On the other hand, the same grain farmer realizes that if he can increase his production to one and a half ton, he stands to benefit even more since the economic benefit is calculate by the cost of production of every unit deducted from the economic gain he gets from the same. So the farmer while being limited in terms of resources (such as the amount of land), may be creative and start coming up with ways to make his land more productive. This leads to better use of resources. Under communism however, this is not the case and there is no motivation for innovation. This may explain why Russia, despite being one of the world leaders, was not the source of the most important innovations such as was seen in the west especially in USA. In USA, the private sector, thriving under capitalism, was the source of some of the most important innovations. Communism also failed to recognize the fact that people’s needs, are not just basic (each individual have different needs, once the basic needs have been achieved). Under communism, the only needs considered are the basic human needs such as a place for shelter, something to eat, etc. However, these are not the only needs that a person could have. After meeting these basic needs, one goes on to the other needs such as making a name for themselves, etc. Under capitalism, once a person is able to meet the basic needs, they are still able to go on to work even harder to achieve the other needs and this makes it possible for the person to continue looking for ways to be more productive. Under communism, this is not possible, since every extra effort that the individual produces is easily dissipated into the system as the government distributes the output to the population. Apart from the fact that communism was inherently flawed, there are other factors that sped its failure. These include economic stagnation which was caused by the fact that the government was busy investing in other areas such as wars. Famines and droughts also led to the increased speed at which the system failed. Political issues Communism was as much a political tool as it was an economic tool. It was used to fight the western ideologies by making it look like Russia was better than the West. Because of this political relation, the risk of the system increased with time. The political leaders focused too much on making sure that they were fighting western powers that they forgot to fight capitalism. Political wars, especially the cold war of the period after the Second World War, made it worse for the Soviet Union. This was not only because the Soviet Union was fighting with the west, but there was also infighting within the member states and this made it even worse for communism as an economic system in the Soviet Union. Without a coherent strategy on how to sustain it, and most of the resources, both economic and leadership, being used for political fights, it became inevitable that communism would fail. It is necessary to note that at the same time, communism was being fought from outside by those who were aligned with the west. An excellent example of this is the Marshall plan by the United States government. The Marshal plan was a bailout plan which was geared towards making sure that communism did not take root, especially in east Europe where there was a high risk of the nations adopting communism after pressure in the economy increased (Postwar planning & reconstruction, Bohling, Spring 2014). Nationalism was also another issue because the nations were still trying o get national and state identity (The fall of the wall, Bohling Spring 2014). It can be said that communism was bound to fail, right from its conception. Its very nature indicates that it was not sustainable and would not survive in a global world where capitalism was making big progress. Political competition, nationalism and economic stagnation also played a very major part in the decline and the eventual fall of communism. Question 4 Europe has had a number of factors which have been a setback to the development of the continent. Some of these problems remain persistent while others have changed over time. First is political and second are economic issues. One problem that has remained an issue in Europe is the economic competition, especially from the East. During the earlier years of the 21st century, one of the problems that faced European nations was competition for the market of their industry as well as source of materials for the same. This is why they wanted to maintain the colonies, even later when the pressure for decolonization was high. The more these nations tried to govern themselves, the more they were determined to make sure that they maintained their colonies, especially in Africa (The end of empires, Bohling, Spring 2014). At the same time, America was pressuring the west European nations to decolonize their colonies in Africa and other regions (The “Americanization” of Europe, Bohling, Spring 2014). The Western Europe nations were fighting to maintain their political identity as well as their political supremacy in the world. Western powers such as Britain had to continue fighting for the supremacy of their political power. Political power is only maintained with economic prosperity and those nations knew very well that if they lost their colonies, they would have to lose their political power, not only locally, but also in the international arena. In a way, these two issues have remained the same. The western powers are still competing with eastern nations for economic opportunities in the global arena. Economic rivalry with the rest of the world has a long history in Europe, especially starting with the Roman Empire. In the early twenty first century, west Europe had to figure out to find a constant supply its fast growing industrial economies with raw materials. The raw materials had to come from Africa and there was a necessity to make sure that they had a controlling power in the areas where these raw materials came from. India and Africa as well as China were a good source of these raw materials and there was no way that these colonists would let go easily. A sudden dissertation of colonies would mean that the economy would suffer a big blow. These colonies also provided for a ready market for the finished products from European industries. Letting go would mean that there was a lax in the market and they could not risk losing the control of this important market. This has remained the same even in the 21st century. West Europe still sees the threat from the east and there is a competition to sustain their economies in the world economy. Just like in the early 20th century, west European nations have to fight for the African market as well as for raw materials from the African continent. Without Africa, these nations see a difficulty in managing their economy. What makes these problems so similar to the situation in the 20th century is the fact that they are directly connected to political power. Europe problems have always been concerned with the relationship between economic prosperity and political power. The deep desire to keep their political power has made the nations to fiercely protect their economic strongholds. Yet, exactly as was the case in the 20th century, so has been the case in the 21st century where these nations seem to be desperately losing the economic limelight of the world. The western powers are also still competing for political powers in the global arena. The political fights continue to rock the relationship between the capitalist west and the less capitalist east. Although communism is no longer an issue, the fight for political ideology supremacy still is a major theme in the political competition between the west and the east. However, the problems have changed because of a number of issues; Colonialism is no longer an issue in the world. In the 21st century, there is a not a nation in the world that is not free. Colonialism is a thing of the past. However, the issue of neocolonialism still is a major issue. Although all the colonies have been given independence, either through armed struggle or diplomatic processes, many of these former colonies have remained poor and under the control of their former colonial powers. In terms of economic competition, the main source of competition is now China and India in addition to the traditional competitor who was Russia. Brazil and South Africa has also added to this list, making what is now called the BRICS. These emerging economies, as they have come to be referred to, have posed a very big and major threat to the economy in the west. Not only have they taken over economic power, but are also taking over political power in the global arena. The other issue that still remains an issue for Europe is the integration of its economy. Political and economic integration has also remained one of the issues. Towards the end of the 1980s, Europe had achieved big steps towards the economic integration of the European economy (Yergin, 310). However, this was not the end to its problem, and the nations still face challenges on this area. The intention for the integration of European nations can be seen as having been ignited by the Schuman declaration in 1950. Schuman realized that it was only the collective action by European nations that would help Europe to survive (Schuman, 2). The introduction of a common currency to consolidate the European Union can be seen as the major evidence for the desire to integrate Europe economically, and hopefully, politically. (The European crisis Bohling Spring 2014). The European consolidation has not been really achieved completely especially considering that most states still use their traditional currency while still using the euro. From a political point of view, terrorism is also an issue, also emanating from the east (especially Middle East) where political radicalization against the west is high. The main issue that the western European states have to tackle today is the issue of terrorism. Since terrorism is directly (at least in most cases) associated with Islam, western nations seem to have developed a paranoia for the same. This can be seen in France where there have been fights against the freedom of Muslim girls wearing the Hijab in school. The most recent wave of this Hijab paranoia was seen 2003 where a lot of girls were prevented from wearing the Hijab in school (Schott 22). This was regardless of the fact that these girls were well disciplined, did not have any disciplinary issues in school and always acted normally (Schott 22). Terrorism and religion are closely related and Islam has been a center of the war against terrorism. Western powers have also been accused of using illegal or unacceptable measures in their fight against terrorism. Terrorism has brought forth a new kind of political issue for these western nations. In the early 20th century, western powers never had to deal with terrorism and this was never an issue. Whether the modern issue of terrorism was borne by the early ideological political stand by the European nations is a matter of debate. However, it is very clear that the political war with the west has changed from the battle fielded to the streets where the terrorists continue to butcher people almost every way. Works Cited Bohling, Joseph. (Spring 2014). POLECON 160 : The end of empires. Bohling, Joseph. (Spring 2014). POLECON 160 : The fall of the wall. Bohling, Joseph. (Spring 2014). POLECON 160 : the european crisis. Bohling, Joseph. (Spring 2014). POLECON 160 : Postwar planning & reconstruction. Bohling, Joseph. (Spring 2014). POLECON 160 : The “americanization” of europe?. Schott, Joseph. (2009). The Politcs of the Veil. Princeton University Presss: Oxford. Schuman, Roberts. (1950). the Schuman Declaration, may 9 1950. Paris. Yergin, Danil. (2012). the Commitment: Europes Search foe a new Socail Contract: the battl fr World Economy. New York: Freee Press. Read More