International Systems - Coursework Example

Internation Systems Democratic Peace Theory or simply DPT is based on international relations, politics, and philosophy. It binds the democracies into a liberal one and helps to maintain peace among those liberal democracies. Furthermore, its philosophical ideology is deeply rooted in the theories of Immanuel Kant. Kant opined that people love peace and it can be acquired under a constitutional republic, people are against war, and in favor of peaceful co existence with other countries. The modern theories on DPT points out: democracies are against war and bloodshed. Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen in the work ‘The West, civil society, and the construction of peace’ points out that: “According to the theory, democracy is the manifestation of the causes of peace only. Democratic states are the means that realize the effective cause of peace: liberal society.” (Rasmussen, 2003, p.29) DPT symbolizes democracy, which is the expression of the facts related to peace. So, the democratic states are the best example for DPT, because a democracy leads to a liberal society where peace exists. The idea that a world of democracies would be more peaceful place is so significant because almost all bloodshed related to war were not among democratic countries. As democracy leads to stable governments which represent the aspiration of the people, there is high chance for it to support further democratic thoughts. Eventually, the spread of democratic thought leads to world peace. But it is noteworthy that democracy is not a single system and there are several systems of government under democracy. The general idea is same, i.e. the government which represent the people. Democracy shows immense respect towards private property and provides legal equality among citizens. As the democratic government is elected by the people, there is less chance for unlimited government control over the mass. But the universal definition of democracy is not same and it leads to misinterpretation of the very same idea. For instance, the bourgeois republics, dictatorships etc are inferred as democracies. Due to political pressure, in some countries, people are forced to elect dictators as their leader. But, this does not prove that this particular country is democratic. So, it is important to have a universally accepted definition for democracy. From another view point, the countries with educated population show the tendency to embrace democracy because it supports the free will of the people. Besides, to create an atmosphere of world peace, it is important for the democratic governments to support the democratic aspirations of the people who live under autocracy or military. The democratic governments can play an important role in resolving global and regional conflicts through negotiations by democratic means. For example, the peaceful co –existence among the nations like the United States and Great Britain prove that democracy is an important cause of peace. Besides, it can be argued that the increase in number of democratic states/governments leads to less number of wars and bloodshed and it eventually leads to world peace. There exists the tendency among non-democratic countries to attack democracies, directly or indirectly. For instance, the terrorist attack of September 11, 2000 forced the US government (democratic) to take tough actions against the non-democratic governments behind the incident. The theory that the democratic states/governments do not fight each other is less valid because there was a war in 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. But this does not prove that democracy is out dated. So, it is evident that the theory of democratic peace formulated by Immanuel Kant is with immense importance and the attempts of the world democracies to promote peace prove that world of democracies would be a more peaceful place to live in. 2. The international system is a broad network of states, based on international relations. The relation among the states may vary due to the foreign policies of individual states but the aim is international peace through cooperation and diplomatic relations. The international system is not away from conflict due to difference in foreign policies and other issues related to it. In the work-‘a framework for survival: health, human rights, and humanitarian assistance in conflicts and disasters’ Kevin M. Cahill reflect that: “Addressing the root causes of conflict must also involve dealing with weaknesses of the international system as such.” (Cahill, 1999, p.199) the root causes of conflict in international system reveals its weakness as a system of cooperation and mutual understanding among the states. But this argument does not prove that international system of relationship among the states/nations is an utter failure. But as an argument against international system, it can be pointed out that there must efforts to reduce its weakness. The root cause behind conflict in the international system has its own political, economic or social dimensions and is based on extreme militant nationalism and narrow religious thoughts. Other causes are auxiliary and closely related to the root cause pointed out above. Other causes are: economic & financial problems, stagnation in development process, terrorism, organized crime, poverty etc. It is apparent that economic & financial problems curb development of third world countries and leads to conflict in the international system. This leads to the stagnation of development process and people are forced to suffer the problems related to terrorism, organized crime, and poverty. The problem of extreme militant nationalism makes use of this critical situation and the world had become a place where no nation is safe from a probable terrorist attack. So, it is apparent that the world wide peace keeping organizations and superpowers like the United States of America can play the pivotal role in implementation of conflict resolution measures to eradicate the root causes of conflict in the international system. 3. The major powers are the nations which enjoy global economic, political and military powers. After the end of the cold war, the USSR became powerless and its influence came to an end in the early years of nineties. So, there existed a division among the world countries on the criteria of democratic and non-democratic nations. Almost all the democratic nations are at the side of the major powers and other non-democratic, autocratic countries are against them. Due to this problem, the duty of the major powers is to sustain order and peace throughout the world. The democratic countries are ready to accept this fact but the non-democratic countries are not yet ready to accept. Besides, internal conflicts curb the development of the developing and third world countries. For instance, Maarten J. Chrispeels & David E. Sadava in the work-‘Plants, genes, and crop biotechnology’ reflects that: “Since the end of the cold war, internal conflicts have proliferated in developing and transition countries, particularly in Africa.”(Chrispeels & Sadava, 2003, p. 83) the developing and transition countries in the third world, face the severe threat of internal conflicts. For instance, in Africa, internal conflicts curb the development to democracy and the problem is still unresolved. It is evident that almost all the developing countries which are under non-democratic rule face the threat of internal conflicts. For instance, the internal conflicts in the form of terrorism in the Middle-Eastern countries curb the development process and threaten the major powers by attacking innocent people. So, there must be super power countries like the US to control the non-democratic countries and to keep the world order. Besides, major powers are the anchors of the global economy and it is important for them to ameliorate internal conflicts in the developing world. In addition, these major powers can help other countries to resolve their internal conflict through direct and indirect military actions. So, it is clear that the role of the major powers in amelioration of internal conflicts in the developing world is significant. 4. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 started with currency depreciation and it badly affected the economic stability of Asian countries. It resulted in devaluation of almost all East Asian currencies like Indonesian rupiah. As a result, it hit other currencies like Singaporean and Korean dollar. Besides, the East Asian governments were forced to counter the weakness by selling off their foreign exchange reserves. But these measures resulted in more far reaching consequences. The slow economic growth by the financial crisis badly affected the developing economies of countries like Indonesia. Elizabeth Fuller Collins in the work-‘Indonesia betrayed: how development fails’ reflects that: “After the Asian Economic Crisis hit Indonesia in 1997, many companies were forced to terminate employees and others shut down their operations or went into bankruptcy.” (Collins, 2007, p.111) it is evident that the Asian Economic Crisis of 1997 badly affected the industrial sector of Indonesia because most of the companies decided to terminate their employees and others were forced to shut down. This shows that the economic crisis curbed the development of financial and industrial sectors. In addition, the financial crisis resulted in political instability in Indonesia and it forced the investors to keep away from the domestic investment ventures. The devaluation of the rupiah forces the people to revolt against the government. Politically, the financial crisis forced Suharto, the President of Indonesia, to resign his office. Then, B. J. Habibie became the president of Indonesia. But before 1997, Indonesia was enjoying economic development. For instance, the manufacturing sector showed an annual growth rate of 10 percent. The next few years of the financial crisis caused high rate in customer prices. Moreover, the depreciation in exchange rate between Indonesian rupiah and the US dollar created an atmosphere of economic crisis. The crash of Indonesian rupiah badly affected the banking sector. So, it is clear that the financial crisis of 1997 badly affected the economical, political, and geopolitical spheres of Indonesia and it even forced its president to resign his office. 5. The new global system is based on the principles of globalization, financial liberalization and privatization. The whole world is considered as a single market and the innovative policies on trade and commerce control the global market. Privatization provides extreme freedom to international traders and it lessens the government control over the economy as a whole. John Baden & Donald Snow in the work-‘the next West: public lands, community, and economy in the American West’ reflect that: “Privatization, it is argued, would replace political decision making.” (Baden & Snow, 1997, p. 193) It is obvious that privatization is strong enough to replace political might and its decision making capacity. When the government is only an onlooker in trade relations, the power is transferred to private companies and multinational corporations, in the arena of global economy. For instance, Donald M. Snow in the work-‘Cases in international relations: portraits of the future’ reflects that: “A major characteristic of the new global system is the extent to which it is " privatized" and not controlled by governments.” (Snow, 2005, p.125) the new global system is in favor of privatization and less control of government over economy. It is clear that free market policies badly affect the weak governments and it leads to uncontrolled influence of private companies and multinational corporations on democracy. If the government is strong enough to control its domestic economy through economic policies the influence of privatization will be less. But the whole world is behind the new system and there is less scope for direct control of the government over the economy. David J. Donaldson & Dileep M. Wagle in the work-‘Privatization: principles and practice’ makes clear that: “Each stage of privatization involves balancing economic and political goals.” (Donaldson & Wagle, 1995, p.1) It is important to note that privatization is a process of continuity and it proceeds stage by stage. Besides, it is important to balance political and economic goals for more benefit from privatization. So, it is the responsibility of the politicians and the government officials to control the process of privatization by intervening in economic and political fields. Only strict economic policies based on democratic views can help the governments to reduce influence, and freedom given to privatization may lead to disorder in economic matters. Privatization is an integral part of new global system that can be a powerful source for growth and reducing inequalities in the society. But there is a different argument that rapid capital, trade and financial liberalization leads to inequalities between the rich and the poor in the society. However, before entering the global market, it is important for the government to take effective measures to strengthen the domestic economy. If not, the overall control on the economy will reach the hands of private/multinational corporations which leads to further crisis. The view of Donald Snow that the new global system gives unwanted importance to privatization and it lessens the control of governments over the economy is noteworthy. It is important to keep balance between government and market. The control of the government over domestic economy leads to growth, ample employment opportunities, stability and equality in the society. It can be seen that the government acts the role of a moderator and when this power is transferred to private sector, the aim will be transformed to profit, not service. So it is clear that the view of Donald Snow on the new global system is valid. Works cited Baden J., & Snow, D. (1997). The next West: public lands, community, and economy in the American West. Island Press. Collins, E. F. (2007). Indonesia betrayed: how development fails. University of Hawaii Press. Cahill, K. M. (1999). A framework for survival: health, human rights, and humanitarian assistance in conflicts and disasters. Routledge. Chrispeels, M. J., & Sadava, DE. (2003). Plants, genes, and crop biotechnology. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Donaldson, D. J., & Wagle, D M. (1995). Privatization: principles and practice. World Bank Publications. Rasmussen, M. V. (2003). The west, civil society, and the construction of peace. Palgrave Macmillan. Snow, D. M. (2005). Cases in international relations: portraits of the future. Pearson/Longman. Read More