Politics Issues - Assignment Example

Politics Table of Contents Question 3 Question 2 5 Question 3 7 7 Question 4 9 References 12 Question The cold war arose mainly due to the conflict between the communist countries led by the Soviet Union and the democratic countries led by the United States. The war was fought by every means that included propaganda, diplomatic wrangle, economic war and occasional military clashes. Main causes behind the war may be segregated into three heads which are Ideological cause, economic indifferences and indifferent outlook in political ground. (1) Ideological Both the US and USSR signify two contrasting structure of government. In the US the government is being chosen by the means of free election policy. The common man of US has the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. But in the USSR the government is formed by the communist party. The common man of USSR does not have the above mentioned rights unlike USA. Hence both the systems oppose each other. (2) Economic The US always encouraged free trade worldwide. Russia had a fright that the trade with the Western countries would expose them to the risk of being exposed to the western power. Thus there was dissimilarity in the economic outlook between the nations. (3) Power rivalry There was a rivalry in sharing the power as both wanted to dominate each other and the conflicts arose (Fun Front, “Causes of the Cold War”). According to me, power rivalry is the most compelling because the USA always wanted to follow a dictatorship over the world in every aspect being into the economy or politics as compared to USSR. Question 2 According to Francis Fukuyama the philosopher, political economist, and author, the arrival of the western liberal democracy may indicate demolishing of humanity’s socio cultural evolution and the final structure of the human regime. The explanations of arguments in favor of his statement are: Political argument – Wars and conflicts between nations arise out of indifferent political systems. As additional numbers of the country accept liberal democracy as their main structure of government, wars among them will no longer take place. Empirical argument – There has been a shift for the States in the beginning of the 19th century which was meant to accept a few type of liberal democracy to be its government, better explained as government that have individual rights like right to free speech much better to the rights of the state. Philosophical argument –Fukuyama observes the power of thymos or human spiritedness. He argues that democracy hampers behaviors which are risky. Progressive balanced thought illustrates that the responsibility of master and slave are indecisive and self-defeating and hence not accepted by lofty spirits. Democracy Signaled the “End of History” According to Social scientist Francis Fukuyama democracy signaled the “end of history” due to the failure of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and realism triumph of liberal democracy above all other outline of political ideology (Blunden, “The End of History and the Last Man”). Question 3 Shapes That State Behavior, According To Social Constructivists Social constructivism is that sociological theory of knowledge that deals with the application of general philosophical constructionism into social settings. It focuses on the significance of context and culture in understanding what happens in society and framing knowledge based on this understanding. Constructivism was introduced to IR (International Relations) by Nicholas Onuf in 1989. The main focus of social constructivism is on human awareness and its role in world affairs. It aims at the effect of distribution of material power and economic capabilities. It explains how ongoing process of social practice gives form to international relations. Factors like goals, cultures, threats, etc which are a part of international relations helps in analyzing it (Oxford University Press, “Social Constructivism”). Failure of Oslo Accords Oslo Accords was a peace agreement signed between Norway, Israeli and Palestinian officials in 1993. But Oslo Accords failed to achieve its aim for peace. The greatest source of failure was a deficiency of balance between the members involved in the agreement. The main reasons for the failure of Oslo Accords were: a) The meaning and wording contained in the actual agreement was out of balance: focusing on the wishes of Israel over those of Palestinians. b) Respective imbalance of power between Israel and the Palestinians was a condition created by the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent placement of United States as world’s super power. c) The deficiency of stability in the political leadership on both the sides in the years following the Accords resulted in the futile handling of the future concessions included in the agreement (Associated Content. “The Failure of the Oslo Accords: An Agreement Out of Balance”). Question 4 Liberal’s View of Ethnic Conflicts Liberals views of ethnic conflicts are: a) Equal opportunity should be given to every community. b) There should be mutual understanding of feelings and culture of all communities. c) Autonomy to all communities to live in harmony. d) Re-dividing the existing boundaries keeping in view the norms, culture, and lifestyle of the community. Hegemon Necessity to Support a Highly Integrated World Economy Hegemon refers to a country having leadership and dominance over another country in terms of political, economic or cultural power. According to the Hegemon Stability Theory, hegemon establishes the rules of international relations and sustains the status governing relations between states. This rule established by the hegemon relate to the working and form of international economic and political interactions. It governs the relations of different countries in trade and other international activities (Rand Corporation, “The Role of Hegemon”). Bretton Woods system can be described as a completely negotiated monetary related order which was proposed to administer monetary relations between independent nation-states. The collapse of Bretton Woods was led by the scenario in which the U.S. dollar had to be taken as an international reserve currency. This scenario made fiscal and monetary policy of the U.S. free from any external pressure and it also had an influence on the outside economies. This led to a deficit of balance of payments to prevent world inflation. In turn the U.S. dollar ran into an inflationary policy along with limited convertibility, which made dollar weak and unwanted (Dammasch, “The System of Bretton Woods”). The triangular trade system that led to America’s position as guarantor of stability destabilized the system, which led to the crisis and collapse of Bretton Woods system. Patient Capital Patient capital is a long term capital with which the owner makes investment. The investor denies any short term returns and is invested usually for making the profit line more substantial. Such long term investment promotes the stability of business. In terms of Patient capital Japan, as a developing country have more long term based horizon for investing , risk-tolerance, and ability to provide benefit to low income customers with subsidy and also co-investment. This has the capability of having a social impact. As it is vital tool for innovation as well as development of poor countries therefore in present day’s volatile market scenario in US had suffered a loss it seems to have affected their patient capital scenario. Japan as an emerging economy is more likely to find more long terms investors who find the country more fruitful for investing (Acumen Fund, “A New Approach to Tackling Poverty”). Impact of trade on jobs The impact of trade on jobs depends on the economic situation of the particular country. If the country is a developing one, than it has a positive impact on jobs as importing skilled labors from developed countries costs more. In case of developed countries, trade would result in fewer opportunities for job growth as the country can import high skilled cheap labors from less developed countries. References Acumen Fund. “A New Approach to Tackling Poverty”. October 28, 2010. What is Patient Capital, 2010. Associated Content. “The Failure of the Oslo Accords: An Agreement Out of Balance”. October 28, 2010. Article, 2007. Blunden, Andy. “The End of History and the Last Man”. October 28, 2010. Subject, 1998. Dammasch, Sabine. “The System of Bretton Woods”. October 28, 2010. A lesson from history, No Date. Fun Front. “Causes of the Cold War”. October 28, 2010. Cold War 1945-1960, 2007. Oxford University Press. “Social Constructivism”. October 28, 2010. Introduction, 2006. Rand Corporation. “The Role of Hegemon”. October 28, 2010. Monograph Reports, 2010. Read More