International Relations - Essay Example

Order 116252 International Relations “The discipline of international relations is over-theorised, and should focus more on real-world concerns.” Critically investigate this statement In the present world there is only one power and the situation is somewhat similar to monarchy of yesteryears where the only effort was to keep the monarch happy. Even when the decision wanted by the monarch was against the interest of the individual, the monarch had to be satisfied, or else the monarch will get his way after giving the dissenter a bad name. Remember the famous case of Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More. The inter-reactions between other countries are only for settling disputes between themselves, but at the same time, the main question to be kept in mind is the choice of the monarch. There are many other factors which should influence the decisions of individual countries, but all countries want to be independent first and effective for improvement of the lot of their people and other people afterwards. Till a few years back, there were two powers with one situated in Washington and the other in Moscow and they could not afford to fight with each other. This led them to battles in absentia in the Third World and those were among the countries that were supported by one of the two superpowers. This led to conflicts among the two for the political allegiance of Asians, Africans, or Latin Americans. This was the method of promotion of the two so called ideologies – capitalism or communism. The only possible alternative, which existed in places where these conflicts were not desired, was the Cold War. (Cassels, 1996, p. 207) Yet the development or reactions of countries were dependant not on their benefits, but the desire of the two leaders. Today, the conflict of the state has deteriorated further and all are based on constitutions which define the political authorities of the country, or the countries within the area. These consist of states, countries dependant on other states and even international organizations some of whom are even for the commercial benefit of groups of shareholders. It is they who control trade, control the flow of money and investment within the area, invade other countries within the area, ally with some groups for the benefit of their masters, intervene in the ongoing civil conflicts within other states, etc. This is what leads to the building of weapons, flow of drugs from one country to another, forceful changes of governments, cause international environmental destruction and all similar matter. (Philpot, 2001, p. 11) The change in the cause of the troubles for the Les Miserable has been defined separately by the two authorities and the difference in their views is only by six years. The reason for the change is the change about the master of the world and it has come down from two to one. What is the contemporary relevance of Marxist thought in IR? Consider with reference to the Marxist legacy in critical theory. The question of Marxism in today’s International Relations is hilarious. The concept of Marxism was based on the equality of man and his getting emoluments at a level so that everybody could live with dignity in the same society. The efforts were made in some countries, but there was no success in any country and it collapsed. Some countries are still proud to call themselves Marxist and the leader among them all is China. Yet it is a country which is now compelled to become a supplier for the requirements of the Western society to survive. A major part of its earnings from this trade is also invested in United States which is supposed to be the greatest enemy of Marxism. The thinking of the ex-Marxists is also changing as the disappearance of Marxism from the surface of the world is becoming a fact. Till more than ten years ago the feeling of Marxists was that they were thinking, speaking and writing in the context of some 70 years or more of Marxism that had existed in various countries like USSR, Eastern Europe, People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba and Vietnam among others. (Kitching, 1994, p. 179) Even today, some political parties claim to have Marxist origins and they exist in the present day world. Yet there is no progress towards the aims of a Marxist society as it has been seen to be a failure in governance of humans. There are many theories that we live with, and some of them have remained only ideals and the first one of such theories is the equality of all men. Even in the most democratic of countries, has it existed in practice for the Blacks? Marxism is today only a theory like that and even within the countries that wanted to progress through the use of Marxist theory, there were many difficulties that could not be resolved and these were of ethical, psychological and sociological reasons. According to some, this is also the reason for the end of the Marxist theory. (Pierson, 2001, p. 175) This is probably an anti-Marxist claim, but in truth men have never been happy to have all others as his equal, since if he believed that, then he cannot move ahead. In what instances could the use of force in humanitarian intervention be justified? Discuss, using examples. There are no situations where intervention takes place due to humanitarian reasons. Let us analyse the situation of some interventions which had taken place in some regions of the world and from where the countries are now talking about “humanitarian intervention” Though the principle of non-interference in the affairs of other countries had come to Europe in the middle of the sixteenth century, yet during the 18th century, Poland was wiped off the map and her territory was distributed among Prussia, Russia and Austria. Even towards the end of the eighteenth century, France removed the republic of Venice and gave most of the territory to the Austrians and in turn got Belgium from them. The French army also marched into Switzerland to liberate the people of that country. (Linda, 2001. p. A5) It is clear that no invasion took place for the benefit of the country invaded or the people invaded. Presently one of the areas of the world where a lot of disturbance is going on is the Mediterranean, but the area is very near to Europe and the residents of Europe feel that security in that region is important for the security of Europe, though they will not be interested in the security of countries in the south of the area. They are concerned about the security of Europe and the aim is to ensure that Europe remains protected from the troubles of underdevelopment and conflicts. Due to this one sided concern, it is seen that conflicts still continue in parts of the world close to the area like the Balkans and the island of Cyprus where there is a constant conflict between two countries of Europe – turkey and Greece. (The Formentor symposium) Thus intervention is always a method of getting into another country and this process remains unchanged. Humanitarian concerns are just a fig leaf. Even in areas where these troubles have been taken over by the United Nations, the trouble of policing the country is left to soldiers from countries like India, and the soldiers come from there as they feel it is a good method to earn some money. The country may be in a far off region of the world and the language of the people is not even understood and the causes for the conflict are also not understood. It is just a case of keeping the two groups from cutting each other’s throats, somewhat like the Irish situation. The fights continue often due to historical problems that have been continued by the new rulers as is the situation in Sudan. Even the present rulers of the countries are not interested in solving the problem. Thus one may say it is a part of the dark areas of the world. Yet this is nothing new since troubles of different types continue from historical periods. One of the simple examples is the treatment of women in Islamic societies where they do not get much of education or even enough freedom to show their faces. We all know that women are half of the population on the earth and yet they are being treated as sub-human. Thus when we talk of humanitarian intervention, it is a farce since the difficulties for large groups of people continue in all countries and we have to take it as a part of our lives. References Cassels, Alan. 1996. Ideology and International Relations in the Modern World. Routledge. Kitching, Gavin N. 1994. Marxism and Science: Analysis of an Obsession. Pennsylvania State University Press. Linda. R. Why and when to go in. The Economist. 4 January, 2001. p. A5 Pierson, Stanley. 2001. Leaving Marxism: Studies in the Dissolution of an Ideology. Stanford University Press. Philpot, Daniel. 2001. Revolutions in Sovereignty: How Ideas Shaped Modern International Relations. Princeton University Press. Sid-Ahmed, Mohamed. 1999. The Formentor symposium. The Al-Ahram Weekly. 4-10 November. Issue No: 454. Retrieved from http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/454/op3.htm Accessed March 12, 2006 Read More