International Relations Theories - Essay Example

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORIES April 15, Introduction International relations studies interactions amongst countries. The study of international relations is normally the basis upon which foreign policies and establishments of a given state are founded. This paper focuses on the international relations theories which are a set of principles or ideas that give an enlightenment on how the international structures work. They are mostly based of the national interests of particular states. These theories are: realism, liberalism, constructivism, Marxism, feminism and institutionalism which are the major theories. The paper is supposed to use the international relations theories to explain the current Greece recession. This is as elucidated below. The first international theory is realism. This theory talks of power and sovereignty among states. Most states work to increase their power so that they can have a hope of survival. According to the realist, a state needs power to survive, to be assertive and also for the purpose of self-help and protecting themselves. The international systems are characterized by anarchy whereby there is no central authority. Each states is supposed to be autonomous of each other and there should be no inherent structure that should exist to command the relationship between them (Burchill, 2009). Various states may create international laws or treaties and may try to enforce those rules but the rules are not the ones that determines how a state behaves (Dunne et al. 2010). They only try to act along because of the underlying material interests and power relation. This according to the realist is because those international laws or institutions only work in balancing the power within the states but not to constrain a states behaviour. In relation to the current Greece recession, it’s clear that Greece is hell-bent on becoming an independent state wanting no part of the European Union but in turn affecting the European zone as a whole because of their debt crisis. The fact that they have rejected neoliberalism and are set to work with giving more to their people and less to foreigners irrespective of the foreign policies and international laws put in place. Also, the fact that even though Greece is in debt of large loans from Germany, Germany doesn’t have any political or sovereign power over it. Realism is also quite important in understanding real life politics. In the current world, politics has mostly taken up the realist approach. This is because people in most countries are fighting for power in terms of acquiring high political positions in the government like the presidency which in turn gives them a position in the international arena. In philosophy, constructivism is a knowledge theory. The theory encourages people to gain knowledge form interacting with their ideas and their experiences. (Dunne et al. 2013). In the exploration the neoliberalism on the Greek recession, this theory has proved quite useful. This theory, upon its conception, mostly focused on the interaction between the behavior and the reflexes of people, and their experiences. The formulator of the theory, Jean Piaget purported that learning is a function of both assimilation and accommodation. Through these processes, people are able to create new knowledge from past experiences. This theory is especially useful in understanding the way that Greece chooses to deal with its current recession. It is known that the causes of the current recession are; the previous government’s hidden debts, imbalances in trade between Greece and Germany, the international economic crisis of 2007, together with the flaws in the Eurozone construction. (Berend et al. 2013). It is also important to note that neoliberalism suggests that to deal with such situations, control of economic factors in the country should be shifted from the public to the private sector. Therefore, it suggests; reduction in deficit spending, broadening the tax base through tax reforms, removal of fixed rates of exchange and privatization of state-run companies as some possible solutions. The fact that Greece chose to resolve the situation through neoliberalism is indicative of the fact that Jean Piaget’s theory holds and that Greece did in fact learn from their past experiences regarding expenditure. It is important however to note that austerity has proved ineffective in the past for Greece. However neoliberalism would dictate that Greece learn from past failures so as to facilitate success. From this, it is clear that political pressure in Greece, forces the country to opt out of austerity every time the country is in recession. However, in 2008, the need for the country to live in luxury was outweighed by the recession. Liberalism is an international relations theory that mostly emphasizes on economic power and distribution of resources because it is what the current world system is founded on. Having economic and social power also counts big time because with economic power various can employ a variety of methods to be over the top as compared to the other states. According to liberalist employing economic power has proven to be more effective as compared to military power. This can been seen in the ranking of the most powerful countries in the universe is being done by comparing their economic power. Liberalist claim that economic power reduces chances of physical wars among countries unlike in political power (Burchill, 2009). Greece currently doesn’t have much economic power as their economy is shrinking because of their anti-austerity and cut down on their expenditure reducing the debts they have. Having the most debts in the European zone, they may not have any say on matters concerning the economy and trade in that zone. This has negatively impacted on their relationship with other European countries reducing their foreign capital by very high rates. In politics, economic power is a basis in acquiring political power (Barnett et al. 2004). If a person or a state doesn’t have economic power then there is no way they can acquire political positions locally or internationally irrespectively. Marxism is another theory that is instrumental in the exploration of neoliberalism on the Greece recession. This theory or methodology uses sociopolitical and economic inquiry. It also applies this to analysis and critique of the development of capitalism as well as the roles of class struggle in economic change. This theory basically builds on the materialistic understanding of the development of society, staring form the economic activities that are necessary so as to satisfy the material demands of a society. (Callinicos 1989). Knowledge of this theory aids in understanding both how Greece fell into its current predicament and how it plans to get out. Based on the theory, capitalism is necessary for survival, or at least for development of a society on the most basic level. Earlier in this paper, the causes of Greece’s recession have been mentioned. Using the Marxist theory helps one to understand that the causes of the recession were such that they inhibited growth of the society. Capitalism was not developing. (Berend et al. 2013. In the suggested remediation relating to neoliberalism, the measures taken are seen to have the capacity to develop capitalism in Greece. Therefore Marxism helps one understand that Greece was lacking in capitalism prior to its recession. The country therefore seeks to develop activities that will satisfy society’s materialistic needs. This suggest some degree of socialism in Greece. Greece has been known to exhibit emmense social entitlement. The country, despite being in a recession, refused austerity until it was forced into it. Idealism is a school of thought that streams down from liberalism. It however presses on the need to pursue moral goals when interacting with other international states and acting ethically rather than pushing for economic and political power alone (Dunne et al. 2010). Hence according to this theory things such as violence, dishonesty among states and other such behaviors should be avoided at all cost to maintain peace internationally. It urges people to work to end poverty among the nations rather than focus on gaining political power. (Daddow 2009). Greece can be referred to as an idealist society because the recession they are suffer from is partly as a result of wanting to provide for its people more to ensure that its people live satisfactorily at the expense of their economy (Pirounakis 1997). Spending more than they earn hence accumulating for themselves large amount of debts. The political world of today has basically ignored the idealist approach and taken up the realist approach. Political leaders of today are mostly engulfed in gaining power and wealth rather than working to transforming the lives of their people. They are fixated on seeing that their economies are better than those of other states forgetting their moral obligations to their people. Feminism, another important right that has proven useful in exploration of the neoliberalism on the Greece recession. Feminism involves a series of movements and also ideologies that have a common goal that is to establish, to define and to achieve equal economic, political, cultural, social and personal rights for women. (Burchill 2005). This would involve establishment of equal opportunities in both education and employment for women. The Greek recession was seen to hit women more than it did men. They are faced with what is termed as a double burden. This phenomenon is particularly familiar in societies that hold traditional gender roles. Apart from being disproportionately affected by cuts in the public sector, women are still expected to do most of the work in care work. (Berend et al. 2013). According to experts, domestic abuse is at this time on the rise, legislation that was meant to further inequity is on the burner-mark and discrimination is also rife. This calls for feminism to be enacted as part of the remediation for Greece. As the country seeks to further economic activities that will line society’s pockets, it needs to reduce disparity based on sex so that all members of society benefit equally. Women will therefore be in a better position to participate in class conflict and economic growth. This tells a lot about the politics of Greece. The nation legislation is still partial to gender roles. This facilitates disparity in resources between the sexes. Feminists in Greece are currently targeting said pieces of legislation as a means of bringing equality to Greece. The theory of internationalism looks at the structures in the international arena, how they work, how they differ and how they deal with those variances. It also looks at the international system in terms of its structures that govern how states act inside the system. According to institutionalism, states come together and rationalize certain things and come up with co-operations that help in things such as trade. Institutions can overcome the uncertainty that comes with co-operations within the states. The institutions help in setting rules and norms to guide the states and set the decision making processes. Institutionalism argues that institutions increase efficiency and effectiveness of the co-operation (Dunne at al. 2010). The recession of Greece in largely being blamed on structural flaws in their economy. They have no reliable institutions put in place to deal with their accumulation of debts and the government expenditure. Hence there is need to reform their structures to adopt to the neoliberalism approach to deal with their financial difficulties. Any state needs good governing structures to ensure that there are smooth operations within the governments. The political arena can only function satisfyingly if there are relevant structures put in place and that their roles and responsibilities have clearly been defined. (Barnett et al. 2004). This paper has so far applied the theories to the current situation in Greece. The theories are also applicable in real life politics. Take for example liberalism. This theory helps in understanding the current power struggle between China and the U.S. the power struggle is based on, among other things, economic power. Liberalists however believe that political and economic openness will lead the U.S and other countries to accept the inevitable rise of China peacefully. The realism theory can also be applied to this scenario. Realists are however more pessimistic in this respect. It predicts competition. Realists argue that China’s growing strength will prompt the U.S and other countries to balance against the nation. Realists’ purport that a cold war will emerge just like the standoff between the Soviet Union and the U.S. this is an example of how international relations theories can be used to understand real life politics. Feminism has also been seen to explain certain aspects of the politics of Greece. Conclusion From the essay above it is clear that international relations theories are important not only in explaining interactions between countries, but the behavior of individual countries. This essay has discussed realism, Marxism, liberalism, feminism, idealism, institutionalism and constructivism. The theories have aided in understanding the current Greece situation. Their anti-austerity stances and the fact that the country is being forced to consider neoliberalism as a means to survive. Bibliography Barnett, M.N. & Fennimore, M. (2004). Rules for the world: International organizations in global politics. Ithaca, Cornell University Press. Berend, I. T. & Berend, T. I., 2013. Europe in crisis : Bolt from the blue?. s.l.:Routledge. Burchill, S. (2009). Theories of International Relations. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. Burchill, S., 2005. Theories of international relations. 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