Politics Essays

The evolution of the perspectives of security has eventually humanized international relations efforts particularly in the areas of defense policy. The evolvement from traditional to critical to human security perspectives allowed for the eventual creation of humanitarian efforts as part of foreign policy.

Due to the presence of a failed state, the rule of law is hardly existent and the enforcement of laws is usually forceful. The legitimacy of government is further compromised and the state becomes automatically incapable to deliver to its citizens. Internal conflicts and wars act therefore as a major contributory factor in undermining human security.

The paper will thus critically assess the notion that “the state has passed its use-by date.” The state has historically been regarded as a sovereign territory with a population and its own authority. This definition implies that a state has the capacity to manage its own affairs independently of other states that are also “sovereign” in their own capacity. 

In the following paper, there shall be made an attempt to realize and understand the role that the state plays in the functioning of society. According to the findings of the paper, it can be said that the states as we know them today have not developed at one go, but are in fact the result of decades of evolution and development.

The discourse definitively tackles the manner in which the state of Australia asserts its stance in matters of international concern in a bid to examine whether it assumes a neutral role or otherwise. This essay attempts as well to assess the foreign policy of the country and positions it assumes in the most defining moments in international relations.

The difference in votes between the two candidates would have been remained statistically meaningless, that is to say, would have been less than the margin of error. Where the electorate is evenly divided, the identity of the U.S. president, who happens to hold the fate of the world in his hands, can be settled only by the flip of a coin.

Democracy is a political system that ensures free and fair elections. People are allowed to choose their own leaders and have the right and capability to make opposition to the new government. Democracy also means having such civil liberties as freedom of speech and press and equality before the law.

Democracy implies governance for the people, of the people, and by the people. Democracy requires that people have freedom of speech, have the freedom to choose their leaders, and the doctrine of self-rule while setting no limit on what people do in their sovereign capacity.  In a liberal democracy, citizenship does not depend on adherence to a certain religion nor is there a state religion. 

In relation to foreign policy, the countries in the world today can be divided into various categories depending on their political, ideological, and economical inclinations. These include categories such as western countries, middle powers, regional players, a country apart. In the following answer, each of these will be clearly defined and their roles in global politics are specified.

Russia’s political situation after the mid-90s has been suffering from American democratic ideas and policies. To restore democracy in Russia it is necessary to stabilize the liberal movements. Politicians and intellectuals need to keep their freedom and well-being at stake for the restoration of democracy.

In a system that has a socialist system of the economy; the public association of producers carries out the production of resources that are of use-values other than those of exchange values. This is carried out by means of investment decisions through coordinated planning as well as distribution of surplus.

Social equality has been an issue of concern from ancient society to modern society. Cases in one group possess an undue advantage over the other are common in the history of man. Consequently, many scholars have coined theories in an attempt to address this issue. Tocqueville argues that social change has been a gradual process.

As the paper states, there are several demerits of the present three-tiered systems of governance in Australia which have been proposed by the above proponents of the two-tiered system among others who support the abolition of the Australian states. Some of these arguments are explored in the subsequent analysis.

A political leader has to make decisions on a daily basis for the purpose of ensuring the success of a country in the case of presidents and prime ministers. It is always common for some decisions to be opposed by the people despite the aims and objectives of the decisions. It is for this reason that a leader has to have the courage to make tough decisions and be prepared to defend the decisions made.

Although the military literally returned to barracks, the 2006 coup d’etat seemingly appeared to be another ‘consistent intervention in the political proves by the military’ (Cook 1993, p 127) which reminds us that Thailand’s politics remains to be a subject to the powerful military-bureaucratic influence.

Duane (1997) asserts that, since 1948, UN peacekeepers have taken part in various missions worldwide. Although the peacekeeping agenda is not described in the UN charter, it is defined in chapter six and chapter seven (Barnett, Kim, O’Donell and Sitea, 2007). Since 1948, the UN has been involved in 53 missions with 40 of them created by the Security Council between 1988 and 2000.

Despite several attempts by the security studies scholars to conceptualize the term ‘security’ coherently and systematically, there has never been any single and generally accepted definition to have been agreed upon. Security has therefore been a contested concept defying the pursuit of a generally agreed definition.

According to the statement, national security in Australia is the freedom a nation has from the threat of an attack and from the attack, the maintenance of the integrity of the nation’s territory, maintenance of Australia’s political sovereignty, maintaining the fundamental capacity that Australia has to advance her economic prosperity, and the preservation of won freedom.

As highlighted by Fenna (2012), federalism is basically a system whereby a written constitution shares power between a country’s central government and its sub-divisional/regional governments, with all of them acting directly on the citizens not only through the officials but also through their laws.

John Kingdon’s streams model tends to embrace the relative significance of individual ideas, agents, institutions, as well as external processes. The policy streams approach of John Kingdon presumes continual change of policy. All the elements that are relevant to the process of policymaking shift and change, and eventually policy outcomes take place from the continual interplay.

Constructivism, realism, and critical theory have been used widely within International relations to interpreting the security status in the world system. Balance of power has been used to explain the competing interests among states and how consensus is reached between alliances to avoid war. Constructivism recognizes the sovereignty of states and the need to achieve national interests.

As the paper outlines, Freeden can understand the concept of political theory as being an inclusive concept of promoting nationalism, this is made of several assumptions and standards which allows for the term political theory to be given meaning on the fact that the theory should be examined (Freeden, 2005).

Honolulu in the island paradise of Hawaii offered both a haven and a sanctuary for the typical happy family that Stanley Ann Dunham, a White American and the elder Barack Obama from Africa, with their son Barrack Hussein Obama, Jr., endeavoured to build from love, hard work and trust. The bond was, however, short-lived. 

The current research does not just look at UN roles in security and peace-keeping, but also considers the history of the organization, its stance on social issues and progress for women and children, and the potential need for sovereign authority of the United Nations, taking into account the full range of the organization’s activities. 

These are backed by the critical infrastructure; that includes all the assets whether physical or virtual which are extremely significant to the running of a society. An adverse effect on these would have a direct effect on the security, economy, politics, and social atmosphere of the nation. These include agriculture, transportation, telecommunication, finance, banks, emergency and health services, etc. in an economy.

Which countries are “net lenders” to the rest of the world?  Cuadra, L. (2011) listed Japan as the top Net International creditor with over $3 Trillion followed by the Republic of China with $ 1.79 Trillion. Russia ranked # 13 with $ 15.684 billion. Both democratic countries, the UK and the USA are net borrowers of the international community. 

A failed state is characterized by the following attributes. First, it has lost control over its physical territory or lost the monopoly to use its physical force legitimately. Second, it is a state whose legitimate authority to make decisions, which are collective, has been eroded. Third, it is unable to provide reasonable public services (Tan, 2009).

Hugh Seton-Watson (cited in Gellner 2006) says that nationalism is the application of the principle of popular sovereignty to the nation. It is apparent that defining nationalism is incomplete without a first understanding of what a nation is. The origin of the term nation indicates the application and use of the word nationalism.

The emergence of globalization in the 20th century has affected the world political and social phenomenon, and the effects of these changes can be observed in all spheres of life be it social, economic, cultural, or political. The media has today emerged as a strong tool in the hands of those who are in power as a mode through which they can reach out to the masses.

Consequently, the close connection between economics and international issues shaped Clinton's foreign policy. The American foreign policy under President Bill Clinton emphasized international trade and commerce. This argument reflects the position that international economic security is one of the most important issues that influence domestic economic growth and stability.

In a realist situation, politicians believe in-laws of politics objectivity just like the way a society is governed by objective laws having human nature as their roots. Realism also believes in the possibility of a rational theory being developed and reflecting on one side that is imperfect on the societal laws of objectivity.

Coca-Cola is an international firm that is found in almost every part of the world. The company has been one of the most successful in expanding from local, to national and finally to international products. This has come as a surprise considering that the firm produces and markets beverages, which are not necessarily basic needs and is basically in the entertainment or recreational sector.

Currently, the European Union is home to 27 member states with its headquarters primarily in Europe. The etiology of the European Union is traced back to 1945 after the culmination of the deadliest Second World War. It was formed primarily to shun the occurrence of such wars in the future that had led to the loss of innocent lives through military and civil warfare.

Over years the political arena especially in the United States has been considered to be a male-dominated arena.  Although, in the last fifty years or so women have run for political offices in large numbers but it is quite evident that they have not achieved the same parity as men.  The mean percentage of women represented in political offices is 15% which is very low compared to men.

Most of the urban jurisdictions in Australia impose policies for the regulation of population growth and the utilization of the land in urban areas. The concept of modern planning came as a result of the social conditions during the 19th century. Poor planning, unequal wealth distribution, and high costs of land resulted in a concentration of population in the urban areas.

A debate that is very politicized on the contradiction found between the Asia values and Human rights are prevailed, engaging third-party states, United Nations human rights bodies, as well as domestic and international groups of human rights. The 1928 Human Rights Universal Declaration gave inspiration to a generation that was in shock from the occurrences of the first half of the 20th century.

Hobbes’ idea that only an absolute government can protect individual liberty can be stated as factual and practical based on the fact that an absolute government defends individual liberty by protecting the subjects against foreign invasion and injuries from one another, in so doing, securing them in their own preferred way.

The U.S. envisions a peaceful Syria led by rebel forces that are working to oust Assad while Russia, China, Iran, and other allies of Assad have come out to defend him against such a move. A number of forums have been organized by both the U.S. and Russia in a bid to facilitate dialogue but they have been largely unsuccessful.

Policy decisions by the government always involve an aspect of risk according to the perceptions of different stakeholders who are affected. Risk management has to be considered during the formulation of any important policies by the government. Risk has been defined as the probability of occurrence entails both gains and losses hence creating some level of uncertainty.

Additionally, the influence of indirect coercive transfers plays a role. For instance, less dominant or influential countries within a region may be compelled to rely on their more dominant and influential neighbors, since they are aware that substance divergence from a particular policy may inflict unfavorable implications.

Direct democracy is opposed to the representative type of democracy where the people elect representatives to decide policies on their behalf. Depending on a number of factors, the system of direct democracy might entail the use of sortition, the passage of executive decisions, making of laws, direct election of officials, and the conduction of trials. 

Genocide, though wrong from a humanistic view, is an indirect result of human civilization where different groups of people are forced to live together without giving due credence to their inherent differences and their subsequent inability to cohabit peacefully without warring (Alvarez, 2001, p16). Common sense and learned opinion seek to paint genocide as an anti-thesis of modern civilization.

After the World Wars, the U.S. and the USSR were engaged in an arms race, which led to a buildup of nuclear weapons. None of the two countries was interested in having a nuclear war but they continued to build their nuclear weapons to counteract each other. Both sides were also unsure of how the other country would react in case the other started a nuclear showdown.

A move by the Poroshenko regime in Ukraine to sign agreements with NATO and the EU is likely to lead to the anchorage of Ukraine in the political system embraced by trans-European countries. Such a move is also likely to make Ukraine more secure because, if it becomes a member of NATO, it will be protected from unprecedented actions by Moscow.

It is evidently clear from the discussion that at the beginning of the twentieth century, Korea was in the wake of westernization while Japan was on the verge of military success as they defeated the Chinese in the Sino-Japanese of 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, this made them a force to reckon in the east.

The release of the investigation report on North Korea's human rights crimes was a result of the United Nations-backed by major States like the U.S, the UK, Japan, and South Korea's attention to the urgent dangers of atrocities (Hong 2014). There are different perspectives or international relation theories that can help look at 2014 North Korea's human rights issues.

At the same time, we should keep in mind that various actors both at national, regional, and international levels identify and direct ideas hence facilitating solutions to our global crisis such as inequality and development challenges (Oestreich, 2012, p. 46). The paper will look at the impacts of international, state, and transnational actors on both inequity and development across the globe.

Totalitarianism can be defined as the state of economic, political, and social activities of a nation by the national government. It is the state whereby the state has utmost and total authority over the society and it seeks to take full control of all the aspects of the lives of the citizens be they publicly or privately.

The researcher conducted quantitative research of existing literature related to many aspects of the civil service organization/union. Firstly, the researcher conducted a review of actual standards through publications of the Public Service Union, and German Civil Servants' Union (DBB). The researcher then considered the organizational structure of these associations, taking into account the principle-agent theory.

Political participation usually describes the level of social involvement of citizens in the political life of their country. This concept doesn’t only refer to participation in voting or having membership of a certain political party. It should be considered in a broader context. Thus, for example, participation and activities in sports or female organizations should be also considered as political participation.