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Discuss the importance of mcdonaldization in u.s. culture
The theory of balance of power
Discuss the importance of mcdonaldization in u.s. culture
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In the modern International System where does the balance of power stand? In the past, it had shifted from empire to empire, sometimes many empires held power at once. To explain the polarity of the world today we must first examine the definition of power in order to know what it means to have power and how it spreads. Then we must look at the polarity of the past to determine how the powers of today got to where they are now and what it took to be unipolar and how it is challenged today. Power, since the beginning of human history has been a force that drives man. Every civilization has aimed to increase its power, locally or globally. How is power defined? According to Dr. Robert Dahl, political science professor at Yale University, power is defined as “A’s ability to get B to do something that he or she would not otherwise do” (Lake, 2006, p. 24). Some political scientists believe that the ability to get someone to do something can be derived from two different types of power: hard power and soft power. Hard power is closely linked with the use of coercive tactics such as the use of military forces, economic pressure, and other forms of intimidation (Lake, 2006). The more liberal form of power, soft power, was coined by Harvard University political scientist Joseph S. Nye. Nye states that “soft power is a notion that non-traditional forces such as culture and commercial goods can exert influence in world affairs” (Ferguson, 2003, p 21). What he means by this is that through goods that are a part of a nation’s culture, a nation can spread its sphere of influence. An example being McDonalds, a company that is a big part of American culture, a giant multi-national cooperation spreading American capitalistic ideology in the nati... ... middle of paper ... ... International Relations. Third World Quarterly, 25(8), pp. 1359-1378. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3993791 Cox, M. (2004). Empire, Imperialism and the Bush Doctrine. Review of International Studies, 30(4), pp. 583-608. Retrieved from http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=251274&jid=RIS&volumeId=30&issueId=04&aid=251273 Ferguson, N (2004). A World without Power. Foreign Policy, 143, pp. 32-39. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/4152908.pdf Walt, S. (Jan. 2009). Alliances in a Unipolar World. World Politics, 61(1), pp. 86-120. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/world_politics/v061/61.1.walt.pdf Nye, J. (1990). American Strategy after Bipolarity. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), 66(3), pp. 513-521. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2623071.pdf
According to Wright, this decline in the unipolar concert “marks the return of geopolitical competition and presents a significant challenge for U.S. strategy” (Wright, 8). Many believe that these country were not too concerned with global power until it saw the U.S. weak
Power is authority and strength, which is any form of motive force or energy, ability to act, or control. When too much power is given, a dictatorship government can form, in which all decisions are made by one authority. In the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell the author portrays how “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton).
Falk, Richard A. The Declining World Order: America's Imperial Geopolitics. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Johnson, Loch K. 1942-. American Foreign Policy and the Challenges of World Leadership. Power, Principle, and the Constitution. New York: Oxford UP, 2015. Print.
Power is a difficult concept to define conclusively or definitively however, Bourdieu explains power to be a symbolic construct that is perpetuated through every day actions and behaviours of a society, that manipulate power relations to create, maintain and force the conforming of peoples to the given habitus of that society (Bourdieu, 1977). Power, is a force created through the
Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Hard and Soft Power in American Foreign Policy.” In Paradox of American Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 4-17. Print.
Kent, J. and Young, J.W. (2013), International Relations Since 1945: A global History. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
War.” Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies after the Cold War. Eds. Ethan B. Kapstein and Michael Mastanduno. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. 1-27.
Frieden, Jeffry A., David A. Lake, and Kenneth A. Schultz. World Politics. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. Print.
The alliance system formed when countries were reaching limits on their expansion and ability to grow their military. Countries during this time frequently compared themselves to others; however, they did so to ensure they were increasing in strength at a steady, if not quicker, rate. Western nations preferred to avoid war when possible, especially during the mostly-peaceful period of the 1890s. In order to ensure that they could concentrate on other more important subjects, countries allied with one another, in order to maintain domestic stability while decreasing the fear of a war decimating their economy. By eliminating the risk of going to battle, a New Imperialist nation was afforded the luxury of one less external worry, shifting concentration to internal issues. Countries could focus on fixing the problems that nationalism shielded their population from scrutinizing. The alliance system seemed like a noble idea: countries affiliating with one another to secure dependable relations. These good intentions were soon unnoticeable as the balance of power shifted. The balance of power, a condition in which an equality of power among countries is noted, assures that the threat of attack is null. The evolution of the alliance system, especially in the 1890s, marked “the final stage of the worldwide system of international competition.” Universal
Roskin, M., & Berry, N. (2010). IR: The new world of international relations: 2010 edition (8th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Longman/Pearson Education.
Mingst, K. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 70). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
The basic world situation is thus that there are three superpowers, each drastically different and each searching for its place in a new world order. Other nations do, of course exist, and can be influential figures regarding trade and alliances, but the three superpowers, only two of whom are really interested in expansion and conflict, drive the international scene.
Baylis, Smith and Patricia Owens. 2014. The globalization of World Politics: An introduction to international relations. London. Oxford University Press.