What are the aspects, strengths and weaknesses of one theoretical approach to global governance?
Global governance deals with world politics or foreign administration therefore compelling the performance of actors (state and non-state) in the international political system’s administration. It is an important field in the study of international relations and been defined differently but ultimately geared towards the sense of international political administration.
The World Health Organisation defines Global Governance can be defined as the different ways organisations, institutions, businesses, and governments manage their affairs, further explaining that it refers to the way in which global affairs are managed, and it involves a range of actors including states, as well as regional and international organisations (World Health Organisation [WHO] 2015).
Global Governance emerged due to interdependence and globalisation, proliferation of non-state actors (Weiss 2013, pp. 10 - 13),
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In both, community and a sense of common values are preconditions for stability. Thus, Classical Realism gives us insight as to why violence has decreased dramatically since the beginning of the 20th century. Classical Realists contend that the decreased violence is the result of identity shifts through liberal democracies ' forceful integration of states into the liberal democratic "world community." In contrast to Liberalism, Classical Realism asserts that the deterring of conflict is not correlated to the material effects of economic integration. Instead, it has to do with the shared feeling of community within the liberal democratic states. Democracies and advocates of liberal economies tend to expand and sustain this community through exercising their power in the name of justice and differentiating themselves from
Edkins, Jenny, and Maja Zehfuss. Global Politics: A New Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.
There is no question that states used to be the building blocks of the international system in the past because they had the sovereignty in the political, security, and social areas. However, with globalization, states are subjected to external influences and it is becoming questionable if states are still the fundamental actors of the international system. Cooperation is becoming a key motivation in the international system nowadays. ()This implies that states may have to sacrifice their policies to maintain universal standards of living or the international peace. Although states are still the ultimate power source, it is important to accept the fact that the idea of sovereignty is changing with globalism.
Due to fast-spreading information and technology, globalization is rapidly affecting states. The end of the Cold War heralded a change in hierarchical structure so that states no longer the primary actors in international politics. Non-state actors are not new to the international system; rather, they have just grown in number and strength since the 1950s. These actors include transnational organizations, which are organizations that transcend state boundaries and operate across many different states.
In recent years, particularly during the late twentieth century, the world has witnessed significant growth in its number of international organizations, accompanied by an increase in global interdependence (Weiss, Seyle, & Coolidge, 2013). This growth has contributed to a shift in the dynamics of global politics that includes greater involvement of non-state actors in global problem-solving and policymaking (Falkner, 2011). This involvement, however, may not necessarily be sufficient or effective. For exampl...
People’s ideas and assumptions about world politics shape and construct the theories that help explain world conflicts and events. These assumptions can be classified into various known theoretical perspectives; the most dominant is political realism. Political realism is the most common theoretical approach when it is in means of foreign policy and international issues. It is known as “realpolitik” and emphasis that the most important actor in global politics is the state, which pursues self-interests, security, and growing power (Ray and Kaarbo 3). Realists generally suggest that interstate cooperation is severely limited by each state’s need to guarantee its own security in a global condition of anarchy. Political realist view international politics as a struggle for power dominated by organized violence, “All history shows that nations active in international politics are continuously preparing for, actively involved in, or recovering from organized violence in the form of war” (Kegley 94). The downside of the political realist perspective is that their emphasis on power and self-interest is their skepticism regarding the relevance of ethical norms to relations among states.
The traditional view of world politics was Realism, this theory concentrated on security as the main factor in world politics, this meant political integration between states was believed to be slight and only viable as long as it served the national interest of the state. Transnational actors were believed to not exist or not have any political importance. The balance of power was decided militarily and needed to remain stable (Keohane & Nye, 2011: 20). With the changes the 1970’s brought and with transnationalism becoming ever more prevalent and obvious many believed realism no longer described the world.
Globalization has led to several substantial changes in global governance and the entities participating in governance activities. First, over the past 70 years, an increasing number of nations have signed onto international agreements. For example, when the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created in 1947, it had no institutional structure; by 2009, though, more than 150 nations – accounting for 97% of world trade – were members of GATT’s successor, the World Trade Organization (Fidler, 2009). The World Health Organization, started in 1946, now comprises 194 member states and has nearly 150 country offices (Council on Foreign Relations, 2012). In both of these entities – and in others, such as the Genera...
Classical realism is “concerned with questions of order, justice and change at the domestic, regional, and international levels.” (Lebow, 2010) Power is at the core of the foundation of classical realism and the reason for this is because clas...
The link between internationalization, governance and democracy is a central problem for politics as well as for political science. Even if clear evidence on the nature of this link is not yet available, the literature seems to support the view that internationalization both undermines the capacity for governance and puts into question traditional forms of democracy.
To conclude, the world is now constituted of more than 190 states which are mainly independent on actors ranging from multinational corporations to non-governmental organizations, from terrorist groups to drug deals, from regional to international institutions. Nowadays, the monopoly of power of a certain sovereign state is being influenced by a larger international community. Political, social, and economic factors known to erode the concept of state sovereignty such as the spread of transnational ideas, spread of technology, economic dependency etc... Finally, a state should create a well-balanced policy or strategy to respond to the challenges of globalization. The policy should fulfil the state national interest, and its people will.
But the decelerating of commercial development that grasped most Western states commencing in the mid-1970s gave a weighty trial to present liberalism. By the conclude of that decade commercial inactivity, joined alongside the price of maintaining the communal benefits of the welfare state, shoved powers increasingly in the direction of politically untenable levels of taxation and climbing debt. Equally fretting was the fact that the Keynesian economics rehearsed by countless powers seemed to lose its effectiveness. Powers endured to expend money on plans aimed at invigorating commercial development, but the consequence too frequently was increased inflation and ever-smaller drops in joblessness rates. Most international countries today have benefited positively for liberalism as it contributed in building the economies of different states (Fawcett, 2015:402).Peace and security, this large subject span, the established core agenda of global relations, is oftentimes perceived as tear amid realism and liberalism. Realism provides the framework for standard protection studies, liberalism for ‘alternative’ ways such as concord research. The preceding, crudely speaking, is distressed alongside maintaining order across coercion, the latter with ascertaining the underlying fights by coordinating governmental existence
Baylis, Smith and Patricia Owens. 2014. The globalization of World Politics: An introduction to international relations. London. Oxford University Press.
There is no doubt of the importance of international organizations, and the cooperative effects that they have on states around the world. International organizations, through their unique prospects of centralization and independence, have a mainly neutral, but leading place in international politics (Abbott and Sindal 1998). This ability to act independently, with the power to do so, and often decisively, distinguishes IOs as a vital and unique position. They handle everything from money, to disease, to human rights. Regulations and standardized norms end up playing a large role in the formation of international laws, actions, and the way that states conduct themselves domestically as well. I agree with the general notion that the world will
International organizations create space for its members to coordinate interests and actions which helps promote interdependent relationships among them and strengthens their legitimacy. As society has progressed, it has globalized, and in the past 50 years states have had to address their growing dependence, especially in the economic sector. The World Trade Organization (WTO), is an institution which has an immense impact on the international political economy and the way states function within the international system. It organizes agreements and treaties which govern how its members decide policies, tariffs, and keeps states accountable for their actions. For example, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), determines how states can regulate their import and exports. (Hurd 2014,
There is an undeniable fact that there has been a rise in globalization. It has become a hot topic amongst the field of international politics. With the rise of globalization, the sovereignty of the state is now being undermined. It has become an undisputed fact that the world has evolved to a new level of globalization, the transferring goods, information, ideas and services around the globe has changed at an unimaginable rate. With all that is going on, one would question how globalization has changed the system that is typically a collection of sovereign states. Do states still have the main source of power? What gives a state the right to rule a geographically defined region? It is believed by many that due to the introduction of international systems and increasing rate of globalization, the sovereignty of the state has been slowly eroded over time. My paper has two parts: First, it aims to take a close look at how globalization has changed the way the economy worked, specifically how it opened doors for multinational corporations to rise in power. Second, to answer the question, is it possible for it to exist today? And even so, should it?