Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on foreign policy in china
The difference between hard and soft power
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on foreign policy in china
State Diplomacy Models
Through recent history, state diplomacy wad divided dichotomously, only involving soft or hard power. Soft power is the ability to obtain preferred outcomes through attraction while hard power involves the use of coercion and payments to force the other party to consent to the coercer nation’s desires . When determining which diplomatic approach to pursue, countries often consider four core motivations: its past relations with the target country, its international image or the image it wishes to project, its citizens’ level of implicit consent, and dependent and independent variables.
Dependent and independent variables shape the specific course of action taken by a nation. According to Steiner in Diplomacy and International Theory, “diplomacy as dependent variable takes into account rising constraints upon diplomatic statecraft, such as public opinion, ideology, and the intrusion of specialized actors.” Nations must understand how to adapt to constraints placed on them by dependent variables on the international field; protean diplomacy should be pursued and should incorporate a nation’s ability to adapt to unforeseen political, military, and economic changes which affect the diplomatic initiative . Diplomacy as an independent variable, on the other hand, occurs when “diplomats push for dispute management in opposition to pressures that increase chances of war.” In other words, independent diplomacy proactively addresses negative influences to better the position of one’s nation on the international field.
Related to the notion of dichotomy represented by soft power and hard power is the carrot and stick approach to diplomacy, a preferred method by many western nations, including the United State...
... middle of paper ...
...gement Executive 14, no. 1 (February 2000): 80-92. Accessed December 2, 2013. doi:10.5465/AME.2000.2909841.
Steiner, Barry H. "Diplomacy and International Theory." Review of International Studies 30, no. 04 (October 2004): 493-509. Accessed December 2, 2013. doi:10.1017/S0260210504006199.
Suisheng, Zhao. "Chinese Foreign Policy under Hu Jintao:The Struggle between Low-Profile Policy and Diplomatic Activism." The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 5, no. 4 (July 29, 2010): 357-78. Accessed December 2, 2013. doi:10.1163/187119110X531840.
Wang, Jay. "Public Diplomacy and Global Business." Journal of Business Strategy 27, no. 3 (2006): 41-49. doi:10.1108/02756660610663826.
Wilson, E. J. "Hard Power, Soft Power, Smart Power." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 616, no. 1 (March 2008): 110-24. Accessed December 2, 2013. doi:10.1177/0002716207312618.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Silver, Larry.
In no field other than politics does the justification for action often come from a noteworthy event and the true cause stays hidden behind the headlines. The United States’ transformation from a new state to a global superpower has been a methodical journey molded by international conditions (the global terrain for statecraft), the role of institutions and their programmed actions, and ultimately, the interests of actors (the protection of participants in making policy’s items and i...
Mearsheimer J. J. (2010). Structural Realism. International Relations Thoeries, Discipline and Diversity (Second Edition), p.77-94
Wendt, Alexander. “Constructing International Politics.” International Security. Cambridge: President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995. 71-81. Print.
Kent, J. and Young, J.W. (2013), International Relations Since 1945: A global History. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frieden, Jeffry A., David A. Lake, and Kenneth A. Schultz. World Politics. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. Print.
Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.
Balaam, David. Introduction to International Political Economy, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Pearson Education, 2005.
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.
Mingst, K. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 70). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
Whenever world politics is mentioned, the state that appears to be at the apex of affairs is the United States of America, although some will argue that it isn’t. It is paramount we know that the international system is shaped by certain defining events that has lead to some significant changes, particularly those connected with different chapters of violence. Certainly, the world wars of the twentieth century and the more recent war on terror must be included as defining moments. The warning of brute force on a potentially large scale also highlights the vigorousness of the cold war period, which dominated world politics within an interval of four decades. The practice of international relations (IR) was introduced out of a need to discuss the causes of war and the different conditions for calm in the wake of the first world war, and it is relevant we know that this has remained a crucial focus ever since. However, violence is not the only factor capable of causing interruption in the international system. Economic elements also have a remarkable impact. The great depression that happened in the 1920s, and the global financial crises of the contemporary period can be used as examples. Another concurrent problem concerns the environment, with the human climate being one among different number of important concerns for the continuing future of humankind and the planet in general.
The international system is an anarchical system which means that, unlike the states, there is no over ruling, governing body that enforces laws and regulations that all states must abide by. The International System in today’s society has become highly influential from a number of significant factors. Some of these factors that will be discussed are Power held by the state, major Wars that have been fought out in recent history and international organisations such as the U.N, NATO and the W.T.O. Each of these factors, have a great influence over the international system and as a result, the states abilities to “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development”.
Dimitter, Lowell. World Politics. 1st ed. Vol. 55. New York: Johns Hopkins UP, 2002. 38-65.
Baylis, Smith and Patricia Owens. 2014. The globalization of World Politics: An introduction to international relations. London. Oxford University Press.
given that the contest was invariably over third countries.Where a superpower confronted a weaker adversary, the menu of options available to the former was even larger. Relative strength was in favour of the superpower across the military-diplomatic spectrum. This, of course, did not always result in the successful exercise of coercive diplomacy, especially where motivation levels were skewed in favour of the weaker party. A good example is the U.S. failure to coerce North Vietnam into ceasing support for the Vietcong. But the point being emphasised here is the unequal nature of the contest and the weaker power's lack