The Second World War was, without doubt, the most destructive conflict in world history.
According to some estimates, anywhere from sixty to eighty million people, civilian and combatant alike, were killed. Through its carnage, the international community, long divided and discordant, emerged to combat expansionist and genocidal ambitions. As the immeasurable devastation of the war became omnipresent, those concerned with its administration turned their attention to the question of its aftermath. How must a world so thoroughly shaken by war rebuild? As no conflict before it compared in its scope or its brutality, no solution for reconstruction and development dreamt of before it would suffice. The international community as it existed would be tasked, be challenged, with developing an ambitious and viable solution to the difficulties that Western Europe and parts beyond would face. What was resolved was the need for an international system capable of handling economic and monetary regulation and development. What has yet to be resolved, however, are questions of that development, its intentions, and its lasting effects. In the case of the latter, the question is fixed upon international institutions, whose past acts shaped international norms and whose continued presence engenders deep mistrust and resentment among some in the community of states.
Of all the institutions envisioned as the Second World War waned and ended, few are considered as marring and as pervasive as those of the international economic development complex. By the international economic development complex, I mean not only the organizations meant to provide said aid, but also the governments financing those organizations as part of their international commitm...
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International organizations such as NATO and the UN are essential not only for global peace, but also as a place where middle powers can exert their influence. It is understandable that since the inception of such organizations that many crises have been averted, resolved, or dealt with in some way thro...
This historical investigation will assess the role that the consequences of a war of attrition and trench warfare played on the terms drafted by the Allies within the Treaty of Versailles, by answering the question, “To what extent did the labours of trench warfare and the subsequent war of attrition lead to the decision made against Germany at the Paris Peace Conference by the Big Three?” The political and economic effect of the war on the different Allied nations led to different intentions at the Conference. To evaluate the opposing goals of nations at the conference, the contrasting views of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the goals of David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau at the Conference will be assessed. Social devastation was also a factor in the decisions made at the conference, as will be evaluated through death and casualty rates of both sides involved in the war, as recorded by the American Public Broadcasting Service. This will all be assessed to evaluate the effect on the direct clauses from the Treaty itself, including the War Guilt Clause, thereby evaluating the political, economic, and social affects trench warfare had on the Allies.
The United Nations General Assembly 36-103 focused on topics of hostile relations between states and justification for international interventions. Specifically mentioned at the UNGA was the right of a state to perform an intervention on the basis of “solving outstanding international issues” and contributing to the removal of global “conflicts and interference". (Resolution 36/103, e). My paper will examine the merits of these rights, what the GA was arguing for and against, and explore relevant global events that can suggest the importance of this discussion and what it has achieved or materialized.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Silver, Larry.
With the rise of the Axis Powers came the outbreak of World War 2 and a potent evil that threatened the wellbeing and tranquility of the people in Asia, Europe, and Northern-Africa. One by one, countries fell into the grasp of the Axis Powers. With each fallen country, it became easier for the Axis P...
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Ward, Bill. “The Death of Bretton Woods.” Sept. 2003: p. 1-3. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. < http://cherokee.agecon.clemson.edu/gip9.pdf >.
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the effect that the work of the IMF and the World Bank have had on the
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.
After the failed International Trade Organization, Rodrik discusses the Bretton Woods Agreement, the transition from the General Agreement on Tariffs and T...
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”.
In this research paper, I will examine one of the projects that the International Financial Institutions(IFIs) namely the World Bank and IMF has created problems for in one of the countries that have received their aid. I will try to uncover the primary purpose of the IFIs, with the aim of discovering if the IFIs help or support given was in an unbiased and responsible manner.
Baylis, Smith and Patricia Owens. 2014. The globalization of World Politics: An introduction to international relations. London. Oxford University Press.