UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

[Link] SCIENCE
(II SEMESTER)

CORE COURSE : POL2C08

THEORIES AND CONCEPTS OF

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

(2019 ADMISSION)

190458

1
THEORIES AND CONCEPTS OF
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

STUDY MATERIAL

Semester II

CORE COURSE : POL2C08

[Link] SCIENCE
(2019 ADMISSION)

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
Calicut University- PO, Malappuram,
Kerala, India - 673 635

2
 UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

STUDY MATERIAL SECOND SEMESTER

[Link] SCIENCE
(2019 ADMISSION)

CORE COURSE : POL2C08

THEORIES AND CONCEPTS OF

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Prepared by:
MODULE I TO III : DR. SREEJESH. N.P
Assistant Professor,Head of the Department of Political Science,
[Link] Calicut University Centre, Androth, Lakshadweep.

MODULE IV TO VI : SRI. SREEJITH.Y

Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science, Government College, Madappally

3
4
Module Title Page No.

I Perspectives on the study of International

Politics: Concept of Power in International
Politics. 7-16

II Approaches to the Study of International

Politics: Realism Vs. Idealism, System
Theory, Game Theory, Communication Theory,
Decision making Theory, Integration
Theory and Dependency Theory. 17-33

III Restructuring Theory, Practice and

Agency: New Social Movements?
Green Politics, Orientalism and Global
Civil Society. 34-45

IV Conflict, Peace and Insecurity dilemma

Political, military, economic, environmental,
terrorism and national security-theories of
conflictresolution andpeace research 46-69

V Foreign policy: changing concept of national

interest: developments in cold war -post
cold war period, neo liberalism. 70-102

VI Future order and Global Governance

Globalisation and post-cold war trends,
questions on imperialism and harmony-
imapct of globalisation on state system 103-111

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6
 MODULE I

PERSPECTIVES ON THE STUDY OF

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: CONCEPT
OF POWER IN INTERNATIONAL
POLITICS

This module tires to address some key questions that;

1. Understanding International Politics and International Re-
lations
2. Definitions International Politics
3 Scope of International Politics
4. Major features of International Politics
5. Define the concept of Power in International Politics
6. Discuss the importance of power in International Politics
Introduction
Today, International Politics is becoming a significant field
of study. It addresses some of the most pressing problems of the
world such as war and peace, the organisation of global economy,
the causes and consequences of global inequality as well as power,
violence, sovereignty, states, empire, intervention, inequality, jus-
tice, and democracy. The field is also highly interdisciplinary, draw-
ing on theoretical and methodological traditions from history, law,
political science, geography, sociology, gender studies. How-
ever, political science has made a great influence on the disci-
pline of International Politics. The birth of International Politics
as a distinctive branch of study can be traced in the outcome of
World War I (1914-18).
The War has been created a global concern to rebuild peace
and security in the world for the future years. Subsequently, the
establishment of the chair for International Politics at the univer-
sity college of Wales in 1919 is a land mark in the development
of the study as an academic discipline. The following years, the
London School of Economics in 1923, the University of South-
7
ern California, and the University of Oxford in 1930 has started
the Department for the study of International Relations. At the
same time, the political context of the world created a feasible
situation to grow International Politics as a significant field of
study. Thus International Politics became a popular subject across
the world. It has been achieved a separate identity like other
social science subject.
Understanding International Politics and International Re-
lations
The term International Politics and International Relations
is quite often used as synonyms to understand the politics among
nations. Some writers do not like to draw a line of demarcation
between International Relations and International Politics. They
used these terms interchangeable manner. For example, the out-
standing figures in this field like Hans J. Morgenthau and Ken-
neth Thompson use these terms inter-changeably and opinioned
that International Politics as an inalienable part of Interna-
tional Relations. However, many scholars tries to bring a clear
demarcation between International Politics and International
Relations in recent years. These diverse opinions of scholars have
been created a reasonable intellectual debates on IP and IR.
A set of scholars including Schwarzenberger, Schleicher,
Theodore A. Couloumbis, Palmer, Perkins, Burton etc. prefer
to use the name International Relations rather than International
Politics. They argued that the term IR highlights the wider scope
of the subject. It provide an extensive platform to study about all
types of relationships and interactions between countries, the
activities and policies of national governments, the intervention
of international organizations (IGOs), nongovernmental organi-
zations (NGOs), multinational corporations (MNCs) and so on.
It also include social, economic, cultural, legal, official and non-
official relations between countries as well as expose the issues
regarding under- development, poverty, political repression, rac-
ism, and other human rights violations, environmental degrada-
tion and climate changes. Thus, IR is considered as an umbrella

8
to discuss the entire social, economic, political, cultural and se-
curity issues around the globe.
At the same time, some scholars prefer to use the term In-
ternational Politics. They argue that the term International Rela-
tions is very general and broad. It is not a suitable term to under-
stand the specific nature and complex relations between nations.
In fact, the interactions between the nations characterized by
conflict, struggle for power, wars and disputes along with coop-
eration and friendship. As such, the use of the term International
Relations for designating the study of politics among nations is
held to be inappropriate and misleading. Thus, Legg and Morrison
argue that International Politics to be the correct name of the
subject which studies power interactions among nations or poli-
tics among nations, "Since the core area of the study is the politi-
cal aspect of relations among nations, we must stick to the use of
the name International Politics." This name truly reflects the true
nature of relations among nations.
As a discipline, International Politics is concerned primarily
with the study of power- relations among nations. Furthermore,
the use of the term International Politics is most appropriate for
identifying the study of conflict of purpose and struggle for power
among nations. Thus we can say that International Politics is
more specific name to study the interactions between the na-
tions. Therefore, we need to use the term International Relations
in a broader and general sense to understand all type of interac-
tions between nations. In fact, scholars propose different opin-
ions about the use of both names. It ultimately highlights the im-
portance of the subject and however, we can use both the names
International Relations and International Politics by considering
the context.
Define International Politics
The central focus of International Politics is the study of the
interactions between nations and these relations are generally
determined by the political, diplomatic, military and strategic terms.
In fact, there are different range of definitions about International

9
Politics. Scholars proposed the definitions in according to their
theoretical positions. According to H.J. Morgenthau, Interna-
tional Politics "is struggle for and use of power among nations.
This definition very clearly articulated that international politics is
determined by the power. There each nations tires to accumu-
late and expand the power for gaining their national interest. Like-
wise, Padelford and Lincoln define that international politics is
the interaction of state policies within the changing pattern of
power relationship. Moreover, Palmer and Perkins express similar
views that international politics is essentially concerned with the
state system. At the same time, Charles Schleicher forward a
broad definitions that all inter-state relations are included in in-
ternational politics, even though all the inter-state relations are
not political.
The above definitions express different range of ideas about
International Politics. There is no a single definition on IP. Through
these definitions, we can understand that International Politics is
primarily a process of interactions among nations. In fact, the
state come into the central positions in the study of IP. It deals
with conflicts and cooperation among nations essentially at po-
litical level. Hence, the complex process of globalization bring a
new dimension to the study of IP.
Scope of the study of International Politics
The populations of the world is divided into separate politi-
cal communities, independent states, which profoundly affect the
way of people life. At the present time, there are almost 200
independent states and they interact with each other's in different
ways. The states are usually embedded in international markets
that reflect in the formation of their government policies and the
wealth and welfare of its citizens. It demands to the states to
enter into relations with each other. Thus, IP is the study of the
nature and consequences of these relations.
In order to understand the scope of IP, we need to analyse
the role of states in the everyday life of human being. It is un-
doubtable fact that the state is a responsible institution to uphold

10
some basic social values like security, freedom, law, justice, and
welfare of the citizens. For example, people generally think that
the state has a responsibility to ensure the security of the citizens
from internal and external threat. Thus, security is one of the
fundamental concern of IP. Likewise, the state need to ensure
the freedom in terms of personal and national freedom of citi-
zens. In the same way, state need to establish and maintain inter-
national order as well as the justice of very citizens. Another
important responsibility of the state is uphold socio-economic
wealth and welfare of the people.
The World War II resulted to rise a wider anti-war senti-
ments across the world. This sentiments lead to the practical and
theoretical solutions to ensure the peace and security of the world
populations. In a practical sense, the League of Nations estab-
lished in 1920 at Geneva. The fundamental objective of this in-
stitution to promote international co-operation and achieve peace
and security in the world. Subsequently, the Permanent Court of
International Justice set up in 1922 at The Hague as well as
established many other international organizations to strengthen
economic and security co-operations among the nations.
At the same time, the establishment of the Department of
International Politics at the University of Wales in 1919 was a
great step to activate a theoretical enquiry about IP through lens
of academics. Since then, the IP has been traveled through dif-
ferent level of academic enquiry and theoretical debates. In the
initial years, IP was mainly studied by Western scholars espe-
cially the scholars from US. It was caused to rise a criticisms that
the study of IP is a euro centric subject. Over the years, global-
ization brought an unpredicted twist and turn in the disciple of IP.
Thus the scope of this subject growing in recent years. Almost all
universities have been started a particular Department to study
IP. Many universities introduced area studies on Middle East,
Europe, Africa, Latin America, and East Asia as a part of Inter-
national Politics.
Some of the major scope of IP is;

11
O Study of state systems and relations among states
O Study of National Interests and National Power
O Study of International Law and International Organizations
O Study of Foreign Policy and geopolitics
O Study of Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution
O Study of War, Peace, and Disarmament
O Study of Ideologies, Nationalism, Colonialism and Imperi-
alism
O Study of issues related to Environmental protection
O Study of issues related to Human Rights
O Study of role of Economic factors
O Study of demographic factors
O Study of problem of fundamentalism and terrorism
Major features of International Politics
O The features of International Politics involves the study
of contemporary issues andproblems around the world.
O International Politics basically involves the art of pre-
serving or securinggoals of national interests.
O It is astudy of conflict and conflict-resolution among na-
tions.
O Every Nations try to achieve more power and resources.
Thus theycontinuously engaged in the process of interac-
tions. This makes international politics acontinuing phenom-
enon of interactions.
O The behaviour of each state in international relations is
always directed and controlledby its foreign policy
O Every nations actively engage in economic and trade rela-
tions with other nations.
O An outstanding feature of the contemporary era has
been the rapid growth ofinternational institutions and or-
ganizations. Some of these are truly international/universal
innature like the United Nations, while several other are
regional organizations likeNATO, OAS, OAU, OPEC,
ASEAN, ECO, EU, SAARC and so on.
12
O Rise of several active non-state international or supra-na-
tional or trans-national actors,NGOs, Human Rights Orga-
nizations Peace Movements and other such actors in
theinternational environment has necessitated the inclusion
of the study of the role ofthese actors in international sys-
tem.
O The relations among nations mostly take the form of
interactionsamong the foreign policies of the nations.
O Since national interest is the objective that each nation tries
to secure during the courseof relations with other nations, it
becomes imperative for International Politics to studynational
interests of various nations.
O The concept of national power is the core concept in
the study of International [Link] are actors but
these always act on the basis of their national powers.
Concept of Power in International Politics
The concept of Power is a significant theme in every field of
study. In IP, Power is one of the most important concept. For
example, Lasswell and Kaplan explain politics is the study of the
shaping and sharing of power. Hans J Morgenthau explain that
politics is the struggle for power. Thus, power has significant role
in the study of political science. There are several definition about
power. Robert Dahl (a famous political scientist) define power is
a capability and control of a person over another person. For
example, there are two person- A and B. If A has the capability
to control B, it means that A exercise power over B. For Simi-
larly, Bertrand Russell define power is the ability of a person to
fulfil his desire. Maclver says, power is an ability to command
service from others. [Link] describe that power is spe-
cific kind of ability. Through all definitions, we simply define that
power is the ability of a person to exercise over [Link] form
of power may be used by the force. For example, if husband
slap his wife, he use physical power over the wife. But, more
recently Michael Foucault (French Philosopher) has tried to bring
connection between Power and Knowledge. He define that
13
knowledge is power which means knowledge is more powerful
than any type of power. For example, a doctor has power to
give any medicine when a patient came to consult the doctor.
Similarly, a teacher has power to control his class room while
teaching.
In International Politics, the state is a central actor and each
nation engaged in the process of acquiring, maintaining, increas-
ing and using power. In fact, power is both the means as well as
an end in IP. Nations always use power for securing the goals of
their national interests. Traditionally, the power of the state is
determined by geography, natural resources, industrial capacity,
military, and population. Some scholar like Morgenthau says that
these are elements as well as determinants of national powers. In
this, the military power is the most importantform of power in
international politics, as it serves as both a means and an end in
itself. Every nations tries to increase the strength of military power
in IP.
By considering the changing features of IP, Joseph Nye, a
neo-liberal thinker proposed different concept about the power.
He classified power into two forms: hard and soft. In this, hard
power is measured by a) Population size b) Geography c) Natural
resources d) Military force e) Economic stability
a) Population size
Population is an essential factor in deciding national power
of the nation. Manpower continues to be a key factor which
determines the industrial and military capacities of a nation and
its status as a power in international relations. In this age of sci-
ence, machines have come to perform a large number of func-
tions which were previously being performed by men. Yet ma-
chines have failed to completely replace men. Even today men
behind the machines continue to be more important than the
machines. Population is a source of power. The major powers
of our times are states with fairly large populations. Large con-
centration of man-power in Asia, particularly China and India,
has been an important factor of the power structure in interna-
tional politics. Human Power resulting from the presence of a
14
large class of skilled workforce has been a source for the emerging
power of India in the world.
b) Geography
Amongst the elements of National Power, geography is the
most stable, tangible, permanent and natural element. In this,
size is very important geographical element of national power.
The large size of a country can accommodate a large population,
offer better natural resources and raw materials, and can be more
helpful in the defense of the country. A large size can help the
country to defend by retreat in the event of an attack. Similarly,
location of a nation can be as helping as well as a hindering fac-
tor for its national power. It determines whether a nation can be
a sea-power or not. England could become a big naval power
and thereby an imperial power because of its location. The loca-
tion of Japan has helped it to be a major ship- building nation.
Location of Germany in the heart of Europe has been a sources
of strength for [Link] is also a geographic factor of national
power. Settled and natural boundaries are always a source of
friendly and cooperative relations among the nations of a region.
c) Natural Resources
Natural resources is another elements of national power.
The industrial and military capabilities of a nation as well as its
economic well-being are dependent upon the existence of natu-
ral resources. A self-sufficiency in certain key resources can be a
big source of power of a nation. The USA has been in a position
to be a super power in the world mainly due to its near self-
sufficiency in respect of several key natural resources. No nation
can be powerful without becoming a developed industrialized
nation and the chances of becoming an industrialized nation are
basically linked with the possession of natural resources, par-
ticularly industrial raw materials and minerals. Natural resources,
in the form of minerals, fertile soil, flora and fauna, through planned
exploitation and use always make a nation powerful.
d) Military
Military power is a vitally important part of national power
of a state. Military power is an important part of national power
15
which contributes to its strength and effectiveness. Military pre-
paredness is a background factor for the success of a foreign
policy and it is a tangible factor capable of supporting the foreign
policy and promoting national interest. It influences the level of
success of foreign policy. The super powers and other major
powers of our times have been big military powers. By virtue of
being a major military power, India, besides other factors, is
considered to be a major power having a potential to be a super
power in the next 20 years or so.
e) Economic stability
Economic power is a vitally important part of national power
of a nation because it is the means for military power and the
basis for welfare, prosperity and development of its people. A
nation with developed, healthy and growing economy alone can
be a great power in world politics. Effective economic
organisation and planning are essential qualities of a powerful
nation. Only nations with developed economies can use the eco-
nomic instruments-aid, loan, rewards, trade, grants and denial of
rewards or punishment, for securing their desired goals in inter-
national relations. By using economic means a nation tries to ex-
ercise its national power in a productive and useful way. The
level of economic well- being determines the power of a nation.
In a similar way, Joseph Nye classify the soft power into;
a) Culture
b) Political values c) Foreign policies
a) Culture: Culture is the set of practices that create meaning
for a society, and it has manymanifestations.
b) Political values: Government policies at home and abroad
are another potential source of soft power.
c) Foreign policies: Similarly, foreign policies strongly affect
soft power. Government policies can reinforce or diminish
a country's soft [Link] or foreign policies that ap-
pear to be hypocritical and indifferent to theopinion of oth-
ers or based on a narrow approach to national interests can
underminesoft power.
16
 MODULE II

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: REALISM
VS. IDEALISM, SYSTEM THEORY, GAME
THEORY, COMMUNICATION THEORY,
DECISION MAKING THEORY,
INTEGRATION THEORY AND
DEPENDENCY THEORY

Approaches to the Study of International Politics

The study of international relations takes a wide range of
theoretical approaches. Some theories emerge from within the
discipline itself; others have been importedfrom disciplines such
as economics or sociology. Many theories of international poli-
tics are internally and externally contested, and few scholars be-
lieve only in one or another. Although several major schools of
thought are discernable, differentiated principally by the variables
they [Link] military power, material interests, or ideologi-
cal beliefs. Some of the major approaches are Realism, Ideal-
ism, System Theory, Game Theory, Communication Theory, and
Decision making Theory, Integration Theory and Dependency
Theory. This chapter is intended to discuss about these ap-
proaches.
Realism
Realism was introduced in international politics as a counter
movement against so- called utopian liberal school during the
inter-war period in Europe. Gradually, realismbecame a domi-
nant theory of IP. The intellectual origin of realism can be trace
back to the historical and political thoughts of Thucydides,
Machiavelli and Hobbes. Their theories of realism known as clas-
sical realism. Later period, it strengthened by E.H Carr, Hans J
Morgenthau. Very recently, Kenneth Waltz introduced more sys-
tematic theory in IP and it was called neo- realism or structural
17
realism. All these theorists proposed different range of ideas about
realism. Thus realism divided into two categories; classical real-
ism and neorealism. In order to understand the theories of real-
ism in IP, we need to analyse both classical and neo-realism. A)
Classical Realism
Classical realist tradition in western thought goes back
thousands of years.
Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Spinoza, and Rousseau
all belong to the classical realist tradition. In this, Greek historian
Thucydides (460 BC - 395 BC) and his book The History of
the Peloponnesian War (431 BC) cemented a credible base to
classical realism. He argues in the History of thePeloponnesian
War that the war between Sparta and Athens was a result of the
fear thatthe growth Athenian power invoked in the minds of the
Spartans. The Spartans thought itwas important to maintain bal-
ance of power in the 'international system' in which theyexisted.
On the other hand, we see seeds of offensive realist thinking in
the Athenianargument that the strong dominate the weak in the
international system.
Later, Machiavelli's treatise The Prince is considered to be
one of the earliest texts of realistwritings. His praise for ancient
Rome's desire for universal imperialism, which heregards as a
necessary ambition by the rulers. In otherwords, he suggests that
states aspire to conquer the world for the sake of self-defense.
Similarly, ThomasHobbes arguments on the 'state of nature' have
become well respected in theclassical realist tradition. Hobbes'
work Leviathan argues that prior to the formation ofthe state,
human beings remained in a state of nature which was character-
ized byinsecurity and fear. The formation of the state helped hu-
man beings to escape their state of nature. The systemof states
continued to remain in a state of nature where fear and insecurity
prevailedbecause there was no sovereign power among sates to
enforce obedience and remove that fear and insecurity.
Classical realism was coherently presented in Hans J.
Morgenthau's Politics among [Link] importance of this

18
book was that realism gained a specific identity in the
discipline of IP. He point out that the tragic presence of evil in all
political action. The desire of power manifests itself as the desire
to maintain the range of one's person over others and try to in-
crease it or demonstrate it. Thus power came at the centre of IP.
He defined that international politics like all politics is a struggle
for power. He proposed six principles of realism;
a. Politics are governed by objective laws that have their roots
in human nature
b. The concept of national interest defined in terms of power
and it is the most important in shaping foreign policy goal.
c. National interest in a particular period of time depends
on the political and culturalcontext of the world.
d. Universal moralprinciples cannot be applied to the actions
of states, insteadstate must be function in according totime
and place.
e. Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of
a particular nation with the morallaws that govern the uni-
verse
f. Politics is an autonomous sphere, not subordinate to eco-
nomics, law, morality, and so on.
In sum, classical realists presents that the nation-state as
the primary actor and poweris the ultimate goal in IP. The nature
of state is similar to the human nature and national interest is
determined by the power. International system is anarchical and
there is no place for ethics and morality. Every nations seeks to
accumulate more and more power.
B) Neo-Realism
Kenneth Waltz's much celebrated book, the Theory of
International Politics, published in1979, offered a rigorous sys-
temic theory of world politics. His entire idea of realism was
known as neo-realism or structural realism. It mainly focuses on
the international system rather than human nature in IP. Waltz's
neorealism is a critique of traditional classical realism as well as

19
an intellectual response to the changing context of global
politics. According to Waltz, the international system has a well-
defined structure and hasthree important characteristics; the or-
dering principle of the system, the character of theunits in the
system and the distribution of capabilities of the units in the sys-
tem.
Waltz analyse these elements in a wider sense. There are
two different organising principles; one is anarchy which corre-
sponds to the decentralized realm of international politics. Sec-
ond is hierarchy which is the base of domestic order. Moreover,
the units of the international system are functionally similar sov-
ereign states. Hence there are differences in the units such as a
state may be democratic or not. By considering the third ele-
ments, Waltz's says that the relative distribution of power in the
international system is the key independent variable in under-
standing war, peace, alliance politics and the balance of power.
For example, during the cold war from 1945 to 1989, there
were two great power- the United States and the Soviet Union
and both constituted bipolar international system and after the
cold war the international system changed into unipolar. Thus he
put forward the concepts of uni-polar, bi-polar and multi-polar
systems in international affairs defined by the number of great
powers. A uni-polar system contains only one great power, a
bipolar system contains two great powers, and a multi-polar sys-
tem contains more than two great powers suggesting that the bi-
polar systems are the more stable ones.
In sum, Neo-realists argue that power is a means tosecurity
and more importantly for survival in an anarchic system. The
broad outcomes of internationalpolitics can be best understood
as resulting from structural constraints imposed on thestates by
their system, rather than from unit behavior.
Differences between Classical Realism and Neo-realism
There are several major differences between classical real-
ism and neo-realism. That are;
a. First, there is a philosophical disagreement about the
20
 roots of realism. Traditionalrealism is rooted in sociol-
ogy and history. Neorealism borrows most heavily from
macroeconomics.
b. Second, traditional realists view power as an end in itself,
for neorealist securityis the end.
c. Third, traditional realists posit that power and the interests
of states drivenationalbehaviour; neorealist examine only an-
archy and the distribution of capabilities.
d. The fourth and fifth differences center on the meaning of
capability. Classical realism is a theory of foreign policy,
focusing on the relative distribution of capabilities between
specific pairs of states or coalition of states, not on the sys-
tem wide distribution of capabilities or the polarity of the
system.
e. Sixth, the two camps disagree over the meaning of the sys-
tem. A system refersto an arrangement of certain compo-
nents so interrelated as to form a whole. For classical real-
ists, the international system is composed of units, interac-
tions, and structure. In neorealism, suchprocess variables
are not considered system attributes.
Idealism
Idealism in international relations usually refers to the school
of thoughtassociated with American diplomacy by Woodrow
Wilson that is why it is often referredto as Wilsonianism or
Wilsonian idealism. Idealism stands for improving the course
of international relations by eliminating war, hunger, inequality,
tyranny, force, suppression and violence from international re-
lations. To remove these evils is the objective before human-
kind. Idealism accepts the possibility of creating a world free
from these evils by depending upon reason, science and educa-
tion. Political idealism in international relations represents a set
of ideas which together oppose war and advocate the reform of
international community through dependence upon moral values
and the development of international institutions and international
law. Idealist approach derives strength from the general idea of
21
evolutionary progress in society and the spirit of liberal idealism
which was at the back of American policies, particularly during
the inter-war years (1919-39).
The Idealist Approach advocates morality as the means
for securing the desired objective of making the world an ideal
world. It believes that by following morality and moral values in
their relations, nations can not only secure their own develop-
ment, but also can help the world to eliminate war, inequality,
despotism, tyranny, violence and force. For the idealists, politics
is the art of good government and not the art of possible. Politics
provides for the good life and respect for his fellow humans,
both domestically and internationally.
Main Features of Idealism
a. Human nature is essentially good and capable of good
deeds in international relations.
b. Human welfare and advancement of civilization are the con-
cerns of all.
c. Bad human behaviour is the product of bad environment
and bad institutions. d. By reforming the environment, bad
human behaviour can be eliminated.
e. War represents the worst feature of relations. By reforming
international relations, war can be and should be eliminated.
f. Global efforts are needed to end war, violence and tyranny
from international relations.
g. International community should work for eliminating such
global instruments, features and practices which lead to war.
h. International institutions committed to preserve international
peace, international law and order should be developed for
securing peace, prosperity and development
System Theory
A system means a set of actors and entities or a known set
of variables (political machinery, attitudes, interests and political
activities) which set parameters to the study. System Approach
can be regarded as a useful approach to the study of Interna-

22
tional Politics. It can be used for an overall view of the relations
among nations. The emergence of Systems Approach to the study
of International Politics can be described as one of the most
significant developments of the 20th century. Some of the major
thinkers include David Easton, Gabriel Almond and Morton
Kaplan. In this, Morton Kaplan's widely quoted work, System
and
Process in International Politics provide a clear theoretical
framework to the system analysis in IP. He advocates that inter-
national politics offers the best sphere for the application of the
concept of 'system' as a tool for investigating all its phenomena.
International System is most inclusive as it is constituted by
those interactions among international actors which are neither
fully cooperative nor totally conflictual. It has its sub-systems
and a set of actors, both international and supra-national ac-
tors. It is constituted by interactions among the interna-
tional actors.
Furthermore, Kaplan discusses six models of international
system;
(1) The Balance of Power System: It is constituted by 5 or 7
major powers/actors. Each actor seeks to increase its ca-
pabilities through negotiations and not through resort to war.
The actor is prepared to fight rather than pass on an oppor-
tunity to increase capabilities for protecting its national in-
terest. The actors maintain a balance in their power posi-
tions, and no actor is permitted to become unduly power-
ful. An actor or a group of actors in such a system can
resort to war for maintaining the balance of power in their
relations. No actor is to be eliminated from the system. The
actor terminates the war before the opponent is eliminated.
An actor or a group of actors acts for opposing any other
group or single actor that tends to assume unduly powerful
position and dominance with respect to the rest of the sys-
tem. Attempts are made to check the actors who try to
follow supranational organizing principles. The defeated or

23
 constrained essential actors are permitted to re-enter the
system as acceptable role partners. Actors act to bring some
previously inessential actor within the essential actor classi-
fication and treat all essential actors as acceptable role part-
ners.
(2) The Loose Bi-polar System:The Loose Bi-polar System
comes into existence when two powerful nations are suc-
cessful in organizing the other nations into their two respec-
tive competing blocs or groups. However, the organisation
of the blocs is loose and internal differences prevail among
the members of each bloc. There are also present several
other supra-national and regional actors. In other words,
the Loose Bi-polar System is constituted by two major bloc-
actors, non- member bloc-actors (like the group of Non-
aligned), and universal actor/actors, like the UN. In it, blocs
try to increase their relative capabilities as well as to limit
or weaken their rival bloc. Each bloc strives to use the
universal actor for increasing its own power. The non-bloc
actors tend to support the universal actor for reducing the
danger of war between rival blocs. Blocs attempt to extend
membership but along with it tends to tolerate the status of
non-bloc actors.
(3) The Tight Bi-polar System: The Loose Bi-polar System eas-
ily gets transformed into a Tight Bi-polar System. It is a bi-
polar system in which the two major powers lead their re-
spective blocs of allied powers. Each bloc is dominated by
a major power. The international organisation are very weak
and there are no neutral blocs or nations. International rela-
tions take the form of interactions between the two blocs.
(4) The Universal System: The fourth model is the Universal
System in which the nations get organised in a federal sys-
tem. It is a hypothetical model in which the world gets trans-
formed into a Federal World State based upon the prin-
ciple of mutual toleration and universal rule of law. It works
through a universal actor-an international organisation. The

24
 universal actor is powerful enough to check war and pre-
serve peace or a balance in international relations
(5) The Hierarchical System: Such a model can come into ex-
istence when a single powerful super power may bring, ei-
ther through a conquest or a treaty, all other nations under
its control. The states as territorial units are then transformed
into functional units. The super- power becomes the uni-
versal actor and absorbs all other nations. In case this sys-
tem comes into existence through conquest, it is a directive
system, and when it comes through democratic means, it is
a non-directive system.
(6) The Unit Veto System: The sixth model projected by Kaplan
is the Unit Veto System. It involves the conception of a
situation of multi-polarity in which each state is equally
powerful. Each possesses such weapons (nuclear weap-
ons) as can be used by it for destroying any other state. It
becomes stable when each state can resist and retaliate
threats from every other state. On the basis of these six
models, Morton Kaplan believes that international relations
can be analyzed as international system.
Game Theory
Fundamentally, game theory is a mathematical method of
studying decision-making in situation of conflict, where game
theorist study the predicted and actual behaviour of individuals
in games, as well as optimal strategies. In 1932 P. G. Cambray
published, The Game of Politics: A Study of the Principles of
British Political Strategies. Perhaps this is the earliest and most
methodical work about game theory. In 1943 Neumann and
Morgenstern published Theory of Games and Economic
Behaviour. After Neumann and Morgenstern large number of
scholars dealt with the subject and some of them are-Schelling,
Riker, Kaplan, Raiffa etc. Since 1960s, game theory got a con-
siderable attentions in international politics.
It has been observed by many, however, the theory was
originally used in chess [Link] this game, there are two or more
25
players or parties and each party decides its own strategy so
that it can maximize benefit. But the strategy of a party or player
depends upon the decision-making, cooperation or strategy of
another party. Thus, the theory of games is never a one way
traffic. In the first place, it has been assumed that there must be
at least two players because for any game this is the minimum
requirement. The number of players may be greater than two
and this depends upon the nature of game and willingness of the
[Link] the word player is used in special sense. Player
means decision-maker. The players of the game are concerned
with the strategy or decision. Each player of the game is exclu-
sively interested in arriving at a decision which will be beneficial
to [Link] theory, therefore, assumes that in every game there is
a strategy and it is decided by the player of the game.
Likewise, rationality is another assumption. It is assumed
that the players of the game are guided by rationality which means
that they always act rationally. The player is quite aware of the
alternatives which exist before him and he selects one or
more than one alternatives from them. The rationality of the
player enables him to select the alternatives. While he selects the
alternative/alternatives he adopts the rule of priority which means
that in order of preference he arranges the alternatives and he
selects one or two which he thinks would give him maximum
[Link] the player is interested in pay-off him, it is quite
natural, will make all sorts of attempts and apply the strategy to
maximize the benefit and minimize the loss from the game. This
approach of maximization and minimization is the core of game
theory and it is called the strategy.
The pay-off received from the game will be in full confor-
mity with players own interests or what he ardently desired.
Naturally any amount of pay-off or any kind of pay-off will not
be acceptable to the player. The player is quite aware that in the
game there are both loss and gain or profit or loss. So the player
will decide the strategy and the strategy is what way or tech-
nique he will adopt that will give him maximum pay-off. It means

26
that the player is not only rational but also intelligent. In the
game certain amount of uncertainty is involved. Although the
player adopts strategy, rationality and intelligence in the game all
these do not guarantee that his loss will be zero and gain will be
maximum. This can never happen because of the fact that both
gain and loss are [Link] strategy is an undefined term.
What type of strategy is to be adopted cannot be decided be-
forehand. It depends on the progress of the game, attitude of
other competitors and other, factors. We have already noted
that the objective of the player is to maximize the pay-off.
There is two type of games that zero-sum and non-zero
sum games. In zero-sum games, the total benefit to all players in
the game. The game chess is often employed as metaphor im-
plying that one wins exactly the amount of one's opponent losses.
In non-zero- sum games work under the assumption that pure
conflict is dropped from the game and the players face outcomes
where they can both lose or both win, where coordination and
cooperation emerge as alternative to pure conflict. In principal,
most real world situations in both economic and political fields
are of a non-zero-sum nature.
Communication Theory
Communication theory was proposed by Karl Deutsch.
Over the years, many thinkers developed this idea and it is also
applied in the field of IP. It is a process of establishing common-
ness (communis in Latin means commonness) through move-
ment of ideas, thoughts, feelings etc. from one to another or be-
tween the groups of persons. In other words, it is an exchange of
facts, thoughts and information, emotions resulting in a shared
understanding. It travels through various agencies or stages in
order to reach its destination. But its route of travelling is not
always easy. All the stages or layers of an agency are not only
connected but also interdependent. One agency aims at an ob-
jective that other agencies must act in accordance with the deci-
sion of the stage situated at the top of the system/organisation.
Karl Deutsch forward the idea that the communications

27
theory is based on a science which is called cybernetics. Cyber-
netics is the science of communication and autonomous control
systems in both machine and living being. Cybernetics is a theory
of information, self-regulating machines, computers and the physi-
ology of nervous system. An important concept of cybernetics is
that of a machine which recognizes stimuli learns, adjusts itself
automatically upon receiving feedback about its performance
and moves through a determined number of possible states".
Deutsch's communications theory reveals certain very interest-
ing and important aspects. The inflow or outflow of information/
news from one end to another or vice versa is not automatic,
there is a specific role of human beings. This we may call steering
and coordinating process or role. In any political system there
are many channels through which information is transmitted.
Deutsch has assumed that since human efforts are behind
the communication of news and information, it has been found
that the meaning and context of the information or news undergo
changes and this is inevitable. Here lies a major difference be-
tween the communications as it prevails in business organisation
and in political system. In this, power or the application of physi-
cal force is the exclusive determinant of political affairs. Even
power does not constitute the essence of politics. There is com-
munication at the centre of politics. In his judgment power/physical
force has a very minor role. He says that when persuasion or
cooperation or influence fail to achieve desired goals then and
then only power is applied. So communication is the most
important factor in political system. Political system changes
because of the effectiveness of communication. The social goals
are to be achieved through co-ordination and co-operation among
people of society which is effected by communication.
Deutsch has drawn our attention to another aspect of his
communication theory. In every political system authority adopts
decision. But Deutsch is of opinion that habit, concurrence with
the activities of the system play a very vital role in the implemen-
tation of decision. This habit grows and develops through

28
[Link] system is endowed with self- regulating mechanism.
Numerous forces or elements make their presence in the politi-
cal systems and they frequently challenge the political system.
But since it has self-regulating mechanism ultimately it succeeds
in checking or controlling the forces or their undesirable effects.
Because of this self-regulating system the system is able to main-
tain stability or equilibrium.
The political system is so patterned that whenever the ele-
ments from the environment come political system directs their
movement to particular communication channels so that they can
prove their worthiness or [Link] are many vehicles
which carry information. Some of them are political parties, in-
terest groups, pressure groups, various organisation. The groups,
parties and organisation enjoy freedom and work as medium
between people and the government and in this way they all
maintain their relationship with the agencies and government. If
any conflict arises parties, groups and organizations try to settle
it amicably. In sum, Deutsch's communication theory can work
in an open system because only in such a system the agencies
can function freely and the inflow or outflow of information takes
place without any hindrance or trouble. Thus, the conflict or con-
tradiction cannot lead to destabilization. This interpretation of
Deutsch makes a room for a theory of social change. He never
says that stability of political system means halt of change. Politi-
cal system will continue along with it the change.
Decision making Theory
Decision-making is usually defined as a process or sequence
of activities involving stages of problem recognition, search for
information, definition of alternatives and the selection of an
actor of one from two or more alternatives consistent with the
ranked preferences. The decision making approach in inter-
national politics was introduced by Richard C. Snyder, H.W
Bruck and Burton Sapin. They introduced a systematic approach
to conceptualize the role of decision making in the formulation of
foreign policy and in the process of IP. Among them, Snyder

29
published a series of writings to propagate the importance of
decision-making approach. He analyse that society is not only
complex but also dynamic. If so the real approach to the study
of politics would be to conceptualize the analysis so that it can
manage with dynamic aspects of society. He claims that his deci-
sion- making approach is dynamic. While the decision makers
make decision they consider all the (or most of the) situations. If
they fail to do this the decision will not achieve acceptability and
credibility.
Snyder argue that the decision-making process has been
playing a very crucial part in the administration of any business
organisation or governmental [Link] every society, there
is political action and behind every action there is the role of
human activity. Again human action relates to policy decision.
How the society is to be managed or governmental department
is to be administered all is related to the decision taken by human
[Link] is the policy/decision is the dynamic force of action.
Therefore, in order to study the society or the management of
department it is necessary to analyse all the aspects of policy.
Analysis of policy-making processes also helps us to acquire a
comprehensive knowledge about the dynamics of society. Knowl-
edge about dynamics of society is required for the formulation of
future policy. Society is always changing and naturally today's
policy may be irrelevant for future policy-making. Different ele-
ments such as human beings, economic factors, political phe-
nomena, governmental departments, different institutions, orga-
nizations, groups etc. are actively or inactively involved in the
social activities. Situations, factors, elements, processes, per-
sons all are to be brought under an umbrella and this is decision.
Snyder has said that there are mainly three factors
which in one way or other influence the decision-making
process.
a) The first is internal setting of the society: The nature and
functioning of the social organisation such as political
parties, pressure groups, non-governmental organiza-

30
 tions, public opinion, agencies helping the formation of public
opinion, nature of the political system etc. All these ele-
ments enter into the domain of decision-making process. In
a democratic society social, political and other types of or-
ganizations enjoy freedom in their day to day activities.
b) External Setting:There is external set up or setting. This con-
dition is especially important for the policy maker who makes
decisions for the external relations of the state. It is known
to all the students of international politics that today the term
international society has earned wide publicity and all the
nation-states are the members of this society.
c) Number of stages:The decision-making is a process and
passes through a number of stages. Many persons organi-
zations, institutions etc. are involved in the decision making
process and even an ordinary decision cannot be taken
abruptly. Serious and considerable thought is invested for a
proper decision.
Dependency Theory
Dependency was very important tool ofanalysis in the 1960s
and 1970s. The dependency theory explains the dependence
ofdeveloping countries on powerful developed countries.
There are various positions of dependency theory because
of intellectual disagreements amongthinkers. Therefore, Raul
Presbisch (Argentine economist) proposed dependency theory
to analyse international politics in the initial years. Later years,
Andre Gunder Frank and Immanuel Wallenstein modified this
idea in according to their point of view. They primarily charac-
terizes the international system as comprised of two sets of states,
variously described as dominant/dependent, center/periphery or
metropolitan/satellite. The dominant states are the advanced in-
dustrial nations in the Organization of Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD). The dependent states are those states
of Latin America, Asia, and Africa which have low per capita
GNPs and which rely heavily on the export of a single commod-
ity for foreign exchange earnings.
31
 The dependency theorists think that the success of the
developedeconomies was marked by a specific time period
in global economic history which was dominated by exploit-
ative colonial European powers. They do not measure economic
growth just based on indicators like GDP or trade indices. They
link economic growth with economic development by paying
attention to indices like life expectancy, infant mortality, educa-
tion etc. They argue the rational central distributive mechanisms
could work for a well-integrated economy where consumption
patterns are not affected by non-economic forces such as racial,
gender, ethnic biases etc. Moreover, dependency theorist say
that market alone cannot be a sufficient distributive mecha-
nism for poorer economies where economic activities are sus-
ceptible to social and economic changes.
Dependency theory identify that centre economies are in-
dustrialized, technically advanced, have advanced research fa-
cilities and run on the capital-intensive industrial model. On the
other hand, the countries on the periphery survive on agricultural
production and resource extraction as the major sectors of
economy. They provide labour to the countries in the centre. For
example, the periphery serves the interests of the centre, but the
centre serves the interests of the centre only. there is a clear
divide between the rich and poor people in all states. The rich
control the political system and the economy and are the
socialelites. They want to stay in power and accumulate more
income. In order to do so, the rich elites of all the states co-
operate with each other to keep the system going for their own
benefit. The poor remain poor in the whole process.
According to the dependency theorists, the system of lib-
eral economic theory dominates among all the states. The
liberal economic theory makes way for free-trade, unfettered
market links with little or no interference from the governments.
This global capitalistic system serves the interests of the coun-
tries at the centre and exploit the rich economy of under-devel-
oped countries. For instance, MNCs, banks, international insti-

32
tutions like World Bank and IMF, media etc. serve the interest
of centre economies. It is the reason for growing economic in-
equality between and within different states of the world. They
blame the exploitative nature of the international economic sys-
tem which serves the interests of dominant states.

33
 MODULE: III

RESTRUCTURING THEORY,
PRACTICE AND AGENCY: NEW
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS? GREEN
POLITICS,ORIENTALISM AND GLOBAL
CIVIL SOCIETY

New Social Movements

The current global economic system optimizes the values
and criteria of performance, efficiency and productivity, perfor-
mance and so on. This global economic shift has major conse-
quences for the development of social movements. The concur-
rent processes of globalization underpin that the internationaliza-
tion of politics through the emergence of transnational actors,
networks, and institutions, and the economic integration produced
by the dizzying growth of international trade, the media and fi-
nancial integration. In this sense, globalization itself makes room
for the expression of international contestation by creating op-
portunity structures and favourable circumstances for the acts of
anti/alternative globalization movements. These movements are
not an isolated spontaneous series of events, but rather a con-
scious tactic of an increasingly coordinated and powerful social
movement against economic and financial globalization that of-
ten targets international organizations such as the World Trade
Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). These protests caused to organize World
Social Forum in Porto Alegre in 2001.
In the last four decades, important social movements
have emerged in Europe, America and in the Third world
countries. They are regarded by many western social theo-
rists as possible and relevant agents of social transformation, as
authentic representatives of post-industrial social forces. These
movements are particularly revealing in current world politics,

34
where the classical clear-cut distinctions between domestic and
foreign policies, high and low politics, hard and soft power. Glo-
bal social movements also act transnationally in order to gener-
ate domestic outcomes, but they mainly aim at changing prac-
tices and influencing ideas and norms in world politics. These
movements are emerging in a local or national space, movements
always extend themselves to a wider scope, likewise asserting
an epochal context (e.g. feminism, pacifism, anti-nuclear, anti-
apartheid, human rights, environmentalism etc). Social movements
are made up of actors with a creative capacity and a desire to
transform; thus, they contribute to the debate and the outlining of
the virtuousness of social justice as the foundation of societies,
as well as for transnational relationships and exchanges. Partici-
pant actors contribute to redeeming the value of freedom as a
basic element of emancipation, demanding that this value and its
associated factors not be understood as an abstract principle of
emancipation, as prevailed in the formation of the modern politi-
cal citizen.
The intense degree of connectivity in contemporary collec-
tive action is no doubt favored by the communication facilities
provided by modern technology, such as the internet and others.
Despite the digital divide among and within countries and re-
gions, available technology covers, most places on the global
frontier. This accelerates information and intensifies condi-
tions for debate, exchange and mobilization. Nonetheless,
the most significant aspect of information, in relation to
convergences, is the increase in the capacity to circulate ideas
and to transform contents very quickly. Information has, we would
say, a crucial role for convergences at two levels. On the intel-
lectual one, it nurtures the capabilities for (de)constructing dis-
courses and issues by capacitating knowledge, critical analysis
and propositional attitudes. Further, it provides actors with the
intellectual tools to create discernment about conflict, conten-
tion, dialogue and agreement, contributing to the reshaping of
politics and the sense of being a political actor, as discussed above.

35
It is possible to say that it contributes, together with experience
and values, to the development of expert knowledge and to
empowerment. On the practical level, information fosters pur-
posive mobilization, integrating actors on different scales and
providing substantive platforms for joining broader scenarios, as
well as dealing with multiple organization fields and multiple po-
litical environments. That is to say, it expands political opportu-
nities and strengthens the organizations themselves.
New social movements are an open space as compared to
conventional organizations or agencies; that is to say, they present
a fluid structure and loose boundaries. Nonetheless, they con-
cretely form a visible event. As an element of convergences, vis-
ibility is not merely part of the strategy of putting together so
many issues, organizations personalities, people and ideas. Vis-
ibility has to do with the assertion that the gathering has taken
place, no matter how contentious the ideas, slogans or tactics
that are advocated by so many different participants and mili-
tants together, providing strength to the movements. But most of
all, as we see it, it has to do with legitimizing social move-
ments as actors that cannot be ignored by governments and
international agencies, those who do not dispute power and space
because of being the dominant power. In this sense, visibility,
through confrontation or dialogue, could, eventually, facilitate
negotiation on issues that governments and agencies might con-
sider relevant.
Socialmovements as cosmopolitan moral agents that (aim
to) regulate and/or resist the instrumental and powerrationalities
driving inter-state politics and the global economy. Either as col-
lective actors or as discursivesocial forces, movements are por-
trayed as involved in the extension of citizenship, community,
and humanagency beyond state borders. Social and protest
movements can beboth democratic and nationalist (many color
revolutions and secessionist movements), anti-regime
andconservative (recent middle-class protests in South America),
radical and liberal (libertarianism), counterhegemonicand exclu-

36
sive (religious fundamentalists), pro-market and nationalist
(Brexit), or pro-Europeanand nativists (many European right-
wing movements). Therefore, movements do not always coin-
cide withthe reductive categories through which social action is
generally schematized in IR.
In sum, there is fully developed theoretical frame in IP to
study about the emerging phenomenon of new social movements.
Therefore, alternative liberal and constructivist perspectives have
tried to articulate the complex pattern of social movements in the
global politics. Liberals highlight that the social movements in
the global politics is a part of international affairs. However,
critical IR authors stressed the emancipatory potential of so-
cial movements, asbottom-up forces counterbalancing the tech-
nocratic, economistic, and hegemonic character of neo-
liberalglobalization. Thus new social movement invite the
attention of the scholars to develop an appropriate theoretical
frame work in the field of international politics.
Green Politics
Since the1960s the 'modern' environment movement as a
widespread and persistent social movement that has publicized
and criticized the environmental 'side-effects' of the long eco-
nomic boom following the Second World War. Rapid economic
growth, the proliferation of new technologies, and rising popula-
tion in this period generated increasing energy and resource con-
sumption, new sources (and rising levels) of pollution and waste
production, and the rapid erosion of the Earth's biodiversity.
However, it was not until the late 1980s that a distinctly'green'
social and political theory emerged to give voice to the interre-
lated concerns of thenew social movements (environment, peace,
anti-nuclear, women's) that have shaped green politics. Green
politics is the most recent of developments in the discipline of
international politics. The major focuses of green politics is that
economic and political implications of climate change, peak
oil, overconsumption,resource competition and conflicts, and
rising levels of global and nationalinequalities.

37
 This idea is appeared in IP by different theoretical stages.
First stage, green politics was primarily concerned witharticulating
the distinctiveness of ecologism as an ideology and green politics
as a distinctive approach. In the second stage, ecological thought
was characterized by a concernwith debates between green
politics and other schools of thought such asliberalism, feminism,
critical theory and socialism, as well as focusing on some
keyconcepts within political thought such as democracy, justice,
the state and citizenship. Recently, the developments can be
termed 'third generation' green politicsare noticeable for its ex-
plicitly interdisciplinary and applied focus.
The central concern of green theory and practice toovercome
both the separation of 'human' from 'nature' and also the
misperception ofhumans as above or 'superior' to nature.
Green politics can be seen as anattempt to bring humanity
and the study of human society 'down to earth'. Thescience of
ecology played an important part in arguing that humans as a
species ofanimal (that is, we are not just like animals, we are an
animal species) areecologically embedded in nature, and exist in
a web-like relation to other species, rather than being at the top
of some 'great chain of being'. It is crucial to note thesignificance
of green political and social theory having a strong basis in the
naturalsciences (mainly ecology, evolutionary and environmen-
tal psychology, the biologicallife sciences and thermodynam-
ics). In fact, humans as a species of natural being, which like
other species has its particular species-specific characteristics,
needs and modes of flourishing (and non- flourishing).
Green politics consider that social environmental relations
are not only important in human society, but also constitutive of
human society. In its attention to the naturalistic bases of human
society, the green perspective is 'materialistic' in a different and
arguably much more fundamental. Green politics can be under-
stood as a form of applied political theory, and here it shares this
feature with other ideologies all of which seek to make a differ-
ence and change the world or society according to their particu-

38
lar political principles. The task of an applied approach to politi-
cal theory is to analyse some basic political or ethical principles-
democracy, justice, and citizenship for example - and see what
follows from them given the empirical 'reality of the situation' that
faces humanity today, or a particular human society.
There has also been an increasing engagement by green
political theorists with some of the core debates within norma-
tive IR theory, particularly those concerned with human rights,
cosmopolitan democracy, transnational civil society, and
transnational public spheres. This scholarship has also fed into,
and helped to shape, a distinctly green branch of normative IR
theory concerned with global environmental justice. Green IR
theory may be usefully subdivided into an IPE wing, which offers
an alternative analysis of global ecological problems to that of
regime theory, and a normative or 'green cosmopolitan' wing that
articulates new norms of environmental justice and green de-
mocracy at all levels of governance. Both of these sub-fields
remain indebted to critical theory, particularly the neo- Gramscian
inspired critical political economy of Robert Cox, and the cos-
mopolitan discourse ethics of Jurgen Habermas, and therefore
can be located clearly on the critical/constructivist side of the
rationalism versus constructivism debate in IR theory.
The major concern of Green IR theories are that environ-
ment justice demands: recognition of the expanded moral com-
munity that is affected by ecological risks (i.e. not just all citizens,
but all peoples, future generations, and non-human species),
participation and critical deliberation by citizens and representa-
tives of the larger -community-at-risk in all environmental deci-
sion-making (including policy-making, legislating and treaty-mak-
ing, administration, monitoring, enforcement, and adjudication),
a precautionary approach to ensure the minimization of risks in
relation to the larger community, a fair distribution of those risks
that are reflectively acceptable via democratic processes that
includes the standpoint of all affected parties and public interest
advocacy groups; and redress and compensation for those par-
ties who suffer the effects of ecological problems.
39
 In sum, green IR theory has undergone significant develop-
ment in the last decade to the point where it is recognized as a
significant new stream of IR theory. The new green discourses of
environmental justice, sustainable development, reflexive mod-
ernization, and ecological security have not only influenced na-
tional and international policy debates. Taken together, they have
also recast the roles of states; economic actors, and citizens as
environmental stewards rather than territorial overlords, with
asymmetrical international obligations based on differing capaci-
ties and levels of environmental responsibility. This recasting has
important implications for the evolution of state sovereignty. If it
is accepted that sovereignty is a derivative concept, the practical
meaning of which changes over time in response to cha11ges in
the constitutive discourses of sovereignty, then to the extent that
some of these discourses ( on development, justice, and secu-
rity) take on a greener hue, it is possible to point to 'the greening
of sovereignty'. Moreover, to the extent that states - and citizens
within states - become increasingly accountable to communities
and environments beyond their own borders, then they may be
characterized as transnational states and citizens rather than
merely nation-states or national citizens. Of course, the society
of states is a long way short of this ideal. However, green IR
theorists have brought this ideal into view and made it thinkable.
Orientalism
The idea of Orientalism was proposed by Edward Said, an
outstanding figure in post- colonial theory. He articulated the
theory of orientalism in his famous work Orientalism. This thesis
expose and explain that how Western dominance over the East.
Orientalism was what he described as a form of Western impe-
rialism that the East had been subjected to since Colonial times.
Said talks of the earlier Orientalist writers who never seemed to
capture the true nature of the Orient. They wrote or painted the
stereotypes that had been a custom by others to record. This
was subconsciously followed by the Orientalists or European
colonialists who wanted to necessitate knowledge over the con-

40
quered peoples in the region. This is what he calls Orientalism.
According to Said, the discourse of the Orientalists throughout
history has often depicted the Eastern world as either a dark,
mysterious and threatening place or as an overly romanticized
mythical landscape. Said writes: ' a very large mass of writers,
among whom are poets, novelists, philosophers, political
theorists, economists and imperial administrators, have accepted
the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point
for elaborate theories, epics, novels and social descriptions con-
cerning the Orient, its people, customs..'
These distinctions and the negative Orientalist discourse that
Said refers to are dangerous to Muslims now as the image por-
trayed is deeply harmful. The main thread of Said's argument in
Orientalism is that the otherness of the East depicted by the
Orientalists effectively justified imperial ambitions from the West.
His theory of otherness and of the cultural stereotype of the East
can be seen in the military occupancy of Arab countries by the
West. It could be argued that the contemporary Orientalism that
he talks of in the last 50 years is another form of Islamophobia.
Said credits the popular media, films, news, books, articles and
images coming from the West for instilling an underlying feeling
of superiority and inherent racism (what he calls manifest
Orientalism) even nowadays, when depicting the Orient.
The context surrounding the time that Said wrote Orientalism
must be noted when discussing its usefulness in understanding
the relations between the West and Middle East. The Arab-Is-
raeli War of 1973 was a turning point for this observation. He
describes how he conceived the idea for Orientalism whilst watch-
ing news coverage in America reporting on the unfolding events
of the war. He posits that the Arabs were being depicted as less
modern than the Israelis and that their methods of fighting were
cowardly and backward. Here he demonstrates how the nature
of the Western world's patronizing understanding of the Arabic
world even in modern warfare was seen to be barbaric and less
advanced than that of the enemy. Therefore it could be argued

41
that Orientalism as a concept is useful into gaining an insight into
the Middle East and some of the ways the media seems to por-
tray the Arab world and perhaps why this stereotype is applied.
When looking at current relations between the West and
the Middle East an obvious point to consider is the current mili-
tary occupancy of Iraq and Afghanistan by American and Brit-
ain. However it could also be argued that post 9/11 and 7/7
Orientalism as a concept is outdated. For the better part of the
Cold War the Western powers were still not particularly involved
in the Middle East. The West had seemingly looked down on the
various conflicts in the region such as the Iran-Iraq war and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it was not of direct relevance to
them. The end of Cold War saw Russia fighting with Afghani-
stan. Here America stepped in to support Russia's enemy, by
supporting the Taliban. However as quickly as the Taliban de-
feated the Russians they started to fight the Americans, who they
had received economic and military support from. It would ap-
pear that at the time the West was more concerned with the
collapse of the Soviet Union and to bring an end to the commu-
nist threat. The end of the Cold War saw the end of the balance
of power between America and the USSR. This meant that after
the Cold War America was able to extend its influence in regions
of the world previously that Russia would have stopped them
controlling or that they had their eyes on themselves. However it
could be suggested that America did this at the cost of its own
security in the long run by arming its later enemies.
Said claimed that the West never understood the Middle
East and regarded it as inferior barbaric nations who were not
an immediate threat to Western security. Perhaps the usefulness
of Orientalism as a concept is in the way we can now understand
why and how the Afghan freedom fighters were willingly armed
by the Americans. This is because they were in fact not seen as
harmful or threatening to the West, which goes against the line
of Orientalism which talks of the demonization of the Muslim
[Link] one could say that nowadays Orientalism as a
concept to understanding current international relations is slightly
42
off point as there is a war going on at the moment between the
West and the Middle East and that the threat faced is very real.
Global Civil Society
The concept of an emergent global civil society (GCS), an
identifiable public sphere of voluntary association distinct from
the architecture of states and markets, has become voguish in
some approaches to international relations and international po-
litical economy, and in the practices of global governance. The
international politics of sovereign states is held to be increasingly
challenged in juridical and practical terms by the transnational
sing and deterritorialized character of contemporary social rela-
tions. Such restructuring has given rise to a range of concepts,
often devised in relation to well-worn notions that seek to char-
acterize and bring meaning to change. It is the concept of 'global
governance' that has, however, become the most prominent in
accounts and policy prescriptions of the decent red, multilay-
ered and overlapping character of contemporary political au-
thority State institutions increasingly engage in multilateral agree-
ments (regional and international), and international organizations
such as the G-7, OECD, World Bank, IMF and WTO take on
an expanded importance.
Similarly, a wide array of 'private' institutions including
industrial and financial associations and professional 'experts'
such as accountants, consultants and economists also come to
exercise significant authority. With such proclaimed global gov-
ernance has come a sharp growth in the activities of so-called
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that include the likes
of Oxfam, Save the Children and the Red Crescent. While forg-
ing close working relationships with international organizations.
It is fact that enormously diverse array of NGOs and social move-
ments that tends to be the focus in a discourse of GCS that has
become ubiquitous in the discussions and practices of global
governance. The World Bank describe civil society as 'the arena
in which people come together to pursue the interests they hold
in common-not for profit or the exercise of political power, but

43
because they care enough about something to take collective
action'. As activists in Asia, Latin America and particularly East-
ern Europe recognised during the 1970s and 1980s, the ideal of
societal space, autonomous from the state, wherein self-man-
agement and democracy could be worked out is of considerable
utility to those seeking social transformation.
GCS constitutes an agent for empowerment in a dual sense,
enabling the political participation of GCS whilst authorizing
and legitimating the practices of the formal institutions of
global governance. Perhaps not surprisingly, international orga-
nizations themselves are keen to invoke the assumed empower-
ment qualities of GCS. For example, the 1996 WTO Guidelines
for arrangements on relations with NGOs clearly states that
Members recognize the role NGOs can play to increase the
awareness of the public in respect of WTO activities and agree
in this regard to improve transparency and develop communica-
tion with NGOs. It can be seen, then, that implicit in much of the
academic advocacy of GCS is the belief that by acting as a pro-
gressive force for good, GCS provides the key to resistance in
the contemporary world order. While for the likes of Richard
Falk this resistance hinges upon the establishment of more par-
ticipatory and substantive democratic arrangements, others ex-
pect GCS to take the lead in a wider and perhaps ultimately
more emancipatory transformation. In the Gramscian terms of
many of these writers, civil society's organic intellectuals, includ-
ing academics, church leaders, trade unionists, environmental-
ists, social activists and leaders of community organizations, are
enacting a so-called counter-hegemonic war of position to es-
tablish a higher form of society. Whilst uncertain and far from
determined, the qualities of such a society seem likely to com-
bine equitable and environmentally sustainable economic provi-
sioning with a republican vision of democracy.
The practices of global civil society, it seems to us, cannot
be decisively situated in a bounded space that is non-govern-
mental and non-economic. In the World Bank's framing of civil

44
society, for example, local networks and voluntary associations
become a means to mitigate the more damaging forces of the
global economy. In the World Development Report Attacking
Poverty, the Bank makes its use of GCS as a means of govern-
ing more explicit. In their guidelines on helping poor people to
manage risk they describe microfinance as a risk management
tool that can help poor household's smooth consumption during
an adverse shock. Though the report refers to NGOs such as
the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Home Net,
and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organiz-
ing (WIEGO), the participation of these groups is understood to
be the responsible and proactive obligation of global citizens.
The critical voices that these groups bring to the inequalities of
the global economy are masked by a discourse of harnessing
global forces and providing channels for legitimate participa-
tion that enable poor people to get the best from globaliza-
tion.

45
 MODULE IV

CONFLICT,PEACE AND INSECURITY

DILEMMA POLITICAL, MILITARY,
ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL,
TERRORISM AND NATIONAL SECURITY-
THEORIES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
AND PEACE RESEARCH

Peace has always been among humanity's highest values--

for some, [Link] Luther says "The most disadvanta-
geous peace is better than the most just war. I prefer the most
unjust peace to the justest war that was ever waged. There never
was a good war or a bad peace." Perhaps the most popular
(Western) view of peace is as an absence of dissension, vio-
lence, or war.
Peace is a social and political conditionthat ensures
development of individuals, society and nation. It is a state of
harmonycharacterized by the existence of healthy relationships.
It is a condition related tothe social or economic welfare and
equality. It is also related to a working politicalorder that serves
true interests of all. In the context of intra- national and
internationalrelations, peace is not merely the absence of war or
conflict, but also the presenceof socio-cultural and economic
understanding and unity.
When we talk about peace, we mostly relate it to its tradi-
tional or liberal notion that has been focused since ages on the
danger of military or armed conflicts or threats. And the source
of the danger has been a nation threatening to take or being sus-
pected to take military action against the other. This endangers
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the nation,
and also the lives of its people .As a measure of ensuring peace
, the cause of the threat of military action is sorted out by the
concerned nations through a bilateral agreement, or a long-term
46
treaty for not taking military action against each other. The na-
tions also take preventive measures by increasing their defence
capabilities, deploying more armed forces on borders. Some also
adopt balance of power approach through entering into a treaty
with other nations to take joint action in the case of military at-
tack on any one of them. As we know, the international organi-
zations like United Nations have been created to save the hu-
manity from the threat of war or armed conflicts.
But the new or non-traditional notion of peace is much
broader and goes beyond military threats to include wide range
of dangers and threats to human existence. This conceptualization
includes not only regions and nations, but also individuals or com-
munities and the human kind at large. This notion is
primarilyaddressed to individuals. It is true that protection of
people from foreign attacks isa necessary condition for peace
and security, but it is not the be all and end all. Infact, peace
is to be seen as the precondition to socio- economicdevelopment
and to the maintenance of human dignity. The new notion of peace
also includes freedom of individuals from hunger, freedom from
wants,diseases and epidemics, environmental degradation, ex-
ploitation and sub-humantreatment. In this background the new
notion of peace is based on threatsbeyond military attacks. These
threats may be from terrorism, insurgency, genocide,denial of
human rights, health epidemics, narcotics trade and irrational use
of naturalresources.
NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE PEACE
Johan Galtung, the father of peace studies often refers to
the distinction between 'negative peace' and 'positive peace'
(e.g. Galtung 1996). Negative peace refers to the absence of
violence. When, for example, a ceasefire is enacted, a negative
peace will ensue. It is negative because something undesirable
stopped happening (e.g. the violence stopped, the oppression
ended). Positive peace is filled with positive content such as
restoration of relationships, the creation of social systems that
serve the needs of the whole population and the constructive

47
resolution of conflict. Peace does not mean the total absence of
any conflict. Peace exists where people are interacting non-
violently and are managing their conflict positively - with respectful
attention to the legitimate needs and interest of all concerned.
DEMOCRATIC PEACE THEORY
Democratic peace is the proposition that democracies are
more peaceful in their foreign relations. This idea dates back
centuries, at least to Immanuel Kant and other 18th- century
Enlightenment thinkers. In recent decades it has constituted a
major research agenda, competing with and arguably supplant-
ing other research agendas such as neo-realism. The democratic
peace proposition has many possible empirical and theoretical
forms. On the empirical side, some propose that democracies
are more peaceful in their relations with all other states in the
system ("monadic" democratic peace) ; some propose that de-
mocracies are more peaceful only in their relations with other
democracies ("dyadic" democratic peace); others argue that the
more democracies there are in a region or the international sys-
tem, the more peaceful the region or international system will be
("systemic" democratic peace); and still others doubt the exist-
ence of any significant relationship between democracy and peace.
Notably, most although not all empirical research on the demo-
cratic peace has employed quantitative methods of analysis. On
the theoretical side, there are many different accounts of the re-
lationship between democracy and peace, with most focusing
on domestic political institutions, domestic political norms, and
constructed identities. The democratic peace proposition is
connected to many other propositions linking domestic
politics and international relations, including that democracies
are more likely to cooperate with each other, that democracies
are more likely to win the wars they fight, that escalating military
casualties degrade public support for war, that leaders
initiate conflict to secure their domestic hold on power (the
diversionary hypothesis), that democracies fight shorter wars,
that different kinds of democracies experience different kinds of

48
conflict behaviour, that different kinds of authoritarian systems
experience different kinds of conflict behaviour, and others. The
democratic peace also overlaps with related ideas such as the
liberal peace and the commercial peace.
The democratic peace proposition has been lurking in West-
ern thought for millennia, as Weart 1998 shows, but Kant 1991
provides its first modern formulation. The idea that global de-
mocracy would provide a solid foundation for global peace was
restated in 1917 by Woodrow Wilson as a justification for Ameri-
can entry into World War I and then as part of his vision for a
new world order. Modern political science first observed
the dyadic democratic peace-that democracies tend not to fight
each other-in the 1970s. The observation enjoyed greater atten-
tion in the 1980s in particular in two pathbreaking 1983 essays
by Michael Doyle, reprinted in Doyle 2011. It received fuller
theoretical and empirical attention in the 1990s. Fukuyama 1992,
a famous argument that humanity had reached "the end of his-
tory," incorporates the democratic peace proposition. Other
scholars sought to develop the theory and push forward more
advanced research designs in works such as Russett 1993; Ray
1995; and Rousseau 1996. In the 2000s, proponents of the
democratic peace responded to their critics and embedded the
democratic peace in a broader Kantian peace .
THE CONFLICT AND PEACE- MODELS AND CON-
CEPTS
Conflict is a dispute in a situation defined by the parties'
underlying goals and beliefs, mutual perception and communica-
tion, and the facts involved. The conflict itself is a process of
communication--an engagement of fields of expression.4 Pas-
sions and beliefs become evident; the nature and intensity of hid-
den interests surface. In the process of achieving a new structure
of expectations, conflict integrates underlying goals and mutual
perceptions into a balance among the central interests at stake,
the resolution, and the ability of the parties to support them.
The balancing process can be shortened, intensity reduced,

49
antagonism lessened, and the resulting expectations made
more realistic by clarifying the conflict situation. In this four
rules should help the parties.
O Uncover the underlying or hidden goals and beliefs. Look
beneath the conflict. A dispute really may be about hidden,
perhaps even unconscious, beliefs and values.
O Determine the facts. Fact finding is essential to resolving
conflict, for often conflicts are generated by a misperception
or misunderstanding of the facts involved.
O Be sensitive to the other's position and perspective. See the
conflict through his eyes.
Resolving conflict is partially empathizing with the other, un-
derstanding his5 frame of reference, and sensing this read-
ing of one's field of expression.
O State the other's argument and demands. Miscommunica-
tion and misperception can play a
large role in conflict. One way to reduce these problems is
to seek mutual agreement on the issue, claims, and justifications.
These four rules--look underneath, look at the facts, look
at oneself, and look at the other-- alone will not make peace, but
they help to focus on the real issues and reduce the emotional
content.
One of the most influential early models of conflict was
developed by Johan Galtung (also known as founding father of
peace research institute, Oslo). Galtung proposed that conflict
could be viewed as a triangle, with contradiction, attitude, and
behaviour at its [Link] refers to the underlying con-
ditions of conflict, which include the actual or perceived incom-
patibility of goals or clashes of interest between the conflict par-
ties. Attitude includes the parties' perceptions and misperceptions
of each other, such as stereotypes of the other. Behaviour in-
cludes cooperation as well as coercion, but in violent conflict it is
characterised by threats, coercion and destructive attacks. Galtung
argued that conflict resolution must involve all three components
of the triangle: de-escalation of violent behaviour, a change in
50
attitudes and a transformation of the relationships or clashing in-
terests that are at the core of the conflict structure or contradic-
tion. In his later writing, Galtung (1990) developed a model of
conflict that distinguished between direct violence (linked to
behaviour) , cultural violence (linked to attitude) and structural
violence(linked to contradiction).
In peace research literature, common terms for responses
to conflict are 'conflict management',' conflict resolution' and 'con-
flict transformation'. Conflict management is the art of appropri-
ate intervention to achieve political settlements, particularly by
those powerful actors having the power and resources to bring
pressure on the conflicting parties in order to induce them to
settle. Conflict management more commonly refers to interven-
tions to control conflict , keep violence at bay or keep conflict
from escalating further . Under this definition, conflict manage-
ment is successful if violence is contained and symptoms of con-
flict (that is direct physical violence) are [Link] term
conflict resolution refers to efforts to resolve a conflict by
addressing the underlying contradictions or incompatibilities of
interest of the parties to a conflict.
The term peace building refers to activities that go beyond
crisis intervention or conflict management. As defined by UN
Secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali in his 1992 report An
Agenda for Peace ,the concept of peace building was intro-
duced as 'the construction of a new environment' to avoid the
break down of peaceful conditions and prevent arecurrence of
crisis , recognising that 'only sustained, cooperative work to deal
with underlying economic ,social, cultural and humanitarian prob-
lems can place an achieved peace on a durable foundation
.Peace building is an approach to post-conflict settings that
recognises the need for reconciliation, developing a capacity
for conflict resolution and working towards sustainable peace
.Peace building is distinct from both peace making and peace
keeping as it is pro active rather than reactive in dealing with
conflict.

51
 Conflict transformation essentially aims at changing the ways
that individuals and communities perceive and accommodate their
differences, away rom adversarial approaches towards collabo-
rative problem solving, if necessary, redefining social relation-
ships in order to bring forth social justice and equality for parties
in conflict. This is seen as process that engages a society on
multiple levels, encouraging people to develop the knowledge,
understanding and skills that empower them to coexist
peacefully. Transformation necessitates a reframing of the posi-
tions, goals and approaches of the actors or stake holders. THE
IDEA OF HUMAN SECURITY
According to Canadian diplomat Rob McRae, the idea of
human security "takes the individual as the nexus of its concern,
the life as lived, as the true lens through which we should view
the political, economic, and social environment. As its most ba-
sic level, human security means freedom from fear.''
In contrast to realists who remain focused on the security of
states from other states, liberal theorists have long argued that
famine, disease, crime, and natural disasters cost far more lives
than do wars. But, until recently, few countries were concerned
about the welfare of individuals other than their own citizens.
The idea of human security, then, emphasize the welfare of indi-
viduals rather than states.
THE IDEA OF SECURITY DILEMMA
In international relations theory, the security dilemma refers
to the difficulty of increasing astate's security without simulta-
neously (and inadvertently) decreasing the security of otherstates.
Coined by John H. Herz in a 1950 article, the term has become
an integral part ofexplanations of how peace-seeking states may
blunder into arms races, crises, or wars. Forexample, a state
may seek to increase its own security and deter outside aggres-
sion bybuilding up arms. A neighbouring state, witnessing the build
up, will misinterpret the move aspreparation for future aggres-
sion? feeling threatened, it will attempt to increase its ownsecurity
by acquiring arms. The first state's suspicions about its neighbour's

52
belligerence areconfirmed, leading to an arms race, increase in
tension, or war. Conflict in this case is aproduct of mutual
misperceptions and miscommunications that arise not only from
thecognitive failures of policy makers but also from the inherent
difficulty of credibly conveyingpeaceful intentions while building
up arms or establishing buffer zones. In the domesticrealm, as
Robert Jervis points out, people can seek to increase their secu-
rity in ways that donot threaten others-for instance by putting
bars in their windows or avoiding high- crimeareas. Sovereign
states, on the other hand, rarely have such options available to
them. WhatHerz called the "tragic implication" of the security
dilemma is that uncertainty and fear aboutthe intentions of other
states can lead to war even when all sides are desperate to avoid
one.
Several factors can mitigate the dangers associated with
the security dilemma and helpinduce cooperation among states.
One is the recognition that the dilemma exists in the firstplace.
Failure to recognize it as such leads to two related problems.
First, statesmen will notrealize that their own attempts to increase
security-even if done for genuinely peacefulreasons-will inevita-
bly threaten other states, despite all assurances to the contrary.
Second,they will fail to recognize that other states may arm be-
cause they fear attack, seeing theirattempts instead as symptoms
of aggression. A state that genuinely sees itself as peaceful,and
assumes that others do as well, will wrongly conclude that any
objections to their ownarms build up must mean that those who
object are belligerent. The difficulty here lies incredibly convey-
ing what the policy makers may take for granted: that outsiders
should not feelthreatened by the state's attempt to increase
its security. Of course, merely recognizing thisproblem does
not eliminate the dilemma. Even if policy makers recognize that
others maysimply be trying to increase their own security, and
even if they take into account how their own attempts to do so
may be misperceived by others, they cannot rely on the prom-
ises andsworn good intentions of others to maintain their secu-

53
rity. The problem becomes not a failureof communication or
empathy, but instead a failure to credibly commit to peaceful
intentions inthe absence of an external enforcer. (A functioning
collective security system is thus anotherfactor that can make the
security dilemma more or less acute. A state will feel less
threatenedby a neighbour's arms increases if it believes that col-
lective security agreements will deterpotential aggressors. In this
case the security concept takes the role of an external enforcer.)
In certain situations, an acute awareness of the security di-
lemma can actually increase thechances of conflict. This hap-
pens if aggressors are perceived to be misunderstood
securityseekers. Hitler's belligerence in the 1930s was initially
met with little resistance preciselybecause European statesmen
were intensely aware of the possibility that Germany wasmerely
acting as a security-seeking status quo power. The fact that the
security dilemma wasfelt to be less acute after World War I than
beforehand did not prevent the outbreak ofanother global con-
flict.
In a foundational 1978 article, Robert Jervis argued that
two factors are crucial in determiningthe severity of the security
dilemma. One is whether offense has the advantage over
defence?the other is whether an offensive posture can be distin-
guished from a defensive one. Thesecurity dilemma is more acute
when offense holds the advantage and conquest is relativelyeasy.
When offense has the advantage, a nation eternally poised on
the brink of foreignconquest will be more suspicious of others, is
more likely to interpret moves by others asaggressive, and is
constantly tempted to attack pre-emptively when facing a threat
(real orperceived) lest it be attacked first. In a world of offense
dominance, ambiguous signals aremore likely to be interpreted
as threats, and crises more likely to escalate because of
mutualinsecurity. Relatively secure states, by contrast, can take
a more leisurely view of [Link] that do not feel as readily
threatened by their neighbours-due to geographic isolation,for
instance-will not feel the need to cajole or threaten others to

54
safeguard their ownsecurity. Britain's foreign policy in the 19th
century, especially as contrasted with the foreignpolicy of conti-
nental states, reflects this distinction. Unlike Austria, surrounded
by greatpowers and vulnerable to internal unrest, Britain could
afford to take a more relaxed view ofminor disturbances and
revolutions within the European state system. Geography is thus
animportant factor in determining whether offense or defence
has the upper hand? in a world ofimpregnable border defences
the security dilemma is greatly ameliorated. Oceans,mountains,
rivers, and buffer zones all serve to ease the security dilemma by
givingadvantage to the defence.
In a world of total offense dominance, the only sure way for
even peace-seeking states toincrease security is through pre-
emptive aggression and expansion. In such a world, even asmall
increase in one's own security can threaten others. On the other
hand, in a world wheredefence dominates, where it is easier to
protect or hold territory than to conquer or destroy it,even large
increases in a state's security will only slightly decrease the secu-
rity of [Link] conquest is impossible, spiraling arms races
are readily perceived as inefficient,insecurities associated with
international anarchy are ameliorated, and unnecessary conflictcan
be avoided. Offense dominance, by contrast, greatly increases
what Thomas Schellingcalled the "reciprocal fear of surprise
attack," increasing the incentives for arms races in thelong term,
and incentives for pre-emptive or preventive first strikes in the
short [Link], therefore, is another factor that deter-
mines whether offense has the advantageover defence. When
offense is believed to possess technological superiority, as was
the casebefore World War I, there is a greater incentive to strike
first in order to pre-empt a potentiallydebilitating attack. Al-
though the origins of World War I remain a subject of
vigorous academicdebate, the mistaken belief in offense domi-
nance among European statesmen of the time isoften cited as
one of its major causes. According to this line of thought, the
Franco-Prussianwar instilled in policy makers the belief that the
next conflict would be short, cheap, anddecisive, its outcome
55
favouring the aggressor rather than the defender. Thus the run-
up to World War I created incentives for spiralling arms races,
and once war seemed inevitable, allsides had a strong tempta-
tion to act pre-emptively.
Because nuclear weapons render defence impossible, mu-
tually assured destruction paradoxically resembles a world where
defence dominates. The incentives for a first strike disappear,
because the attacking state ensures its own destruction
through retaliation (provided that a second-strike capability is
maintained). Defence becomes relativelycheap, and the security
dilemma becomes less acute. It is for this reason that some aca-
demics and policy makers view mutually assured destruction as
an effective and credible instrument of peace among security-
seeking states.
The second factor mitigating the dangers of the security di-
lemma, according to Jervis, is thedifficulty in distinguishing de-
fensive weapons from offensive weapons. If it can, a state
canincrease its own security without threatening the security of
others. The use of purelydefensive weapons or fortifications al-
lows others to differentiate between aggressors andsecurity seek-
ers. In practice, however, such distinctions are extremely diffi-
cult to make. Afortress built for purely defensive reasons can still
be used to shelter offensive forces or serveas a forward base for
attacks, especially if built close to the border.
The emphasis on offense-defence theory within the en-
vironment of a security dilemma shiftsthe emphasis from con-
siderations of pure power to considerations of military capabil-
ity. AsCharles Glaser argues, focusing on military capabilities can
explain state behaviour ignored orcontradicted by theories
that focus only on power. While anarchy remains a constant,
thevariation in the amount and intensity of cooperation across
space and time becomes easier toexplain when examining the
relationship between offense and defence under the
securitydilemma.
Although the concept of the security dilemma originated

56
within international relations theory, the term has since been ap-
plied in explaining ethnic conflicts and civil wars within states.
Inthe same way that uncertainty about the intentions of other
states may lead a state intounwanted conflict, uncertainty and
the accompanying fear of other groups can lead to spiralsof intr-
astate violence in those situations in which the central govern-
ment is unable to providesecurity (such as in failed multi-
ethnic states), thus replicating the condition of anarchy on
adomestic scale.
IDEA OF INSECURITY DILEMMA
Insecurity dilemma, in which national security, defined as
regime security by state authorities, becomes pitted against the
incompatible demands of ethnic, social, and religious forces in
the Third World in the 1990s.
POLITICAL AND MILITARY DILEMMAS
These are the main political and military dilemmas facing
21st century nation states which are more severe than any other
decades in the world history.
REFUGEE PROBLEM
In December 1950, the UN established the office of High
commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), responsible for imple-
menting the1951 convention relating to the status of Refugees,
reaffirmed in 2001. Since its establishment, UNHCR has aided
over 50 million refugee by providing humanitarian assistance, in-
cluding food, shelter, and medical aid, and the agency was
awarded Nobel peace prizes in 1954 and 1981 . Today UNHCR
has offices in over 110 countries and a budget of about $3 bil-
lion, based largely on voluntary contribution. In recent years ,its
resources have been stretched to cope with refugee population
around the world.
By the 1951 convention countries are obliged to give asy-
lum to refugees , defined as those who are outside the country of
their nationality and are unable or unwilling to return home "ow-
ing to well- founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
57
political opinion." According to the principle of non-refoulement,
a country cannot expel or forcibly return a refugee.
Between 1984 and 2004, the number of refugees almost
doubled, peaking in1994 following the Rwanda genocide. By
the end of 2009, UNHCR was responsible for over 36 million
"persons concern" , including 10.4 million refugees, a record 15.6
million Internally displaced persons (IDPs), almost a million asy-
lum seekers, and millions more stateless persons. IDPs including
the millions of the people displaced in Pakistan owing to conflict
and natural disaster , pose a growing problem, with hundreds of
thousands of new displacements in Somalia, Sudan, Afghani-
stan, Srilanka and Yemen in 2009 alone.
The number of refugees globally has stabilised in recent years.
Today, the major source of refugee are Afghanistan (2.8 million),
Iraq(1.7 million),Somalia(678000), Democratic Republic of
Congo(455900) and Myanmar(406700). Most refugees flee to
neighbouring countries . As a result, Pakistan ,Afghanistan's
neighbour, is the foremost host country for refugees. Pakistan ,
Iran, Syria, Germany, and Jordan account for almost half of all
refugees under the UNHCR mandate. Massive refugee flow can
place economic, social and political strains on host countries,
many of which like Pakistan and Kenya, already suffer from
state weakness and conflicts of their own. Thus many refugees
remain in exile for years.
In South Asia, Rohingyas of Myanmar, often described as
"the world's most persecuted minority" is at the height of crisis
with the Myanmar government moving in a mission of ethnic
cleansing. The issue escalated when the insurgents attacked 30
police stations, triggering a massive military response. In the wake
of the violence, at least 5 lakh Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh
since August 2017.
Rohingyas are an ethnic group, majority of whom are Mus-
lim, who have lived for centuries in the province of Rakhine in
the majority Buddhist Myanmar. They are not granted full citi-
zenship too. According the 1982 Burmese Citizenship Law, a

58
Rohingya or any ethnic minority, is eligible for citizenship only if
he/ she provides proof that his/her ancestors have lived in the
country. Things remained the same even after the political change
in 2015. The democratically- elected government headed by
President Htin Kyaw also was unwilling to grant citizenship to
the group. They have been rejected by the country they call home
and were shunned by the neighbouring nation. Currently, they
are about 1.1 million Rohingya who live in the South east Asian
country. Owing to their mass fleeing fro Myanmar the UN Refu-
gee agency (UNHCR) have placed them " the most vulnerable
groups of the forcibly displaced".
Another notable feature, in 2018 elections, many European
nations , anti immigration and anti refugee parties made signifi-
cant gains. Particularly swedan (swedan democrats), France,
Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, Austria, Italy. Again American Presi-
dent, Donald Trumpcalling Mexican immigrants rapists and crimi-
nals, to his threats to wall off the border, deport millions, and
punish U.S. exporters who invest in Mexico, Trump has put
Mexico on a state of red alert. Trump have signed an executive
order banning travel from Sudan,Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia and
Yemen and nation's refugee programme will be suspended for
120 days. The number of refugees to be admitted this year, 2018,
has been reduced to 50,000 from the 1,10,000 cap set by the
Obama administration. The indefinite ban on Syrian refugees
has been lifted.
INSURGENCY
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a consti-
tuted authority, the government. The collapse of the "Soviet
Empire" was followed by the emergence, or re- emergence, of
many serious insurgencies in several areas that had been rela-
tively quiescent during the Cold War. Some of these new insur-
gencies have been taking place within the former Soviet Union,
such as the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-
Karabakh, and the fighting in Chechnya. But some conflicts also
erupted or intensified in several countries outside of it and many

59
Third World conflicts in which the superpowers were not deeply
involved during the Cold War have persisted after it, like the
secessionist movements in India, Sri Lanka, and Sudan.
Ethnopolitical conflicts aside, there have been other threats
to international order that are, indeed, beyond the full control of
major powers, even the United States, the victor of the Cold
War. The most notable ones include religious militancy, terror-
ism, North-South conflict, and severe competition over scarce
resources. Thus, the end of the Cold War can be said to have
brought about both stability and instability to international rela-
tions. The purpose of this article is to evaluate nearly two de-
cades of the post-Cold War era in terms of the elements of sta-
bility and instability. In this respect, the study will start with an
overview of the general characteristics of the international sys-
tem. This will be followed by a more detailed discussion on ba-
sic trends and new threats in international relations. Several ob-
servations will also be outlined in concluding the study with re-
spect to possible future directions of international affairs.
Ever since independence, India has experienced violence
related to insurgent movements. Broadly, these can be divided
into movements with political motives and movements for social
and economic justice. The most prominent militant groups are
violent extremist separatists operating in Jammu and Kashmir
and Assam, and different militant groups in India's northeastern
States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and
Tripura. Although all the members of these groups are Indians,
these groups receive support from neighbouring countries.
Whereas, these militant movements are going on because the
groups involved in it are dissatisfied with their present state of
affairs, there are certain groups, especially in Jammu and Kash-
mir and Assam that have political agenda. They are fighting for
secession from the country. These groups have active support
from the neighbouring countries and even certain international
terrorist groups.
TERRORISM
Terrorism is a quintessentially political act. The political

60
purposes may be more or less explicit, the depending on the
nature of the perpetrating group. It has typically been viewed as
a weapon of the week who cannot achieve their political aims
through normal political processes. Contemporary terrorism dif-
fers in some respects from that of the past. Terrorist acts are
directed not only at heads of state but against innocent civilians.
The goals are not limited to over throwing a government or leader,
or gaining an interdependent Tamil, Palestinian or Basque home
land, but include eliminating western, and especially American,
presence in Islamic Holy Lands. The ease of international travel
and telecommunications have made trasnational terrorism less
confined to a particular geographic place and enabled terrorist
groups to form global net works and to move money, weapons,
and people easily from one area to another. An implicit link has
come also from groups copying each otherstactics -the so-called
demonstration effect. The possibility that terrorist might acquire
biological, nuclear, chemical or miniatured weapons has raised
the dangers of terrorist attacks and also made detection more
problematic.
Terrorism involves four major elements :
1. Premeditation, where the perpetrator has decided to com-
mit a terrorist act to instill terror or fear in others;
2. Political,religious or ideological motivation- a cause;
3. Targets that are generally noncombatants and often appear
to be chosen at random, ranging from innocent by standers,
tourists, soldiers and bureaucrats to those holding promi-
nent positions;
4. Secretiveness, where terrorist belong to clandestine groups
or are sponsored by states.
Legal instruments have been a primary means by which the
international community has responded to terrorism. Twelve con-
ventions now form the core body of international law dealing
with terrorism. Hijacking, for example led to three treaties on air
line and air port safety that declared terrorist acts against civil
aviation illegal and sought to ensure the safety of the flying pub-
lic.
61
 The September 11, 2001, attacks on the world trade cen-
tre and the pentagon were the most devastating terrorist acts to
date. They elicited immediate and general condemnation by the
international community. A day after the attacks, the UN Secu-
rity Council passed resolution 1368 condemning the heinous acts
of terrorism and calling for international co operation to punish
those responsible. Most important, the resolution affirmed that
the attacks were a breach of international peace under chapter
VII , Thus giving the council authority to take action and
legitimising US responses as self defence.
One of the major responses to the September 11 attacks
was the US led action in Afghanistan to root out the terrorist
trainingcamps, the Taliban government that had sanctioned Al-
Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and the Al - Qaeda leader-
ship. In December 2001 with the Taliban removed, the interna-
tional security assistance force (ISAF) became operational in
Afghanistan.
Terrorism has been one of the greatest threats to peace and
security in India. The illustration on the terrorist attack in Mumbai
on 26 November, 2008, popularly called 26/11, symbolizes one
of the worst such incidences. The terrorists who conduct violent
activities are persons belonging to foreign countries or are
Indian youth indoctrinated, supported and trained in neighbouring
countries.
Terrorism , especially in its newer forms, has been described
as the " privatisation of war'' in the 21st century. As such, it pres-
ence new treats to security and new governance challenges.
Many pieces of security governance - such as preventive
diplomacy, adjudication, mediation , peace keeping and arms
control- are irrelevant when dealing with terrorism. The weak-
ness of most states 'banking regulation and the ease of moving
large amounts of money rapidly around the globe pose major
problems for efforts to block terrorists' funding. This requires
new modes of enforcement ranging from controls on money laun-
dering and transparency of banking transactions to targeted sanc-

62
tions such as those on conflict diamonds and leaders of states
that support terrorism. In cases such as Al-Qaeda where there
are no specific political objectives, but rather broad anti -Ameri-
can sentiments, fundamentalist Islamic or other religious concerns,
or deep alienation from static societies such as Saudi Arabia and
Egypt, identifying appropriate governance responses is a far more
elusive task.
The United Nations is being increasingly called upon to
coordinate the global fight against terrorism. Eighteen universal
instruments against international terrorism have been elaborated
within the framework of the United Nations system relating to
specific terrorist activities. In September 2006, UN Member
States adopted the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism
Strategy. This was the first time that Member States agreed to a
common strategic and operational framework against terrorism.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMICAL DILEMMAS
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
In the case of severe climate change, corresponding to an
average increase in global temperature of 2.6°C by 2040, mas-
sive nonlinear events in the global environment give rise to mas-
sive nonlinear societal events. In this scenario, nations around
the world will be overwhelmed by the scale of change and per-
nicious challenges, such as pandemic disease. The internal cohe-
sion of nations will be under great stress, including in the United
States, both as a result of a dramatic rise in migration and changes
in agricultural patternand water availability. The flooding of coastal
communities around the world, especially in the Netherlands,
the United States, South Asia, and China, has the potential to
challenge regional and even national identities. Armed conflict
between nations over resources, such as the Nile and its tribu-
taries, is likely and nuclear war is possible.
The social consequences range from increased religious fer-
vor to outright chaos. In this scenario, climate change provokes
a permanent shift in the relationship of humankind to nature. The
catastrophic scenario, with average global temperatures increas-

63
ing by 5.6°C by 2100, finds strong and surprising intersections
between the two great security threats of the day- global climate
change and international terrorism waged by Islamist extremists.
This catastrophic scenario would pose almost inconceivable chal-
lenges as human society struggled to adapt. It is by far the most
difficult future to visualize without straining credulity. The sce-
nario notes that understanding climate change in light of the other
great threat of our age, terrorism, can be illuminating. Although
distinct in nature, both threats are linked to energy use in the
industrialized world, and, indeed, the solutions to both depend
on transforming the world's energy economy-America's energy
economy in [Link] security community must come to grips
with these linkages, because dealing with only one of these threats
in isolation is likely to exacerbate the other, while dealing with
them together can provide important synergies. Poor and under-
developed areas are likely to have fewer resources and less
stamina to deal with climate change -in even its very modest and
early manifestations. The impact on rainfall, desertification, pes-
tilence, and storm intensity has already been felt in much of Af-
rica, parts of Central Asia, and throughout Central and South
America. Some of the nations and people of these regions lack
the resilience to deal with modest-let alone profound-disturbances
to local conditions. In contrast, wealthier societies have more
resources, incentives, and capabilities to deploy, to offset, or to
mitigate at least some of the more modest consequences of cli-
mate change. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that
climate change will not be a problem for affluent countries, in-
cluding the United States. Such nations may also face dire con-
ditions such as permanent agricultural disruptions, endemic dis-
ease, ferocious storm patterns, deep droughts, the disappear-
ance of vast tracks of coastal land, and the collapse of ocean
fisheries, which could well trigger a profound loss of confidence
in the most advanced and richest states.
Perhaps the most worrisome problems associated with ris-
ing temperatures and sea levels are from large-scale migrations
of people-both inside nations and across existing national bor-
64
ders. In all three scenarios it was projected that rising sea levels
in Central America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia and the as-
sociated disappearance of low lying coastal lands could con-
ceivably lead to massive migrations-potentially involving hun-
dreds of millions of people. These dramatic movements of people
and the possible disruptions involved could easily trigger major
security concerns and spike regional tensions. In some scenarios,
the number of people forced to move in the coming decades
could dwarf previous historical migrations. The more severe sce-
narios suggest the prospect of perhaps billions of people over
the medium or longer term being forced to relocate. The possi-
bility of such a significant portion of humanity on the move, forced
to relocate, poses an enormous challenge even if played out over
the course of decades.
The term "global climate change" is misleadingin that many
of the effects will vary dramaticallyfrom region to region. Changes
in oceancurrents, atmospheric conditions, and cumulativerainfall
will vary across different geographies, making it difficult to pre-
dict truly global [Link] localities will likely experience
risingtemperatures, but some places might see temperaturedeclines
due to the complexities of localclimate processes. Changes across
the board areunlikely to be gradual and predictable and morelikely
to be uneven and abrupt. Certain ecosystems-such as polar ice
regions and tropicalrainforests-are much more susceptible to
evenmodest changes in local temperatures. And theseregions are
particularly important when it comesto both regulating and trig-
gering conditions associatedwith climate change. Global climate
changeinvolves the entire planet but it will play out very differ-
ently with varying levels of intensity and significance in different
regions-a key observationof the group.
On June 1, 2017, United States President Donald Trump
announced that the U.S. would cease all participation in the 2015
Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. Trump stated that
"The Paris accord will undermine (the U.S.) economy," and "puts
(the U.S.) at a permanent disadvantage." Trump stated he will

65
move to negotiate a new ''fair'' deal that would not disadvantage
US businesses and workers. He claimed the agreement would
cost the US, 3 trillion dollar lost in GDP and 6.5 million jobs-
while rival economies like China and India were treated more
favourably. The US is world's second largest greenhouse gas
emitter and contributes about 15% of global emissions of car-
bon, but it is also a significant source of finance and technology
for developing countries in their efforts to fight rising tempera-
tures. Analysts say the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement
will make it more difficult for the world to reach the goals that it
set for itself in the Paris agreement. The Paris accord is meant to
limit the global rise in temperature attributed to emissions. As of
October 2017,195 UNFCCC members have signed the agree-
ment, 168 of which have ratified it.
GLOBALISATION
In the social front globalisation signifies closer interactions
of people and homogenisation of culture and values and the world
being transformed into a global village. Politically it refers to the
complex networks of global governance and shared political
values resulting in the development of a tendency towards
homogenisation of global political culture. Economically, it is
manifested in the form of liberalisation tendencies, privatisation,
deregulation leading to a free market regime.
According to Deepak Nayyar Globalisation can be more
precisely defined as "a process associated with increasing eco-
nomic openness growing economic independence and deepen-
ing economic integration between countries of the world econo-
my" After the implementation of the globalization policies deep-
ening of gap between the rich and poor countries and their con-
tention that the geographical distinction such as the North-South
divide is disappearing in favour of a single global market is hardly
tenable. The world has witnessed series of protests and move-
ments against globalisation with its apparatus, especially those
like the IMF and the World Bank, the mantra of liberalization
and privatization.

66
DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOP-
MENT
The post-Cold War period also witnessed the resurgence
of North-South economic antagonism. Such confrontation is not
new. It has occurred before in international arena. But in accor-
dance with the decline of ideological clashes, it has begun to
occupy a more significant agenda in international affairs.
To understand the greater consequences of the present
North-South conflict, some historical perspective is needed. In
the early 1970s, developing countries at the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) coalesced
into what became known as the Group of 77 to press their de-
mands for a New International Economic Order (NIEO). This
aspiration grew out of the neo-Marxist political economy theory
of the 1960s, which argued that the international trading system
was condemning the "periphery" -Latin America and other de-
veloping countries- to poverty, exploitation, and dependency.
Among other measures, the NIEO specifically called for a sys-
tem of price supports for a number of key developing country
commodity exports, indexation of developing country export
prices to developed countries' manufactured exports, technol-
ogy transfer, and the negotiated re-deployment of some devel-
oped country industries to developing nations. By the 1980s, the
NIEO agenda at the United Nations had foundered due to di-
vergences in developing country interests, the inability to repli-
cate OPEC's success with other commodities and, most impor-
tantly, the discrediting of its command-based economic theories.
This was evidenced by the astonishing success of Taiwan, South
Korea and others that pursued trade liberalization and export-
led growth.
Thirty years later, at Cancun, many officials opined that the
harsh rhetoric employed by major developing countries, such as
Brazil and India, as well as smaller African and Caribbean coun-
tries, was strongly reminiscent of the 1970s UNCTAD experi-
ence. The themes of Northern economic exploitation have be-

67
come fashionably recurrent, even though the remedies demanded
by the South at the WTO now differ from the NIEO. Rather
than price supports for commodities and exports, developing
countries at Cancun called for unilateral trade concessions and
compensation by the rich countries.
While there were many reasons enumerated for the failure
at Cancun, the common theme was that talks fell apart along a
North-South divide. The G-21 opposed developed countries'
agricultural subsidies. The Lesser Developed Countries (LDC)
refused to lower their astronomical agriculture and manufactur-
ing tariffs, which stoked the frustration of the United States and
others .
With the talks ended with no clear success, the conflict be-
tween the poor developing nations living in the Southern Hemi-
sphere and the rich industrial countries of the North has entered
a new phase. The phenomenon of the economic dependence of
the developing countries on the multinational companies from
the industrialized countries is named today neocolonialism, what
refers to the economic exploitation of these countries, which re-
sembles the conditions in the colonial age in various regards.
With global problems like the climate change, a further dimen-
sion of injustice is added: Whereas the problems are caused over
proportionality in the North, the consequences of the desertifi-
cation or extreme weather conditions occur over proportionally
in the South. This extends to the threat to the existence of nu-
merous small island states, which will no longer exist if the sea
level continues to rise any further.
It remains marking that the economic North-South conflict
has not led so far to military conflicts. Many critics, neverthe-
less, see to the neo colonialism as one main cause for the re-
flashing of terrorism in the 21 century. Growing economic glo-
balization in the post-Cold War era does not appear to be break-
ing the historical stratifications between the North and South.
Rather, it is economic globalization that channelled by past
grooves of strong and weak growth. The national units already

68
integrated to the world economy become more integrated to the
world economy; the less well-connected often stay that way. So
far only a very small number of states have managed to break
out of the low-growth ruts of the world system. The implications
of this grim outcome for world political stability are stark. To the
extent that poverty and under development facilitate continuing
conflict between the North and South, we may expect to see
international order as fragile.
CONCLUSION
Traditionally, international peace and security have meant
states 'security and the defence of states' territorial integrity from
external treats or attack. as suggested by our discussions of an
emerging norm of humanitarian intervention and a responsibilityto
protect, the concept of human security - the security of human
beings in the face of many different kinds of threats - is beginning
to take hold. It has become the foundation of some middle
power's foreign policy, such as Canada. These concerns for
human security needs to eradicate poverty and reduce the
inequalities exacerbated by globalisation, to promote environ-
mentally sustainable development and greater respect for hu-
man rights norms,as well as to address the growing security threats
posed by HIV / AIDS pandemic. It also grows out of the in-
creased involvement of actors other than states, and especially
of civil society. In short, threats to peace and security are being
defined not only in terms of state security but also in terms of
human security. Existing security governance structures are ill
equipped to deal with many new issues. Hence, the challenge is
to enhance the effectiveness of existing piece of governance for
dealing with on going problems and to find innovative approaches
for new ones.

69
 MODULE V

FOREIGN POLICY: CHANGING

CONCEPT OF NATIONAL INTEREST:
DEVELOPMENTS IN COLD WAR -POST
COLD WAR PERIOD, NEO LIBERALISM

States as units of international system cannot remain iso-

lated from each other. Especially ,in this age of growing interde-
pendence, there are always reasons for interactions among them.
Their interactions constitute what is known as the international
processes. These interactions are best reflected by the policies
pursued by the states towards other states. These policies are
generally identified as the foreign policies which involve regulat-
ing and conducting external relations of the states , with respect
to others in the international scenario. Foreign Policy is such
wheel around that the huge machinery of international poli-
tics revolves and operates. It is a sovereign relation between/
among sovereign states of the world, to protect their own inter-
est as well as of other states. It is foreign policy through that a
state can achieve their respective goals and objectives. Without
foreign policy, a country is like a ship having no direction. For-
eign policy is a strategy, planning or decision for specific goals.
Every state wants to achieve certain specific goal and on the
basis of these objectives foreign policy is formed.
Definitions
Foreign policy is the out put of the state into a global sys-
tem. Policy is generally considered as"a guide to an action or a
set of actions intended to realise the goals of an organization that
it has set for itself " which involve choice or choosing actions to
achieve one'sgoal. Foreign implies those territorially sovereign
units that exist beyond the legal boundaries of a particular state.
That is to say, anything beyond that legal territorial bound-
ary, not under the legal authority of the state concerned, is for-

70
eign. Therefore, foreign policy is considered to be a set of guide-
lines to choices being made about people, places and things be-
yond the boundaries of the state concerned.
George Modelski opines, "foreign policy as the system of
activities evolved by communities for changing the behaviour of
other states and for adjusting their own activities to the interna-
tional environment". A state's foreign policy takes into account
several factors such as an estimate of its own power and capa-
bilities, the broad principles of conduct which the state holds and
its government advocates with respect to international affairs,
the specific objective of national interest which the state seeks
for itself in foreign relations as well as for the course of world
affairs generally. Foreign policy also involves the strategies and
commitments and tactics which are undertaken for the realisation
of a states objectives and national interests.
According to Professor Gibson: "Foreign policy is well de-
fined comprehensive plan based on knowledge and experience
for conducting the business of the government with the rest of
the world".
According to Professor Joseph Frankel: "Foreign policy
consists of decisions and actions that involve to some appre-
ciable extant relations between one state and other"
Padelford and Lincoln defines, '' Foreign policy is the key
element in the process by which a state translates its broadly
conceived goals and interests into concrete courses of action to
attain these objectives and preserve its interests". Padelford and
Lincoln have explained two functions of foreign policy. Its first
function is to attain its broadly conceived goals and second func-
tion is to preserve the national interests.
In the opinion of C.C Rodee, "Foreign policy as a group of
principles which are adopted by the states to protect the national
interests and to change the behaviour of others".
Shortly Foreign Policy of Each Nation Contains:
1. A set of principles, policies and decisions adopted and fol-
lowed by the nation in international relations.
71
2. Objectives, goals or aims of national interest which are to
be secured.
3. Means to be used for achieving the goals of national inter-
est.
4. Broad policy principles and decisions for conducting in-
ternational relations.
5. Assessment of the gains and failures of the nation in respect
of its goals of national interest.
6. Policies, decisions and action-programmes for maintaining
continuity or change or both in international relations.
Objectives of Foreign policy
Professor Jayantanuja Bandyopadhyaya perceives the mak-
ing of foreign policy as a continuous exercise in the choice of
ends and means on the part of the nation-state in an international
setting. A broad end or goal is necessary to give a sense of
direction to foreign policy.
Broadly speaking, by foreign policy objectives, one means
those things that statesmen pursue in the course of their interac-
tions with other states. Objectivesevolve, and there is hardly any
consensus on how those objectives are best pursued or what the
foreign policy objectives should be . This brings us to a discus-
sion on the relation between objectives and strategy or between
ends and means. things thought of as objectives appear to be
ends in themselves, but are rather means for the achievement of
still more abstract or distant ends (happiness, security, success,
prestige etc) and objectives, whichorginated a means of
attaining something sometimes become an end in itself. The com-
monly cited example is that of the United States,objective of
winning the war in Korea and [Link] real motive was to
contain communism which in turn was ultimately linked to the
US interests to maintain stability in the international system to
protect American security. Again, the objective of winning the
Vietnam war was containing communismbut gradually it become

72
an end in itself because the reputation of the policy-makers de-
pends upon the victory in the war although it become evident
that the outcome of the Vietnam war surely going to weaken the
US and place the communists in a favourable position.
Therefore, according to Legg and Morris, a rational policy
making process to a large extent is the process of organizing
clear and reliable means-end chain, controlling the tendency
of means to become ends in themselves and seeing that the origi-
nal and more fundamental objectives are kept in perspective.
Holsti identifies objectives of the states, which he arranges
according to the priorities depending upon a variety of external
circumstances and domestic pressures as:
SECURITY AND NATIONAL INTEREST
O The General and continuing ends for that a nation acts is
called National Interests".
National interest is one of the most important objectives of
foreign policy. The Primary Interest of every state is self-presen-
tation, Security and wellbeing of its citizens. National Interests is
the permanent Interests of each state and every state want to
protect it by using the following methods.
a) Coercive Measures and Forcible Means
b) Alliances are generally concluded by two or more Nations
for the protection and promotion of common Interest i.e.
NATO.
c) Diplomatic Negotiations
d) Economic aid i.e. US Aid under Marshal Plan (1948) to
Europe and Third world e) Propaganda i.e. US Propa-
ganda in Iraq War
f) Collective Security i.e. against Iraq in Gulf War 1991
Another objective of foreign policy is maintenance of links
i.e. relations with other members of international community, and
adoption of policy of conflict or co-operation towards them with
a view to promote its own interests i.e. economic, political, se-

73
curity, social etc. for gaining these interests for instance Pakistan
have adopted the policy of co-operation towards China and
Policy of conflict towards India because India is also the enemy
of China.
AUTONOMY
The Protection of the territorial integrity of the country and
the protection of the interest of its citizens both within and out-
side the country is the objective of foreign policy. Generally, for
thispurpose the state prefer to follow policy of status quo.
Moreover, it includes Economic security, Political Security, Mili-
tary Security and Psychological Security.
WELFARE IN THE BROADEST SENSE
Economic development is the process that not only effect
economic relations but also social, political and cultural rela-
tions of the Society". "Economic development means increase
in national income or increase in Per-Capita Income". Economic
development is an attack on the chief evils of the world today
i.e. disease, illiteracy, unemployment and inequality". Economic
development is one of the most important objectives of For-
eign Policy. As the status of a state in International Sphere is
determined by the economic condition of a state thus a state
pursue the policy to contribute to economic prosperity.
STATUS AND PRESTIGE
Another aim of foreign policy is the enhancement of the
influence of the state either by expanding its area of influence or
reducing the other states to the position of dependency i.e. USA
and USSR followed this policy during Cold War era. Enhancing
of power is the most unique principle of F.P aims because; power
in this modern period is the corner stone of the state's foreign
policy.
Undoubtedly, the ends that the states seek vary from one
state to another depending on several factors such as geo-stra-
tegic location, needs, political culture, national interests and power
factors.

74
 Another classification of objectives are shown in the
table,

From the above discussions, we understood, the protec-

tion of national interest is the primary aim of any type of foreign
policy. Then we will analysing the nature and features of na-
tional interest.
NATIONAL INTEREST
National interest, as a concept and term, is frequently em-
ployed in the study of international studies. States justify often
the most inhuman measures and spend exorbitant sums of money
on defence by invoking "National interest", Just like power and
sovereignty, this too could mean different ideas to different
people. Few would contest the statement, however, that every
state acts in its imagined national interest. The British foreign min-
ister made the memorable statement that no nation has perma-
nent friends or permanent enemies. It only has permanent inter-
est. This national interest is most often invoked to place the
nation before any individual or institute, which reinforces the su-
premacy of the state. Palmerston's statement might be drawn to
substantiate a state's policy on innumerable occasions, but its
simplicity is far from the truth. National interest surely cannot be
permanent. The identity and interests of a state are subjected to
constant change. For example, America's foreign policy has
changed over time reflecting the change in its national interest.
As a new nation after the Revolutionary War, America's prime
national interest was to maintain its independence from more

75
powerful European countries. Protected by the Atlantic Ocean,
its major foreign policy, as typified by the Monroe Doctrine, was
to limit European attempts of further colonization of the Western
Hemisphere.
Emerging from World War II as the most powerful eco-
nomic power on Earth, the United States changed its foreign
policy dramatically. It took the lead in founding the United Na-
tions. It invested billions of dollars through the Marshall
Plan to help strengthen war-devastated European democra-
cies. It created a system of alliances, including the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO).
When states are georaphicallydivied- such as partition,which
created India and Pakistan- the interests of the states change
too. The British intellectual Nobel Maxwell's comment on this
context is noteworthy. He argues that in determining the national
interest of any state, the state's powerful and elitist class plays
an influential role, and determines policies, which are in that class
interest .It must be noted that those who support this view are
not merely Marxist. Realists too accept the fact that the elite
play an enormous role in framing the national interest .Neverthe-
less, in democracies ,the idea has been perpetuated that the
masses help in moulding national interest, but Marxist remain
sceptical about this. States do not find it difficult to rouse na-
tional attention to specific issues in order to justify certain deci-
sions .This is the politics of determining the national interest of a
state and possibly every state has indulged in this manipulation.
Efforts are made to justify the harsh measures, which often im-
pinge on national liberty and freedom of expression. In India
security acts have been passed in response to the Naxal threat.
Nazi Germany also took extreme measures in the name of na-
tional security. And the US did the same in order to invade Iraq.
W.W .Rostow defines, "National interest is the concept
which nations apply in trying to influence the world environ-
ment to their advantage"
[Link] holds that the national interests are ''an image

76
of a future state ofaffairs and future set of conditions which
governments through individual policy makers aspire to
bringabout by wielding influence abroad and by changing or sus-
taining the behaviour of states''
Morgenthanu's Views
In his book ,' In Defense of National interest' ,Morgenthau
writes that national interest is the guiding star of a state's foreign
policy .He is reluctant to include strategic culture or the study of
norms in the study of foreign policy. To him national interest is
both a mean and an end . National interest is of foremost impor-
tance for a state , and comes before every else, including moral-
ity. In his ''six principles'' of realism, Morgenthau emphasises not
only on the tension between morality and national interest, but
also argues that the latter has a greater priority. The tools to
maintain the national interest as follows:
(a)The use of force (b)Balance of power (c)Diplomatic
decisions
Types of National Interest
Thomas D Robinson,' In National interest' has listed six types
of national interests.
(1) Primary interests -The nation should be capable of defend-
ing its national territory and borders at any given moment.
This ability should not be compromised at any cost.
(2) Secondary interests - They are vital, butare not so crucial
as the primary [Link] relate basically to protection
citizens of the state, including those overseas and ensur-
ing diplomatic immunity to the diplomatic staff.
(3) Permanent interests -States long term and constant
interestswhich rarely change.
For example, Britain's long term interest was to protect her
overseas colonies and trade.
(4) Variable interests- They are basically for national good at a
particular period of time and place andare often determined
by the factors like personalities, publicopinion,
sectionalinterests, and partisan politics.
77
(5) General interests-They comprise conditions which apply
to a large number of nations in such areas as trade,
economics, diplomatic intercourse etc.
(6) Specific interests--- It is the logical out come of general
interests but defined in terms of time and space.
Besides the above categories Robinson identified three
kinds of international interests-
Identical, complementary and conflicting.
(1) Identical interests--- An interest held in common by many
states,eg: US,UK and countries of western Europe did not
want expansion of Soviet power and its ideology in the re-
gion.
(2) Complementary interests-They are not identical but form
some kind of a basis for agreement and compromise. Ex-
ample, USA and Pakistan served complementary interests
of each other at the time of Soviet intervention in Afghani-
stan.
(3) Conflicting interests- Such interests fall in the category of
opposed interests. They are not permanent and offer change
due to force of events and diplomacy,eg: the case of Kash-
mir is one of conflicting interests between India and Paki-
stan.
A state relies on a vast array of resources to maintain its
national interest. These could be material forces such as the army
or economy. They could also be the culture or ideational forces,
what Joseph Nye refer to as ''soft power''. Ideologies, ideas
diplomacy or even a certain way of life could be soft power. It
most frequently used to refer to the sway the American culture -
whether Hollywood movies or McDonald hamburgers or
Microsoft software -has over the world.
States also form alliances in order to project national inter-
est. In time of peace, alliances as well as other forms of medita-
tion are used by the states to save the costs of war. This is
recognised in the UN charter, which provides a number of means
to avert a crisis .It lists several alternatives available to the state
78
to avoid a conflict with another state. These include diplomatic
means such as negotiation, mediation, reconciliation and arbi-
tration .The UN also supports the use of sanctions to force a
state to enter into negotiations. Collective security is another
mean to protect a state's national interest .State frequently align
to form a coalition to face a threat which would have been im-
possible to overwhelm if they were to face it alone. Collec-
tive security is a means to ensure that status quo is maintained
and a threat is effectively stamped out.
DEVELOPMENTS IN COLD WAR PERIOD
During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union
fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the
relationship between the two nations was a tense one.
Americans had long been wary of Soviet communism and
concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin's tyrannical rule
of his own country. For their part, the Soviets resented the Ameri-
cans' decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part
of the international community as well as their delayed entry into
World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of
Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an
overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Post-war
Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fuelled many Americans'
fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the
USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials'
bellicose rhetoric, arms build up and interventionist approach to
international relations.
When Walter Lippmann first used the term 'cold war', he
was obviously referring to a war likesituation between two power
blocs, yet it was not a war. It was a 'diplomatic war', not an
armed conflict between two or more powers. Fleming described
the cold war as a 'warthatisfought not in the battle field,but in
the minds of men, one tries to control the minds of others'.
Peace during the cold War years was pursued through in-
ternational institutionalism and the creation of the United Na-
tions. The UN drew from the lessons of the failure of the League
79
of Nations and was intended to peace and international coop-
eration, while serving US national interests. The UN, however,
was unable to ensure peace because of the political ambivalence
of a number of countries, including the US, that wanted an inter-
national institution strong enough to keep the peace but no so
strong as to threaten nation-state supremacy or sovereignty. The
onset of the Cold War and the ensuing priority given to consid-
erations of Power significantly undermined the ability of the UN
to achieve its original vision.
Cold war period was divided into four phases.
The first phase - 1945 to 1953, Second phase - 1953 to
1962
Third phase -1962 to 1973
Fourth phase-1979 to 1989
During the coldwarperiod, foreign policy of world nations
have been based on three major determinants, such as,
(1) Ideological interests, (2) Geo-political interests, (3)
Military interests.
Therefore, it is rational to discuss the determinants of for-
eign policy, which would help us to understand the pattern of
interaction in cold war arena.
Ideological interests
There were long seeded differences between the United
States and the Soviet Union over ideologies. In the Russian
Revolution of 1917 the communists took power. The United
States and Britain were worried that the same thing might hap-
pen in their countries. They thus helped support the White Army,
the side against communism, in the Russian Civil War that fol-
lowed (though they failed). In fact, the United States did not
acknowledge the communist government until 1933.
Things had changed temporarily though because Hitler came
to power and Stalin and the Soviet Union were redesigned as a
kinder people. Although the two sides were able to unite over
the common enemy of Germany, after the War people in the
United States started to remember their differences.
80
 The Cold War and related conflicts started almost at end of
World War II, when Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill arranged a
meeting denominated the Yalta Conference, in which they dis-
cussed the situation of Germany and the possible solutions to
end the war (Spielvogel, 2007). It was stated that Germany had
to be demilitarized and in order to control it; it would be divided
into four zones. Around this time idealism seemed like the theory
that could explain the mechanics of the world because the States
were willing to cooperate, proving that it is possible to achieve
common good. The powers that emerged from the war got to-
gether for a cause and their main objective was progress in peace.
Everything seemed fine until the greed for power started to get in
the way of the goals that had been established. Berlin had to be
divided between the United States, France, the United King-
dom and the Soviet Union as well, and in 1946 Churchill said
that an iron curtain had fallen over the European continent, meta-
phor that was used during the Cold War to refer to the ideologi-
cal division of the time. Soon the Berlin Wall became the real
iron curtain and also the symbol of the bipolar system.
These differences between the two countries stemmed from
their ideologies. Communism was the ideology followed by the
Soviet Union. Originally founded by Karl Marx, it said that
everything should be owned by the government and then divided
up equally among the people who would then all work for
it. Not only was the Soviet Union communist, they were
totalitarian, meaning all the power was with the rulers.
Communism is an economic system that is based on the
principles of socialism, especially the earlier development of
Marxism and the ideas of Karl Marx as expressed in the Com-
munist Manifesto. Similar to Marxism, communism is cen-
tered on the idea of establishing a society based upon public
ownership of the means of production and the removal of any
form of social classes. For example, communism generally fo-
cuses on the conditions of the working-class, and the wide
income gap that existed in laissez-faire capitalist societies.

81
Communist countries such as the Soviet Union are also often
dictatorships. Communism differs from capitalism because it
focuses on the government having much more control over
the economy, and is often referred to as a command economy.
A dictatorship is a form of government in which most or all
authority of the country is in the hands of a single individual; the
leader. While the term has been used several times throughout
history, most common usage of the term is in relation to differ-
ent types of dictatorships that existed in the 20th and 21st cen-
turies. In general, a dictatorship is the opposite of democracy,
which is a system of government in which the people hold the
power and the ability to choose who represents their govern-
ment. Essentially, in a democracy the people have the power
over the major aspects of government and have the responsibil-
ity to elect their leaders. In contrast, a dictatorship is ruled by a
single person who generally acts to protect his own position and
power over the welfare of the citizens.
The United States was capitalist which meant that people
could own land and businesses and compete for themselves. This
led to a stark contrast between poor and rich. They were also a
democracy, which meant it was the people who had a say by
electing rulers. At its heart, capitalism is an economic system
based upon the values of individualism and promotes individual
liberty over government regulation and control. For example,
laissez- faire capitalism is a form of the ideology that translates to
"leave us alone" meaning that the government should remain out
of the economy and instead allow individuals to freely carry out
their own economic affairs. The development of capitalism as an
economic system, sought to reject the idea of government con-
trol of the economy and instead put the focus on individuals. On
the economic spectrum, capitalism is a right-wing ideology that
is fundamentally based on: private ownership, competition,
free trade, self-reliance, self- interest, and the principles of sup-
ply and demand. Capitalist societies are often based on free-
market economies. This system differs from communism wherein

82
the government usually controls the means of production and
makes all important economic decisions.
Democracy is a political system that is associated with
the idea that power or authority in a society rests with the
people. In general, the people exercise their authority through
elections in which they choose others to represent their inter-
ests in a formal legislative structure. This system differs from
dictatorships wherein many of the decisions are made by the
government which is often a single person and single political
party.
Geo-political interests
The US continued to propagate that the USSR was an
expansionist state, an imperialist power which had notonly in-
stalled Communist regimes by force in East European countries
but even crushed Hungarian and Czechoslovak communist lead-
ers who desired to act independently of Soviet control and free
from Russian domination. On the other hand,Soviet leadership
described the Americans as colonialists, imperialists and capi-
talist exploiters. The USSR was selling the concept of Commu-
nism as panacea of all ills in Asia and [Link] Soviet Union
exploited anti-west feelings of Afro-Asian peoples,and encour-
aged the newly independent countries of the third world to
nationalise those projects where Anglo-American capital had
been invested. America charged the Soviet Union with ideologi-
cal imperialism and pledged to contain communism so that free-
dom of the rest of the world was not endangered by communist
onslaught. Both the sides had many clients. Thus, Britain, France,
Canada, Australia, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Paki-
stan and Turkey were some of the American Bloc countries, the
Soviet Bloc included Poland, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria,
Rumania and Czechoslovakia. Yugoslavia, which was initially
in the Soviet Bloc, decided in 1948 to follow an independent
policy while remaining a Communist state. She had thus,'defected'
from Eastern Bloc and became a non - aligned country like India
and Egypt. In short world was divided in to two blocs, commu-
nists and capitalists.
83
 In China, Americans worried about the advances of Mao
Zedong and his communist party. During World War II, the Na-
tionalist government under Chiang Kai-shek and the communist
forces waged a civil war even as they fought the Japanese. Chiang
had been a war-time ally, but even American support could not
bolster a government that was hopelessly inefficient and corrupt.
Mao's forces finally seized power in 1949, and when he an-
nounced that his new regime would support the Soviet Union
against the "imperialist" United States, it appeared that commu-
nism was spreading out of control, at least in [Link] Korean
War brought armed conflict between the United States and China.
Cold War struggles were also occurring in the Middle East.
Strategically important as a supplier of oil, the region appeared
vulnerable in 1946, when Soviet troops failed to leave Iran as
promised, even after British and American forces had already
withdrawn. The U.S. demanded a U.N. condemnation of
Moscow's continued troop presence. When the United States
observed Soviet tanks entering the region, Washington readied
for a direct clash. Confronted by U.S. resolve, the Soviets with-
drew their forces.
In Latin America ,particularly Chile,Salvador Allende, a
socialist who had been elected in Chile, nationalized mines.
Some of those he turned away were American companies. The
United States helped to overthrow him. Another example, Jacobo
Arbenz decided to try democracy in Guatemala, and in doing so
shared power with the communists and socialists. Promising
land reforms, he took over land from large landowners. Some
of these people were powerful friends of the head of the CIA,
Nixon, and Eisenhower, including shareholders in the United Fruit
Company. The United States said that communism would not be
allowed in its sphere. Eisenhower reformed the Monroe Doc-
trine (a 1823 policy which had kept Europeans out of the Ameri-
cas) to say this as well. They used covert operations and worked
from 1950-1954 to overthrow Arbenz until he fled After 1945,
Africa became caught up in the confrontation between America

84
and the Soviet Union, the so-called Cold War. Anti- Commu-
nism informed almost every aspect of the South African
government's foreign policy and much of its domestic [Link]
of Communism haunted the white minority government of South
Africa from the 1950s to the collapse of single party rule in East-
ern Europe in 1989. South Africa, along with Egypt, were the
first two countries on the continent to give rise to Communist
parties - both in the 1920s. But the significance of this in domes-
tic politics was only felt after the Second World War.
The South African government's stand found support in the
Portuguese colonial regimes of Angola and Mozambique, which
hung on until 1975, and the white government of Ian Smith in
Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe), which only yielded to majority
rule in 1980. All these regimes equated political opposition with
a desire to overthrow capitalism and nationalise the private sec-
tor. In this they were discreetly supported by most of Western
Europe and America. The West was willing to turn a blind eye to
institutionalised racism and minority rule government, if that meant
keeping commercial and mining investments safe from
nationalisation.
The Zairean leader President Joseph Mobutu was similarly
supported by the West for making a public stand against Com-
munism, while at the same time he systematically stripped his
country of its wealth and resources.
For its part the Soviet Union was happy to give military
support to the governments of Angola and Mozambique and to
the ANC. They had tried to achieve their goals of majority rule
through peaceful means and failed. Now they had to contem-
plate using violent means. From 1960, the Soviet Union be-
came involved in several Marxist, African struggles, provid-
ing political support, weapons and military training, including
to the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
in their fight against the Portuguese. Aside from military aid, the
Soviet Union also offered a number of educational scholarships
to young people, mainly in the former English and Portuguese

85
territories. But the Soviet Union gave little in the way of aid or
trade. There was no great Soviet strategy for taking over Africa,
and generally the Soviet Union was under informed about his-
tory, political structures and the needs of the countries it sup-
ported.
African nations such as Angola, Mozambique and the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) provided the stages for
some of the most bloody proxy battles between "East" and
"West"in cold war period, theUnited States, apartheid-era South
Africa tried to prevent the spread of communism in the global
south, while Cuba and the Eastern Bloc sought to support it.
A question may emerge , why the superpowers needed any
allies at all. After all ,with their nuclear weapons and regular
armies,they were so powerful that the combined power of most
of the smaller states in Asia and Africa, and even in Europe ,
was no match to that of the super powers. Yet, the smaller states
were helpful for the super powers in gaining access to,
(1) Vital resources, such as oil and minerals, (2)
Territory,from where the superpowers could launch their weap-
ons and troops, (3) Locations from where they could spy on
each other ,and (4) Economic support,in that many small allies
together could help pay for military expenses.
Cracks and splits within the alliances were quick to
[Link] China quarrelled with the USSR towards
the late 1950s and in 1969, they fought a brief war over a terri-
torial dispute. The other important development was the Non
Aligned Movement (NAM), which gave the newly independent
countries a way of staying out of the alliances. Military interests
It is said that there never was a direct armed conflict be-
tween the two superpowers but the indirect conflicts that took
place during this period of time must be taken into account con-
sidering that both countries were involved in most of them. The
rivalry between the two countries led to the strife for power that
realists talk so much about and in the process dragged them into
a few foreign wars.
86
 A clear example of this was the Korean War. At the beg-
ging of the 50's Korea was divided in two: North Korea (with a
People's Republic) and South Korea (with a pro- American
doctrine). Stalin was interested in getting some territories in Asia
back and decided to support North Korea by attacking the south
of the peninsula. The US, afraid of the expansion of communism
went to the rescue of South Korea, responding to the attack and
proving once again that cooperation is possible, and even more
so during a conflict.
In 1962 there was another confrontation, the USSR started
to install nuclear missiles in Cuba, they represented a counter-
attack to the American nuclear weapons in Turkey (Miller,
2003). Kennedy's team found soviet ships transporting more
missiles to Cuba and decided to block the island. The US had to
compromise and settle with a deal where they agreed not to
invade Cuba in exchange for the ships to leave. Right at this
moment security became the main national interest for the US,
and as the realism stated, it acted in a way that it would protect
and achieve that interest. The tension that took place in this spe-
cific moment in history switched the dominant theory again and
following idealist ideas the red phone was installed creating a
direct line between the Kremlin and the White House in order to
be able to resolve future issues before they got out control.
The struggles that took place during the Cold War kept the
world population on alert because of the possibility of a nuclear
war. The Missile Crisis was the period of strongest tension, but
there were other situations that put entire cities in danger, such as
the Vietnam War and the Prague Spring. The only control there
was on the possible breakout of world war III was the enor-
mous arsenal that both sides had accumulated for their protec-
tion, which became useless due to the consequences that would've
been brought on if any of the two decided to act on it.
The Vietnam War which lasted from 1955-1975, followed
the First Indochina War, or the French Indochina War is another
example

87
MIDDLE EAST
Yom Kippur War:
In 1967 some of the Arab states around Israel had lost land
after the Six Day War, a conflict between Israel and some Arab
states including Syria and Egypt. Syria and Egypt were mad
about this and attacked Israel on Yom Kippur. The superpow-
ers created a buffer zone, but Israel and the United States crossed
it. The Soviet Union offered to use their troops to hold the line,
and the possible confrontation of the two superpowers again
had the world on edge.
Afghanistan:
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to support
the communists there, and the United States backed an anti-
Soviet and anti-communist action that same year. These actions
brought an end to detente between the two countries.
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Possibly the highest point of tension during the Cold War
was the Cuban Missile Crisis which saw the world preparing for
nuclear [Link] United States saw the Caribbean as being in
their sphere of influence so when, in 1959, Fidel Castro and the
socialists took power after a revolution in Cuba and nationalized
the economy, they were not happy.
Thus in March 1961, in what was known as the Bay of
Pigs, the CIA unsuccessfully tried to invade Cuba with 1500
Cuban exiles and overthrow Castro. After this, the United States
decided to stop trading with Cuba so they turned to the Soviet
[Link] 1961 secret Soviet missiles were put into Cuba by Soviet
Leader Nikita Khrushcev and Castro, but the plan was exposed
when the ships were spotted. This made the United States and
President Kennedy really nervous since it was so close they could
easily be hit. At the same time though, they had their own weapons
in Britain and Italy, and to a lesser extent Turkey.
The United States put a blockade on the water so no more
weapons could enter and became ready for war, while the whole
world watched. An agreement was finally reached though and
88
the United States would not invade Cuba and take back their
weapons from Turkey (although this was secret) and the Soviet
Union would remove their weapons from Cuba.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty (NATO ) was essentially a mili-
tary pact against the Soviet Bloc. This treaty was signed in April
1949 at Washington DC by 12 countries, Article 5 of the treaty
said that an armed attack against one or more of the signato-
ries in Europe or North America 'shall be considered an attack
against them all', and they agreed to work for collective defence
and to assist each other. This would include use of armed forces
to restore and maintain the security of North Atlantic area.
ARMS RACE
The political climate of the Cold war became more defined
in January 1954, when U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
announced the policy that came to be known as "massive retali-
ation" -- any major Soviet attack would be met with a
massive nuclear response. As a result of the challenge of "mas-
sive retaliation" came the most significant by- product of the Cold
War, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
The ICBM's were supported with the thermo-nuclear bomb
(with a much greater destructive power than the original atomic
bomb), inertial guidance systems (defines the difference between
weight, the influence of gravity and the impact of inertia), and
powerful booster engines for multistage rockets. As a result,
ballistic missiles became sufficiently accurate and powerful to
destroy targets 8000 km (5000 mi) away. For more than thirty
years, the ICBM has been the symbol of the United States' stra-
tegic nuclear arsenal.
In October 1961, The Soviet Union detonated a nuclear
device, estimated at 58 megatons, the equivalent of more
than 50 million tons of TNT, or more than all the explosives
used during World War II. It is the largest nuclear weapon the
world had ever seen at that time. The Tsar Bomba (King of the
Bombs) is detonated after US and USSR agree to limit nuclear
89
testing. It is the largest nuclear device ever exploded. Having no
strategic military value, Tsar is viewed as an act of intimidation
by the Soviets.
MUTUAL DEFENCE ALLIANCES
In the Cold War, both sides created alliances to cement
their ties. This ensured that if one country was attacked, all of
the allies on that side would unite behind them.
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION
Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD, was a way to avoid
war, rather than fight it. Ironically however, it required a large
number of [Link] said that there could be no winner in
a nuclear war. This became the strategy on both sides as the
main threat moved from bombs to missiles. It involved holding
enough weapons to deter the other side from attacking. NORAD
thus drew heavily on this strategy when it came to the defence of
North America.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE POST COLD WAR PERIOD
Gorbachev's internal reforms had meanwhile weakened his
own Communist Party and allowed power to shift to Russia and
the other constituent republics of the Soviet Union. In late 1991
the Soviet Union collapsed and 15 newly independent nations
were born from its corpse, including a Russia with a democrati-
cally elected, anti-Communist leader. The Cold War had come
to an end. The main features of the foreign policy formulations in
the post cold war period are given below ,
1. Disintegration of Soviet union and decline of ideologi-
cal factors
[Link] (The End Of History and The Last Man,1992)
claimed that the collapse of the soviet union in 1991 proved that
liberal democracy had no serious ideological challenge. It was
'the end point of mankind's ideological evolution', and the
liberal democracy is' the final form of human government'. For
Fukuyama ,'the end of Cold war represented the victory of ideal
state', and liberal capitalism. Fukuyama revived the traditional
liberal internationalist theory that the spread of legitimate do-
90
mestic political order will eventually being an end to international
conflict. While Wilson and other liberal institutionalists believed
that lasting peace would come through international organisations
and international law, Fukuyama argued that countries domes-
tic structure would be an assurance of end of conflict, implying
end of war. For Fukuyama, the projection of liberal countries
principles to international arena are said to provide the best
prospectsfor peaceful world because' a world made up of lib-
eral democracies…..should have much less incentive for war
,since all nations would reciprocally recognise one another's le-
gitimacy'.
With the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe
and disintegration of the Soviet Union, the bipolar international
system dominating the Cold War period disappeared, leaving its
place to basically a unipolar system under the leadership of the
United States, speaking especially from a military/political point
of view. The former rivals of the United States, especially the
Soviet Union and China, have either collapsed or jettisoned the
central features of their ideologies that were hostile to the United
States. Other countries have turned to American military protec-
tion. The "American Empire" may best be seen operating in the
Persian Gulf, Iraq, and the Middle East, in general, where the
armed forces of the United States have established a semi per-
manent foothold and thousands of soldiers deployed at bases
keep a watch on Iran, Syria, and other "potential enemies".
American military power serves a number of critical functions. In
some areas, in the Persian Gulf for example, it guarantees weak
states against attacks by their stronger neighbors. In Asia, the
presence of the United States stabilizes the region in which a
number of states might otherwise feel compelled to develop much
larger military forces than they currently have. American military
power in Japan does only protect Japan against foreign enemies.
It indirectly protects China and other Asian states against the
consequences that might flow from a heavily re-armed Japan.
Moreover, American military power serves as an organizer of

91
military coalition, both permanent (such as NATO) and ad hoc
(such as peacekeeping missions). American military participa-
tion is often necessary to the command and control of coalition
operations. When the Americans are willing to lead, other coun-
tries often follow, even if reluctantly. However, these are cer-
tainly not to argue that American interventions occur in every
large conflict around the world. But it means that almost any
country embarking on the use of force beyond its borders has to
think about possible reactions of the United States.
From an economic/political point of view, on the other hand,
the international system can be said to be multipolar, rather
than unipolar. The United States certainly a great economic
power, but it is not the only power. There are other power cen-
ters, most notably, the European Union, the Organization of Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation, as well as many nation-states
outside of these integrations or organizations . As a matter of
fact, when the United States exercised military operations to
"stable" the world in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, it
insisted on sharing the costs of the operations with other major
powers or relevant countries. Thus, the international system of
the post-Cold War era actually reflects a mixture of both unipo-
lar and multipolar system in which at least five major powers, the
United States, Europe, China, Japan, and Russia, dominate in-
ternational affair.
Post- cold war scenario has come to be characterized by
the return of multipolarity where there is a presence of great pow-
ers and small powers. Some scholars also uphold the view that
the world has become unipolar with the presence of the sole
surviving super power ,the United States. On the other
hand,there are other scholars who profess multipolarity and
project the emergence of a five-way balance of power system
rotating around the United States, Europe, Japan, China and the
present Soviet Union.
Cold war national security is determined by hard power
that is military power. Now,post cold war period, we can find

92
certain kind of shift and departure in the relative decline in the
status of hard power and focus shifted to soft power,that is
scientific and technological power. In military domain, the na-
tional interest priorities of the major states especially USA shifted
from high intensity conflict to low intensity conflict .For example,
US influence in Georgia and Chechnia.
Again another important feature is east ward expansion of
NATO. USA further consolidated military dominance through
east ward expansion of NATO by providing membership to
former Soviet Union countries such as ,Poland, Hungary,
Rumania.A fourth challenge is that many new foreign policy is-
sues transcend borders.
That is, there are no longer simply friendly states and en-
emy states. Problems around the world that might affect the wold
states, such as terrorism, the international slave trade, and cli-
mate change, originate with groups and issues that are not coun-
try-specific. They are transnational. So, for example, while we
can readily name the enemies of the Allied forces in World War
II (Germany, Italy, and Japan), the U.S. war against terrorism
has been aimed at terrorist groups that do not fit neatly within the
borders of any one country with which the United States could
quickly interact to solve the problem. Intelligence-gathering and
focused military intervention are needed more than traditional
diplomatic relations, and relations can become complicated when
the United States wants to pursue terrorists within other coun-
tries' borders. An ongoing example is the use of U.S. drone strikes
on terrorist targets within the nation of Pakistan, in addition to
the 2011 campaign that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden,
the founder of al-Qaeda.
Another main goal of U.S. foreign policy is the protection
of human rights and democracy. The payoff of stability that comes
from other U.S. foreign policy goals is peace and tranquility. While
certainly looking out for its own strategic interests in considering
foreign policy strategy, the United States nonetheless attempts
to support international peace through many aspects of its for-

93
eign policy, such as foreign aid, and through its support of and
participation in international organizations such as the United
Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and
the Organization of American States.
2. Trade relations and Economic factors
Since the mid 1980s , USA gradually shifted foreign policy
and national security objectives. By effectively completing the
Uruguay round trade negotiations and implementing Dunkel
report , USA played a major role in the subsequent formations
of WTO IN 1995. USA and western countries were exten-
sively utilized IMF ,World bank and WTO for materialising its
economic and political objectives against developing countries.
Third world, especially the Middle East , still continues to
be the vital interest zone for the west, especially the United
States. The first post-Cold war National Security Strategy
report sent to the US Congress in March 1990,recognized that
military power must target the Third World, primarly the Middle
East , where the "threats to our interests" that have required
force "could not be laid at the Kremlin's door". Therefore, the
prime concern continued to be the control of the countries of the
South.
The decreasing ideological clashes between the United
States and Russia manifested itself most clearly in the decline of
the veto at the Security Council. From 1945 to 1990,thepermanent
members of the Security Council cast the following number of
vetoes: China,
3; France, 18; United Kingdom, 30; US, 69; and the Soviet
Union, 114. Then between June
1990 and May 1993, there was no single veto. One ex-
ception occurred in May 1993 when Russia blocked a resolu-
tion on financing the peacekeeping force on Cyprus. With this
exception, the post-Cold War capacity of the Security Coun-
cil to reach agreement has survived and constituted a key rea-
son for the increase in the number of peacekeeping operations.
Another feature of the post-Cold War era is that since the
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West has become the victor of the East-West ideological rivalry,
Western systems and Western influences, in general, started to
dominate the whole world. For example, the United States has
visibly enhanced its influence in the Middle East and in Caucasus
since the end of the Cold War. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq
in August 1990 and the following Gulf Crisis, in a way,
created an opportunity for the Unites States to exercise its he-
gemonic power in the Middle East. In the following years, in the
absence of a counter-power, the influence of the United States
increased further. With the military operation to Afghanistan and
invasion of Iraq after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United
States perpetuated its dominance in the region.
The region of Caucasus was formerly under the Russian
sphere of influence. But the United States managed to enter this
energy-rich region with some new allies, used to be the part of
the Soviet Union, such as Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Georgia.
Although Russia certainly did not want the United States pres-
ence in the region, its ability to prevent it has remained limited.
Likewise, NATO expanded to involve Eastern Europe, a
region also used to be under Soviet influence. Russia, in the be-
ginning, tried to resist NATO expansion, posing several threats,
including creating a counter defence organization. But it was even-
tually convinced with the project of "partnership for peace",
through which it preserved many of its privileges in Eastern Eu-
ropean countries .
In the same way, the European Union expanded towards
Eastern Europe, symbolizing, once again, Western dominance.
Particularly with the 2004 expansion, eight formerly-communist
countries, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia,
Slovakia, and Check Republic (with the exception of Cyprus
and Malta) joined the Union. And in 2007, twoother previously-
communist states, Bulgaria and Romania, became full members
as well.
The domination of South is now ensured not through the
use of force but,dominantly by the use of trade and economic

95
weapons. The international financial regimes such as the IMF,
the World Bank and WTO, with their policies of structural
adjustments, are spreading their tentacles of domination all over
the developing South. The other mechanism includes multina-
tional corporations (MNCs ) through which the developed West
tries to reduce the functions of the Third World governments
merely to police functions while the MNCs and TNCs gain
free access to their resources ,control their decision making,
pattern of development, new technology and global invest-
ment. All in all, the entire dependency syndrome and neo-colo-
nialism would continue even in the post -cold war scenario.
Trade policy is the way the United States interacts with other
countries to ease the flow of commerce and goods and ser-
vices between countries. A country is said to be engaging in
protectionism when it does not permit other countries to sell goods
and services within its borders, or when it charges them very
high tariffs (or import taxes) to do so. At the other end of the
spectrum is a free trade approach, in which a country allows the
unfettered flow of goods and services between itself and other
countries. At times the United States has been free trade-ori-
ented, while at other times it has been protectionist. Perhaps its
most free trade-oriented move was the 1991 implementation of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This pact
removed trade barriers and other transaction costs levied on
goods moving between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The post cold war foreign policy is to ensure the nation
maintains access to key resources and markets across the world.
Resources include natural resources, such as oil, and economic
resources, including the infusion of foreign capital investment for
U.S. domestic infrastructure projects like buildings, bridges, and
weapons systems. Of course, access to the international mar-
ketplace also means access to goods that American consumers
might want, such as Swiss chocolate and Australian wine. U.S.
foreign policy also seeks to advance the interests of U.S. busi-
ness, to both sell domestic products in the international market-

96
place and support general economic development around the
globe (especially in developing countries).
3. Globalisation
The internationalization of economic activity in Europe first
took off in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the development
of new shipping technology that led to Spanish colonization
of Latin America. Similarly, 19th century proved to be an era
of increased international commerce, triggered by the indus-
trial revolution but, in the 1930s, this economic expansion was
reversed as political turmoil created the Great Depression. The
contemporary phase of globalization only started to return glo-
bal economic activity to 19th century levels in the late 1970s.
Liberals argue that governments should want to promote
free trade to make everyone wealthier. From a political per-
spective , foreign competition can bankrupt domestic businesses.
The liberals suggested that government attempts to kick
start development had been highly wasteful and had tended to
crowd out private sector entrepreneurs. The solution to the debt
crisis was for governments to spend less, sell off assets that
would be better run by private sector and reduce government
control over economic activity. At this juncture, globalisation re-
sults in an erosion of state capacity, that is ,the ability of gov-
ernment to do what they do , particularly the protection of na-
tional interest. All over the world , the old welfare state is now
giving way to a more minimalist state that performs certain
core functions such as the maintenance of law and order and
the security of its citizens. In the place of welfare state ,it is the
market that becomes the prime determinant of economic and
social priorities. The entry and the increased role of multina-
tional companies all over the world leads to a reduction in the
capacity of governments to take decisions on their own.
The concept of national interest has come under the threats
of globalisation. The operation of MNCs and their interference
with the domestic policies of their host countries have really
undermined the sovereignty of the states.
97
4. Foreign aid and Environmental concern
In thepost cold war period, Foreign aid and global envi-
ronmental policy are the final two foreign policy factors. With
both, as with the other types, the United States operates as a
strategic actor with its own interests in mind, but here it also acts
as an international steward trying to serve the common good.
With foreign aid, the United States provides material and eco-
nomic aid to other countries, especially developing countries, in
order to improve their stability and their citizens' quality of life.
This type of aid is sometimes called humanitarian aid; in 2013
the U.S. contribution totalled $32 billion. Military aid is classi-
fied under military/defence or national security policy (and to-
talled $8 billion in 2013). At $40 billion the total U.S. foreign aid
budget for 2013 was sizeable, though it represented less than
1 percent of the entire federal budget.[6]
Global environmental policy addresses world-level environ-
mental matters such as climate change and global warming, the
thinning of the ozone layer, rainforest depletion in areas along the
Equator, and ocean pollution and species extinction. The United
States' commitment to such issues has varied considerably over
the years. For example, the United States was the largest coun-
try not to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emis-
sions.
The states have a common interest in preventing the deple-
tion of environmental resources, which is occurring at a rapid
rate due to the pace and scope of global industrialisation. The
problem is not confined within particular national boarders, nor
can it be resolved with traditional power politics, violence or
unilateral action. All states have a common interest in finding a
solution to the problem, which their collective but over lapping
activity has created. It is also a problem which can only be re-
solved through cooperative efforts among them. The same dy-
namics can be found in other issue areas some times disparag-
ingly referred to as 'low' politics, such as global economics,
climatechange, refugees or immigration. These issue areas have

98
become increasingly important to states and, because they
are characterized by interdependence, are also the areas in which
there is the greatest potential for international co operation.
Many leaders and intellectuals in the leading developing
states believe the West's promotion of humanrights and democ-
racy is detrimental to their countries' political and social stability.
Some even claim Western countries are deliberately using de-
mocracy and human rights as tools toprevent the economic and
political rise of new challengers from the developing world. A
recentinternational conference in Moscow hosted by the
Russian military and attended by prominentrepresentatives of
developing world militaries identified the spread of Western-
backed "colorrevolutions" as one of the most acute security threats
facing Russia and other developing states. In China, party cad-
res are instructed to be vigilant against American efforts to over-
throw the communist system through "peaceful evolution", i.e.
the spread of Western ideas andculture .
NEO - LIBERALISM
Neo-Liberalism refers to the revival of economic liberal-
ism that has been taken place since the 1970s . Neo liberalism
was counter-revolutionary: its aim was to halt ,and if possible
reverse, the trend towards 'big' government and state interven-
tion that had characterised much of the 20th century. Neo liber-
alism had its greatest initial impact in the two countries in which
free- market economic principles had been established most firmly
in the 19th century, the UK and the USA. However, in the case
of both 'Thatcherism'in the UK and 'Reagonism' in the USA,
neo liberalism formed part of a larger, new -right ideological
project that sought to fuse laissez faire economics with an essen-
tially conservative social philosophy.
Neo liberalism amounts to a form of market fundamental-
ism. The market is seen to be morally and practically superior to
government and any form of political control . In that sense, neo
liberalism goes beyond classical economic theory. For instance,
although Adam smith is rightfully viewed as the father of market

99
economics, he also recognise the limitations of the market and
certainly did not subscribe to a crude utility - maximising model
of human nature. From the neo liberal perspective, the defects
of government are many and varied. Free market economists,
such as Friedrich von Hayek and the US economist Milton Fried-
man attacked the economic role of governments. Hayek advanced
a damning economic and political critique of central planning in
particular and economic intervention in general. He argued that
planning in any form is bound to be economically inefficient be-
cause state bureaucrats, however competent they might be, are
confronted by a ranger and complexity of information that is sim-
ply beyond their capacity to handle. Friedman criticised
Keynesianism on the grounds that 'tax and spend' policies fuel
inflation by encouraging governments to increase borrowing
without, in the process, affecting the natural rate of unemploy-
ment.
In contrast, the market has near-miraculous qualities. First
and foremost, because they tend towards long -term equilib-
rium, markets are self -regulating .Hayek likened the market to a
vast nervous system that is capable of regulating the economy
because it can convey an almost infinite number of messages
simultaneously via the price mechanism. Second, markets are
naturally efficient and productive. Market economies are effi-
cient at a macroeconomic level because resources are drawn
inexorably to their most profitable use, and because rich and
poor alike have an incentive to work. At a micro economical
level, private business are inherently more efficient than
public bodies because they are disciplined by the profit mo-
tive, forcing them to keep costs low, while the tax payer will
always pick up the bill for public losses . Third, markets are
responsive, even democratic, mechanisms. Competition guar-
antees that producers produce only what consumers are
willing to buy, and at a price they can afford; the consumers, in
short, is king. Finally, markets deliver fairness and economic
justice. The markets gives all the people the opportunity to rise

100
or fall on the basis of talent and hard work. Material inequality
thus simply reflects a natural in equality among human kind.
Neoliberal ideology and policies became increasingly influ-
ential, as illustrated by the British Labour Party's official aban-
donment of its commitment to the "common ownership of the
means of production" in 1995 and by the cautiously pragmatic
policies of the Labour Party and the U.S. Democratic Party from
the 1990s. As national economies became more interdependent
in the new era of economic globalization, neoliberals also pro-
moted free-trade policies and the free movement of international
capital. The clearest sign of the new importance of neoliberalism,
however, was the emergence of libertarianism as a political force,
as evidenced by the increasing prominence of the Libertarian
Party in the United States and by the creation of assorted think
tanks in various countries, which sought to promote the libertar-
ian ideal of markets and sharply limited governments.
The central defining characteristic of thisnew brand of
neoliberalism can be understood at one level as a revival of
many of the central tenetsof classical liberalism, particularly clas-
sical economic liberalism. The central presuppositions
sharedinclude:
1. The self-interested individual: a view of individuals as eco-
nomically self-interested subjects. In this perspective the
individual was represented as a rational optimizer and the
best judge of his/her own interests and needs.
2. Free market economics: the best way to allocate resources
and opportunities is through the market. The market is both
a more efficient mechanism and a morally superior mecha-
nism.
3. A commitment to laissez-faire: because the free market is a
self-regulating order it regulates itself better than the gov-
ernment or any other outside force. In this, neoliberals show
a distinct distrust of governmental power and seek to limit
state power within a negative conception, limiting its role to
the protection of individual rights.
101
4. A commitment to free trade: involving the abolition of tar-
iffs or subsidies, or any form of state-imposed protection
or support, as well as the maintenance of floating exchange
rates and "open" economies .
If neoliberalism continues to reign as the dominant ideology
and policy stance, it can be arguedthat world capitalism faces a
future of stagnation, instability, and even eventual social break-
down .Beginning in 2007, the financial crisis and Great Reces-
sion in the United States and western Europe led some econo-
mists and political leaders to reject the neoliberals' insistence on
maximally free markets and to call instead for greater govern-
ment regulation of the financial and banking industries.
At conclusion, the increasing exploitation and other social
problems generated by neoliberal globalcapitalism might proved
the socialist movement back to life at some point. Should social-
ist movementsrevive and begin to seriously challenge capitalism
in one or more major capitalist countries, stateregulationism might
return in response to it.

102
 MODULE VI

FUTURE ORDER AND GLOBAL

GOVERNANCE GLOBALISATION AND
POST-COLD WAR TRENDS, QUESTIONS
ON IMPERIALISM AND HARMONY-
IMAPCT OF GLOBALISATION ON STATE
SYSTEM

A variety of global problems cannot be managed by sover-

eign states acting alone- such as global terrorism, HIV/ AIDS,
weapons of mass destruction, global financial markets, globalised
economy, the persistence of poverty and climate change- even
by the sole super power, the USA. All require cooperation
of some sort among governments and the increasing number
of non-state actors in the world; many require the active partici-
pation of ordinary citizens; some demand the establishment of
new, international mechanisms for monitoring or the negotia-
tion of new international rules; and most require the refinement
of means for securing state's compliance.
In short, there is a wide variety of international policy prob-
lems that require governance. Sometimes the need is truly glo-
bal, other cases, the governance problem is specific to a region
of the world or group of countries.
What is Global Governance?
Commission on global governance defined governance as
"the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public
and private, manage their common affairs. It is a continuing
process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be
accommodated and cooperative action may be taken. It includes
formal…….. as well as informal arrangements that people and
institutions have agreed to or perceive to be in their interest".
Global governance is not global government; it is not a single

103
world order; it is not a top-down , hierarchical structure of au-
thority. It is collection of governance, related activities, rules, and
mechanisms, formal and informal, existing at a variety of levels in
the world today. We refer to these as the "pieces of global gov-
ernance".
The pieces of Global Governance
The pieces of Global Governance are the cooperative prob-
lem- solving arrangements and activities that states and other
actors have put into place to deal with various issues and prob-
lems .They include international rules or laws, norms or '' soft
law'' and structures such as formal international inter govern-
mental organisations (IGOs) as well as improvised arrangements
that provide decision making processes information gathering and
analytical functions , dispute settlement procedures, and opera-
tional capabilities for managing technical and development assis-
tance programmes, relief aid, force deployment .
INTERNATIONAL LAW: The scope of public inter-
national law has expanded tremendously since the 1960s.
Although the Statute of the International Court of Justice recog-
nizes five sources of international law ( treaties or conventions,
customary practice, the writings of legal scholars, judicial deci-
sions and general principles of law), much of the growth has
been in treaty law. Between 1951 and 1995, 3666 new multi-
lateral treaties were concluded. By far the largest number of new
multilateral agreements deals with economic issues.
For purposes of global governance , one major limitation of
public international law is that it applies only to states, except for
war crimes and crimes against humanity. Another problem in the
eyes of many is the absence of international enforcement mecha-
nisms and the role of self- interest in shaping states decisions
about whether or not to accept treaties and other forms of inter-
national rules.
INTERNATIONAL NORMS OR SOFT LAW: Many
international legal conventions set forth what are not in fact binding
obligations for states , but rather norms or standards of behaviour
104
, sometimes referred to as ''soft laws''. Some human rights and
labour rights, the concept of the global commons applied to the
high seas, outer space, and polar regions , as well as the concept
of sustainable development are all examples of such ''soft laws''.
Protocols are used to supplement the initial frame work conven-
tion, and they are considered to form the ''hard'' law dealing with
the issue.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (IGOs)
: IGOs are organizations whose members include at least three
states, that have activities in several states , and whose mem-
bers are held together by a formal intergovernmental agree-
ment. In 2003/04, the Yearbook of International Organisations
identified about 238 IGOs. Although some IGOs are designed
to achieve a single purpose (OPEC), others have been devel-
oped for multiple tasks (UN). Most IGOs are not global in mem-
bership, but regional where a commonality of interest motivates
states to co operate on issues directly affecting them.
NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS : NGOs
are private voluntary organizations whose members are individuals
or associations that come together to achieve a common pur-
pose. Some organizations are formed to advocate a particular
cause such as human rights, peace or environmental protection.
Others are established to provide services such as disaster re-
lief, humanitarian aid in war -torn societies or development as-
sistance. Infact,they have become key sources of information
and technical expertise on a wide variety of international issues
from the environment to human rights. They participate at least
indirectly in IGO - sponsored conferences, raising new issues,
submitting documents , and disseminating their expertise.
GLOBAL CONFERENCES : During the 1990s , the
United Nations convened nine global conferences on economic
and social matters, following a similar series in the 1970s and
1980s. some were designated world summits rather than global
conferences because they included meetings of heads of state
and government . Conferences like the Summit for Children

105
(1990), the Earth Summit in Rio (1992), or the Fourth
World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) have become
an important part of the global political processes for addressing
interdependence issues, for seeking ways to improve the lives
and well being of humans, and for strengthening other pieces of
governance.
Major actors in global governance are the states, IGOs,
NGOs, Experts, global policy networks, Multi National corpo-
rations (MNCs).
SIGNIFICANCE OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
An increasing need for global governance given the neces-
sity of curbing terrorism, blocking the international flow of
disease, crime, controlling the weapons of mass destruction,
reducing barriers to trade, alleviating poverty, ensuring environ-
mental protection, promoting human rights, and other issues of
global concern. Globalization is playing a major role in shrinking
the planet, proliferating issues, and changing the roles of key ac-
tors. The cold war's end contributed also to increased
needs for governance. The emergence of transnational civil
society and the contested nature of state sovereignty likewise
factor into the rising need for global governance.
GLOBALISATION
Globalization is enabling individuals, corporationsand na-
tion- states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and
cheaper than ever before. It has spurred the proliferating net-
works of NGOs, terrorists, drug traffickers, financial markets
and empowered individuals. In its broadest sense, Globalisation
refers to the "emergence and spread of a supraterritorial dimen-
sion of social relations".
Globalisation affects all spheres of human activity - eco-
nomic, social, cultural, technological, environmental and politi-
cal- but it is not necessarily inevitable; change is not necessarily
linear; and not all peoples or areas of the world are equally af-
fected.
Globalisation encompasses two simultaneous, yet contra-
106
dictory patterns in world politics. One involves greater integra-
tion and interdependence between people and states, between
states and other states, and between states and international
bodies. This has been facilitated particularly by the communica-
tions revolution and by the pre-eminence of two core philoso-
phies, economic liberalisation and democracy. Economic liber-
alism emphasis the role of the private sector over the state (that
is, the government) I economic life. The demise of communism
in eastern Europe and Soviet Union discredited socialist eco-
nomic systems and brought down many barriers to the move-
ments of goods, communications and people, while economic
difficulties in many less developed countries (LDCs) with state
dominated economies forced them to liberalize and privatize, often
under pressure of International Monetary Fund (IMF) condi-
tions. Consequently, since the mid-1980s, many former social-
ist states as well as developing countries have changed their eco-
nomic policies, opened their borders to trade and invest, and
become more integrated into the global economic system .
Likewise democratization spread to all regions of the globe in
the 1980s and 1990s. From Latin America to Eastern Europe,
and from the former Soviet union to Africa and Asia, many au-
thoritarian government have been forced to open the political
process to competing political parties, to adopt international hu-
man right norms, to hold free elections, and to curb corruption.
In many cases democratization and economic liberalism have
been linked as integrative forces.
The integrative side of globalisation is contradicted by
disintegrative tendencies. Many weak states have been unable
accommodate technological changes and the challenges of more
open economies that make them vulnerable to competition and
exploitation. Weak states may also be unable to provide the nec-
essary public goods. The resulting disjuncture between the states
persistence as central structures of the international system and
an eroding loyalty and confidence of individuals in the institutions
of the state has contributed to the resurgence of ethnic and reli-

107
gious identities, ethnic conflicts, and further weakening of some
states. The disintegrative tendencies of globalisation affect both
states and individuals perceptions of uncontrollable global pro-
cesses. No longer are territorial states necessarily the central
governing units in the international system. Global financial mar-
kets, transnational policy networks, and multinational corpora-
tions provide collective goods and elements of governance. In-
dividuals themselves are increasingly alienated as they become
further removed from political institutions that lack democratic
accountability, or worry about a homogenization of cultures and
declining value of labour in global markets.
The Globalization Index, constructed by A.T Kearney, af-
firms more global countries have greater income inequality than
less global countries. Yet technological and personal integration
continue strongly, even when economic integration is low. The
1999 Human Development Report (UNDP 1999) argues,
"today's globalization is being driven by market expansion - open-
ing national borders to trade, capital, information - outpacing
governance of these markets and their repercussions for people.
More progress has been made in norms, standards, policies and
institutions for open global markets than for people and their
rights". The gap between rich and poor is increasing, a report
shows, in the developed world, with 20 percent of the world's
population ,enjoy 80 percent of its wealth. Between 1970 and
2000,the gap between rich and poor expanded by 65 percent.
In the 1970s, the average earnings in the North were 14 times
that of the South; by 2000 ,the gap had expanded to 23 times
earnings. Even within many states , the gap has widened, not
only in the USA but also in developing states like India, Peru and
Colombia,where wage differentials between the rich and poor
have increased.
For antiglobalizers, the only alternative is to roll back as-
pects of economic globalization. They want to return to gover-
nance at the local (national) level. To many, goals of economic
efficiency, of being able to buy the cheapest goods, should be

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replaced by support for local economies, providing local em-
ployment not exporting jobs, and by fair and environmentally
friendly conditions of workers. Economic justice is a major goal.
Although economic localization may not maximise economic
welfare, some see it as preferable to globalization over which
people have little control. There is an unprecedented degree of
consensus on core concepts and approaches now, with poverty
alleviation and sustainability at the core, along with good gover-
nance, empowering women, and raising levels of human well
being.
POST COLD WAR TRENDS
The end of the cold war was brought about by both politi-
cal changes toward democratization and economic changes to-
ward liberalization of the economy in the Soviet Union. The fall
of the Berlin wall in 1989 symbolized the end of the cold war ,
and two years later the Soviet Union it self disintegrated in to 15
separate, independent [Link] cold war's end marked the
ending of one historical era and the beginning of another. The
international system shifted from a bipolar structure to a post-
cold war structure that was simultaneously unipolar and a non
polar, net worked system of a globalised world.
At the outset , some suggested that history itself was at an
end with the triumph of liberal capitalism ( Fukuyama) and the
end of ideological competition, but those high expectations have
not been borne out. Instead , the disintegration of the former
Soviet Union and end of the cold war system revived ethnic ri-
valries and conflicts in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the
Caucasus, Balkans, and elsewhere, leading some to postulate a
clash of civilizations as the new source of enduring conflicts in
international politics (Samuel P. Huntington) . Although democ-
racy and economic liberalism are now largely unchallenged and
the United States is the sole super power, the Cold War's end
produced neither peace nor stability, but a new series of gover-
nance challenges. The United Nations and regional IGOs, states
and NGOs have been challenged as never before to deal with

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ethnic and other intrastate conflicts,weak and failed states,
genocide and ethnic cleansing, and the complex humani-
tarian disasters resulting from these problems.
EMERGENT TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY
Contributing to the cold war's end and benefiting from
both increased democratisation and accelerating globalisation
is the growth of civil society within many countries and
transnationally. The spread of democracy to many corners of the
globe has bolstered the growth of civil societies in countries where
restrictions on citizens groups have been lifted. Civil society groups
communicate with each other domestically and cross- nationally,
creating new coalitions from the local to the global. These
"networks of knowledge and action" are un constrained by geo-
graphic boarders largely beyond state's control. Traditional civil
society groups permeate numerous issue areas, including the
environment, human rights, technology, economic development
and security. their demands for representation in processes of
global governance contribute to the increased need to reform
existing international institutions and to find new ways to incor-
porate actors other than states in governance.
CONTESTED NATURE OF SOVEREIGNTY
These trends pose direct challenges to state sovereignty.
The norm that states enjoy internal autonomy and cannot be sub-
jected to external authority has been the bedrock of the
Westphalia state system that has persisted from 1648 to the
present. Some theorists focus on the erosion of sovereignty, sug-
gesting that it may at one time have been absolute, but is com-
promised by states own weaknesses, by external influences such
as flow from globalization or the development of international
human rights norms, or other actors such as MNCs, NGOs,
and global financial markets. Others see sovereignty as always
having been contested-for example, from within by ethnic groups
seeking autonomy or self determination - and it varies across
time, place and issues.
Over time, the nature of sovereignty has changed with the
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blurring of the lines between domestic and foreign issues, con-
tributing further to the increased need for pieces of global gover-
nance. The acceleration of globalisation, the rise of powerful
nonstate actors, and the emergence of transnational civil society
all undermine state sovereignty. Globalisation is linking issues
and actors together in complex new ways, where economic,
humanitarian, health, and environmental problems respect no state
boundaries.
CONCLUSION
The challenges of global governance include a variety
of international policy problems and issues that require gover-
nance. The need for more pieces of governance is clearly rising
with globalisation and other developments, the processes are
complex; and US continue to shape many of the pieces of
global governance, especially the liberal international eco-
nomic system, and ensures that U S interests are accommodated
in many regimes.

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