International Politics and Press release

 

                                 Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

International politics, world politics. A term widely used to describe the international system of power that is centered on states and international organizations such as United Nations (UN), World Bank (WB) or UN-affiliated bodies such as the G8 or BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China etc). Political issues are often discussed in great detail and their impact is felt worldwide. However it is important to note that international politics is not simply a matter of national sovereignty and this article will take an interesting look at some of these aspects. First things first let us start by definition of international politics.

International politics refers to a system of power relations between parties which affects the way various actors behave toward each other with respect to:

· A state

· An organization

· The use of force

· Peacekeeping operations

· Civil society

· NGOs or nongovernmental organisations

In short: International politics reflects how political powers interact within themselves and between themselves. In order to understand international politics we must also talk about these interactions.

States and Non State Actors

The most obvious example would be when nation states have economic concerns, domestic security or competition with non state actors. There are many different types of states with distinct characteristics and relationships with one another. One type of states is called traditional states. These include monarchies, dictatorships, kingdoms, empires, federation and republics. Traditional states are generally larger than other forms of states because they have more resources and stronger military power. For many years monarchies used to be almost exclusively monarchial countries and even today they still hold a considerable influence over global affairs. Most of them had colonies and they used this form of government to dominate some regions or to provide territories for slavery or colonization. Dictatorships and fascists were similar because they were both authoritarian governments that tried to seize power through violence. Fascism was a major cause of WW2 though there are many examples of democracies too. It can be argued that traditional states use violence less and do so much more rarely than others. States who fall under a dictatorship are usually referred to as absolute despots. This is because the leader has authority only over what his/her people agree with, nothing else. Countries with strong economies tend to be more dictatorial than those where the economy is weak. Absolute monarchies were typically ruled by military autocrats who had complete political control over the people of their country. They could make any decision the citizens didn’t like without consultation or without debate and at times they managed to manipulate public opinion to a level where they could remain in power forever. Other forms of totalitarian governments were sometimes more egalitarian. At least they tried to have fair elections and made sure everyone was fairly represented. Some autocracies relied heavily on propaganda to get citizens to support their actions. National interests were usually given very little importance. As I’ve mentioned before most democratic countries rely on good governance and that means giving citizens of every individual their basic needs which includes food and shelter. When democracies fall, dictatorships quickly grow in popularity. Even if dictatorships don’t succeed in seizing absolute power they remain powerful enough to shape opinions of citizens who follow them like lemmings to their herds of cows. Today you probably haven’t heard that dictators can be elected president, prime minister, head of state, army chief or chancellor. But in 1650 monarchies in Portugal went ahead and created the monarchy (parliament) which gave people the right to vote on anything but only by paying their taxes. In 1789 Spain (president) had the last absolute monarchy and even though they held out against republican ideas, they didn’t rule until 1808. From that point to date monarchy is largely restricted and democracy continues to decline but when it comes to international relations you see a lot of similarities in how most countries have been governed for centuries or for hundreds and thousands of years. Both forms of government have always been strongly centralized states with a few regional blocks for minorities. Both kinds of governments allow for the ruling party or their allies to exert its presence over the entire country while also allowing opposition parties to exist. Finally both have strong armed forces which is why they’re the only two systems that continue to exist in modern times. What sets countries apart from one another is the level of militarization. Countries that have traditionally relied more on diplomacy and diplomacy-based diplomacy have become militarized in recent decades. Many countries have switched to NATO since WWII. With all the new technologies available in terms of weapons, ships and aircraft, wars are becoming increasingly costly and dangerous, especially now with ISIS taking advantage of a weakened economy. Military spending as a percentage of GDP reached 12% in 2015, which was up from 8% in 1990. Not only do these numbers show that there is little hope for warring countries to stop spending money on a wasteful military budget, wars only escalate their costs. So while the US may have spent billions on Iraq, they’ll likely want to spend even more on Ukraine. And for all the focus on military capabilities in Eastern Europe, the eastern bloc alone accounted for 70% of EU-member states’ gross defense expenditure. That being said they don’t have the same kind of military might that the west does. If the current trend remains unchanged they may end up facing a NATO-like alliance. It might sound odd that a region would switch back to arms and have that many members but the truth is, that doesn’t mean that they won’t try to invade eastern and southern European countries in order to gain territory. The West, however, has far greater technological advancements in terms of weaponry and this hasn’t changed in a big way. We could easily find ourselves having to fight Russia with our nuclear arm and using these new technologies to destroy Moscow. All of this leads me onto the next topic. Religion and Culture

The purpose of religion and culture is to express the beliefs of humanity. Religion and culture are very essential to human existence. Because of this, it is easy to say the emergence of religion was essential to the development of civilization. Just look at history books, there are stories of huge civilizations with advanced cultural standards. Rome, Athens, Egypt and Mesopotamia are just a few of the examples that we find in the ancient history books. We also tend to think that religious differences only exist within religions but this is hardly the case. Christianity, Islam and Buddhism have developed significantly over time and their followers share many common characteristics. Christians share many traits with Muslims in terms of their belief system, traditions and rituals. Jews, Hindus and Sikhs are all very well known in history but the real reason why some religions develop faster than others is because they hold beliefs that oppose conventional thought. Beliefs like “all evil exists” exist in nearly all religions and can have huge implications on how people live their lives. People who believe in God are bound to do everything in their power just to stay alive. No religion is immune to the destructive effects of extremist thinking. Religious leaders often work closely together to spread ideas and impose strict rules upon their followers. The result is that social norms change faster and the whole country is subject to radical social changes within a relatively short amount of time. While Islamic, Christian and Jewish beliefs may differ in many ways, they all have shared roots in certain themes related to self sacrifice, faith and belief in fate. For instance Islam doesn’t believe in life after death and thus the Quran requires male and female believers to abstain from alcohol and sexual relations during Ramadan. Muslim men often wear long black robes to symbolize poverty or lack of wealth and women wear modest clothing and cover their faces. Judaism is also a polytheistic religion. Similar to Islam, Judaism emphasizes monotheism and encourages obedience. Jews have their own set of laws and practices that differ from those of many other religions. Each community has its own values and traditions which are passed down from generation to generation. Whether you’re a Jew, Catholic, Protestant or Muslim your religion defines not only how you think about yourself, but how you treat others around you and the world at large. Every religion teaches us to love and be kind but it also teaches us to hate and discriminate others based on race, color, gender and nationality that is why we see intolerance and discrimination in many societies across the globe. Although many religions teach people to avoid fighting and conflict, a substantial minority of religious people hold violent tendencies. Their extreme views are often rooted in their interpretation of holy texts. Violent extremism has become something of a serious concern recently but before then no one really knew how to deal with it. Recently Muslim extremists have found success with creating terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. Before we get started it should be noted that the majority of violent extremists are primarily motivated by extreme ideologies. Violence is defined as causing physical harm to someone or property. Terrorism is defined as the unlawful use of violence to achieve political aims that benefit or harm civilian individuals or groups, as a political act. Since we’re talking about violence against innocent civilians we can also add a new factor to this discussion; terrorism isn’t limited to Muslims. By definition terrorism can be described as the unlawful usage of violence against civilian targets by members of an organized criminal group or a subgroup of such group. Of course we all know that even terrorists come from all walks of life. After a certain point an ideology becomes less appealing and easier to justify but there is a limit to how far such movements can go towards gaining followers, inciting hatred, creating fear, inflicting pain or mass murder among others. It’s very difficult to determine whether extremist movements have evolved enough to pose a threat. What makes them more dangerous or dangerous than ever has been the rapid pace in which they develop new radical tactics as well as the inability of governments or the law enforcement agencies to stop them. Governments do everything possible to shut down or restrict extremist movements. Unfortunately, it is