Changes in the International Order - Coursework Example

Changes in the International Order Over the Last Century Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts Writer Inserts Date Here (Day, Month, Year) INTRODUCTION The history of the relationships amongst the various peoples and nations of the world has always been turbulent and full of conflict. Countless Wars have been fought between nations and many atrocities have been committed. Empires have come and gone and boundaries and borders have continuously shifted and changed. Much of our history has seen weaker nations having little protection and existing at the mercy of stronger nations who could conquer them or place crippling sanctions on them at will. Some may argue that little has changed, however to most it is evident that the state of international relations and the international order is constantly evolving. The primary reason for this evolution has perhaps been economics. The act of conquest and subjugation was brought about by a desire to garner the occupied nations economic resources. In the days of the Roman Empire territories would be conquered in order to pay the wages of soldiers. This cycle continued, until modernization and developments in technology allowed production to become efficient to a point where forced occupation was no longer a necessity to increase economic resources. The costs of war became too expensive and the disruption and instability borne by war became a hindrance to economic well being. This necessitated a change in the conduct of nations. The last century was a turning point and witnessed the political map of the world transform into a vastly different entity that resulted in wholesale changes in the interaction of states and in the role of the nation state in international relations.. As explained earlier this was largely for economic reasons, however there were several others, such as weariness of conflict that devastated societies in the early part of the previous century as well as an increase in political awareness and an infusion of ideologies that are inherently opposed to war. Several events have influenced these changes beginning with the First World War closely followed by the second and the subsequent Cold War and its conclusion. However, it is the events and technological developments followed the end of the Cold War that added a different dimension to the international order. The shape of the International Order today is unprecedented in terms of its various dimensions and actors that had once been regarded as inconsequential now play an important role. In order to truly understand and appreciate the vast changes that have occurred we must first understand what an International Order is and how it is maintained. INTERNATIONAL ORDER According to Hedley Bull the father of the English School of Contemporary International Relations, the need for order in a society is derived from three basic goals that each society has. These are the protection of the society from violence, enforcement of contracts and an environment where obtaining and possessing material wealth is possible. International Order is an extension of the desire for these three basic conditions, which is universal. The International Order governs relationships between nation states that allow the sustenance of these basic conditions rather than the relationship between individual members of society (Stivachtis, 2007, pp.2). According to Bull Order amongst nation states can exist in two different ways. Firstly via the means of an international system and secondly within an international society. An international system implies the existence of a relationship between nations that influences each others decisions and compels them to behave in a uniform way. An international society on the other hand is a group of nations bound together by legal frameworks and or institutions. The international society has four primary goals, these include the survival of the grouping or society of states, the preservation of the sovereignty of individual states and safety from external threats, peace between the States barring exceptional circumstances and finally to preserve the basic pre conditions for which order is maintained in a society that were discussed earlier (Stivachtis, 2007, pp.3) . Maintenance of an International Order is a pre requisite for any of the above goals to be met and there is much debate on how order is maintained. Bull believed that order was maintained through institutions. He specified five different types of institutions, which may have a primary role in the continuation of an International Order. The first is a balance of power that preserves the order itself and creates the pre-conditions necessary for other institutions to operate. The second is an international legal framework that is binding on the nation states. The age old institution of diplomacy is the third and it involves coercing other nation states without the use of force. Fourth is the adoption of greater responsibility by the strongest nations to maintain the international order and lastly the use of War strictly to uphold the International Order (Stivachtis, 2007, pp.4). There is another perspective, which states that no institutions are required for an International Order to be maintained. The originator of the Neorealist school of thought Kenneth Waltz felt that the state of international relations was permanently anarchaic and was governed by a natural balance of power. According to Waltz all States are essentially seekers of security looking to maximize their own safety at all times. This leads to states offsetting the actions of other states leading to a state of natural equilibrium. He links the actions of the international community to the amount of great powers present in the world at any given time (Bordner, 1997). INTERNATIONAL ORDER 1911-2011 The earliest attempts to create an International Order that resembles the current one, came about in 1899. A process that was initiated by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, culminated in the meeting of delegates from 26 countries in the Hague, which lead to the formation of the International Court of Arbitration. There was also an understanding that the delicate balance of power between the major European powers of the time could explode into war at any moment. However, The International Court of Arbitration was largely bypassed and by 1914 the major European powers and their allies marched to war against each other ignoring the efforts to promote dialogue and diplomacy. The horrors and the aftermath of the First World War reinvigorated the demands for a strong international order that could lead to an atmosphere of peaceful coexistence. The result was a proposal of 14 points by President Woodrow Wilson at the Versailles peace conference calling for the formation of a League of Nations. However, this institution although it was formed proved to be as impotent as the International Court of Arbitration. Major powers such as Russia and Germany were excluded and the United States (where the idea itself originated from) refused to join the League. It was no surprise then that the league was powerless to prevent Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia and Hitler’s rapid militarization of Germany in contravention of several treaties. Europe and the rest of World soon went to war again and the results were even more gruesome than the first time the world went to war. The World changed a great deal after the Second World War, the economic devastation of old colonial powers meant that several new nation states gained their independence and new superpowers emerged eclipsing the old creating a new international order. Another primary component of the new international order was the formation of the United Nations in 1945, membership expanded from 51 countries to most of the nation states in the world . The United Nations had unprecedented authority derived from its Security Council of Superpowers in contrast with the League of Nations. It soon became an International Society that sought to maintain order throughout the world and changed the nature of International Relations by peacefully resolving border disputes. However, the era proceeding the Second World War was characterized by another war; the Cold War. Even though the two warring nations, The Soviet Union and the United States never faced in each other in the battlefield directly, many proxy wars were fought in every corner of the world. Furthermore, it divided the world into two distinct Bloc’s of International Societies: NATO (and affiliate countries) and the Warsaw Pact and all of its signatories. The world at the time was termed to be Bi-polar, one in which two Superpowers dictated the International Order. Each International Society fostered its own institutions. For example the American Bloc created the IMF in order to financially aid affiliate countries. Even though, many proxy wars were fought in Vietnam and Afghanistan, the US and the Soviet Union never engaged in direct war. Rather than institutions such as the UN I believe, it was the neo-realist concept of a natural balance of power which kept the powers from coming to blows. Advancements in technology had lead to the creation of extremely destructive weaponry such as Nuclear weapons, which both superpowers had large stockpiles of. This lead to the introduction of the doctrine of mutually assured self-destruction that contained a realization that war between the two superpowers could have disastrous consequences for both. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signified the fall of the Soviet Union lead bloc and thus began the era of the unipolar world where the United States of America was the sole remaining superpower. However, real changes in the International Order were taking place elsewhere (Anon, International Order: International Order in the Twentieth Century, n.d.). In the era proceeding the Cold War, the authority of the nation state in how the International Order was formed began to erode and this erosion was caused by a combination of different factors. Firstly, the formation of regional organizations such as the EU and International cities such as Dubai and Singapore began to blur the lines between the boundaries of nation states. Secondly, the implosion of INGO’s, NGO’s and Multinational corporations created a decrease in the power held by nation states. INGO’s and NGO’s began to take on the role of governments in many situations such as natural disasters refugee crises and education. Whereas, powerful multinational corporations began to dictate economic and foreign policy to governments. Thirdly the era proceeding the Cold War was also known as the Information Age, an era where information permeated freely and citizens became more and more aware of International issues and the ease of communication also allowed citizens to organize more efficiently. Using the example of Egypt and Tunisia, both these countries were ruled by dictators who followed their own particular policies. However, the populace of both these countries managed to organize and overthrow their governments and introduced similar reforms simultaneously. This was undoubtedly helped by he ease through which information flowed and the actions in one country could be seen in another almost as soon as they occurred. This resembles a pseudo International system achieved with absolutely no governmental participation. This clearly shows that citizens of countries and aggregates that form a whole state are beginning to wield far greater influence in the International Order (Held & McGrew, 2004, pp.124-125). CONCLUSION The present state of the International Order is that of constant evolution. We discussed the presence of non-state actors such as NGO’s and Multi Nationals, however a notorious non-state actor not yet mentioned is the Global Jihadist infrastructure, that has declared war on several states and continually violates the sovereignty of others. It aims to establish a new International Order based on religion. They present a new and different challenge to the world, the solution for which does not lie in the confines of traditional International Relations theory. It also appears that the world is moving towards multipolarity. The rising Asian powers China and India have already established themselves as economic giants, and their continuing rise seems to indicate that a new balance of power will have to be agreed in order to prevent future wars over resources. The trends of globalization and economic integration also show no signs of abating and further global integration can be expected. Another indicator towards this trend is that communities are being formed where the individual members can live thousands of miles apart from each other. The internet has made this possible and the phenomena of virtual communities will undoubtedly have an effect in reducing the power of nation states and increasing the power of individuals in International relations. What is apparent is the fact that International Order will continue to see many changes in the coming century. REFERENCES Anon, n.d. International Order- International Order in the Twentieth Century.[online] Available at [Accessed 11 August 2011] Bordner, B., 1997. Rethinking Neorealist Theory: Order Within Anarchy.[online] Available at [Accessed 11 August 2011] Held, D. and McGrew, A. eds., 2004. The Global Transformations Reader, Cambridge UK: Polity Press. Stivachtis, Y.A. ed., 2007. International Order In a Globalizing World, Hampshire UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Read More