The Cuban Missile Crisis - Assignment Example

The Cuban Missile Crisis Mr. President, according to the realist’s point of view the current world is experiencing a lot of imbalance in terms of power. Mr. President, realism is considered one of the most accurate way of analyzing international relations as it provides us with a pragmatic framework that put into evaluation about the current issues in the world. The natural image of the world indicates that nations are struggling to control some of the major resources like the energy, nuclear, and other natural resources as a way of controlling power. Your country Mr. President is currently understood to be in control of power hence branded the name super power. However, the recent past has revealed that countries like China have consequently developed strong economy that has threatened your country’s stability at the helm of super power. In addition to this, convergence by European countries to form the European Union is also a sign of power struggle in the world. In addition to this, there has been considerable rise in uprisings in many countries in the Middle East leading to what is commonly known as the Arab Spring. Mr. President, I would also wish to bring to your attention about the current Ukraine crisis with Russia not forgetting that Russia is the largest supplier of oil and gas in the world. The recent outbreak of Ebola disease in Africa that has also seen the spread of the disease in your country Mr. President is also an indication that there is a lot of power imbalance in the current world according to realists. Moreover, Mr. President, I would like also to draw your attention to the recent conflict in Syria that indicates the concept of statism that simply implies that the State is premier and hence any other actors involved in world politics are of no significance. I would also like to bring into your attention the manner in which the Syrian conflict was resolved. China and Russia influenced in a huge amount on UN sanctions that aimed at reducing violence in Syria. From the scenario, it is evident that Russia and China can greatly influence UN decisions hence illustrating that no international bodies may govern sovereign countries. Three years ago, Libya an African country was engaged in a serious civil war. The UN intervened and passed a resolution for no fly zone in Libya something that helped bring the crisis to a halt. It is ironical that with regard to Syria, the same was not done to halt the war. It must also be considered that Syria is an Eastern European country with vast resources and plays a major role in munitions export. From the two comparisons using the Machiavellian maxims of realist’s theory it is evident that political stability will always aim at perpetuating self-interest and not according to Christian ethics principles[CITATION Wal08 \p 138 \l 1033 ]. Comparing Libya and Syria, Libya has no great influence in Europe compared to Syria. However, many states would wish the war in Syria to elevate so that the nation can weaken and gain from that in terms of military support and export of ammunitions in that country. From the above image of the world, Mr. President I would like to bring into your attention that the image of the world is not likely to change especially in Europe. That is because there are resources in Europe like oil and gas that draws a lot of interest from America hence leading to political instability. That can easily be explained and related to the Georgian Russian War. However, on the positive note we expect that countries in the Middle East to stabilize due to the Arab Spring[CITATION Jos122 \p 211 \l 1033 ]. The world has experienced a lot of uprisings especially in the Middle East that has revolutionized the international warfare arena. Arab Springs are have revolutionized international warfare since 2010 and it is has been observed that since the peaceful and non-peaceful demonstrations and riots began in the Middle East, little impact has been felt concerning international warfare with the Europeans and Western countries[ CITATION Mue09 \l 1033 ]. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Bahrain are just but few of the countries that have so far been reported to be involved in the Arab Spring. Most of the above mentioned countries have seen their rulers expelled from their ruling seats and have been replaced by democratically elected leaders. However, we must understand that such expulsions have not been met without resistance. For many countries, campaigns, strikes demonstrations, and marches have plunged countries like Libya in Civil War[ CITATION Wal12 \l 1033 ]. On the other hand Arab Spring is a sign of democracy that supports the democratic peace theory. According to Christopher Layne, in his article on Kant or Cant, many policy makers have embraced democratic peace theory[ CITATION Lay94 \l 1033 ]. According to the author, the theory is the reason behind America’s security and the spread of democracy and the author believes that democratic peace theory is likely to reduce future wars. For this reason, we can say that the Middle East is most likely to have lesser wars in the international arena in the next 10 years. According to John Owen, if two countries perceives themselves as liberal they will practice democracy on each other but if one country is illiberal, then the states resorts to war[ CITATION Owe94 \l 1033 ]. In relation to the Arab Spring, it is evident that the uprisings have been focused on individual countries and not amongst neighboring countries. The uprisings have been focusing on poor leaders who have failed to deliver in their leadership. For this reason, Arab Spring is a positive indicator that international democracy and revolution is on course and that is likely to reduce future wars amongst Middle East countries. The author also believes that the cause of Arab Spring focusing on the leaders alone is because liberal states only trust other liberal states and will reject other states that are not liberal. That was the reason for spontaneous uprising among Middle East countries since 2010. Moreover, Owen believes that if individuals and institutions have been enlightened, there is a possible cause of liberation. Arab Springs are exactly the results of enlightenment in the Middle East. For decades, Middle East countries have been experiencing dictatorship form of governance and exploitation especially due to their rich natural resources like oil and gas. For the next 10 years the world would be trying to balance power mostly through external and internal forces. The balancing is aimed at reducing the dominance practiced by a single country over the others in the world. Some of the ways through which power will be balanced will include alliances and coalitions, surveillances, destroying an enemy completely or building an enemy to maintain power and not forgetting the ideal of switching alliances quickly from one camp to another[CITATION Edw67 \p 98 \l 1033 ]. One of the major ways through which the world will try to balance power for the next 10 years involves increasing economic resources while at the same time increasing military strength. Such actions aim at reducing hegemony so that countries can compete effectively. The Cuban missile crisis is one good example of such kind of balancing. In this case, the US had to use surveillance as a way of balancing power. On the other hand Cuba had to form an alliance with the Soviet. From the story, it is evident that the US wanted to neutralize Soviet’s power by engaging Cuba[CITATION Don11 \p 56 \l 1033 ]. The other examples include, Ukraine Crisis, Syrian Crisis, and Nuclear war between America and some of Middle East states. Arab Spring is also a good example of how internal power balancing mechanisms are working. It is believed that the internal power mechanisms are more reliable than external ones. Such effectiveness has been seen in the Middle East countries. On the other hand external power balancing mechanisms have not been quite effective. External power balancing includes strengthening alliances with other states leading to good cooperation. Ironically, Russia being a member of European Union has not been making good international relations with other foreign countries. It is believed that Russia is doing that to neutralize any secondary disputes that may arise if a coalition is formed. Historians are also arguing that Russia was under the Soviet Union for a long time. For this reason, the country is on the course of establishing itself as a single strong sovereign state considering its economic and military resources. On the other hand China is playing a big role in the peace and power balancing act by establishing a bilateral deal between the US and Japan. China has ignored any barbaric act by the US especially after the US hit Chinese Embassy with 3 missiles[ CITATION Pet05 \l 1033 ]. That explains why the Middle East countries are likely to face a balanced share of power in the next 10 years. Current mechanisms of balance of power are similar to some of the ways ancient rulers used to balance power. For example, Otto van Bismarck registration was found to be an alliance that was quite fragile and contribute greatly to WWI. According to Gulick, the aim of the coalition was to abolish the balance of power act and engage the League of Nations but that did not work. In fact, the split of the alliance is what gave birth to the Soviet Union, Liberal Democratic in Britain and France, and Authoritarian Nationalists that was ruled by Germany and Italy. However, it is interesting to note that after the WWII, there was a split between the Eastern bloc that included the Soviet Union and the Socialist nations that encompassed the central and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, the Western bloc comprised of France, US, and Britain. The balance of power system used here was an alliance that included collaboration among countries that led to formation of NATO fighting against the Soviet Union. In the end NATO managed to bring down the Soviet Union and still exists to date. From the above two examples, it is evident that alliances and coalitions are the major forms of power balancing but also face a great threat especially due to differences in interests and aims mainly localized by economic and military self-interests. From the comparison above it is evident that the future of the US as a country is on the verge of losing power if proper ways of power balancing are not engaged. That is because many of the European countries have increasing engaged in power struggle in the last 5 years. In conclusion, certain key policies and institutions are important for the future peace of the world and balance of power. One such institution is the UN. On the other hand, economies like the European Union can also tilt the equilibrium of the power balancing from the US to the European countries especially in Russia something that may attract war also. However, internal radicalization such as the Arab Springs has been pointed out as some of the ways that may bring end to international wars. Works Cited CITATION Wal08 \p 138 \l 1033 : , (Waltz, Realism and International Politics 138), CITATION Jos122 \p 211 \l 1033 : , (Joseph S. Nye 211), CITATION Mue09 \l 1033 : , (Mueller), CITATION Wal12 \l 1033 : , (Waltz), CITATION Lay94 \l 1033 : , (Layne), CITATION Owe94 \l 1033 : , (Owen), CITATION Edw67 \p 98 \l 1033 : , (Gulick 98), CITATION Don11 \p 56 \l 1033 : , (Don Munton and David A. Welch 56), CITATION Pet05 \l 1033 : , (Peter Hays Gries), Read More