Essays on Balance Of Power

The First World War was a global war that originated from the European countries and involved approximately seventy million military soldiers. The war lasted for a period of four years as it started on 28th July 1914 and ended on 11th November 1918 leading to the death of over seven million civilians and nine million combatants, making it one of the deadliest wars in history. During this period, more than thirty countries declared war against each other with the main participants being two European central powers. One party consisted of Russia, Serbia, Britain, France, United States and Italy. The ...

Introduction

Business organization has a central goal of profit maximization and increase in their productivity at the least possible cost. As a result, employers oftentimes tend to do everything it takes to get what they want. This includes subjecting employees to undue work pressure and probably denying them of certain benefits. Too often than not, this creates an unrest and conflict in the workplace which in turn affects the productivity of the employees. This is where labor unions, also known as trade unions come in the workplace environment. The sole purpose of labor unions is to act as a middleman ...

Introduction and Thesis

Harry S. Truman is known as the 33rd President of the United States. He assumed the Presidency of the nation in April of 1945 when President Franklin Roosevelt died due to a stroke. He may not have desired to campaign and assume the Presidency of the United States, but his term in office ushered in a new age in the field of international relations, a new outlook on race relations in the country, and for the United States to assume a greater role in world politics as well.

Overview of the Presidency

Harry S. Truman had been in office as the Vice-President of ...

At 8:46 on New York time the first plane hit the World Trade Center north tower. After 17 minutes the second plane hit the south tower of the WTC. Fifteen years ago the US lives have changed forever. It is a well-known fact that the United States was not prepared for a terrorist attack of such magnitude. The terrorist attack of 11 September 2001 has changed the United States as well as the world. People started to treat terrorism as a "threat №1". Some experts have called the September 11 attacks, “the beginning of Third World War”.US president's ...

In his book “the Origins Of The Second World War In Europe” AJP Taylor makes the argument that the underlying causes of World War II, in contrast to popular sentiment, was the general complexity of political will and international relations at the time, rather than Hitler's dominating influence alongside Fascism and Nazi ideologies. Instead, the various powers, with their individual desires and relational struggles, embarked on the same path which nobody, not even Hitler, had wanted to pursue. Despite the devastation of the Second World War, it is difficult to pin its inception on any one individual. While Hitler ...

The Bill of Rights is an unofficial name for the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution that were ratified by all states in order to limit the federal government’s power and protect the individual liberties (Dictionary of American History). The Bill of Rights was developed when the American colonists were no longer under the control of Great Britain and had to build up a new country that comprised many states. There was the need to develop the legal base so that all states could peacefully co-exist and there was the proper balance of power between the central ...

The United States has one of the most complex and fascinating criminal justice systems in the world. The reason that the United States has such a unique criminal justice system, is that the founding fathers based their principles from superior legal frameworks around the world. For example, the founding fathers were known for looking to English, French, and other European Legal Frameworks, (The United States Constitution). Additionally, the founding fathers thought to their education of Roman Law and the laws of Ancient Greece, (The United States Constitution). For this reason, the United States has a unique array of principles ...

The Impact and Effects of Power Politics of United States, China, & Japan Arising from South China Sea Conflicts on the Sovereignty and Socio-Political Fabrics of Philippines

Introduction

The South China Sea (SCS) is a partly enclosed body of water that connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is marked with several island attributes which are grouped into four island bodies-- the Pratas or Dongsha Islands in the northeast, the Paracels or Xisha Islands in the northwest, the Spratlys or Nansha Islands in the south, and the Scarborough Shoal or Zhongsha Islands to Paracels' southeast (Hayton, 2014). It is teeming with ...

Part one

Arguably, controversy is essential in the development of one’s knowledge as it establishes elements of doubt that need to be researched on. In fact, lack thereof would make the learning process lesser engaging and challenging. In my major, global affairs, I have always found multiple controversy issues regarding the balance of power and the overall world stability. Precisely, is it essential to enhance military capabilities to uphold national security? In most cases, people tend to disregard this provision as it seemingly poses a threat to the development of peace through the possibility of waging war. However, on further ...

This author, Paul Forage, uses sources that are relevant to the time period he is writing the article and these include books and journal articles touching on previous similar wars in the Chinese history. Further, the author also mentions military manuals and information about some of the commanders he mentions in his work and who played a significant role in the war between Song and Xi Xia. The author has however not expressly mentioned most of these sources relied upon but has effectively highlighted and even expounded on each and every one of them in the footnotes and endnotes. ...

А summаry аnd аnаlysіs of а nеw US strаtеgy аs а rеsponsе to thе crіsіs іn thе Mіddlе Еаst The United States’ strategy in the Middle East area shall remain among the ​​vital interest spheres for Washington policy-makers for several reasons, although, as you know, the national interests of our country are far from its own geographical boundaries. Among these reasons are; enormous oil resources in the Middle East, making up about 40% of their total worldwide output in this region strategically important areas. The results of the implementation of this new ...

Relation to neo-Marxism

Introduction The Cuban missile crisis marked one of the most turbulent times in our history. It was sparked by the deployment of nuclear missiles by the Soviet Union, in Cuba, in 1962. The world was on the brink of nuclear disaster. This paper seeks to analyze the underlying reasons, the influence of neo-Marxism and its role in the development and exacerbation of the Cuban missile crisis.

What is neo-Marxism

Before we embark on the underlying causes of the Cuban missile crisis, it is important to understand the basic differences between tenets of old school Marxism and neo-Marxism – its evolution, historical impact and ...

Introduction 2

The Impact of Insurgency Efforts During the Vietnam War 3 External Sponsors of Insurgency Movements 6 Conclusion 10

Works Cited 13

Introduction Among the many lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War is that counterinsurgency efforts must be stopped, but it is growing increasingly difficult to do so. Fanatical individuals who are deeply devoted to their cause often head insurgent movements. Unless an equally fanatical force on the other side exists, the necessary division of labor between external sponsors and clients states in the prosecution of counterinsurgency simply cannot be met. The issue of insurgency is not unique to the United ...

COMPARISION BETWEEN THE UTILITY OF WALLERSTEIN’S WORLD SYSTEM THEORY AND FOCAULT’S THREE UNDERSTANDINGS OF POWER

The world systems by Immanuel Wallenstein and Michel Foucault’s three understandings of power are some of the most important theories that explain power differences among nations (Polat 2012). Their relevance to international relations is that these schools of thought all endeavor to explain reasons why there is power imbalance among world nations in their trade and political relations with one another. According to the world system’s theory, there is need to have a holistic study of the entire world economy as a system in order to understand how each country fits into the whole world system.

Meaning of Power

The ...

Introduction

Gender is one of the themes that Morrison explores in her novel Sula. Gender roles help to create unevenness in terms of the power balance between women and men. This unequal balance of power that is prevalent in the social environment of her characters in Sula ultimately becomes a part of them. The impact of this is that it becomes nestled in the psychological conflicts they encounter and experience. In this novel, these psychological conflicts play out on the sexuality platform. The sexuality of the characters results in the internalization of the unequal balance of power between women and ...

Abstract

World War I was one of the worst modern warfare with regards to the amount of destruction it caused. Its impact was based on the use of advanced weapons able to cause massive damage, the involvement of a huge population in the war, huge investments, economic sabotage, and barbarity. Nevertheless, it helped to end the war, allow for negotiations, solve border conflicts, and establish the League of Nations to manage global peace. However, it failed to achieve permanent agreements and left different countries dissatisfied and ready to revenge on their adversaries. There was also antagonism between the negotiators due to ...

Intergovernmental

The United Stated of America is primarily founded on a federal system of government. However, the system does not flow downwards hierarchically in the same mannerism of a unitary system of government. The federal system is meant to condone conflicts within the work place as administrators work within areas where various people share authority.

There are various levels of government in the United States. They are local, state and national government. Local governments are made up of special districts, school districts, townships, municipalities and counties. Special districts have the responsibility of managing special functions and special projects. These include bridge ...

1. A "Virtue of anarchy" (or a positive effect of the constant threat of the use of force) in the international system according to Kenneth Waltz. (From Anarchic structures and balances of power, mainly Virtues of Anarchy)

Kenneth Waltz argues that countries reside in a state of war. Nation-states are guided solely by self-interests both internal, such as economic and military power, and external, by forming alliances and counter blocks. Some countries may have military potential and can use it anytime they want as a means of self-interest. K. Waltz implies that this violence is due to the anarchy, or chaos ...

Certainly, the federal and state governments pose immense influences on the lives of Americans living across various contexts. As such, there should be a balance of power between these two forms of governments. Worth noting is the fact that the United States constitution dictates that the federal government should exercise authority over the state government in specific areas.

However, this constitutional provision does mean that the authority enshrined to the federal government is not limited (Schmidt et al., 2011). Evidently, there are certain areas not left exclusively to the federal government; hence, the state government helps in carrying out certain ...

Jack Snyder talks of realism, liberalism and idealism in the context of United States of America. The effects these two theories have on foreign policies are enormous as is evident from the policies undertaken by the United States of America. The theoretical debate between idealism and realism is also a matter of discussion. In his essay, the author discusses the intricacies and complexities of the theories of international relations in view of the contemporary state of affairs in world politics. In reference to another essay by him, one can get to know of the democracies and wars and the effects ...

1.0 Introduction The Internet is a conclusive technology of information era, consisting of globally connected computers for sharing information and communication. Even though many people might think that it is a new invention, the fact remains that the internet has been around for quite a long time. The internet is one of the most imperative inventions that have happened to humans, and the fact is that without it life would be entirely different as it known. With the internet, there has been a definite advancement in the society, giving an opportunity to people from all over the world to communicate and express ...

Ancient Mesopotamians led a brutal existence, rocked by a long history of war over the control of fertile river valleys, which in light of the arid land that surrounded the region, meant life and death. The socioeconomic structure that emerged, in part out of necessity, ensured that women assumed domestic roles, but over time, these translated into massive gender inequalities. This paper asserts that women in ancient times as well as today belong to a lower class and have not been acknowledged for their contributions to the building of those societies and have not been treated equally then or today in Mesopotamia ...

International Relations-The Problem of the Rise of China

Introduction This research paper explores the issues related to the rise of China as one of contenders for world supremacy in terms of economic and political dominance. In the twenty first century several countries have been considered to have the potential of being superpowers and China has been seen as one of them. It has experienced massive economic growth and political development. The growth in its economy has resulted from the large skilled workforce and the efficient technology that is used in production. This has been accompanied by the strong security within its borders and the formation of a strong military base. ...

Classical Realism, or Traditional Realism (Waltz, 2003: 21), and Neorealism, or Structural Realism (Jakobsen, 2013), are “two of the major approaches” in the study of international politics (Waltz, 2003: 21). Robert Keohane (1986: 159) considers Classical Realism as the “central tradition” in the study of international politics, while Jo Jakobsen (2013) considered Neorealism as the “bedrock theory of International Relations.” Despite the efforts of their respective proponents to distinguish one theory from the other, commonalities between Classical Realism and Neorealism do occur. First, both would agree that changes in policymaking among states “happen” more than making it happen ( ...

Introduction

Classical realism and neo-realism represents the evolution and proliferation of international politics. Even in contemporary times, the political leaders staunchly represent these theories in their practical application of political ideals. This paper is an extensive study of these two forms of realism. It begins by defining realism; then identifies the major differences among these concepts and exemplifies its significance across the world. Finally, a conclusion is drawn by elaborating on contemporary politics and its use/rebuttal of these concepts.

Defining realism

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2013), realism has its foundation in theories proposed by Thucydides, Machiavelli and Hobbes. It is ...

- Introduction Diplomacy, in the modern world, is the practice of countries dealing amicably with each other. It is the process by which countries conduct negotiations and come to agreements; during these talks, individuals often act on behalf of the state. There are a number of desires that shape the movement of diplomacy agreements, but Schroeder suggests that it is the mechanism of shared ambition - which acts like an invisible hand to make alliances and international relationships work. Imbalances of power are bad for peace. In today’s world, diplomacy is the conduction of international relations by heads ...

Terrorism

Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the future complexion and definition of terrorism has become quite ambiguous for the public. In its early incarnations, terrorism was associated with the spread of fear for the sake of ideology without the mass genocide included. However, as the years progressed with the onset of various ideologies and changed political affiliations, some no longer know if the ongoing violence classified as terrorism is still ‘terrorism’ or just a plain warfare. This ambiguity has subsequently influenced how governments, such as the United States, in organizing their counter-terrorism strategies and now directed such strategies in ...

Introduction

Following the ousting and the abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte's, there was a great need for Europe to come with a strategy that would counter the impact of French revolution. To lay down a congressional meeting commenced in Vienna 1 October 1814. Initially, the meeting was aimed at restoring Europe earlier boundaries, which existed before the 1789 French revolution and the wars of napoleon that took precedence. In the procession of leaders leading, the talks were the victors of the revolution Great Britain, who had sent a representative of King George III, Lord Castelergh since the king of England then was insane. Another ...

What is the difference between Realism and Neorealism?

The nature of international politics has long been a subject of immense debate between scholars since time in memorial. These scholars would present their own ideology as to why states go to war and what should be the main focus of actors in terms of policy-making and the use of force. Several ideologies have come and go in terms of explaining the erratic nature of international politics with only a few considered to be one of the foundations of international relations theory. One of these founding theories is known as Realism or classical realism and like its fellow international politics theories, ...

International Conflict Political Science

Introduction There have been a number of issues in the world that has brought about international conflicts for years. It is a fact that every year there are new conflicts that emerge and the old conflicts become worse or improve. There are many countries where people know that no matter what happens conflicts with other countries will continue to persist (Jack & William, 2007). Examples of these countries are Afghanistan, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Nigeria, Sudan, Iraq and Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of the wars have begin as civil wars and ended up being a full blown war between states. In this ...

Introduction

Since the beginning of time competition for world power has existed and will continue to remain till the end of this world. In ancient ages, Egypt and Mesopotamia used to compete for power and then came the Roman Empire who competed with Persians. They were beaten by the Khalifah and the Byzantin empires became the superpowers until they faced challengers from Mongolia and the Crusaders. Until the mid-18th century England and France used to compete with Uthmani Khalifah, at the start of World War I they competed with Germany who had shifted the balance of power. After the World ...

The Arab – Israel conflict can be traced back to the creation of the Jewish state in the Middle East region in 1948. This led to rising tensions in the region, and upset the balance of power in the Middle East. The conflict escalated especially after the first Arab- Israel war in 1948 that saw Arab powers led by Egypt and Jordan invade the newly created Jewish state. The powers felt the United Nation partition plan of Palestine in 1947 greatly favored the Jews at the expense of the local Palestine population (Fawcett slide 14 of Fawcet chapter 3). The ...

Introduction

At the end of the 1970s, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) emerged from the Mao Zedong era and started the process of opening up to the foreign world. As it initiated its reforms in 1978, it has also ventured into the international realms (Bijian, 2005). It pursued a winning policy for economic development, surged its military and political power, and made their nation a formidable player in the international arena. This phenomenon spans almost thirty years. As China’s economic, military and political power has increased over the last three decades, its national leaders also sought to enhance their ...

Introduction

The dramatic events of the so called “Arab Spring” are still unfolding in many parts of the Middle East. Syria is still experiencing this wave even though it is entering its fourth year of this uprising which has evolved to the point of a civil war. The Sunni-dominated civil uprising in Syria has taken dramatic shift as it has failed to bring down President Bashar al- Assad regime, unlike other Arab countries where the toppling of regimes took place swiftly. President Bashar al- Assad’s family has ruled Syria for forty years. Assad is from the minority group or sect ...

The Iraq War lasted officially from 2003 up to 2010 and it is one of the most controversial issues in the local and global political agendas. Various assessments by authoritative scholars on this war have varied in their results since they vary from the top most degree of appraisal to the highest levels of condemnations. In general, it is very difficult to assess accurately the internal situation in Iraq since there are many unexpectedness and ambiguity. In addition, Iraq can either fail or succeed. The Iraq invasion in 2003 (20 March to 1 May 2003) was the beginning of ...

The current state of American federalism can be said to be cooperative in nature. To this end, the national, state and local governments cooperate in delivering their mandates to the people. While each government level has clear functions, they all cooperate in implementing mutually agreed goals such as medical care, employee compensation and benefits and infrastructure. The central government funds state programs that seek to achieve a common goal. Nonetheless, each of the governments is autonomous in their own jurisdictions, such that local, state and federal governments do not have to report to each other. To this end, while the ...

Introduction

Entering its fourth year events coined as the “Arab Spring” still unfold in Middle East particularly in Syria. Conflict in Syria dominated by Sunni failed to topple Assad’s Alawi regime leading to a civil war unlike other Arab countries where regimes have been brought down. Syria’s response to the civil war was not to the interest of the people rather to protect its self resulting to a crisis of confidence. Syria enforced the use of excessive force (weapons of mass destruction) against the rebels leading to genocide on highly populated areas with minimal rebel presence (Bokhari, 2012). Dispute ...

International politics and relations remains to be a topic of immense debate for theorists and experts due to the varying descriptions and interpretations of its nature and structure. Some argue that the world order should be seen as it is and power is what leads actors to become selfish and enter war. Others argue that war or power should not be the focus of political actors, it should be progress and the will of a bureaucratic organization that represents the collective interest of its member states. Within ideologies, several schools branch out to provide their own concept of international politics while ...

The philosophical and political thought of Ancient world had a great impact on the development of modern governments. If we are to compare the governments of Ancient Greece, Rome, Sparta, and Persia to the modern state of democracy in the US it can be seen that Persian government contributed more to the development of tyranny and authoritarianism, while Greece, Rome, and Sparta - to democracy. Nevertheless, there are many points at which ancient and modern governments differ. The ancient governments differed from modern democracy in the USA by the scope of citizen involvement to the political life, the system of ...

- Introduction The dramatic rise of China as a political and global trading force presents a set of matters and concerns for the highly developed countries and particularly to the Asia-Pacific region. While China only poses a lesser security precaution at this juncture, its global intentions and developing capabilities warrant some serious considerations. This is due to the military, economic and political impact of any of its actions or moves. - China’s Security Alignments and Oppositions Of the other stable nations in the Asia Pacific region, only Russia takes China as its vital partner. The western democracies are ...

Post Cold War

Customer Inserts His/her Name Introduction American security policy and the strategies which it chooses to employ have evolved considerably since the end of the Cold War. The security climate during the Cold War was characterized by two superpowers the US and USSR who possessed a great deal of military and economic power as well as well as extremely destructive nuclear weapons. These factors shaped the basis of American security policy during the Cold War era. Highlights of this policy included an avoidance of direct armed conflict with the USSR due to the mutually assured destruction (MAD) that would ...

The debate between the neorealists and the neoliberals had swept the international relations theory for the past decade, especially in the United States. The ‘neo-neo’ debate had shifted the views of many theorists regarding the international system and the definition of what is international politics. Both neo-realism and neoliberalism are considered the progeny of the main theories of realism and liberalism respectively, presenting a new definition and framework to determine the nature of issue. Under these two progenies are also several versions, which diversifies the debate of both IR theories on issues pertaining to international relations and politics. However, while ...

World War I was undoubtedly one of the most devastating and widespread conflicts in the history of mankind, opening the theater of war across continents and breaking a delicate balance of power that had been in place for centuries. In order to find out exactly what caused the First World War, it is necessary to look back at the factors that led to the animosity between Germany, France, Russia, Britain, and Austria-Hungary, among others (some of these conflicts simmering for at least forty years leading up to the war). It was a complex, interweaving and stacking series of events that eventually ...

Modern relationships always beg the question, who is more superior in the relationship. Traditionally, different sexes had specific roles in a relationship that determined the leader in a relationship (Besen 257). Men took more took more involving roles as being the bread winner and making important decisions in the family. Women settled for simpler and sex defined roles as cooking and taking care of the home and the children. This article explores the changes that have taken place over the years to change the power in dating.

The article offers a very informative trend in dating in both the young and the ...

Political realism, liberalism and constructivism are three theories alive in international relations today. However, throughout history, one theory outshines the rest by continuously playing a vital role in world-wide affairs. From on-going wars to daily foreign policy acts, the philosophy of realism is applied more often than not. Realism looks at the uncertainty that exists between nations and how the various conflicts in the world need to be followed accordingly, without trust. This theory can be appropriately applied to events today and many historical conflicts over the centuries.

Comparatively, liberalism is a theory that, although it already existed, transformed with the ...

The American Civil War

The American civil war was fought from 1861 to 1865 and is believed to have consumed more lives than all other wars combined. The war was anticipated for over 40 years after the American Revolution due to conflicts between the North and south. There were many issues between the two sides, but slavery was the central issue. Another cause was taxation of goods imported from foreign countries. The taxes were called tariffs and the southerners felt oppressed since they imported more goods than the northerners. Goods exported from the south were heavily taxed, which was not applicable to goods ...

In 1961 W.R. Schilling published the article “The H-bomb Decision: How to Decide without Actually Choosing.” That was eleven years after the initial decision by President Harry Truman to explore the possibility of building a thermonuclear bomb. (Schilling 44) Schilling researched the decision to build a hydrogen bomb and concluded that the least that could be decided was decided was decided by Truman (24). His article explains the reasons he reached this conclusion. M. J. Sherwin (1973) published a different view twelve years after Schilling in an article titled “The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War: U.S. Atomic-Energy Policy ...

Explain how war can be “Better than a Bargain”. Fromkin and Doyle.

War is a form of conflict that usually arises whenever there is a disagreement between individuals, states or even nations. It results into a hostile relationship, and for example, in armed conflict, mortality rates become high. Furthermore, it impacts negatively on the economy and leads to widespread problems. Sometimes war can be beneficial besides its negative attributes. This is detailed as war being better than a bargain, and it may act as the best option amongst two parties with conflicting needs (Fromkin 8-18).

The end of the Cold war acted as a signal that both the Western and world war had also come to ...

I. Introduction This primary source document talks about the governing strategies that Emperor Augustus put forward in order to ensure the stability of the Roman state. It is important to understand that for a state to be considered as being stable it has to be in a position to sustain itself in terms of economics, politics, and also address the needs of its social strata adequately. This primary source draws from this rationale because Augustus talks about the securitization of this state. The deeds of Augustus spelt out in this documents explain how Augustus addressed issues of national security, how ...

Discuss the system of alliances that emerged during and after the Congress of Vienna. What were the goals of the Congress of Vienna and was the Congress successful in implementing these goals? Did the system of alliances remain intact a century later?

The congress of Vienna was convened by the four powers that had contributed the most to conquer napoleon. These four powers included Russia, Austria, Britain and Prussia. This congress was convened in an attempt to make stable the map of Europe following the mayhem caused by war that had lasted for more than twenty years. This congress was ...

Book Review on Walter Russell Mead's, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World

The book Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World by Walter Russell Mead gives an analysis of the United States’ foreign policy and the effects that it has had to different parts of the world. The author lays more emphasis on the origin and the history of the US foreign policy, the developments it has had and the effects that the foreign policy to both the United States and other countries across the globe. This book gives a very good history of the America’s foreign policy. The author offers a cerebral outline which is based on ...