Power in international relations

principles that can be applied to the Melian Dialogue. These include ideas such as a static, unchanging world in which there exists a constant struggle for power, and on the international stage this struggle exists between nation states. Evil remains steadfast in the world as well, ever affecting the political and social realm. This constant struggle for power equates to endless competition between states making peace an unobtainable illusion with a moderated or controlled peace the only…

Foreign aid is the international transfer of capital, goods, or services from a country or international organization for the benefit of the recipient country or its population. Aid can be economic, military, or emergency humanitarian (Williams 2015). Aid has long been recognized as crucial to help poor developing nations grow out of poverty. Peace and war has the significant effect of distribution of foreign aid in the developing countries. The distribution of foreign aids is effected in…

intervention. Similar to the previously mentioned proposal, this proposal uses compulsory power, but it can also imply the use of institutional power. To paraphrase Barnett and Duvall’s words, institutional power is the ability to influence the actions of others through institutions (Barnett and Duval 51-52). In other words, there is a chance that Trump could use institutions such as the United Nations to exert power while simultaneously exerting pressure against…

Sovereignty is an important concept in International Relations. Before, the concept of sovereignty is formally introduced, it is important to mention that the word ‘state’ and ‘country’ will be interchangeably used in this context. Sovereignty can be referred to as the independent authority over a territory (country or state). States can be said to be sovereign if there is no authority in the form of an international organization or supranational entity to tell them what to do. Examples in this…

How realists and liberalists ( in international relations context) see individuals, groups and the world differently The differences between realists and liberalists come from their difference in the view of the individual. For realists “homo homini lupus”, that is, individuals are selfish and will try to subjugate their opponents whenever they will have the occasion. Only the power of the State with its legitimate use of violence can bring order from anarchy. Liberalists, instead, have a more…

It is important to first define power, as the ability to influence the behaviour of others in accordance with one's own ends (New York Knopf 1968: 104) to get a better understanding of both Cox’s and Williams’ arguments. This means that power cannot be singly limited to economic or military power and, according to political scientist Joseph Nye, must also take into account soft power, “the ability to achieve goals through attraction rather than coercion” (Nye 2004: 5). Both Cox and Williams each…

“The world at the beginning of the twenty-first century is a strange cocktail of continuity and change. Some aspects of international politics have not changed since Thucydides. There is certain logic of hostility, a dilemma about security that goes with interstate politics. Alliances, balances of power, and choices in policy between war and compromise have remained similar over the millennia" Since Thucydides era; before the existence of many ideas like nations and politics the struggle for…

debate for some time among academics and politicians as to what Australia’s position should be in the world. Countries including the UK and USA are known as traditional superpowers and have never had that title challenged. Despite the label ‘middle power’ being a contested title in regards to Australian policy when approach from a regional or global perspective, the foundation that has shaped Australian foreign policy has not, and doesn’t look like to ever, change. By assessing Australian…

Is cooperative engagement only an idealistic strategy or could it be the first step to a very effective foreign policy that leads other nations towards the goal of international peace and security? Issues like, climate change, infectious diseases, or economic crisis are problems that can reach beyond a state’s borders, yet they have the potential to cripple a nation. The world is facing a new type of war, one that is different than other wars in the history books. The United States’ new foreign…

anarchic.” That is how realists may see the world and relations amongst state are only necessary in order to gain states’ own interests. They believe that states are competitive towards one another with the primary goal of gaining power. Their theory is often contradicting the theory of the liberalists and idealists, which believe in cooperation and the existences of mutual benefits. The realists believe that states are meant to struggle for power and act in a way to prioritize the nation’s…