Realist and Liberalist Perspectives of Globalization Essay examples

1.) The topic of globalization is a very broad one. Globalization itself can take on many forms as well as definitions. To begin, globalization has roots within civilization. From a historical perspective, globalization consisted of market-trading and expansion of different crafts and specialties. For example, someone who specialized in textiles and fabric of clothing would possibly trade with someone who cultivated agricultural goods. Through this process, development of a cultural aspect had grown. People were communicating more and exchanging goods or items from all over the world. This diminished the language barrier due to interface that was essential for trade. People were learning new languages and integrating themselves into

Neo-liberalism is associated with economic liberalism whose campaign support provides economic liberations, free trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation and promoting the role of private institutions present in new society. Classic liberalism criticizes the neo-liberalism objective of introducing liberalization to bring about gradual increase of wealth and freedom among nations, however, classic liberalism explains that instead of realization of wealth and freedom, liberalization resulted to constant fight proposals that threatened the progress of achieving wealth and freedom among nations. Neo-liberalism aimed to prevent and control monopoly situations such that if there are no bodies

Mearsheimer’s short article “The cause of great power war” explains the occurrence of major power wars. According to Mearsheimer, power gives rise to three kinds of systems which are known as Bipolarity, Unbalanced Multipolarity, and

Individual Identity: Every year my family tries to take a trip back to China in order to see family. On trip back played a big role in shaping my identity. In the summer of 2012 I had the daunting task of travelling alone China. This consisted of mastering the Chinese phrases needed to guide me along the way and some way of figuring out how to transfer flights. Surprisingly the hardest part was not finding my way it was merely being alone I found that I got very lonely in the long 14 hour trip and I needed to find a way to occupy myself in order to avoid loneliness. The things I learned from being lonely help form my identity. I found that the more I tried to push away the loneliness the more it just came

Realism has dominated international relations theory since emerging in the 1930’s. The era of state conflict lasting from the 1930’s to the end of the cold war in 1947, proved the perfect hostile environment to fit the largely pessimistic view of world politics. While many aspects of realism are still alive in International Relations today; including the dominant presence of states, intrinsic of war and the decentralised government. However, realism only reaches so far in explaining and creating a structure for international relations. Whilst the strengths of the theory lie in its pragmatic approach to power politics and conflict. However, the realist view is weakened by changes in the way that conflict is fought, the ineffectiveness of the balance of power model and the increasing global and interconnected world. Thus, using realism as a structure to explain international relations today is to some extent, a theory of the past.

Liberalism is another concept that has significant arguments regarding international relations. Liberal economics have determined the shape of the monetary system and support the concept of open markets, where individuals have the freedom to engage in commerce. Unlike realists, liberals oppose mercantilism and the zero-sum game much like the countries in NAFTA. This disagreement is the cause of many disagreements during the NAFTA negotiations. If countries are able to work together and trust one another to attain power, conflict is less likely to occur and overall economic wealth for countries can be gained. Through free trade, the goal is to have a decreased amount of wasted resources on inefficient production because the more individuals that engage in this collective use of resources the more likely the system would become efficient and acquire heightened economic gains such as wealth. ) Finally, there is the liberal institutionalism perspective which approves of regimes and international organizations. Utilizing these rules through rapid growth of regimes, regulate economic affairs, determine which activities are allowed and disallowed, and assure that

Classical realist theory is based upon the idea that human nature is inherently bad and selfish, the international system is anarchic, and the state is the most important actor in international affairs. Basing policy decisions on human nature, the state looks to maximize it’s power and security within its geographic location. Realist theory sees all conflict deriving from power struggles between states, though it is not about fostering wars; rather the opposite.

The Liberal World Order The liberal world order is as much an economic idea, as it is a political one. The liberal world order is very much based on the rule of law. Such things are apparent in a liberal world order such as individual liberties, private property and free trade.

If we want to fully understand the importance of globalization and its effects on the world’s economy and society now and its potential for the future, it is vital that we study its past and how it has originated. The history of Globalization is broad and diverse therefore it is only possible to outline some of the main areas. Globalization isn’t just a modern day phenomenon. Trading activities date from the very earliest of civilizations, but it was the Middle Ages in Europe that initiated systematic cross-border trading operations carried out by institutions of a private corporate nature. By the end of the 14th century it is estimated that there were as many as 150 Italian banking companies already operating multinationally. (Dunning, 1993) This is not exactly globalization, it is however international trade. International trade is one of the main concepts behind globalization.

Joseph E. Stiglitz. Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2003.

Scholte briefly examines six differing theoretical approaches to explaining globalization – what are they? What is the central theme of each?

In the current anarchic world, The United States acts as the global hegemon. However, China’s recent rise to power has lead international relations experts, Ikenberry, Mearsheimer, Subramanian, and Friedberg, to predict an upcoming power shift in the international system. China’s increasing control over the Asia-Pacific region has threatened U.S. power. According to Waltz, the realism paradigm interprets the anarchic structure of the international community, as a constant power struggle. Although each country may be different, to survive, they must all strive for power. Under the liberalism paradigm, the system is still anarchical but cooperation may be achieved by shared norms, and aligned political and economical interests.

Waltz believes that bipolar systems provide more stability and thus provide a better guarantee of security and peace than multipolar systems. ‘With only two great powers, both can be expected to behave in a way to prolong the system’ (Waltz, 1979). That is because in maintaining the system they are maintaining themselves. According to that view, the Cold War was a period of international stability and peace. (Jackson and Sorensen, 2003)

In regard to the issue of globalization, realist had a negative view about it. According to realism, globalization will only increase interdependence among states, causing insecurity (Kay, 2004). It also suggests that it will raise suspicion because the distribution of power is unequal, and it “favors the dominant international actors” (Kay, 13). The major challenge for realist is the role of power and the gains and loss of a state due to globalization. On one hand, a state can utilize globalization to advance their own interest and gain and exert power; on the other hand, interdependence can cause vulnerability which can lead to conflict (Kay, 2004). In a realist world globalization is basically a strategy in the competition for power between several major countries.

It has long been argued that if countries deeply engage in commercial relations with each other, it serves as an incentive for the participating parties to avoid hostilities, including military conflicts. For instance, a study by Vicard (2011) empirically analyzes if world security is the motive for the formation of RTAs. Vicard (2011) found that deep economic integrations (customs union and common market) create a favorable environment for countries to solve their differences through negations. Hence, the probability of armed conflict is low between countries who are deeply integrated economically as they need to form supranational institutions which in turn could serve as balancing act between member countries. On the contrary, shallow economic integrations, like free trade areas, have little impact in the preservation of world peace, so they are formed mainly for economic reasons. Another study by Obermeier (2009), on the gains of economic integration in the ASEAN region, shows that intraregional trade has not grown as expected in the region but has helped member countries to negotiate trade deal with other regional organizations. According to the study, individual member countries have been able to negotiate with economically powerful countries through the integration that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. This is one of the advantages of economic integration, especially to economically small countries as it gives