A basic intro to the idea of politics and global politics. Intro to the different perspectives to studying Global Politics

1. What is politics?

2. What is politics?

3. What is politics?

4. What is politics?

5. What is politics?

6. What is politics?

7. What is politics?

8. What is politics?

9. What is politics?

10. What is politics?

11. Introduction to Global Politics
KEY ISSUES/QUESTIONS:
 WHA IS MEANT BY GLOBAL POLITICS?
 HOW HAS INTERNATIONAL POLITCS BEEN TRANSFORMED
INTO GLOBAL POLITICS?
 WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPACTS ON WORLD
POLITICS?
 WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES/LENSES TO STUDY
GLOBAL POLITICS?
 CONTINUITIES AND CHANGES IN 21ST CENTURY?

12. Global Politics

13. Global politics

14. The Westphalian state-system
 Peace of Westphalia (1648): End of the Thirty Years War in Europe
 Beginning of the modern state-system with strict loyalties and
identities
 2 main principles:
 States enjoy sovereign jurisdiction
 Relations bewteeen states are structured by acceptance of the
sovereign independence of all states (equality)

15. The nation state

16. What is a state?
A defined territory
A permanent population
An effective government
The capacity to enter into relations
with other states

17. The great debates of IR
Liberalists vs Realists
 1930-1950s
 Liberalists: Peaceful
cooperation
 Realists: inescapable
power politics
Behavioralists vs
tradionalists
 1960s
 Possibility of objective
‘laws’ of international
relations
Marxists vs the rest
 1970-1980s
 Interpreted
international relations
in economic terms

18. The mainstream perspectives
Realists
 Traced to Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli,
Thomas Hobbes, etc
 Emphasis on power politcs
 Human nature: selfish, greedy
 Politics is structured by power and coercion
 States are key actors
 States pursue national interests, mainly security
 International anarchy, hence rely on self help
 Ethical considerations are irrelevant in foreign
policy
Liberals
 Immanuel Kant; Committed to
internationalism, Belief in ‘universal and
perpetual peace’
 Humans are rational and moral creatures
 Increasing prospect of peace & cooperation
 Mixed-actor model for global politics
 Trade and economic interdependence
make war less likely
 International law promotes good behavior

19. Critical perspectives
 Neo-Marxists: Highlight inequalities in the global capitalist system, through
which hegemonic powers such as the US dominate and exploit developing
countries
 Feminists: Have drawn attention to systematic and pervasive structures of
gender inequality that characterize global and every form of politics. Criticize
the ‘masculine’ assumptions of rivalry, power, competition, and conflict.
 Postcolonialists: Emphasized the cultural dimension of colonial rule; western
culture and political hegemony over the rest of the world still dominates
global politics
 Green politics: highlight environmental issues, critical of industrial growth and
of the obsession with economic growth

20. The two models of global politics

21. Globalization
 Complex, elusive and controversial term
 ‘It is the widening, intensifying, speeding up, and growing impact of world-wide interconnectedness’
(Held and McGrew, 1999)
 ‘The intensification of worldwide social relations that link distant localities in a way that local
happenings are shaped by events occuring many miles away and vice versa’. (Giddens, 1990)
 ‘The integration of national economies into the international economies through trade, direct foreign
investment, short term capital flow, international flow of workers and humanity generally, and the flow
of technology’. Bhagwati, 2004)
 Globalization has economic, political, social and cultural dimensions

22. Globalization: Myth or reality?
Hyperglobalists
 Digital revolution,
global financial system,
global commodities
 BORDERLESS World
 National borders and
national economies are
unworkable
The Sceptics
 Globalization is a
fantasy
 Bulk of economic
activity happens within
the state
 Just an ideological tool
and propaganda to
furhter market-oriented
economic agenda
Transformationalists
 Take the middle road
 Much has changed,
but not everything
 Most widely accepted
view

23. Approaches to Globalization
Realist view
 Sceptical view
 Increases economic
interdependence
 Globalization made by states,
for the states
 Mainly enhances and protects
the interest of Western states
 Leads to ‘mutual vulnerability’
rather than peace and
cooperation
Liberal view
 Positive attitude
 Positive sum game, i.e.,
benefits all
 Good for democracy, peace
and cooperation
 Has made Balance of Power
redundant
 States are losing their former
prominence
Critical views
 Negative or oppositional
stance
 Establishes a global capitalist
order which is exploitative
 Accepts that states have lost
power
 Creates ‘core’ and ‘periphery’
regions in the world
 Creates Gender inequality
(feminists)

24. End of topic activities
 Activity 1: Explain the following terms in your own
words:
 Anarchy, Collective dilemma, globalization,
interdependence, Power politics, Security dilemma,
Cosmopolitanism
 Give exmples from real life situations to explain these
concepts.
 Include a critical comment as well.

25. 9/11: The day that
changed the world
Activity 2: Discuss, in about
500 words, the significance
of 9/11 in global politics.