Read the postings below and write a response on liberalism focusing on justice, dependency and low political priorities .
Post 1
The most useful approach to understanding international relations is Constructivism. It takes into account identities and interests concerning how they are organized and constrained by structures. Constructionists recognize that the world is “ socially constructed and investigate global change and transformation” ( Globalization of world politics, page 156). This theory looks at society and individual relations making sure to take important factors into account. Currently, Liberal ideas are the center of International Relations today. Liberalism emphasizes values of liberty, order, justice, and toleration to minimize conflict. It is used by western democracies to capitalize off of peripheral countries and alienate their cultures. The Marxist goal is “to assist in a process of human emancipation” from the struggle of classes to create a peaceful society (Globalization of world politics, page 132). Marxist believe that money should flow from the government to the people, up until things can flow equally without the need for a central government. However, after its failed experiment with the soviet union and the history of human nature, it doesn’t seem likely to succeed. Realists believe that because of human nature and people’s continuous pursuit of power that the state should always maximize its interests. This theory fails to consider non-state actors in matters that concern the state. Dependency theorists are concerned with the structure of the international economic system and what drives these policies. The System theory operates in an environment with demand and supports that result in outputs. This theory suggests that all variables will have a consistent result in a situation. Which is untrue because of personal feelings, choices, and diverse opinions. Each theory stresses the state as the center, but they lack the consideration of minuscule factors that add up to influence International Relations as Constructionism does.
Post 2
There are strengths and weakness associated with each of the approaches discussed in this week’s lectures, however I believe the most useful approach to understanding international relations is liberalism. Liberalism is the idea that the higher level of order and justice the lower the level of violence and war. Critics say liberalism is unrealistic because democracies constantly find themselves at war with other nations but liberals believe since it works at the domestic level than there is no reason it can’t work at an international level. Liberalism is a good approach because focuses on the idea of unity as well as dependence with other nations. It shows that all humanity has similar interests and goals so nations should work together to achieve these goals. Liberalism also enforces the concept that there should be no reason to have high priority topics or low priority topics on the world stage. Two of the topics mentioned when discussing liberalism is that of health and the environment which are arguably more important now than at any point in the history of the planet. Between the effects of climate change and the ongoing pandemic it has never been more important for nations to settle their disagreements and focus on the crises that are affecting all of humanity.
All that being said there are numerous arguments against liberalism. One of the arguments is that if liberalism is to exist than there must be a universal set of values each state must follow however this could lead to the fracture of other cultures. Every state has its own values and traditions which could be lost if a new set of values were implemented. The creation of these values could be seen as just another attempt for western nations to push their ideals on the rest of the world. This could lead to more frustration across the globe which could in more war instead of less.