The Politics and Propaganda of Anthropogenic Global Warming
Several hypotheses have emerged to explain the global warming phenomenon. Among these theories, Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) has emerged as the leading theory. It deduces that the Earth is warming due to human activity and that as a result humans will eventually destroy the planet. However, the theory has been steeped in propaganda with potentially devastating consequences.
What are Private International Regimes and What are Their Global Governance Functions?
Identifying and analysing private international regimes requires first accepting the reality that authority exists outside public actors in the international system. This essay will argue the governance functions which international regimes create for themselves revolve around regulation and the provision of public goods.
Donor-NGO Relations: Resource Exchange & Interdependence?
In the context of an expanding global civil society, the role of NGOs is attracting increasing attention. This essay will critically assess the notion that there exists a ‘strategic interdependence’ between international donors and local NGOs by analysing the resource exchange which occurs between them.
To What Extent was Diplomacy Professionalised in the French System?
“When I entered the service,” wrote Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, “there was no such thing at all.” Within the six centuries of the French diplomatic system diplomacy evolved from its ad-hoc, temporary status in political society into foreign services that practiced within a distinct profession.
Can You Explain Why Internal Revolutions Often Lead to External Conflicts?
Domestically, revolutions cause massive upheavals of the political structures within a state, which affect its relations with neighboring states. On an international level, revolutionaries may actively export their ideology abroad by means of propaganda, by supporting revolutionary movements, or by directly deploying military forces to confront neighboring states. Revolutions threaten the prevailing international order because neighboring states perceive revolutions as a threat to their state’s sovereignty, which may prompt non-revolutionary states to intervene.
Does Marxism Offer a Viable Basis for Analysing the Causes of War?
Marxism grants social and political theorists a most realistic, dynamic, and comprehensive framework that allows the study of the causes of war in its ‘totality’. Marxist theory applied in conjunction with the ‘three levels’ of analysis, which are, the individual, the state, and the international system, is relevant and significant to the study of international relations.
In What Sense do Liberal Internationalists Believe in International Progress?
Ever since the beginning of International Politics as a social science, there has been a perpetual discourse between “realists” and “liberals” about the nature of interstate relations. The two sides cannot agree on whether there is a possibility of progress in the relations between states. In the present essay, the liberal internationalists’ belief that international progress is indeed possible will be critically approached. It will be argued that “liberals” understand progress as a process of spreading a Western model of democracy.
NGOs in New Wars: Neutrality or New Humanitarianism?
With the end of the Cold War and the rise of global civil society, NGOs have played an increasingly prominent role in world politics. Yet due to the nature of their work, they often struggle to remain effective amid complex political, military and social dynamics. Specifically, NGOs face real problems when operating in ‘violent environments’.
Threatening the Moral Authority of NGOs: Inequality in the World Polity and the Advent of Regressive Globalisation
For a long time, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were viewed predominantly as socially and morally progressive organisations. Yet, this dominant perception of NGOs as do-gooders has been challenged in recent decades – especially after 9/11. This essay focuses on two of the many potential challenges to the political claims of NGOs: the inequality in the world polity and regressive globalisation.
Neo-liberal Policies and IGOs: Undermining National Government?
This essay addresses how the power of national governments is undermined by neo-liberal policies. It argues that power is undermined in all states, although not in all equally. It will show how this fact can explain why strong states promote neoliberal policies even though their domestic power is diminished by it.
