In the Leviathan, men in the state of nature are rational beings and know exactly what they want, seeking the best way to stay alive and prolong their survival. This essay argues that it is impossible for men to leave Hobbes’s state of war because of their nature. At the same time, their nature is exactly what enables them to leave this environment.
Violence in the international system can manifest itself in several ways. Principal among these are interstate war, civil war and military interventions. Yet in terms of human behaviour, conflict is relatively infrequent. This essay will examine this paradox.
Pre-emptive war is universally recognized as an anticipatory use of force. Despite the definition for the terms of a pre-emptive war, whether or not it is justified has become a complex and contradicting subject for states. There is the issue of morality, abiding by international law and comprehending the definition of “imminent threat”.
The intervention in Libya is being portrayed in the media as an attempt to save the Libyan people from destruction at the hands of a brutal and oppressive regime. When one looks at the evidence, various interests and geopolitical concerns confronting intervening nations, another motive emerges: realism.
International institutions are generally the results of leading states. Therefore, it is world powers that could eventually, under conditions of extreme political will, promote global peace and security and not the international institutions they have created in order to build their spheres of influence and increase their power in the international system.
The Euro, by design and recent accident, has been a catalyst to integration within the EU, but with the caveat that this integration is unevenly distributed. Even if there are disparities in broader levels of integration, the determination to avoid failure has unified the euro-area members and non-members alike.
Transnational organized criminal groups were ever since a darling of the sensation seeking media. But since the attacks of 9/11, criminal networks were moved even further into the spotlight, as the sources of income for the historically most deadly and horrific generation of global terrorism.
Terrorist organizations have become more effective in delivering fear to global populations. It is not only globalization that has helped terrorist groups operate more efficiently, but also their inherited nature of a constant process of adaptation, ingenuity, and incrementalism when faced with new grand strategies.
Interestingly, Hong Kong already has institutions that underlie democracy but it is still yet to be legitimate. This poses the key question; if Hong Kong has institutions that do to some extent, simulate a democracy, what has prevented full transition for Hong Kong to become a legitimate democracy?
In discussions of U.S. hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region, China looms large. The United States—along with many of China’s neighbors—have cautiously embraced China’s rise. However tensions in the region have been on the rise and the potential for strategic rivalry in the long run remains high.
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