The Study of International Relations & Globalization

• What is the study of international relations concerned with?
• In what ways, if at all, has globalization transformed international relations?
  

The Globalization of World Politics-Baylis (Introduction)

-         Originally, International Relations was studied to help prevent war. Scholars could find the causes of the world’s main political problems and put forward solutions to help politicians solve them.

-         Realism has been dominant explanation of IR/world politics, seeing the world for what it really is rather than having a view of how the world ought to be.

-         Four theoretical perspectives (realism, liberalism, Marxism and constructivism) see globalization differently.

-         Realists believe that although economies and societies may have become more interconnected due to globalization, this has not happened to the states-system, which retains its sovereignty. Globalization does not undermine importance of threat of force or the balance of power.

-         Liberals believe globalization shows that states are no longer central actors in international system. In their place are numerous actors. World is more like a cobweb of relations.

-         Marxists believe that globalization is the latest stage in the development of international capitalism.

-         Constructivists believe globalization is an external force acting on states, and gives us the opportunity to create cross-national social movements aided by technology.

-         It can be argued that globalization has:

-         Quickened the pace of economic transformation.

-         Revolutionized world communications.

-         Created a global culture.

-         Is creating a more homogeneous world.

-         Compression of time and space.

-         Emergence of a global polity.

-         Development of a cosmopolitan culture.

-         Emergence of a risk culture – aware of global risks e.g. AIDS.

-         Objections to globalization as a ‘new era’:

-         Just a buzzword to denote latest state of capitalism – being promoted as more unique than it actually is.

-         Uneven in its effects – a Western theory applicable to a very small part of the world.

-         Latest stage of Western Imperialism.

-         As world becomes more ‘globalized’, exploitation rises. Technologies used automatically benefit the rich, allowing their interests to override local ones.

-         Globalized forces are not all positive – makes drug cartels and terrorist organizations easier to operate.

-         With global governance, who does responsibility fall on?

The Globalization of World Politics-Baylis (Chapter 1)

-         Globalization is more than world interconnectedness, it’s a shift towards seeing the world as a shared social space. Also involves a process of deterritorialization.

-         Globalization is a complex multi-dimensional process. A slow-down in economic globalization does not also mean a slow-down in military, technological or cultural globalization.