Interdependence: Myth or Reality?

1973 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Rosecrance ◽  
Arthur Stein

One of the uncertainties of modern international relations is the degree of interdependence among states. Some theorists have asserted that interdependence is high and/or growing, and others have maintained that it is low and/or declining. Essentially, the debate about interdependence has proceeded in three separate phases, (i) In the aftermath of World War II, technology was heralded as the stimulus to an interrelationship among states: The world was shrinking; technological, military, and economic factors would produce interdependence even among erstwhile enemies. (2) Later this conventional wisdom was challenged by Karl Deutsch and his associates, who purported to show that various economic indicators of external reference were declining. International transactions were lessening relative to intranational transactions. More and more, citizens were turning to the nation-state for the satisfaction of their needs, and national economies were taking precedence over the previous international economy of the nineteenth century. This theme has recently been powerfully reinforced by Kenneth Waltz. (3) In reaction to the claims of the Deutsch group, which initially predicted stalemate in European unification efforts and a greater autarchy for industrial states, new presentations of the argument in favor of interdependence have been made. According to this view, interdependence among states is certainly increasing. A symposium on the international corporation partly reinforces Deutsch's view, while one on transnational processes argues against it. The resultant of these theoretical vectors remains uncertain. In this essay we hope to offer new data and to provide a modest reconciliation of the contending claims, drawing a trial balance between them.

Author(s):  
Leonard V. Smith

We have long known that the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 “failed” in the sense that it did not prevent the outbreak of World War II. This book investigates not whether the conference succeeded or failed, but the historically specific international system it created. It explores the rules under which that system operated, and the kinds of states and empires that inhabited it. Deepening the dialogue between history and international relations theory makes it possible to think about sovereignty at the conference in new ways. Sovereignty in 1919 was about remaking “the world”—not just determining of answers demarcating the international system, but also the questions. Most histories of the Paris Peace Conference stop with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on June 28, 1919. This book considers all five treaties produced by the conference as well as the Treaty of Lausanne with Turkey in 1923. It is organized not chronologically or geographically, but according to specific problems of sovereignty. A peace based on “justice” produced a criminalized Great Power in Germany, and a template problematically applied in the other treaties. The conference as sovereign sought to “unmix” lands and peoples in the defeated multinational empires by drawing boundaries and defining ethnicities. It sought less to oppose revolution than to instrumentalize it. The League of Nations, so often taken as the supreme symbol of the conference’s failure, is better considered as a continuation of the laboratory of sovereignty established in Paris.


Author(s):  
Alexander Naumov

This article reviews the role of Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935 in escalation of crisis trends of the Versailles system. Leaning on the British Russian archival documents, which recently became available for the researchers, the author analyzes the reasons and consequences of conclusion of this agreement between the key European democratic power and Nazi Reich. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the moods within the political elite of the United Kingdom. It is proven that the agreement became a significant milestone in escalation of crisis trends in the Versailles model of international relations. It played a substantial role in establishment of the British appeasement policy with regards to revanchist powers in the interbellum; policy that objectively led to disintegration of the created in 1919 systemic mechanism, and thus, the beginning of the World War II. The novelty of this work is substantiated by articulation of the problem. This article is first within the Russian and foreign historiography to analyze execution of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement based on the previously unavailable archival materials. The conclusion is made that this agreement played a crucial role in the process of disintegration of interbellum system of international relations. Having officially sanctioned the violation of the articles of the Versailles Treaty of 1919 by Germany, Great Britain psychologically reconciled to the potential revenge of Germany, which found reflection in the infamous appeasement policy. This launched the mechanism for disruption of status quo that was established after the World War I in Europe. This resulted in collapse of the architecture of international security in the key region of the world, rapid deterioration of relations between the countries, and a new world conflict.


1996 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Cohen

Of all the many changes of the world economy since World War II, few have been nearly so dramatic as the resurrection of global finance. A review of five recent books suggests considerable diversity of opinion concerning both the causes and the consequences of financial globalization, leaving much room for further research. Competing historical interpretations, stressing the contrasting roles of market forces and government policies, need to be reexamined for dynamic linkages among the variables they identify. Likewise, impacts on state policy at both the macro and micro levels should be explored more systematically to understand not just whether constraints may be imposed on governments but also how and under what conditions, and what policymakers can do about them. Finally, questions are also raised about implications for the underlying paradigm conventionally used for the study of international political economy and international relations more generally.


1970 ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
V. Pavlenko

The article examines the development of the crisis manifestations of the Versailles system on the eve of World War II. Special attention is paid to how and under what circumstances the preparation and signing of the Munich Agreement took place. It is noted that the emergence of Nazi Germany’s European politics at the forefront undoubtedly stimulated a whole range of interstate contradictions. This led to a decrease in the stability of the Versailles system. The manifestations of the reaction of the great powers to the aggressive policy of Berlin are analyzed and attention is focused on the fact that the policy of appeasement was erroneous and led to the aggravation of the Versailles system crisis in the late 30s XX century. This study emphasizes that as a result of the policy of appeasement, the balance of forces on the continent changes dramatically, and the signing of the Munich Agreement in September 1938 was decisive in the development of the Versailles system crisis and determined the beginning of the collapse of this model of international relations. It was stated that the Western democracies did not understand the essence of dictatorial regimes, and such a misunderstanding led not only to the collapse of the international system, but also to the beginning of the World War II


Author(s):  
D. A. Kryachkov

Chair of English Language № 1 considers itself the successor of the English Language Chair, established at the Faculty of International Relations at the Moscow State University during the World War II. After the Faculty was reformed into MGIMO the Department of English Language began to grow rapidly. Members of the chair develop textbooks and teaching materials designed to provide competence-based approach in the education in field of international affairs, the development of the professional proficiency in English, which are necessary for future participants of our foreign policy. To date, the chair staff consists of 60 professionals, including 26 PhDs. Teachers of the department also conduct research and take part in educational conferences both in Russia and abroad, including those devoted to the professional foreign language communication. Members of the chair also publish scientific articles in this field.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 950
Author(s):  
Gwyn McClelland

Since 1945, official Catholic discourse around nuclear weapons has condemned their existence on the one hand and supported them as deterrents on the other. This paper argues the largely abstracted discourse on nuclear weapons within the World Church has been disrupted by voices of Urakami in Nagasaki since at least 1981, as the Vatican has re-considered both memory and Catholic treatments of the bombing of this city since the end of World War II. On 9 August 1945, a plutonium A-bomb, nicknamed ‘Fat Man’, was detonated by the United States over the northern suburb of Nagasaki known as Urakami. Approximately 8500 Catholics were killed by the deployment of the bomb in this place that was once known as the Rome of the East. Many years on, two popes visited Nagasaki, the first in 1981 and the second in 2019. Throughout the period from John Paul II’s initial visit to Pope Francis’s visit in 2019, the Catholic Church’s official stance on nuclear weapons evolved significantly. Pope John Paul II’s contribution to the involvement in peace discourses of Catholics who had suffered the bombing attack in Nagasaki has been noted by scholars previously, but we should not assume influence in 1981 was unidirectional. Drawing upon interviews conducted in the Catholic community in Nagasaki between 2014 and 2019, and by reference to the two papal visits, this article re-evaluates the ongoing potentialities and concomitant weaknesses of religious discourse. Such discourses continue to exert an influence on international relations in the enduring atomic age.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. e39056
Author(s):  
Rachel Silva da Rocha Coutinho ◽  
Raquel Araújo De Jesus

Em todo o mundo, pessoas foram e são forçadas a migrar pelos mais diversos motivos. No entanto, a questão do refúgio adquiriu importância no cenário político internacional apenas com o fim da II Guerra Mundial. No âmbito das Relações Internacionais (RI), os debates que vêm sendo conduzidos sobre a temática, embora apresentem abordagens distintas, possuem como pano de fundo uma mesma pergunta: qual é o lugar do indivíduo na arquitetura do sistema internacional? Argumenta-se que a resposta a esse questionamento implica não apenas nas “soluções” políticas conferidas ao “problema” do refúgio, mas também ao tipo de engajamento teórico empregado em sua discussão. Neste sentido, o texto aborda a inserção do refúgio nas RI por meio de quatro chaves interpretativas: segurança/proteção, emergência, fronteira e mobilidade. Longe de um esgotamento do tema, o objetivo é apresentar um panorama dos debates sobre refúgio nas RI, possibilitando ao leitor perspectivas variadas acerca do tema.Palavras-chave: Refúgio; Relações Internacionais; Debate.ABSTRACTThroughout the world, people have been and are forced to migrate for a variety of reasons. However, the issue of refuge became important in the political arena only in the end of World War II. In the realm of International Relations (IR), The debates that have been conducted on the subject, although presenting different approaches, have the same question in the background: what is the place of the individual in the architecture of the international system? It is argued that the answer to this question implies not only the political “solutions” given to the “problem” of the refuge, but also the type of theoretical engagement employed in its discussion. In this sense, the text addresses the insertion of refuge in IR through four interpretative keys: security / protection, emergency, border and mobility. Far from an exhaustion of the theme, the objective is to present an overview of the debates about refuge in IR, providing the reader varied perspectives on the theme.Keywords: Refuge; International Relations; Debate. Recebido em 10 jan.2019 | Aceito em 17 set.2019


1996 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxanne Lynn Doty

Prompted by the integration of Europe, Derrida recently posed the following questions. ‘Indeed, to what concept, to what real individual, to what singular entity should this name be assigned today? Who will draw up its borders?’ While this question speaks of the political entity called Europe, it has much broader resonance. It echoes concerns about identity, boundaries, and the relationship between the inside and the outside of political entities, concerns that have not escaped the attention of critical International Relations scholars. Nor are these necessarily new concerns. The situation in post–World War II Britain prompted the same questions Derrida raises about Europe in 1992. To what real individuals, to what singular entity the terms ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ should be assigned was a question that prompted debate, political violence, and a series of increasingly restrictive and, some would suggest, racist immigration policies. The transformation of Britain from an empire to a nation–state was accompanied by a crisis of identity whereby early postwar proclamations that Britain ‘imposed no colour bar restrictions making it difficult for them when they come here’ and that ‘there must be freedom of movement within the British Empire and the Commonwealth’ were, rather quickly, to give way to exclusionary practices and a retreat to ‘little England’.


1992 ◽  
Vol 48 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Noor Ahmad Baba

Post World War-II era has witnessed great upheavals of far-reaching social, political and economic consequences, overtaking almost all regions of the World. This changed the very context of international relations in these areas. West Asian region dominated by conservative monarchies under varying degrees of western colonial influences, could not escape this all pervading currents of change especially since the late 40s and early 50s. A series of developments in a quick succession changed the very patterns of relationships in the region and shook the very foundations of the conservative regimes there.1 One of the prominent regime that felt threatned and survived by successfully responding to the situation, is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the most potent threat that it had to confront with was the post 1952 revolution in Egypt


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ani Khairunnisa

Defence and security are an important part of national policy. Japan that has been rise from its failure in the World War II and make various adjustments to the international security order. Despite reaping the pros and cons in international relations and get criticism will rise militarism of Japan. Japan has proven through increase the development of the domestic economy and continues to improve its positive image in foreign relations including defence and security policy. This papers will describe the condition.Key Words : Security, National Policy, Defence


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