Challenges of International Relations

Lesson 1 Several questions should be answered in regards to international relations first. Are states obsolete? For almost four hundred years, the territorial state has been the primary player in world politics. To achieve state sovereignty has been the main goal of most nationalistic separatist movements. In some points of view, the territorial state is in very good health. It is still needed to provide military security, give people identity, raise taxes, and provide for the needy. Although, as global trends put pressure on nations for the transformation of politics, states become vulnerable because they may not be able to cope with the needs that the global trends demand. There is much debate on whether globalization is a cure or a curse to the world. On one hand, globalization has brought the world closer as a whole and countries have united economically and socially. On the other hand, globalization will ultimately lead to competition and empowers advantaged states but constrains weak states as well. This creates a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor. America is a superpower, and there is no question about it, but will there be consequences for America’s superpower status? The United States has become a hegemon, which is a state so powerful that it has the capacity to control world politics and create rules for others to follow. So the United States has a choice to make: global domination or global leadership guided by principle. Can the United States wisely use its power to advance its own interests as well as the interests of the rest of the world? Its destiny is in its own hands. Another question: will geo-economics supersede geopolitics? Geo-economics is the distribution of wealth and geopolitics is the distribution of political and military power. There seems to be an apparent shift of priorities to the economics of world politics and that will most certainly lead to a future distribution of world power. This shift is also likely to decrease the