The study of international relations

International Relations.
The Study of International Relations:

Why study international relations?
The world today is an exciting time for the study of international relations because of the dramatic changes brought about by the collapse of the European communism and the end of the Cold War. “We are facing not a new world order but the remnants of the old system based on the power structurethat predominated during the Cold War” Henry Kissinger.
The world is experiencing negative, disintegrating forces as well as positive, integrating forces. Replacing a simplistic focus on a worldwide struggle between two alliance system of communist and democratic states is a growing recognition of a world facing diverse issues that concern not only states but non-state entities, includinginternational organizations such as the United Nations.
The relevance of international relations is evident along several dimensions that make people around the globe “World Citizens”. The dimensions many people commonly share are security, economic prosperity, health and human rights, and a global communication network.
* Security:
Almost everyone wants a sense of security, a feeling of well-beingand freedom from harm.
The tearing of the Berlin Wall in 1989 symbolically marked the demise of the communist states in Europe. With the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War came to an end.
An immediate danger to an improved world security situation concerns the future of Russia.
Security threats are not wars among great powers but numerous smaller conflicts operating mostlyonside countries and scattered about the globe. These smaller countries not only undermine the internal security of many countries but threaten to spill over into neighboring countries.
International war among several regional powers remains a concern, however. Some of these states already have or may develop the dreaded weapons known as the “ABCs” or atomic, biological, and chemical instruments ofwar. Combined with a growing missile capability these weapons allow states to pose a horrendous danger for their regions.
A final example of global security threat is terrorism. Angry over what they perceive as injustices, bands of terrorists have tried to thrust their grievances before governments and world opinion. Innocent bystanders are as frequently the victims of terrorists’ acts as aregovernment officials.
The acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, such as lethal gas or nuclear devices, by terrorist concerns security experts perhaps more than any other threat.
The world is still a dangerous place, and no one has a complete guarantee of security.
* A global economy:
We can identify a local or a national economy in an analytical sense, but realistically economicactivity is a global phenomenon. Today extensive global trade patterns enmesh the world’s population in ways that provide more goods in greater variety and quality than ever before in history. Example: In many manufacturing countries, many jobs are dependent on selling high-tech products to countries that cannot make their own. Most states must import one or more critical resources. Just as localeconomies once integrated with national economies, so have national economies interlocked with regional and global trade patterns, thus reducing the interdependence and effectiveness of national economic policymaking.
Since national authorities can no longer manage their economies within national jurisdictions alone, important economic policy decisions commonly take place in international conferencesorganized for regulating and promoting global trade, for example the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), this agreement called for further reductions in the remaining trade barriers among more than 120 countries. The current trend is to move deeper into international economic policy planning. Major trading states are leading the effort by creating the World Trade Organization, which...