Politics midterm 1-7

The Study of World Politics:

What is global politics/world politics?

Global politics is an area of study that examines the interactions between states, international organizations, nonstate actors, and global institutions in shaping political, economic, and social outcomes on a global scale

Identify the five levels of analysis and explain what they do

We can analyze international events and phenomena through five distinct levels of analysis, each offering a different perspective on why events occur.

The individual level, the subnational level, the state level, the regional level and the global level

Be able to: Identify, describe and characterize five levels of analysis (individual, subnational, state, regional, international).

The individual level of analysis focuses on the actions, personalities, beliefs, and decisions of individual leaders or decision-makers. It assumes that international events can be influenced by the choices and perceptions of political leaders. For example, A president might choose to start a war because they believe it will strengthen their country or a leader might choose peace instead of war because they personally believe in negotiation. So the event is explained by the individual decision-maker.

The subnational level looks at actors within a country that influence government decisions. These can include political parties, interest groups, corporations, the military, media, or public opinion. These domestic actors can pressure governments to adopt certain policies, which can affect a country's behavior in international politics. For example, a government may decide not to join a war because the public strongly opposes it or protests and media pressure influence leaders.

The state level of analysis considers the states as the main actors but focuses on its internal characteristics, such as its political regime, economy, and national interests to explain behavior. For example, whether a country is democratic or authoritarian may influence its foreign policy decisions and relationships with other states.

The regional level examines interactions between countries within a specific geographic area. Regional dynamics, alliances, conflicts, and organizations can influence how states behave. For example, security issues in one region can shape the policies of neighbooring countries.

Finally, the global level looks at how the overall structure of the international system affects how countries behave.

The global level focuses on the system all countries exist in. It examines the international system structure, distribution of power, and global forces shaping all actors. This includes factors such as international organizations, global trade systems, and international norms, laws that shape how countries interact with one another. For example, countries build stronger militaries because the international system is anarchic, meaning there is no global authority to guarantee their security. So they feel they must protect themselves.This behavior is explained by the structure of the global system, not by one leader or one country.

Name and demonstrate the importance of the areas of focus in understanding events in Global Politics (x)

areas of focus: Contexts, Objectives and strategies, Explanation of choices, Impacts

• The first area of focus is contexts, which examines the circumstances in which states operate and how these circumstances shape the decisions made by governments. These contexts can include political context, economic context, and security context, etc. Understanding context is crucial because the same actor might behave very differently in different contexts.

• The second area of focus is objectives and strategies, which investigates the major goals and interests of states and other global actors, as well as the methods they employ to achieve them. Understanding these objectives and strategies is essential for explaining why actors do what they do and for predicting future behavior.

• The third area of focus is explanation of choices, which seeks to understand how the decisions made by states and global actors are themselves explained. This helps researchers understand why certain policies are adopted and why states behave in particular ways in global politics.

• The fourth area of focus is impacts, which examines the short, medium, and long-term consequences of these choices on the global system, states, and civil society. Decisions made by governments and international actors can affect international stability, economic development, and social conditions around the world. Studying these impacts helps scholars evaluate the consequences of political choices and understand how international relations evolve over time.

what is sovereignty?

Sovereignty means a state has supreme authority to govern itself and its people, free from external control, holding ultimate power within its borders

Provide your assessment on the shift in the global context (this can be based on the analysis of PM Carney) addressing what is ending. what is emerging, and what values are being contested.

Mark Carney’s speech argued that the global context is currently undergoing a major shift. (what is ending)

• Carney argues that the old global system is weakening.

  For many years, the world worked under the U.S.-led, rules-based international order. This meant:

  • Countries followed international rules

  • Organizations like the UN and WTO helped manage conflicts

  • The United States helped maintain stability

  But Carney says this system is breaking down because powerful countries are ignoring rules when it benefits them and are competing with each other for power again.

What is emerging is the world moving into a new global reality where countries are more focused on protecting themselves and their interests, since tariffs are now used as pressure, financial systems used as tools of power, supply chains used as leverage, etc. Countries can no longer rely on the stability provided by the United States. So, countries want autonomy, meaning they want to be able to:

• produce their own energy

• secure their own food

• control important resources

• reduce dependence on other countries

In this new environment, several important values are being challenged such as:

• sovereignty and territorial integrity (states should respect each other’s borders and independence. However, conflicts and geopolitical competition have shown that some states are willing to violate these principles when pursuing strategic goals. (ex: USA with greenland)

• the assumption that the United States is and should remain the center of the global system.

Define and situate the current state of globalization historically, and provide evidence of its processes based on several indicators (cultural, economic, political, technological).