Introduction to Geopolitics and International Diplomacy (Essay Sample)

PPOG 506-Introduction to Geopolitics and International Diplomacy
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PPOG 506-Introduction to Geopolitics and International Diplomacy
Question 1
Globalization can be defined as the process through which knowledge, ideas, information, goods and services spread throughout the world. From the perspective of political science, it entails the growth of a political system that traverses nations and becomes worldwide and such growth is not only in size, but also in complexity (Lang & Tavares, 2018). The creation of the United Nations is one excellent examples of political globalization. Globalization has been hailed for enabling the various economies and cultures of the world to be integrated hence enabling free trade, free capital flow and also increased access to labor markets and foreign resources. Globalization is spurred by convergence of economic and cultural systems. It is such convergence that enhances and necessitates more integration, interaction and interdependence among nations all over the world in terms of cultural, economic, and political affairs. Political globalization is the growth of influence of international organizations like the World Health Organization and the United Nations which implies that governmental action occurs at the international arena.
Question 2
Different issues relate to the sovereignty, geopolitics ad foreign relations of the United States. First, there is the issue of the trade of arms all over the word which has become a big business among nations. Such trade of arms is one real issue which has led to the infringement of human rights. Secondly, the infringement of human rights by nations is another issue that is of great importance to the foreign policy of the United States (Storey, 2017). Many governments, especially those that are not democratic have been infringing the basic rights and freedoms of their people and the United States has dedicated itself in being a human rights’ watchdog for nations across the world. Thirdly, there is the issue of peace and war at the international level. The United States has been involved in wars all over the world with recent ones including in Syria, Libya and Iraq. Such wars are serious foreign policy issues that also affect the sovereignty of the country. For instance, the 9/11 incidence influenced the country’s sovereignty, geopolitics as well as foreign policy.
Question 3
Both globalization and conflict have similar perspectives. For instance, both have an economic perspective. From this perspective, globalization and conflict are all seen as having positive and negative implications on the economic well-being of nations. Secondly, both globalization and conflict are driven by ideology (Fuerst-Bjeliš & Leimgruber, 2020). Ideas of people spread all over the world causing globalization as well as conflict where such ideas are not acceptable by some people. However, conflict has its unique perspectives that cannot be applied on globalization. These include the traditional perspective the interactionalist perspective and the managed conflict perspective. In the traditional perspective, the views of indivicuals on conflict are negative. In the interactionalist perspective, individuals embrace conflict and feel that it assists them. in the managed conflict perspective, the basic view is that there is no progress unless the conflict is resolved.
Question 4
There are numerous worldviews competing in the global arena. Nevertheless, in this paper, only a small number of them will be explained. The first worldview is the ideological worldview (Ash et al., 2020). This included the ideals, beliefs and values that people have established in the world. The second world view is philosophical. All over the world, there seems to be a competition of which philosophical views are the best. The third worldview is religious. At the international level, there seems to be competition between religious practices and spiritual elements whose applicability is yet to be accepted by some. A religious worldview is one which is founded in religion. Another worldview competing at the global arena is attitudinal. It is about approach to life including a person’s feelings towards something. For instance, the world has different attitudes towards gay marriages with different people seeing the matter differently.
Question 5
The major institutions within the American foreign policy system include the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the National Security Council and the CIA. Of all of them the Department of State is the most responsible to carry out foreign policy. For instance, in times of President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state was a key pillar of America’s foreign policy (Tierney, 2020). The Department of Defense is another major institution. It is not possible to separate the military from issues of foreign policy. Then there is the National Security Council. This council comprises of the president, the executive secretaries of state and defense, the director of the CIA as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several other government officials. It is led by the national security advisor. Besides, there is still another major institution in American foreign policy. The CIA is the institution that is in charge of gathering,