Core International Relations Problems Facing the World Today (Essay Sample)

CORE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROBLEMS FACING THE WORLD TODAY
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Core International Relations Problems Facing the World Today
Introduction
The current state of the world is rife with political, social-economic, and environmental shortcomings. Notably, global warming, piracy on high seas, and terrorism seem to be the most elusive and if untamed, there is an imminent crisis that threatens international peace and humanity altogether. “Sovereignty will never be a safe haven and new powers are converging and posing threats. Nations will form coalitions with powerful non state groups such as; terrorist groups, drug cartels, private institutions and non governmental institutions. This will result to world states falling victim of global challenges such as global warming, piracy, and terrorism,” Quotes Richard .N in his article Foreign Policy Magazine. The aforementioned issues pose a significant threat that must be addressed by the international community as they affect the quality of life of people across the globe. This paper presents an analysis of these issues in the context of international relations, with a primary focus on their impact if they remain untamed by governments.
Emerging Global Environmental Issues
With the recent global population explosion, our ecosystem is changing due to human activities. In this regard, human beings have challenged the planet’s system to the extent of unprecedented and unpredictable changes in the environment. As a result, there is a fast drift towards an ecosystem that lacks the fundamental components in the human history. The consequences of climate change are severe. Instead of giving priority to land, water, energy or biodiversity as distinct issues, it should be noted that there is interplay between these issues as a slight change in one virtually causes an imbalance among the rest. Emerging environmental issues like the production of bio-fuels, expansion of marine dead zones, and the emergence of green water tele-connections are as a result of these interactions. This presents a challenge to the international community which requires reevaluation of the conventional issues and approaches to mitigate them. In this regard, it informs our understanding on new emerging environmental issues this century are (UNEP 2012).
Global warming remains a threat to the current and future generations and has culminated into conflicts in various international forums. It is an issue that has been mishandled in many nations with blame games and rising tensions that threaten the global harmony. Nearly a decade ago, China and the United States were still burning coal. The biggest effect was increased air pollution not only in these respective countries but also in the entire universe. Currently, China is the leading economic powerhouse in the world after overtaking the U.S. in 2006 as the planet’s leading carbon polluter. Currently, “China, United States, EU-28 and India account for 61% of all emissions” but China emits over 10 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually (Olivier et al 2015). However, the volume is likely to increase by 2030 thereupon dwarfing hopes of reducing air pollution. According to Kevin Anderson, Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the U.K., reckons that if preemptive measures are not taken, then the probability of the world cutting carbon pollution to reduce the dangers of climate change is “virtually zero.”
The figure below provides statistical analysis of carbon emissions as per the regions.
Projected Carbon Dioxide Emissions through 2030, by Region (Million Metric Tons of CO2)


Source: U.S. Department of Energy, 2011.
The vertical axis represents million metric tons of Carbon Dioxide. From the figure, it is evident that the growth in carbon emissions is expected to continue in the coming decades. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, global CO2 emissions are projected to increase by approximately 71 percent between 2005 and 2035.
By 2012, the industrialized countries (members of OECD) were responsible for 35 percent of global carbon emissions. As seen in the figure above increased carbon emissions are expected to come from developing economies such Africa and Asia. For instance, CO2 emissions in China are expected to grow by 143% between 2005 and 2035 (Jonathan).
With increased carbon emission into the atmosphere, its effects are likely to be noticed in our immediate environment. For instance, ocean acidification is likely to occur as a result carbon reactions in the atmosphere. A report by U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that half the percentage of carbon produced by humans since the beginning of industrial revolution has been absorbed into the ocean. Although this reduces the effects of global warming, it also lowers the ocean water PH giving water the acidic nature. This affects the mariner life such as coral reefs which only exist in moderate temperatures of waters and whose acidic levels are low.
Below is the summary of what can happen if climate change is not addressed:
Most parts of the land will be submerged into the sea as a result of rising sea levels this will affect the population living in the coastal regions as they will be displaced. There will be property loss as most of big cities in the world are located at the coastal regions like New York.
Effects of Pollution will further harm the environment. For example, marine life will be affected as some species like coral reefs will be eradicated due to changing of acidic levels of sea waters.
High temperatures are to be experienced throughout the world as a result of global emissions from green houses and burnt fossil fuels.
Supply of water in urban areas is likely to be disrupted as a result of drought brought about by climate change. High temperatures will cause drought, meaning most water catchment areas will dry up which act as water reservoirs for urban settlers.
Health concerns are likely of concern due to heat waves. Hurricanes will frequently occur as tropical diseases also emerge.
The universe will also experience changes in weather patterns with increased hurricanes and extreme high temperatures.
Iceland and Greenland regions are likely to melt down hence increasing the sea levels by 12 meters high. These would result to drowning of buildings at the coastal cities.
Piracy
Sea-borne piracy has become an international concern especially to multinational corporations which sea transport as a means of transport for their goods and services. It is estimated that more than $ 12 billion looses are reported annually along the Red sea, Indian ocean along the Somalia coast, Gulf of Guinea and Strait of Malacca. These coastal regions are mostly used by more than 50,000 commercial ships each year. Modern piracy has been successful due to large volumes of international trade that is being conducted using the ocean waters
The emergence of piracy along the Somali coastal regions in the last decade has raised concerns from many governments including the USA and their European counter parts regarding the safety of their ships using these sea routes. For the case study of Somalia, which has been on civil war since the collapse of its central government pirates have taken advantage of this situation and has created breeding ground for them. The state of lawlessness and weak navy armies, pirates have successfully captured commercial ships and demanded ransoms. The International Maritime Bureau holds records of sea attacks and hostages as from 1995. For instance in 2006, the number of sea attack recorded were 239,77 crew members were kidnapped, whereas around 240 were held hostage.
Pirates have nowadays made personal belongings of crew members and ship components as their targets. They escape with cash, and at times they sail to the ports to repaint the ships and give it a new identity. The Somali Pirates have also been reported attacking ship attached to UN aid which delivers food to internally displaced refugees (Reisman and Tennis, 2015).
Somali pirates operating along the Gulf of Aden have reportedly made more $120 million yearly according to reports from International Maritime Bureau. This has negatively impacted the ship industry has made it a very risky business to venture into. However, efforts by the joint effort by naval forces deployed by NATO have resulted in reduction of piracy in the Indian Ocean. The International Maritime Bureau reported that only 5 ships were captured in 2012. In the West Africa, pirates have the motive of stealing oil especially from ship tankers. They are usually armed with heavy weapons and have military training skills hence making them more efficient when capturing these ships. Captured ships have their goods siphoned to small vessels as the crew members are taken hostage. Piracy incidents have been experienced in Angola, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. The existence of pirates in this region is attributed to oil industries at the coastal regions of these countries. Analysts argue that the wide spread of piracy in the west Africa region especially in Nigeria is as a result of collaboration between these sea gangs and corrupt politicians. Ransoms paid are used to finance their political ambitions. This menace has forced small countries along the coastal regions of Atlantic Ocean to appeal for assistance from world navies. However, in the West Africa region little success has been achieved as compared to East Africa Region. Joint Naval forces have been deployed in the Indian ocean because of the sea jam and the fact that few European ships use the Atlantic Ocean routes.
Anti piracy missions all over the world are have been complex and difficult to control. Alth...