Blog 3
The effectiveness of international institutions has long been debated. The League of Nations, European Union, NATO, and United nations have all endured scrutiny for different reasons. In theory they serve excellent roles, providing linkage and relations between nations. They serve as forums to facilitate conversation on everything from trade, to war, to humanitarian issues. However, many contend that institutions lead to stalemate, inaction, collusion, appeasement, virtually no preventive action, and a generally useless waste of time. Critics maintain that these international societies are actually roadblocks to action when they are meant to be producers of unified action. One could definitely make a comparison between congress and these international institutions in that they are both slow and don’t get a whole lot done.
While some of this may be true, I would argue that these institutions do far more good than harm and while they may not do much they are still good for something. I believe that the gridlock they can create is a good thing more often than not. Preventing a power or powers from acting often prevents further escolation. Moreover, the absence of such inttiutions would have horrible effects on the world stage. This would allow the world's largest powers to act unchecked with no regard for the smaller nations. The anarchy that would result fom the absence of these institutions would be inevitable, nations would act purly out of their own self interest. Furthermore these institutions allow states to maintain open lines of communication and foster positive relations, which can lead to economic interaction that would likely otherwise not exist.
I thought the presentation Ryan Hass gave on U.S china relations was an excellent example how international organizations are valuable. Who knows how this particular relationship would hold up if we weren't so interdependent on each other. Moreover, it is reasonable to think that these same organizations will help to foster positive relations to come.
In conclusion, while international institutions may have served their purpose long ago in times of world war, the role they play today is far less noticale. The notion that they no longer provide any benefit is fase.
Nice work here. I like how you discuss your feeling toward international institutions. For the future, I would suggest mentioning the crux of your argument earlier in your blog. It seems like your thesis is that "institutions do far more good than harm", however, this claim is mentioned in the second paragraph. I like that you mentioned Ryan Hass' perspective, as providing the opinions of other researchers makes your claim more believable.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I like how you acknowledge the theoretical strength and practicality of such institutions while still recognizing their shortcomings. I agree with your point that their existence alone does much of the work, as we know the institutions are not completely effective and the players can be problematic, such as the United States. To simply establish the extreme connectedness and figure of authority, international players are provided with some form of governance to hold one another accountable for. I think that your reference to U.S. - China relations relates greatly to this, as it demonstrates the mutual benefits which can come from two states. One question I have is whether you think international politics should move to include smaller developing countries or leave the decisions to those already established?
ReplyDeleteNice blog post! I enjoyed reading about your opinions on international organizations, and how they were created to make progress in the world's interconnectedness, while in reality they lead to little to no change. I understand your point in saying how this may actually be a good thing at times, because without these organizations there wouldn't be uniformity. On the other hand, it would be great if these organizations were effectively making strides in global regulations to make the international economy more fair and not biased toward those who have power. After reading this, my question would be your opinion on if these international organizations that we have in place can be reformed or should they be completely reconstructed?
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