Global Politics Chapter 1 PDF

Chapter 1. ◦ Global politics is based on a comprehensive approach to world affairs that takes account not just of political developments at a global level, but at and, crucially, across, all levels – global, regional, national, sub-national and so on. ◦ In that sense, ‘the global’ and ‘the inter...

Chapter 1. ◦ Global politics is based on a comprehensive approach to world affairs that takes account not just of political developments at a global level, but at and, crucially, across, all levels – global, regional, national, sub-national and so on. ◦ In that sense, ‘the global’ and ‘the international’ complement one another and should not be seen as rival or incompatible modes of understanding. ◦ ‘International’ politics has been transformed into ‘global’ politics through a variety of developments. ◦ New actors have emerged from the world stage alongside states and national governments. ◦ Levels of interconnectedness and interdependence in world politics have increased, albeit unevenly. ◦ And international anarchy has been modified by the emergence of a framework of regional and global governance. ◦ Globalisation is the emergence of a complex web of interconnectedness that means that our lives are increasingly shaped by events that occur, and decisions that are made, at a great distance from us. ◦ Distinctions are commonly drawn between economic globalization, cultural globalization and political globalisation. ◦ However, there are significant debates about whether globalization is actually happening and how far it has transformed world politics. ◦ The two mainstream perspectives on global politics are realism and liberalism; these are both grounded in positivism and focus on the balance between conflict and cooperation in state relations, even though they offer quite different accounts of this balance. ◦ Critical theories, by contrast, tend to adopt a post-positivist approach to theory and contest the global status quo by aligning themselves with the interests of marginalised or oppressed groups. ◦ Global politics is an ever-shifting field, with, if anything, the pace of change accelerating over time. ◦ Debates have emerged about the changing nature of power and the shifting configuration of global power, about whether national security has been displaced by international, global or even human security, and about the extent to which justice now has to be considered in cosmopolitan or global terms.