International political economy

Résumé du document

The interaction of states in the international sphere can either bring progress for both or development for just one player and detriments to the other. This dynamic can come in different permutations, with two, three or more players coming into the picture. Given that states interact in various ways and in doing this, affect each other differently, this essay seeks to discuss why there seems to be an asymmetry in the interaction. The initial question is, why is it that when developed states interact, they both seem to benefit from it, but when developing states interact (especially, economically) with developed ones, the result is the opposite? Instead of mutually benefiting from each other, one usually gets the better deal and the other gets the detriments. These questions are what this paper seeks to discuss, while attempting to discuss ways that can solve this dilemma. This paper would also present the different, possible solutions that could help in answering the problems that shall be presented. While it has been a prevalent thought that the powerful players in the world are those that have the arms to back them up, there have been schools of thought and trends that show the importance of economics in the determination of who are the power holders in the international sphere. How has the phenomenon called Globalization affected the development of the states? Have the effects been that of equity and fairness or otherwise? How has the developing world been affected in terms of leveling off with the developed world? How can the problem of asymmetry be addressed? The document elucidates on these topics.

Extraits

[...] This dynamic can come in different permutations, with two, three or more players coming into the picture. Given that states interact in various ways and in doing this, affect each other differently, this essay seeks to discuss why there seems to be asymmetry in the interaction. The initial question is, why is it that when developed states interact, they both seem to benefit from it? But when developing states interact (especially, economically) with developed ones, why is that the result is the opposite—that is, instead of mutually benefiting from each other, one usually gets the better deal and the other gets the detriments? [...]

[...] Vaarala, Minna. [...]

[...] Bringing it back to the scope of international political economy, through the years there have been changes in the way its scope is defined. IPE does not limit itself to discussions on high politics, but also includes things that are relevant in everyday lives (Vaarala, 2007). This is coincides with the way Jeffrey Sachs discusses the issues pertaining to extreme poverty. For him, solving the huge gap between the developed and developing world, starts at the alleviation of lives of states' constituencies from extreme poverty. [...]

[...] How has the developing world been affected in terms of leveling off with the developed world? How can the problem of asymmetry be addressed? The next sections elucidates further on this. International Political Economy: An Overview There are numerous definitions of what International Political Economy is, what constitutes it and what the issues within its scope are. For reasons of clarity, I give three definitions that will be relevant in the discussion of this paper. Firstly, International Political Economy (IPE) talks about issues that concern the mix and overlapping of politics and economics (Tooze, 1997). [...]

[...] Comparative Advantage puts forward the need of each country to specialize in the goods and services it can produce efficiently. This particular economic perspective believes that more and more countries could benefit from this step as it would help in generating more wealth for countries and at the same time, promises them of a more substantial economic growth (globaled.uconn.edu, 2006) . In the same manner, this particular perspective is advantageous to the developing countries as it would help in lessening the competition between them. [...]