Ordering_of_States

Ordering of the States Order relates to many different people, places, businesses, organisation and systems. In this assignment I will explain how order and disorder works on an international scale. I will explain what a state is and assess if on an international level the relationships between states are ordered. A state is made up of many different governing authorities. At the core of the state is the government, the government has control of territory and the population of its nation that other organisations of the state don’t have. It also has coercive powers to ensure that government rules are followed and order is maintained. Other organisation that stem from the government that make up the state are the police and justice system that enforce the laws of the state and if not have the powers to suitably punish those who break the law. Next there is the military, which defends and protects the state against internal and external enemies and attacks. The tax collecting systems that pay for the machinery of the government and the investment in protection, development and improvement, also in the UK taxes are used for health care and state benefit. Tax collecting has close ties with the improvement systems that provide state education, clean water, road repairs and new roads as the funds for the improvement are taken from tax collection, for example, road tax (Simon Bromley and John Clarke, 2009, p. 327). And states are growing and becoming more complex, for example, state systems such as state benefit, health care, education and social care scarcely existed a century ago (Georgina Blakeley and Michael Saward, 2009, p. 356). For the state to retain order it is reliant on the consent of those over it wishes to exercise authority over (Simon Bromley and John Clarke, 2009, p. 328). For example recent events in the Middle East have shown how the people of the state can oppose and challenge the authority that governs them. In the winter of 2010-2011 the Tunisian people protested over unemployment and lack of political freedom. Although many of the protested were killed, the protested continued which resulted in the exile of their president Ben Ali in January 2011 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/world/middle_east/country_profiles/791969.stm, 10.06.2011). The events in Tunisia caused a domino effect when the Egyptian people protested over the dictatorship the President Hosni Mubarak had over the country. The protests of the Egyptian people resulted in successfully removing the president in February 2011 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12433045). These events provide clear evidence despite the power the governing authority has it needs the loyalty and support of its people to maintain order and power. In contrast to ordering within a singular state, the organisation of the UN (United Nations) provides order on a worldwide scale to multiple states. The UN was established post Second World War and currently its members now includes nearly all the states of the world, its charter is to set out a shared understanding of how the system of the states should order itself (Simon Bromley, 2009, p. 409). There are for principle purposes of the UN, firstly, To maintain international peace and security, and to that end, to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.Secondly, to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace. Thirdly, to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. And finally, to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends (http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml, 10.6.2011). Sovereign equality is also an important idea of the UN because refers to the equal treatment of each state under international law regardless of the individual state’s power or wealth. This gives states the privileges and responsibilities that come with being part of the international community. The international community is a set of rules and institutions formed on the basis of a liberal approach to international order. It governs how states are to act towards each and is embodied by the UN organisations. There are five permanat members of the UN, the USA, the UK, China, France and Russia, each of these five members have a veto giving the authority to stop a proposed resolution of the security council. An example of how the UN upholds it principle is the international war on terrorism. Most notable the attack against the USA on the 11th September 2001, when US passenger planes were hijacked and used to target the twin towers and pentagon killing nearly 3000 people. The Muslim militant group al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, a group formed under the Afghanistan Taliban government, claimed responsibility. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/americas/2001/day_of_terror/timeline/default.stm). The response to the attacks was immediate from the UN; the UN issued a statement not only reaffirming it purposes and principles of the Charter of the UN but also stating but any means it was determined to combat by all means threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts and called on all states to work together to bring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors to justice. The UN made it clear that states aiding, supporting or harbouring the above would also be held accountable (UNSC, 2001) cited in (Simon Bromley, 2009, p. 420). Under UN charter in 2001 the war on the Taliban in Afghanistan began. However the order of the UN is sometimes challenged and order broken, for example, in 2003, the Iraq war, led by the US did not receive UN Security Council authorisation. After the 1991 Gulf war that ended Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait, a UN mandate was established for a weapons inspection http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2754103.stm, 10.6.2011). However in 1998 the then president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein expelled the last of the UN’s weapons inspectors, leaving the fate of the disarmament process and state of the Iraq’s armouries and weapons programmes unknown by the international community. The USA along with allies including the UK claimed that Saddam’s breach of earlier UN resolution was sufficient reason for a war against Iraq. However the other members of the Security Council argued that a second resolution that explicitly authorised the use of force would be needed for any war to have UN authority. Despite this, led by the US in March 2003, wars against Afghanistan proceeded without the second resolution (Simon Bromley, 2009, p. 425). Very differently from the war in Afghanistan, this had been approved by the UN thus making it possible for international organisation such as NATO to be involved in the post-conflict phase of the operations. The Iraq war diminished the international authority of the US as many of America’s closest NATO allies agreed with the Security Council that America should not have gone to war without authorisation from the Security Council. Also no weapons of mass destruction were found and the war resulted in many deaths, which was politically very unpopular in the US (Simon Bromley, 2009, p. 425). The USA of long been consider the world superpower state so it can be argued although weaken by the Iraq war America need not worry about authority as it is feared. This is the realist tradition where it is believed power and fear of power is the basis for order, not a legitimate authority such as the UN (Simon Bromley, 2009, p. 428). Prominant international relations theorist, Kenneth Waltz argues that, overall states successfully manage to have a monopoly over the legtimate use of force in their own territory but in relations between states, monopoly does not exist. He believes that all states armed forces pose a threat to the others. Waltz’s theory of international anarchy, meaning the absence of a legtimate authority, that may or may not be order, is dependent on the balance of power. In his theory all states exist in an anarchical states system, where each states military pose a threat to the other, smaller states must look to protect themselves from the more powerful states. The balance of power weaker states balance with and against one another to ensure their security against the more powerful states such as the US with the aim of keeping political independence of states and to ensure the peace (Simon Bromley, 2009, p. 430). In conclusion there is clear evidence that the relationships between states are ordered. Organisations such as the UN have power, authority and the respect and loyalty of its members. In contrast events such as the Iraq war show that the superpower of US seems to break away from this order yet fear of the power of America does not see it ousted from the international community. Blakeley, G. and Saward, M. (2009) ‘Political ordering’ in Bromley, S., Clarke, J., Hinchliffe, S. and Taylor, S. (eds) Exploring Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University. 44 Bromley, S. (2009) ‘Pirates and predators: authority and power in international affairs’ in Bromley, S., Clarke, J., Hinchliffe, S. and Taylor, S. (eds) Exploring Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Bromley, S and Clarke, J ‘Governing problems’ in in Bromley, S., Clarke, J., Hinchliffe, S. and Taylor, S. (eds) Exploring Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Self Reflection This assignment I found difficult at first and hard to understand. But after looking back at my previous work, I found the concept behind previous assignments was very similar in this assignment. I have found sticking to the word count on this assignment very hard.