As I tried to sit down to write the blog about how to deal with all the competing views on the global order, I was stumped. I realized that really there is no solution to this power struggle, and my admittance to that was an admittance that I follow the realist way of thinking. I sat stumped again, my mind in a pretzel. I decided I would skip this weeks blog post.
Despite skipping the post for this week, the topic stayed on my mind. I kept trying to work on it and decided its all about subjectivity. Every person bases the way the view the world on experiences they've had, education, and environment as many of our articles have described. For example, some people will see a state joining an international institution as a willingness to concede some power to be a part of a multi-lateral group that can get things done. (Liberals). Others would see it as an attempt to gain greater power and comparative advantage over other states (Realists). And yet, still others would see it as the state acknowledging its identity as an actor on the international front (constructivists). The action of becoming part of the state is not the single factor in how it affects the way people view the state and its decisions. They will fit the action into the pre-existing paradigm they have on the world. This is not to say people's minds never change, but because of the subjective nature of the human mind, there will never be complete consensus.
This does not mean that nations can not get along, but with so many conflicting views and differing opinions, the only real way to deal with this is education in its purest sense. Before making decisions nations and their people must be knowledgeable about the impact and reasoning for doing what they are deciding to do. In this way negative impacts can be countered. Sometimes, time may not permit this kind of approach, but consideration of the effects of any cause is key to effectively running a country and participating in the international community.
I think the whole class shares your misfortune. Trying to think in terms of just one theory does have a pretzeling effect. It's not just because they're very complicated theories, but also because we tend to think of everything in terms of our own experiences and opinions. If only as a way of illustrating the theories with examples for our own clarification. However, trying to expalin a theory with your own experiences doesn't really work for all three, due to their conflicting nature. It really takes a clean slate to think about these theories--no personal attachment. Otherwise you get the pretzeling effect.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm not sure how education would help this. I don't think that anyone who isn't educated should even attempt to think about this, because if our brains have been twisted in our heads, theirs may fall out. JUST education probably isn't enough either. Like I said, it takes a dumbing-down effect to simplify the theories. And THEN we apply our knowledge.