Order Of Other States example essay topic

Orderly Disorder Order in today's world is a relatively subjective concept such that order for one individual or state, could be in the opinion of another state, complete disorder and chaos. Humans however do inherently seek order, an order which may or may not be order to others. Over time however, certain distinctions or patterns of order have been observed and written about. For example, in the opinion of Hedley Bull, these common interests or elementary goals of a state can be defined as being the pursuit of life, truth and property. These fundamental elements of order have almost always been sought after in one way or another throughout all states.

Maintaining the order of these three elements, and maintaining international order, has been a difficult and enduring battle for the world. Despite this ongoing battle for order, states have created several strategies of obtaining order within a state, and among states. Three of these methods of sustaining a type of order are hegemony, balance of power, and institutions. Hegemony, which means that a single state is so powerful that it can unilaterally impose order according to their own values and interests on the international system is one way in which order can be produced. Furthermore, that is to say, in the words of Wohl forth the nation has a "decisive preponderance... in all the components of power" (8). Thus, the hegemon is excessively superior in all aspects.

And this allows them to create some of the highest order possible in their opinion. Since order is relative to who perceives it, a hegemon, creates a specific order to best suit its values and goals. The hegemons power allows them to create order. And among this order are usually life, truth, and liberty. Because of this control from the hegemon, hegemony can either be a positive or negative force on order towards other states. It is the character of the hegemon which decrees whether their influence will benefit others or damage them.

This character is what ultimately effects the Hegemons duration as a superpower. An example of a negative hegemon can be seen with the Roman Empire who consistently invaded its neighbors because it believed it could never be rivaled, but later fell to the barbarian peoples it had executed its force over. More recently, prior to the Cold War, a regional hegemon, the Soviet Union, existed over Europe. In today's age, we live in a near hegemonic situation. The United States is furthering its uni polarity and nearing a global hegemonic status. This can be seen within the Bush administration which has made decisions in an extremely hegemonic manner.

The United States has opened up trade to better their economy, created institutions, conquered countries, and attacked just about anyone who the US deemed too dangerous. As of now the United States is a regional hegemon, in that it has complete control over its regional area, and imposes order as it wishes. The United States power can easily be seen through its exceedingly large GNP and defense expenditures. But despite the United States exceptionally high position, a global hegemonic status has not occurred and is nowhere near inevitable. For the United States to become a global hegemon, the United States will need to continue to surpass other countries, especially its main hegemonic competitors of China and EU. Hegemony creates order for the hegemon because they are in control, and depending on the altruistic character of the hegemon, may even create a more global order among all states.

Another strategy for creating order is balance of power. Balance of power is the concept that states perpetually check and balance each other, thus never allowing any one state to become too powerful. If the power of one state begins to get too large, other states will then work together until they have brought down the power of the other state. The balance of power theory demonstrates that "Great powers are always searching for opportunities to gain power over their rivals, with hegemony as their final goal" (Mearshiemer 1). Even states, who have been allies for years, will worry about each other getting too powerful. "From the perspective of any one great power, all other great powers are potential enemies" (Mearshiemer p. 32).

This point is proven in history by the United Kingdom and France. These countries worried about Germany's unification after the Cold War despite the fact that they were strong allies for almost 45 years. Any state with a high position must worry about any other state becoming too powerful because being attacked is a real danger. Because of this inherent fear, all states worry about any other state becoming too powerful, and because of this, a balance of powers exists. This state of unrest may seem like disorder due to wars and other actions of countries, but it is actually a type of order. It is order in that, hegemony is not easily obtained.

Therefore, a global order is maintained among states rather then through a single hegemon. If balancing of powers didn't occur, and hegemony was achieved by a country, then the hegemon could exert its influence and create order to its liking. But other states, may perceive the hegemonic order to be a state of disorder. Order is relative to who perceives it.

And because of that, balance of power is a strategy by all states to ensure that no country's influence is too potent, and that a significant amount of individual order among states is also maintained. Balance of power thus creates order by never letting any single state control the order of other states too dominantly. By balancing powers, each individual state has more control over how they desire the order of their own state to be. A third and very effective strategy for creating order is the creation and implementation of institutions. Institutions are human inventions designed to regulate and shape behavior. Institutions have distinct rules which states should cooperate and compete by.

Institutions can "mitigate incentives for power balancing" (Ikenberry 220). By mitigating incentives for power balancing, countries are left with a state of much more order due to certain regulations which can be placed on arms production, or actions of countries. Such regulations provided by institutions are beneficial because they ultimately prevent war among nations which occur during balancing of powers. One example of where institutions weren't present is the Cold War, in which, balancing of power took place instead of the creation of institutions. Hegemons create institutions to cancel out any balancing of power which may occur. Institutions thus are meant to improve relations with possible enemies who would try to counter balance the hegemon.

In addition, Institutions are also often used by hegemons in order to bind their own power, and make their true motives to be a hegemon more transparent. That is to say, institutions give possible hegemons credibility in their actions and show others that they have limited objectives. In a more global aspect, institutions create order by also improving the environment and working conditions of all. By ceasing the depletion of the ozone layer, or by having child labor stop, a distinct global order exists. Thus institutions create order in a multitude of ways which include canceling out the need for balance of power, thus avoiding confrontation and wars, improving the environment, and increasing the overall order of states and the world. In conclusion, all three strategies, hegemony, balance of power, and institutions, all contribute to order, and are closely related to each other.

A balance of power, creates some order, but also prevents hegemony from ever occurring. Institutions also create order but also seem to weaken a hegemons status by raising other states power by more then the hegemon's power. A more powerful state also sets up institutions in order to unite themselves, lock in their power, and reduce the need for violent measures of balance of powers from other states. All these strategies breed on the fear of all humans who inherently seek one thing and one thing only; Order.