Free Paper Sample on International Relations

Introduction

America is one of the most influential societies to have ever existed in the history of the human race. A country that had started as a social experiment ended up being one of the most successful societies. The US had been founded based on John Locke's idea of free individuals. The nation would later move to expand to apply Locke's concept of free individuals cooperating for mutual benefits, on the international stage.

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They realized that individual sovereign nations could co-exist and work together regardless of how much they dislike each other for mutual benefits. It was a gradual process that took centuries, but it eventually happened as more countries bought into the idea of cooperation and democracy for mutual benefit. Something that Rose refers to as a "positive sum game" (p.11). However, recent political events have been undoing the gains made in establishing the international system and setting the stage for what would be known as the fourth founding.

International Relations

The current structure of international relations has been a work in progress that is continuously shaped by trial and error. The first attempt to establish the current global system where independent nations peacefully relate with each other for the promise of more prosperity was during the early 20th century (Rose 12). Part of the reason for the failure was that the US was unsure whether to abandon its isolationist policy.

The second attempt was during the Second World war, where the plan was "Germany and the defeated Axis powers would be occupied and democratized," (Rose 14). That plan partially succeeded as Moscow rejected the American system leading to the cold war. This time America had fully embraced the idea of international participation. It also set the stage for the third founding that would come after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton moved to expand the order to the rest of Asia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was the main challenge to the established international order. The period saw advanced renewed economic and political integration between the US and countries in Europe, Asia, and North America. The third founding, according to Rose, lasted from 1991 to 2016, when Donald Trump was elected as president of the United States (17).

Conclusion

I agree with Gideon Rose that the election of Donald Trump seemed to have kickstarted a series of policies that undermine America’s core objective of establishing a sustained corporation for mutual benefit in the international scene (17). Donald Trump’s foreign policy favors competition rather than cooperation, which was what his predecessors were trying to accomplish. However, the current order as envisaged by the United States faces more problems than just Donald Trump. There is no guarantee that even with Trump out of the office, there will be a return of the world order based on democracy and international corporation. Part of the reason for that is the meteoric rise of China, which has tipped the balance of power. However, while the political aspect of the world order seems to be regressing, the economic part is stronger than ever. The economic relations and dependency between nations mean that war is always a last resort.

Works Cited

Rose, Gideon. "The fourth founding: The United States and the liberal order." Foreign Aff. 98 (2019): 10.