International Relations: Globalization and Marxist Theory in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic

INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS

Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The way nations have interacted and engaged has changed continuously over time
but one thing that has stood strong amidst the constant changes is the importance of
international relations. International relations refers to the field of study in which two or more
nations are studied in terms of their personal relations, their relations with established
international bodies and also between particular institutions and interest groups. This report
will reflect critically upon major drivers of international relations such as globalization and
will also analyze the theory of international relations which was formulated by Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels to shed some light on the politics which has taken place globally around the
COVID-19 pandemic.
MAIN BODY
Question 1: ‘Globalization is the fad of the 1990s, and globalization is made in America’
(Kenneth N. Waltz, 1999). Do you agree or disagree, and why?
Globalization refers to the phenomenon which has defined the increasing
interdependence between nations in terms of their populations, culture and major resource
needs which has been brought about by the growing ease of free flowing cross border trade
wherein goods, services, human resources and technology has turned the entire world into
one well-functioning trading hub. The advent of globalization had started during the time of
the industrial revolution wherein the transport services all over the globe went through a
major overhaul but it picked up pace in the backdrop of the cold war in the 1990’s wherein
the rapid advances in information technology boosted its growth and made it into a
worldwide driver of growth and change it is today such as airplanes, internet and computers.
I do not agree with the argument presented in the question that globalization is a fad
of the 1990’s as if one looks at the detailed origins of globalization, its roots have been placed
in the 1800’s by eminent historians as there was vast networks of trading and chartered
trading companies across the Atlantic ocean. The growth that it has registered over the years
has been highly organic and can be seen on a global level even in small scale countries and it
being called a fad does not match with the way some countries owe their entire growth model
and modernisation to globalization such as India and America, two major countries with
major global influence in current international relations. The effects of globalization can be
seen even in countries where the critical aspects of a global trade framework are solely