State and Interstate System: Causes of Environmental Problems?

This article evaluates the role of state and interstate system in causing environmental problems with reference to Green IR theories such as liberalism, realism and critical green theory. It discusses how liberalism promotes environmental degradation, how realism prioritizes national interest over environmental concerns, and how critical green theory addresses the inter-country ecological problem. The article concludes that the global political system needs to prioritize environmental concerns to maintain ecological balance.

Module: G15005 London Metropolitan University
Are the state and the interstate system causes of environmental problems? Answer with
reference to Green IR theories.
A state is more than a government; some people see a state as an old institution extending back to
some classical philosophy. Others look more over the unique characteristics of the modern state,
with his expanded rule of law, standards of citizenship and his substantial economic and social
responsibilities. The government can change many times, but state stay in his position. A state is
the opportunity to dominate a territory defined or sovereign, composed of an executive,
bureaucracy, courts and other institutions, a state also withdraws tax and operate military and
policy strength (Forum, 2005). In recent years attention has been given to developing a more
scientific understanding of the international system dated from the 20th century when the first
organised efforts were made to find alternatives to wars in international nation-state behaviour.
Two ideas were quickly created, seeking to strengthen international law and peace-keeping
organisations, the other stresses that these nations still use the powers to achieve the goals and
see the key to peace in a balance of power among my states. With the increased importance
attached to a theoretical understanding of the entire international system (Press, 2013). The role of
the state and the interstate system will be evaluated considering of three Green IR theories;
Liberalism, realism and critical green theory. Further consideration will be given concerning the
environmental problems such as global warming and the ozone hole whilst acknowledging the
importance of the impacts in the face of state and interstate. Thereby evaluating if the state and
interstate system are the causes of the environmental problems.
Liberalism is defined on a model of reference based on hope, the application of reason, and the
universal ethics that international relations can lead to a more just and cooperative world.
Liberalism ensures that anarchy and wars can be controlled by the institutional reforms that
empower organisation internationals and law (Blanton, 2014, p. 29). Professor Peter Haas speaks
of an innovation; "Epistemic Communities", a concept in international relations applied by
constructivist political science researchers to focus analytical attention on the process by which
states, and other political actors formulate their interests and reconcile differences of interest.
"Epistemic communities" are the main channel through the consensual knowledge of the
occasional understanding applied to international policy coordination, and through which states can
learn through the process of global cooperation (M. Haas,2016, p. 4). Liberalism is having a direct
impact on the environment where it promotes and even most of the time reduce the degradation.
The structural effect of trade within the country affection to the environment due to the change in
the pattern of the domestic production, agricultural activity and so on. For example; the use of
chemical products to increase the trade often leads to an environmental problem. The commercial
liberalism has a much more various effect on the environment like the composition effect, then the
technology effect and the regulatory effect. These are directly affecting the environment by
increasing the use of chemical, cutting down trees and much more. The Environmental Kuznets
Curve theory show that the economic growth of the state or the country has a direct impact on the
environmental fall (Thies, 2014, p. 199-245). It can be seen from this theory that the environmental
damages rise with the growth of the economy in scale. Liberalism in any term used by the state are
facing some of the huge impacts on the environment and this in most of the cases are causing
environmental degradation.
Realism is considered to be the centre in the field of IR theory particularly in the situation where the
nation required guidance for their foreign policy pursuit. The central theme of this theory is that the
state or the interstate is guided as the unitary rational actors by the help of maximizing the interest
that is based on the power politics (Chase-Dunn, and Hall, 2016, p. 281-298). It can be seen that
the root of realism is often found in the historical writing of the humankind. The major hypothesis of
realism is that the government is the primary actor in the IR, but they have limited power. The
second supposition is that the government is the unitary actor and the third assumption is that the
decision makers work for the benefits of national interest. For example; the state decides the
Page 1 of 4

Module: G15005 London Metropolitan University
environmental activity and also other activity for the humankind. In the Kenneth Waltz
contemporary IR theory, it is described in the structural form where the realism has been removed,
and it is termed as neorealism (Kütting, and Cerny, 2015, p. 907-921). Realism is the theory that
explains the reality of the international politics. This has a vital impact on the environment as it can
be seen that political power perform a various task that is suitable for the humankind but not for the
environmental factors (Marks, 2018, p. 193-228). In this case, it can be seen that the organization
and the state, as well as the international policy regarding the pollution rules, is the biggest reason
for the climate change. For example; the chemical industry, as well as the automobile industry,
create a huge amount of smoke and other dust particles that deeply affect the climate and the
environment.
The green theory is the deal with the inter-country ecological problem. It can be seen that the
green theory analyst are the one who looks at the real problem of the world that is the
environmental issue. The critical green theory in the international relations is the concept of a wide
range of approaches that focus on the primary idea of freeing people from the economic system
(Plater et al., 2016). This theory is utilized to address the present environment as well as the
political crises in the nation along with the international level. With the help of this theory, the world
is facing huge changes in their society, authority and so on. The environment is affected by the
various activities that are being performed by the state or the humankind (Holsti, 2016, p. 37-55).
The critical theory is another major part of the green international relations theory that shows the
degradation level of the environment. The fact is clear that the various policy, rules and the political
factor that is utilized within the international policy creates a huge impact on the environment (Paul,
Modi, and Patel, 2016, p. 123-134). The primary reason for this is that the human is rapidly
developing with their technology, industry and other activity to maintain an international relation.
The state and the interstate system are primarily related to the development of humankind with the
help of technology and another medium. It shows that most of the people do not care for the
environment and they primarily act for the development of economic condition as well as maintain
the international trade relations.
The international green philosophy in the system of the green liberalism concept calls for the
diverse political arrangement in the world. This is due to the facts that the political system is only
concern regarding the state matter rather than the world political issues (Booth, and Erskine,
2016). This is essential for the development of the world and to maintain the environmental factor
that the political system globally get changed where they unitedly discuss on the environmental
problem at the global level. The political system is one of the basic activity that is highly creating an
issue for the firm to maintain their business and their function within the market. The environment
is getting affected due to the climate change, high economic growth and much more (Behr, and
Kirke, 2017, p. 9). All this are the factor that is related to the system of state and the interstate to
perform their activity. It clearly shows that the economic condition of the world needs to be
changed, but the maintenance of the environment is also essential. Green theory focus on the
various activities of human that is directly contributed to the change in the environment of the
world. With the high developmental issue, the government, as well as the business world, need to
focus on the various activity and the field to maintain their business and their working function
within the world economy so that it does not affect the environment. The green theory is vital for
understanding the various activity and the relationship of the people with the environment where
they need to protect it to improve the world and the ecological system (Richmond, 2016, p. 57-68).
This theory provides the explanation of the ecological crisis that is in the front of humanity with the
help of disintegrating the political economies along with the global environmental change.
In conclusion, it can be seen that green theory has directly contributed to the understanding of the
global environmental problem with the help of a global political structure. It shows that the common
resources of the state and the interstate are required to be used judicially and properly to maintain
the human as well as the non-human existence. The high growth of the economy and other factors
are directly creating the issue of the global environmental problem. The green theory shows that
the liberalism, realism and the critical theory are associated with the issue, and for that, they need
to be rectified with the valuable process that also in the international level. The green theory when
Page 2 of 4

Module: G15005 London Metropolitan University
studied in isolation did not provide the complete arena of working function for the international
political system. The concept of liberalism and the realism in the green theory show the various
aspect of the state system that needs to be maintained for the development of the environmental
condition in the world economy. The condition of the environmental system is highly affected due
to the political view and the various activities that are being performed globally. It can also be
concluded that people in their day to day life are providing a huge impact on the technology, on
them and also in the betterment of the people rather than the environmental condition. This is the
primary thing that needs to be changed in the world, and the green theory is based on this concept.
The political system of the world needs to be changed so that the environmental activists in
particular based on the growth of the environment. This is the primary fact that the global political
system needs to follow to maintain the ecological condition of the state.
Page 3 of 4

Module: G15005 London Metropolitan University
References
Behr, H. and Kirke, X., 2017. The Tale of a ‘Realism’in International Relations. E-International Relations.
http://www. e-ir. info/2014/06/13/the-tale-of-a-realism-in-international-relations/. Accessed, 9.
Booth, K. and Erskine, T. eds., 2016. International relations theory today. John Wiley & Sons.
Chase-Dunn, C. and Hall, T.D., 2016. The historical evolution of world-systems. In Strukturelle Evolution und
das Weltsystem (pp. 281-298). Springer VS, Wiesbaden.
Holsti, K., 2016. The Problem of Change in International Relations Theory. In Kalevi Holsti: A Pioneer in
International Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Analysis, History of International Order, and Security
Studies (pp. 37-55). Springer, Cham.
Kütting, G. and Cerny, P.G., 2015. Rethinking global environmental policy: From global governance to
transnational neopluralism. Public Administration, 93(4), pp.907-921.
Marks, M.P., 2018. The Role of Metaphors in International Relations Theory. Revisiting Metaphors in
International Relations Theory (pp. 193-228). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Paul, J., Modi, A., and Patel, J., 2016. Predicting green product consumption using the theory of planned
behavior and reasoned action. Journal of retailing and consumer services, 29, pp.123-134.
Plater, Z.J., Abrams, R.H., Graham, R.L., Heinzerling, L., Wirth, D.A., Hall, N.D., Abrams, R.H. and Graham,
R.L., 2016. Environmental law and policy: Nature, law, and society. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Richmond, O.P., 2016. Peace in International Relations Theory. The Palgrave Handbook of Disciplinary and
Regional Approaches to Peace (pp. 57-68). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Thies, C.G., 2014. International Relations theory. International Affairs, 90(1), pp.199-245.
Page 4 of 4