Analyzing International Relations: A Question and Answer Approach

This assignment provides detailed answers to selected questions across four sections, covering essential topics in international politics. It begins by differentiating between international and domestic politics, highlighting the roles of sovereign nation-states and power dynamics. The assignment explores the influence of nationalism and imperialism in World War I, examining critical events and the applicability of realism theory. Further analysis links communism and fascism, addresses German grievances leading to National Socialism, and critiques the failures of the League of Nations. The impact of World War II on imperialism, geopolitical gains by the Soviet Union, and communism as a form of imperialism are discussed. Finally, the paper examines the collapse of the Soviet Union, Europe at the end of the Cold War, and Huntington’s thesis in relation to 9/11. This comprehensive question and answer format offers a thorough understanding of key events and theories in international relations.

Running Head: QUESTION AND ANSWER
QUESTION AND ANSWER
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1QUESTION AND ANSWER
Section 1
Question 1: Difference between international and domestic politics
The first argument in response to understand the difference between international
and domestic politics is that in case of the domestic politics there are a number of actors inside
the state who are able to influence the environment of the state. However, in case of international
scenario only the sovereign nation states are considered to be main actors (Stevenson 1991).
The intensity of force can be deviated from domestic to international arena. In the
international situation there are of course wars and violence but the aggression and coerciveness
is more matured than its nature in the national sphere. In the international relations role of power
is more frequent and the political conflict and overpower is manifested by disputes and
disagreements.
The notion of governance is also shifted in concept while using it in the international
politics. In the domestic politics there is always a government of any kind associated with an
opposition. This structure of domestic politics cannot be seen in international spectrum where
there is a one or a number of leading countries instead of government.
Question 3: Role of nationalism and imperialism in WWI
Nationalism and imperial conflict played a fascinating part in the First World War.
During that time Europe was a hub of rising empire like Austrians, Prussians, British and the
French. In that context, every power was interested to impose its nationalism upon others. This
kind of intense idea of nationalism was turned into a militant nature which in return caused the
World War I (Strachan 2004). Imperialism and strategic alliances further intensified the

2QUESTION AND ANSWER
situation. The Moroccan crisis and Bosnian conflict further facilitated the stage for a war.
Morocco was a British colony which was gifted to the French in 1904 (Lafore 1965).
Meanwhile, Germany declared her support for Moroccan independence. Furthermore, the tension
in the Balkan Peninsula and Bosnian conflict heightened the possibility of a war. Austro-
Hungary allied forces took the control over Serbian part in 1908 from the Turks. Serbia was
cried out demanding that province (Joll 2006). Once, Austria occupied the province Russia
evoked in support of Serbia and deployed force against Austria. In return, Germany aided
Austria militarily. This growing tension created a hostile situation where a War became
inevitable.
Question 4: Theory of International politics on First World War
The idea of realism plays significant role in formulating the First World War. According
to the view of realism in international politics, the primary role of the states is to increase their
individual power in compare to other states. In addition to this, to maintain its omnipotence each
state is highly depended upon their military supremacy. In his book Prince in 1513 famous
Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli had proposed the same perception and advocated that
violence and use of military power is the most useful tool for a ruler and he should follow it
(Fromkin 2004).
Subsequently, this idea of realism was also manifested in the course of First World War.
In fact, before the coming of the War the entire political situation of Europe was so ravaged that
it gave birth to the evil of nationalism. The radical nationalist feelings in terms of militancy had
spread over the entire European continent that concepts like tolerance or mercy became faded.
The occurrence of the First World War was also a sheer example of realism.

3QUESTION AND ANSWER
Section 2
Question 3: link between communism and fascism
The definitions of Communism and Fascism are apparently different in comparison but the idea
and the share of power have a close affinity. In practice, the leadership quality of both the
concept remains the same. Dictatorship was the fundamental basis in Communism and Fascism.
In Communism or the then Bolshevism dictatorship was germinated by the proletariat class
where as in case of Fascism power is vested on an individual leader. Besides this, Communism
puts believe in the state occupation in everything from individual life to property. In other words,
it can be stated that state on behalf of the people is considered to be the owner of everything. In
contrast to this, Fascism advocates the same idea of state ownership. It can also be argued that in
practice both Bolshevism and Fascism in Europe ushered violence and atrocities across the
continent which perturbs the very nature of peace and solidarity (Snyder 2010).
In response to this it can be argued that the political condition in Europe during the First
World War and at the end of the war was not stable at all. In the process of restoring stability the
allied powers imposed a series of unjustified conditions on Germany and Italy as a result of that
intense nationalism became an important tool for retrieving their lost heritage (Bell 2007).
Question 4: German grievance for the rise of National Socialism
The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 was the root cause behind the emergence of German
National Socialism (Overy 2008). After the end of the First World War the defeated nations like
Germany was forced to signed the infamous treaty of Versailles. The conditions were so robust
and fatal that it literally gave a death blow to any future resurrection of Germany. The German
economy became demolished and the allied powers had succeeded to curb the military power to

4QUESTION AND ANSWER
far extent. These attitudes of the rest of Europe against Germany made the Germans furious and
in order to revive their past glory, a need of national sentiment became pragmatic for the German
populace.
In that scenario the German Socialist Party infamously known as the Nazi Party came
into prominence. It was not that there was no existence of socialism in German politics erstwhile
but the German Socialist Party was incapable to come to power. The rise of Hitler as a political
leader, his vision of Lebensraum, powerful speeches influenced the German psyche so extreme
that people stated envisage a world dominated by the Germans in the name of Aryan supremacy
(Rich 1973).
Question 5: Failure of League of Nations
The big powers were never the members of League of Nations. Powers like USA and
Russia always kept them aloof from League of Nations. Their imperialistic attitude towards the
world made the situation more hostile for the League of Nations to get success (Buruma 2013).
The power gap in conducting a peace program across the worlds led to the attempts of
League of Nations in vain. In fact, the League of Nations was predominantly controlled by
Britain and France. Therefore, it was obvious that the League became a puppet of allied
countries and perceived no power to fulfil the interest of the rests (Calvocoressi ,Wint, and
Pritchard 1989).
It is argued by some scholars that there was a lack of understanding of the activity of
different organs in the League. There was no clear demarcation between the role of the Council

5QUESTION AND ANSWER
and the Assembly inside League. It caused a series of confusion while exercising their powers
(Gilbert 2004).
Absence of the significance of peace among the big powers made it more critical for the
League to procure the policy of solitude. It became burdensome for the League to maintain peace
across the world alone. As a result of that another World War ravaged the globe within a short
span of 20 years (Taylor 1996).
Section 3
Question 1: Imperial fall out of WWII
During the Second World War, imperialism still existed in its literary forms in Japan. At
that time, Japan was considered to be the rising sun of Asia, the mightiest of all. However, the
fall of Germany in May, 1945 it became easy for the allied powers to deal with Japan alone
(Keylor 2008). US and Britain were more curious to get entangled with Japan. The purpose
behind this attitude of the big powers was considered to be an act of imperialist aggression. A
lust for territorial expansion led US to attack Japan and after the end of the Japanese surrender
dropping nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki knocked the last nail into the coffin.
Besides this, in the European context the shared domination of Britain and France was also faced
a fatal blow by the emerging Russia and US interference. The geopolitical situation in Europe
which was primarily vested into the hand between Britain and France was replaced by the newly
developed relationship between USSR and USA.

6QUESTION AND ANSWER
Question 2: Geopolitical gains by Soviet Union
After the end of the Second World War, Soviet Union enjoyed an enormous power in
Eastern Europe. Warsaw Pact made it easier for USSR to bring the small territories of Eastern
Europe under her canopy. In that process, countries like Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary
and Czechoslovakia did a pact with Russia by which they were entitled to protect the interest of
Russia (Gaddis 1987). At that time, most of the Eastern European countries witnessed a rise of
communist political discourse inside their territory. This was actually manifested by Soviet
Union in order to get access to turn those countries into its own fold. In fact, the strategic
geographical location of Russia kept her aloof from the Western Europe where Britain and
France dominated the politics. After the end of the war, no such measure had been taken out to
restrain the emerging threat of USSR.
Question 3: Communism as imperialism after WWII
Military aggression by Soviet Russia was prevalent before and during the Second World
War. However, in the post-World War scenario the Soviet occupation in the Eastern part of
Europe heightened a lot out of apprehensions by Britain and France. In the aftermath of the
Second World War there was a huge outbreak in Hungary against Soviet occupation into the
country and the Russian politburo moved to crush the revolution. Occupying Czechoslovakia in
1968 was another example of the Communist imperialism (Brown 2009). Furthermore, the
Russian involvement in Afghanistan in 1970s and in Vietnam during 1960s paved the way for a
new imperialist formation called as neo-Stalinism (Calvorcessi 2008).

7QUESTION AND ANSWER
Section 4
Question1: collapse of Soviet Union
The liberal approach of Mikhail Gorbachev in the name of Glasnost and Perestroika gave
a new dimension to the attitude of Soviet Union. Perestroika was meant for beginning of a new
world under hybrid communist-capitalist system like modern China and the Glasnost provided
freedom to Russian citizens. These two fundamental changes had shaken the edifice of
Communism in Russia (Lundestad 2010)
The global tension of Cold War was further facilitated the collapse of Soviet Union.
Immense political pressure from the Capitalist countries and financial blockade by the US
government did not left other alternatives to Russia (Keylor 2008).
The growing nationalist movements in Eastern Europe fostered the decline of Soviet
Union as well. The year 1989 witnessed a series of movement spread out the entire Soviet
regime and the central power was not so strong to combat with these emerging outbreaks
(Dockrill 2005). As a result Communism in Russia had collapsed with all its belongings.
Question 3: Europe at the end of the Cold War
At the end of the 20th century with the fall of Berlin Wall in 1990s the geopolitical
situation in Europe was also entered into a new political framework where the bipolarism had
turned into unipolarism with America predominantly exercised her power (Kagan 2009). The
introduction of European Union helped to integrate west and east of Europe and also ended the
division of Germany. The 1990s scenario of Europe was quite promising and less war ridden that
foster development and prosperity around the continent (Keylor 2008). In fact, implementing a

8QUESTION AND ANSWER
liberal approach towards the rest of the world created a global appreciation of Europe which
helped the continent to set up a better future prospect.
Question 6: Huntington’s thesis and 9/11
According to the thesis of acclaimed US scholar Samuel Huntington the conflict between
Al-Qaeda and US was a clash between civilisation, a crusade more than economic and political
underpinnings. However, this theory is a restricted view point with the idea of cultural conflicts.
The relation between Bin- Laden and the US government is not a result of 9/11 rather it was
started during the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. Empirical evidences proved that the US
intelligence CIA had a close connection with the Afghanistani mujahids during 1970 (Goh
2013). In fact, financial and logistics aids to the militants in Afghanistan was a state policy of US
till 9/11 (Wang 2012). Therefore, it cannot be asserted that the fight between US and Islamic
militancy was based on religious cause rather it was an act of trusts and disbeliefs which in
return caused 9/11.
Section 5
Question1: US military interventions after the Cold War
The military interference of US government is still remained as a state policy even after
the end of the Cold War. The recent development of US military in eastern Asia can be a good
example of that (Blum 2013). The military deployment in Iraq and Syria was not conducted to
overthrow the military regime in those countries; rather it was an act of neo-imperialism which is
also known as oil imperialism. Both the countries are enriched by its natural resources of
petroleum and US wants to capture those Petroleum mines in the name of installing democracy

9QUESTION AND ANSWER
over dictatorship (Cox and Stokes 2012). In fact, interference of CIA in rest of the world
hampers the notion of sovereignty also.
Question2: US military imperial power
In present times, US is considered to be the mightiest military force in the world. It is not
only that the country has possessed most number of nuclear weapon but also America invests
maximum amount of expenses in military infrastructure. The professionalism and strategic
position makes the position of US military so firm that it outnumbers any of the military power
of the world (Preble 2009) However, rate of success is not good enough. For example, the
military involvement of US armed forces in Afghanistan was so fatal that some scholars
compared it with the disastrous occupation of US in Vietnam (Zartmann 2009). In fact, in the
name of peace keepers the US military fails to earn respects in different countries.
Question4: Sympathy for US after 9/11
After the 9/11 incident, the entire world felt empathy for America. It became a hub of
retaliation across the globe to stand beside US and fight for peace. It supposed to be US
leadership to utilize this sentiment to set a moral image but instead of this the country did a
mistake by intervening in Iraq. It was reported that civilian casualties had been increased
indiscriminately due to US invasion and changed the global perception about US systematically
(Hook 2010). In fact, the new threat of ISIS is an outcome of US military intervention in Middle
East and as a result of that America creates a hostile situation in that region (Ballard, John,
Lamm David, and Wood 2010).

10QUESTION AND ANSWER
Section 6
Question 1: communism in China and modernisation
In the last 20 years China is facing a steady growth in economic exposure. The reason
behind this continuous booming is partially based on the modernisation that communism had
imposed on China (Shambaugh 2013). There are a number of times in the Chinese history that
the country is rendering modification and modernisation (Fenby 2008). It can be argued that
Mao’s idealism was best fitted into the steady progress of China. Later on the hybrid theory of
capitalism and socialism made it beneficial for the country to get prosper (Macfarquhar 2011).
However, lack of government willingness and challenges like corruption and unsustainable
environment withheld the progress of China and it will continue in future as well.
Question 3: Chinese communist party and spread of democracy in 1989
The cry for democracy and fundamental rights was the key points demonstrating the
student movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989 (Silbey 2011). The state police and military
bulldozed the outbreak with fierce repression. The democratic overtone subsequently lost its
permanence in the country and as a result of that still now the citizens have less fundamental
rights. It is detrimental to the cause of development in the country in a rightful way and also
obstructed the natural growth of China (Shirk 2008). The preservation of Communism or
socialism in China is just the policy of the party leaders who do not want to lose their powers by
any means.
Question 4: main challenges of China today
Disparity in income is one of the biggest challenges that China is facing nowadays. It is
true that the Chinese economy is booming steadfastly but the problem lies within it. Lack of

11QUESTION AND ANSWER
employment opportunities and static living standards make the Country fragile and poor in
economic condition (Becker 2000).
Environmental issues are another threat regarding China’s sustainability. Polluted air,
toxic waterways cause global warming and water shortages across the country. Lack of
government initiatives further supply impetus for environmental degradation (Fairbank and
Goldman 2006).
China is considered to be one of the highly corrupted countries according to the recent
international corruption index. The political leaders from top to bottom are succumbed into the
trend of corruption and do not want to make any solution (MacGregor 2010).
Reference
Archie, Brown The Rise and Fall of Communism, London, 2009
Ballard, John, Lamm David, and Wood, John From Kabul to Baghdad and Back: The US at War
in Afghanistan and Iraq, Naval Institute Press, 2012.
Norrlo, Carla, America's Global Advantage: US Hegemony and International Cooperation,
CUP, 2010.
Becker, Jasper The Chinese An Insider’s Look at the Issues which Affect and Shape China, OUP,
2000.
Bell, P.M. H. The Origins of the Second World War in Europe, Routledge, 2007.
Blum, William America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy –the Truth about US Foreign Policy
and Everything Else, Zed, 2013.

12QUESTION AND ANSWER
Buruma, Ian Year Zero: A History of 1945, Penguin, 2013.
Calvocoressi, Peter, Guy Wint, and John Pritchard. Total War: The Causes and Course of the
Second World War. Pantheon, 1989.
Cox, Michael, Stokes, Doug U.S. Foreign Policy, OUP, 2012.
Dockrill, Saki, The End of the Cold War Era: The Transformation of the Global Security Order,
Hodder Arnold, 2005.
Fenby, Jonathan The Penguin Modern History of China, Penguin, 2008
Fenby, Jonathan The Penguin Modern History of China, Penguin, 2008.
Fromkin, David Europe’s Last Summer: Who Started the Great War (Knopf), 2004.
Gaddis, J. L. The Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War. Oxford University
Press, 1987.
Gilbert, Martin The Second World War: The Complete History, Holt, 2004.
Goh, Evelyn The Struggle for Order: Hegemony, Hierarchy, and Transition in Post-Cold War
East Asia, OUP, 2013.
Hook, Steven U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power, CQ, 2010.
Kagan, Robert. The Return of History and the End of Dreams , Vintage, 2009.
Keylor, William R. A World of Nations: The International Order since 1945, Oxford University
Press, 2008.

13QUESTION AND ANSWER
Keylor, William R. A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945, Oxford University
Press, 2008.
Lafore, Laurence The Long Fuse: An Interpretation of World War 1, (Waveland) 1965.
Lundestad Geir East, West, North, South: Major Developments in International Politics Since
1945, Sage, 2010.
Macfarquhar, Roderick The Politics of China: Sixty Years of the People’s Republic of China,
CUP 2011.
MacGregor, Richard The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers, Harper Collins,
2010.
Overy, R.J. The Origins of the Second World War, Routledge, 2008.
Peter Calvorcessi World Politics Since 1945 (9th edition) Longman, 2008
Preble, Christopher A. The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less
Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free, Cornell Uni. Press, 2009.
Rich, Norman Hitler's War Aims, Norton, 2 vols, 1973.
Shambaugh, David China Goes Global, OUP, 2013.
Shirk, Susan China: Fragile Superpower, OUP, 2008.
Silbey, David The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China, Hill and Wang, 2011.
Snyder, Timothy Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin 2010, Basic Books
Stevenson, David The First World War and International Politics, OUP, 1991

14QUESTION AND ANSWER
Strachan, Hew The First World War, Viking, 2004.
Taylor, A.J. P. Origins of the Second World War, Simon and Schuster. 1996.
Wang, Zhen Never Forget National Humiliation, Columbia University press, 2012.
Zartmann, William (ed.) Imbalance of Power: US Hegemony and International Order, Lynne
Rienner, 2009.