The Journal Responses

International economic organizations symbolize hope for international peace, security, and mutual development of the economy. They operate as a part of several, or, at times, one international regime. The regime sets rules, standards, and procedures governing the national behavior of the covered area. International regimes include arms control, foreign trade, and other affairs. Organizations operate across borders and they have specific purposes. Cooperative arrangements between states are reflected by the idea of the international organization. The role of international organizations to perform advantageous functions is established through a basic agreement.

International organizations differ in their scope of advantageous functions and also membership criteria. Within the state system, international organizations are responsible for performing various important and useful functions. They serve a main aim to provide means of cooperation to member states. Leading international economic organizations include World Bank and WTO among others. WTO was formed as a result of the general agreement on trade tariffs. Its significance is in providing a forum for negotiations about trading rules and a mechanism for settling disputes regarding issues of international trade. World Bank and IMF handle their member states one after the other. During the time of economic crisis World Bank and IMF assist developing countries who have their membership. Their activities are significant for developing countries, though they have little effect on the industrial nations. This assistance helps developing countries to achieve rapid growth of their economy and, as a result, raises the standard of living.

International political organizations such as the UN aim at creating and maintaining peace. United Nations maintains world peace and order to help countries facilitate and improve relationships. America has played a crucial role in the creation of international organizations. America initiated the creation of an international forum for peaceful resolution of conflicts after the Great War. This geared efforts towards the foundation of United Nations. World Bank was created through the cooperation and agreement among countries including America.

In the movie The End of Poverty the actor and activist Martin Sheen tries to explain how today’s economic and financial crisis is as a result of unchallenged policies that have lasted for many centuries. The film reveals that poverty is not an accident, but is a result of colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, resources, and forced labour. It reveals how today’s global poverty has gone to new levels as a result of unfair debt and tax policies. Poor and developing countries are being exploited by the wealthy and industrial countries. It is due to economic policies in the free market that powerful countries exploit poorer developing countries. The imbalance of wealth among states has a calamitous impact on the economy and the environment.

Globalization is often viewed as that unending process of integration and interaction among nations’ governments. Forces driving this process are investments and international trade. End results of globalization include environmental, cultural, and political effects as well as economic development, prosperity, and the improvement of living standards of the world societies. Proponents of unfettered globalization support the views of globalization as revealed in the film The End of Poverty. The film reveals how some poor developing countries are trapped into agreements on trade and investments which compromise human rights. The imbalance of wealth as illustrated by the film is also an ardent result of unfettered globalization.

The film discussed concepts on globalization critically. This manner of presentation expands understanding of the concept of globalization significantly. It reveals how poverty does not happen by bad luck, but is a result of trade agreements that exploit developing countries.

Being one of the most distinguished foreign policy experts, Mead reveals how the individualistic ideology in the existing Anglo-American religion has been the key to the predominance of two countries: United States and England. A democratic system whose social and economic influence has been able to grow all over the world has been created from a culture that has uniquely adapted to capitalism. Terror groups are developing and terrible weapons are rouged due to technological progress. Mead reveals how he thinks Middle East conflicts are challenges to democratic world system. Deeper understanding of recurring conflicts is needed to handle them.

In U.S. politics, policies and religion have been major forces. Mead reveals how the evangelical community is highly influential and aims to create a better attitude towards America from the rest of the world. American ideas about the world as well as nation’s character are based on religion. Religion explains the belief that America is a chosen state and its duty to spread its values to the world. These ideas have a strong influence on country’s domestic as well as international policies.

In United States evangelical community and religion are important. Most views are supported by religion. The U.S. being religiously diverse has support for nearly all conceivable foreign policies. Mead claims that evangelical community in the U.S. has a net positive influence on the foreign policy. This notion may be disagreed with because of changes brought about by the balance of power among different growing religious strands. Foreign policy students in the U.S. and abroad become relatively unfamiliar with the conservative U.S. Protestantism.

Remarkable ideological experiments took place in contemporary era. Things are now run by each of three major American schools of foreign policy. These include neo-conservatism, liberal internationalism, and realism. According to Krauthammer, this era began with George Bush who received credit for achievements in expulsion of Saddam Hussein from Kuwait and the peaceful reunification of Germany. The classic shortcoming of realism affected Bush’s administration that accepted the situation as it was. The shortcoming of realism resulted to a failure that caused consequences in Iraq.

When Clinton administration took the power, it replaced realism with classical liberal internationalism. In order to pursue liberal objectives, liberal states are supposed to intervene in other sovereign states as indicated by this foreign policy doctrine. The intervention may involve military invasions and humanitarian aid among others. The approach of liberal internationalism enabled Clinton’s administration to achieve integration of Muslims into Europe. Krauthammer criticizes Clinton’s administration for not achieving a lot. He despises everything the administration did, and he is against leadership guided by liberal internationalism.

Neo-conservatism came to replace both realism and liberal internationalism. This happened during George W. Bush who considered spread of freedom as the central principle to American foreign policy. Krauthammer has continually defended George W. Bush’s  administration that was guided by the neoconservative foreign policy principles. The policy guiding Bush’s administration offered best plausible reason for the existing reality and active response to its issues.

According to Krauthammer,  two theoretical forces that seem to converge are neo-conservatism and realism. Neo-conservatism has been favored more by realists who understand the reality and weaknesses of realism. New comers’ past experience is becoming more mature due to the invasion of the widespread neo-conservatism.

Krauthammer’s logic of supporting non-democratic dictators is questionable. Krauthammer described George W. Bush as a person who understood the democratic globalism. Good example of the dictatorship is Bush’s administration that applies neo-conservatism in its policies which Krauthammer fully supports. That leadership has resulted in a war cabinet composed of different individuals, who have reshaped the approach of neo-conservatism. This has led to vast growth in conspiracy. It is also questionable why Bush’s administration led by neo-conservative principles decided to attack Iraq back in 2002. Bush favored unilateralism. This means that unilateralism is a function of neo-conservatism.

The documentary The Ecological Footprint has a goal to help viewers understand and recognize what are mankind’s demands from its environment and how the success of human race can continue in a sustainable manner. As a measurement analysis, the documentary describes needs of human race in terms of land needed to produce what we consume and absorb the waste of this production. The documentary presents a basic economic analysis of economic supply and demand provided in acre terms. The analysis of documentary describes biologically productive acres we use in comparison to what the planet provides. The documentary uses mathematical approaches, graphs, and diagrams to present ideas. It reveals the theory on how advancement in technology affects the biosphere. The core purpose of the documentary is to come up with a way to sustainably fulfill lives.

Tracking of ecological assets is the most essential step in avoiding the depletion of resources. By taking this step, Americans will be able to make more informed choices. They will know if they are living within their ecological budget or they are consuming natural resources faster than the planet renews them. Global commitment to sustainability is also a step recommended in the documentary that America should take as a feasible solution.