International Politics & International System

The flags of 40 different countries lined to honor the 10 year anniversary of September 11th as part of a remembrance ceremony during exercise Combined Endeavor 11 in Grafenwohr, Germany, Sep. 11 2011. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Shawnon Lott/Released)
The flags of 40 different countries lined to honor the 10 year anniversary of September 11th as part of a remembrance ceremony during exercise Combined Endeavor 11 in Grafenwohr, Germany, Sep. 11 2011. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Shawnon Lott/Released)

International Politics & International System

According to Hans Morgenthau in his book “International Politics” he explained it as a struggle for power. He further stated that the basic aim of International Politics is power and anybody who fails to see International Politics that way is a political infant.

Hans Morgenthau believed so much that there is no International Politics without the exercise of power. The struggle and the tussle is for power. He stated that power and force are the instrument of state policy.

However, International Politics can best be described as the study of the political aspect of inter-state relations and the characteristics feature of these relations which are quest for power, security, prestige, survival and dominance among other state.

In world politics, power is the factor in the game nations play (International Politics). Just as money buy things, power causes things to happen therefore, power is the currency in the International Politics.

For Example, where state A and state B had a conflict, the use of power becomes unavoidable. That is to say that power is what triggers state behavior. This qualifies the assertion that in International Politics, what sovereignty make equal, power makes unequal.

State is the main actors in in international politics though there are other non state actors who also participate in International Politics.

However, in understanding International Politics, one has to understand that nature of international system and how it works. How it influences the behavior of the actors.

International system can be described as an arena or stage where state actors and non state actors are global players. The anarchic structure of international system creates an avenue where states struggle for power and security in order to protect their national interest.

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International system being anarchic in structure doesn’t mean that it is a stage or arena of lawlessness. It simply means absence of government over government and absence of central authority to regulate the activities of the state in the international system.

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