440 CHAPTER ElEvEn ■ TransnaTional issues
In sum: changing you
In these eleven chapters, we have explored the historical development of international
relations, from the development of the state system to notions of an international sys-
tem and community and global governance. We have introduced dif er ent theories—
realism, liberalism, radicalism, and constructivism— that help us or ga nize our
perspectives about the role of the international system, the state, the individual, and
intergovernmental and nongovernmental organ izations in international relations.
From these perspectives, we have examined the major issues of the day and analyzed
how these issues afect interstate bargaining, conflict, sovereignty, and even the study
of international politics.
A citizenry able to articulate these arguments is better able to explain the whys and
hows of events that afect our lives. A citizen who can understand these events is better
able to make and support informed policy choices. In the transnational era of the
twenty- first century, as economic, po liti cal, social, and environmental forces both above
the state and within the state assume greater saliency, the role of individuals becomes
all the more demanding— and all the more impor tant.
Discussion Questions
- Before World War II, crises and disasters in distant parts of the world stayed
there. This is no longer the case today. What are two impor tant implications
of this new real ity? - Global warming is a prob lem of the global commons, but not all environmen-
tal prob lems are. How should dif er ent environmental issues be approached? - Select two news accounts that address the trade- of between economic devel-
opment and environmental sustainability. Can these two objectives be harmo-
nized in the twenty- first century? - International cooperation on health has traditionally been viewed as a func-
tionalist issue, but increasingly the issue has been politicized. What has changed?
With what efect? Cite specific examples. - Explain why you agree or disagree with the following statement: too many
policies aimed at redressing prob lems such as narcotrafficking, sex trafficking,
illegal immigration, and netcrime focus on the supply of harmful efects (say,
narcotics, or enslaved women and children) rather than the demand for such
“goods.”