International Relations International Law Falk

International Relations

International Law

Falk says his article has "the overall objective of helping to formulate a world order ideology appropriate to human needs and aspirations, given the present historical situation of challenge and opportunity." In brief, what are the main features of his position?

The main features of Falk's position include:

The state system being outdated by a sequence of interconnecting social, cultural, economic, political, technological and ecological tendencies that are likely to end up being very disagreeable and a dangerous structure of overall response or non-response to the issues put forth by the expanding emergency in the state system.

Even though this disturbing result seems likely as of now, it is not unavoidable. There are also positive paths accessible, based upon a confirmation of the completeness of the planet and the cohesion of the human species that could bring about a reorganization of power, wealth, and authority that would be more valuable than anything the world has ever known.

3. At the outset, the global reform movement was necessary to encourage such a positive result to take principal form outside of and largely in disagreement to the centers of currently comprised political and economic power. In many cultures it will have to be populist and anti-governmental in character and origins. Governments are not automatically adversaries, and one purpose of a popular movement is to give confidence the coming out of political leaders more accustomed to the need and occasion for global reform.

4. The main original focus of a movement for positive global reform should entail teaching for action, that is, an expression that the felt needs and aggravations of people in an assortment of tangible social situations around the world arise from the incapability of states or the existing international actors to find short-term, middle level and long-range answers to the distresses and hazard of the world.

5. The case for global reform should be founded on a fundamental evaluation of structural tendencies and alternatives.

What are the four types of global models that Falk discusses? What is his view of them? What is your view of these four models and of Falk's discussion of them?

The four types of global models that Falk discusses are utopian legalism, the new geopolitics of great powership, the new geoeconomics of the multinational corporate elite and a global populism based on human solidarity. Falk feels that the utopian legalist perspective is the option to be least concerned about, since it lacks both a credible transition scenario and structural leverage. Falk goes on to say that the perspectives of the new geopolitics of great powership and the new geoeconomics of the multinational corporate elite are far more relevant to the process and prospects of system change. He feels that these two serve as examples of the kind of reformist initiatives because they possess structural leverage, but are regressive because they seek to exert it on behalf of values and interests generally incompatible with those put forward as the basis for peace and justice. He feels that he last perspective explicitly adopts values that focus on justice and human dignity and strives to shape an emerging order of non-territorial central guidance to serve values associated with humanity as a whole, rather than promote the particular interests of favored religious, ethnic or geographic segments.

Faulk's views of these perspectives are very straightforward and to the point. I think that the last perspective of a global populism based on human solidarity is the best of the four. It is the one that takes into account the fact that the world is becoming more and more global everyday. There is no denying that the world is becoming a smaller place all the time as more companies expand into the global marketplace. Because of this fact there is no longer any room for particular interests based on religion, ethnicity or geography. In order to be successful in the global market one has to be very diverse and not as close minded as before.

In what general ways is Falk's model similar to or different than Huntington's?

Falk's model is completely different than Huntington's model in that Falk believes that globalization promotes peace while Huntington believes that globalization creates conflicts between countries. Falk says that globalization is a good mechanism to get everyone to work together towards one common goal while Huntington feels that it causes conflict as everyone believes that their way is the best.

What ideas do you find particularly relevant to current or recent events?