Custom «International Forces» Essay Paper Sample

No state exists in complete isolation. Each state is subject to international forces. These forces include other states through regional blocks, international bodies like the United Nations and economic forces like the recession that recently hit various economies. Areas that are usually affected include a state's educational policies, trade and economic policies and even issues that touch on human rights.

More than anything, regional blocks affect a country's trade policies as most trade is usually done between neighboring countries. Thus, countries usually perform international trade with countries that hold similar political and ideological views. This is so as to ensure that there is minimal conflict between the two countries.

In addition, with the technological advances present in our world today, information dissemination has become more prompt. This has resulted in an almost-instantaneous exchange of information across even the vastest of regions. Subsequently, happenings in one region affect another country because of interactions between the countries.

A perfect example of how the international recession affected Peru's economy can be seen by a study of its economic growth (Benavide et al, 2010). The economy had been growing steadily at a brisk pace from 6% between 2002 and 2006 to a high of 10% in 2008 when the international economic crisis in the form of the recession led to Peru's economic growth to fall to less than 1% in 2008. However, the government rectified the situation by increasing government spending coupled with private investments among other things rose the economic to an acceptable 8%. Thus we see how international economic forces affected the economy of a country affects its economic policies and subsequently the lives of the people.

China was also not left untouched by the international recession (Balfour, 2009). Being the world's largest exporter, and the second largest world economy, China saw greatly reduced demand for its goods as a direct result of the world economic downturn. This adversely affected the economy as China has an economy that largely depends on its exports, and reduced demand for its goods would seriously hamper the economy of the country. Thankfully, the Chinese government stepped in to rectify the situation. It announced a massive stimulus package that aimed at encouraging growth and domestic consumption. This worked to stabilize the country and prevent the country from spiraling into further troubles.

Moreover, the recent Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami that greatly damaged a nuclear reactor had extended ramifications even in China. Due to the gravity of the situation, the Chinese government moved to tighten approvals on safety procedures for new reactors so as to avoid a similar situation in the event of a natural disaster, an example on how a natural disaster in a different country directly affected a policy in a different country; in this case the earthquake and tsunami in Japan led a to a policy decision in China.

Regarding the area of human rights, China has come under considerable pressure from the international community particularly the United Nations. This came about especially after the imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Continued pressure from the international community has unfortunately not changed the government's hard stance on supposed dissidents.

In addition, the recent uprisings in the Arab world that ousted the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents resulted in strengthening of control of the Chinese media. Some websites, especially micro blogging sites were closely monitored. This is because China, being a communist and somewhat totalitarian regime, was afraid that their people might also revolt against their regime. Hence another example of how happenings in the Arab world have affected policies in China.

Regarding Peru, at a time when they were ruled by the high-handed Fujimori, the international community pressured him to quit and he obliged, leading to the end of his rule. The international community in this case played an important role in ensuring a change of regime. Member countries of the Organization of American States contributed heavily in ensuring that the president got out of power.

As the above examples demonstrate, happenings in one part of the world adversely affect the situation in another country. They affect a country's policy as is the case in China which is communist. It has had some spats with the United Nations regarding its human rights record and other freedoms, not to mention the thorny issue of Tibet.

Peru, after enduring years of a totalitarian leadership is now moving forward impressively. The economy is growing at a steady pace and life is improving. Thus, the effect of international forces on a particular country's policies cannot be overlooked as they affect the politics and social life of a particular country.