Assignment Code: MPS-002/Asst/TMA/2022-23

Course Code: MPS-002

Assignment Name: International Relations: Theory and Problems

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

SECTION- I

1. Define international terrorism. How does patriotism become the epicenter of terrorism?

Ans) The Latin words "terrere" and "deterre" are the source of the word "terrorism." Terrere is Latin for "to shake," while deterre means "to scare." Therefore, to injure someone is to inflict enough fear in them that they begin to tremble.

International terrorism is defined as terrorism that transcends national borders in terms of the tactics used, the targets, or the bases of operations of the terrorists. Cross-border terrorism and international terrorism only differ on a technological level. While with the former, terrorists are raised in one nation to wage war in just that nation, victims of international terrorism come from a variety of nations. Al Qaeda, for instance, does not just target citizens of one nation or area. Though its primary targets may be a few nations, its "enemy" can be located all around the world.

Liberals, Conservatives and Realists on Terrorism

On the causes of and solutions to terrorism, there are primarily two schools of thought: liberal and conservative. The third, known as the realist method, may be added to these. We'll only quickly touch on the three points of view. Liberals believe that terrorism is a reaction to bad governance as well as economic, social, and political injustice.

People with a sense of injustice will use violence to dramatize their suffering or to alter the circumstances that led to it. Since governments are now frequently held accountable for the suffering of the populace, rebellions are typically focused on them. Some governments could be unable or unwilling to address social inequities as well as fail to deliver fundamental services. People's fundamental rights may frequently be violated by governments, which may also be dishonest and ineffective. Terrorist attacks frequently target such governments.

On the other hand, conservatives blame terrorism on the inherent challenges of nation-building. Many people are afraid of new legal and institutional frameworks supported by a government. Classes, castes, religious, and linguistic groups may all have a hard time adjusting to the new rules and government. The government works to uphold the law. These initiatives may offend a number of groups. To stop resistance group violence, the authorities may resort to using force. Then there may start a cycle of violence and retaliation.

Realists believe that nation-state rivalry is the root cause of terrorism. States typically use threat or actual force to resolve their differences. Realists view terrorism as a result of nation-states competing with one another to gain more power. Realists, who are complete believers in the value of power, link terrorism to the struggle for dominance, which, as Morgenthau once remarked, is the core of world politics.

Liberals, conservatives, and realists all have different viewpoints on terrorism, which inevitably affects how they react to the curse. Liberals believe that bettering people's lives, even those who may be considering secession, and fostering improving government are the best ways to combat terrorism. Liberals believe that by prompt and creative social, economic, political, and administrative engineering, the public's complaints can be addressed and terrorism may be curbed.

Conservatives, on the other hand, do not believe that the liberals' proposed treatment can be a workable solution. They believe that every state has a duty to ensure good governance. Conservatives contend that in order to stop terrorist attacks, a responsible government must employ force. For conservatives, using force is a necessity rather than a last resort. Violence (force) should be used by the state as soon and firmly as possible. Pre-emptive force will put a stop to terrorism and protect innocent people.

2. What is ethnicity? Explain the reasons of ethnic wars.

Ans) A group of people can distinguish themselves from other groups by using their subjective, symbolic, or iconic identity, which is referred to as their ethnicity. Contextual, situational, and relational are all flexible concepts. It is the expression or affirmation of nationalities, cultures, and voices. It is focused on the notion of uniqueness. The phrase can be interpreted as the recognition of a shared identity among the individuals or members of a specific social group.

Anthony D. Smith states that ethnicity is based on the following factors: a distinctive group name to be recognised as a distinct community by both group members and outsiders; a shared belief by group members in the myth of common ancestry and descent; the presence of historical memories among group members (as interpreted and diffused over generations, often verbally); a distinctive shared culture; association with a specific territory or "homeland"; and a sensual connection to that territory. therefore, if present, a shared faith can act as a unifying force.

Reasons of Identity Wars

Fear of loss of Identity: The main causes of this are the arbitrary national territory construction and the minority ethnic groups' fears of losing their ethnic identity in the new political structure. When the new state attempted to establish integration in the national context, the Nagas, Mizos, and Assamese in India and the Baluch and Pushtoons in Pakistan had uprisings that resulted in military war. Worldwide, ethnic communities are concerned about losing their unique identities in the current political system.

Fear of Assimilation: Minority ethnic groups are wary of the majority's integration. As a result, they attempt to preserve an artificial territorial limit that is based on their ethnicity. Sikh demands for Sindhu desh in Pakistan, Punjabi Suba and Sikh homeland in India strive to maintain their identity by establishing a territorial barrier between "us" and "they," meaning the prevailing majority. The goal is to create some sort of territorial enclave where its unique identity might be maintained.

Fear of Marginalisation: This is primarily due to an outside group's dominance over indigenous people. A group that is considered to be "out" is one that did not originate in the area/region in question but joined it either through voluntary immigration or state-sponsored colonisation. In such a case, it has frequently been noted that the migration process was initially unaided and did not entail any deliberate strategy to remove the indigenous group from authority and status.

Sense of Relative Deprivation and Discrimination: Due to the denial of minority rights and glaring underrepresentation in public life and political institutions, minority ethnic groups often continue to face discrimination and deprivation. Minorities frequently underrepresent themselves in the armed forces, public services, police administration, judicial, and legislative branches. As with the Mohajirs, Baluch, and Tamils in Pakistan, Hindus in Bangladesh, and Tamils in Sri Lanka, this results in discrimination.

Sense of Powerlessness: Minoritarianism is a result of the hegemonic majoritarianism that the ruling elite pursues, which makes minority feel helpless. Majoritarianism and minoritarianism are mutually beneficial. An important finding is that democratic polities, where the sole takeover of power by the majority community is tried to be justified by democratic logic, are more prone to this majoritarian-minoritarian syndrome. There are two types of majoritarianism. One involves a regional majority that is otherwise a national minority competing against a national majority. In addition, the national majority is competing with the regional majority. The classic examples of this majority-minority condition are Sikhs and Kashmiris in India, Tamils in Sri Lanka, Pushtoons, Sindhi, and Baluch in Pakistan.

3. Migration has become an international issue. Explain the reasons of refugee issues in the world.

Ans) The same reasons that lead to human rights violations, fear, persecution, and suffering in people also contribute to internal displacement and the creation of refugees. Internal displacement is also a result of oppressive regimes, ethnic conflicts, destabilisation campaigns from outside, and interventions. Human rights violations can occur for a number of reasons, such as when the state persecutes a particular ethnic community. Although the group's members may be citizens in principle, in reality they are seen as "aliens." The majority frequently discriminates against and mistreats the persecuted group because they typically have a distinct language, religion, culture, or ethnicity. The primary driver of forced migration worldwide is alienation based on the aforementioned identities.

Francis Deng and Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the UN, draw attention to the fact that disagreements over the aforementioned reasons alone do not lead to conflict. When these discrepancies result in chances for power sharing and allocation of finite resources and opportunities, they produce polarising and combative circumstances. In an effort to seize or keep onto power, the dominant group uses resentment and prejudice to impose its identity.

Africa

The aerial bombing of civilian targets in Sudan has been carried out by government forces as a means of eradicating oil production and internally displacing people in order to build oil pipelines. Civilians in Angola have been forcibly and repeatedly displaced as a result of fighting between the government and rebel forces. Can you think that 25% of Angola's families live below the poverty line, or on US 60 cents per day? Angola is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and the fourth-largest diamond producer after Russia. It also has 1.3 million intra-state displacements. Such circumstances demonstrate a lack of political will rather than national governments' capacity.

Europe

violent conflict among the Turkish government's military and Turkey's largest ethnic minority, the Kurds (26 per cent of the total population of 12 million people). Over the past 20 years, thousands of ethnic Kurds have been internally displaced as a result of their quest for self-determination to assert their ethnic identity and rights, which have been denied by the Turkish government.

Asia

The war over the disputed Kashmir area between India and Pakistan is one of the causes of displacement in Asia. Over 350,000 Hindu Pandits have been internally displaced as a result of the fighting between the government and Muslim separatists in Kashmir. They left the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley after Muslim separatist organisations like the Hizbul Mujahiddin murdered members of their Hindu community. In the predominantly Hindu province of Jammu, New Delhi, and other areas of the country where they have relocated, they endure appalling living conditions.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in East Bangladesh have seen displacement as a result of forced assimilation practises and land disputes.  By purposefully relocating landless Muslim Bengalis from the overpopulated delta region, 128,000 households or 500,000 members of indigenous Buddhist clans were uprooted. This is an instance of the government persecuting a minority ethno-religious group. With few exceptions, such as the return movements in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Macedonia in 2001 and Afghanistan and Afghanistan in 2002, displacements far dominate return movements. Even though many had to relocate outside of their home areas owing to the conflict, a significant number of intra-state displaced people have been able to return since the collapse of the Taliban administration in Afghanistan in 2001. After 19 years of hostilities, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the newly elected government reached an understanding in December 2001 to begin peace talks.

SECTION- II

Write a short note on each part of the following questions in about 250 words.

4. a) Nuclear threats

Ans) Although the United States and Russia have greatly reduced their stockpiles of nuclear weapons over the last three decades, there is still the lingering—and spreading—threat of nuclear annihilation. The number of nuclear weapon states has grown to nine from six since the end of the Cold War, with India, Pakistan, and North Korea joining the club. Iran's nuclear program is believed by some to be within months of weaponizing. Meanwhile the U.S., Russia, China and other nuclear countries are competing with each other to sell "civilian" nuclear technology to eager buyers in unstable parts of the world. India, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are among the customers.

While Russia's shrinking nuclear arsenal is now thought to be relatively secure, the 9/11 terror attacks and revelations about the activities of the A.Q. Khan network have heightened concerns that weapons or fissile material could fall into the hands of rogue states or extremist groups. That risk has been increased by access to technologies that are enabling nuclear newcomers to create smaller, easily transportable weapons—so-called battlefield weapons—and by the worrisome rise of military doctrines that lower the threshold of actually using nuclear weapons.

Through Nuclear Threats, Pulitzer Centre journalists examine the emerging threats of the post-9/11 era, from an alarming new arms race between India and Pakistan to the role of the U.S. and Russia as suppliers and the spread of supposedly peaceful nuclear technology to some of the world's most dangerous neighbourhoods. Nuclear weapons are the most destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. Both in the scale of the devastation they cause, and in their uniquely persistent, spreading, genetically damaging radioactive fallout, they are unlike any other weapons. A single nuclear bomb detonated over a large city could kill millions of people. The use of tens or hundreds of nuclear bombs would disrupt the global climate, causing widespread famine.

b) East–West divide

Ans) The divide between East and West has been exacerbated since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The world is slowly but surely drifting into a renewed dual-block system. History rhymes indeed. It definitely looks like a new twist of the division between the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Byzantine Empire or, more obviously, the West and the Soviet bloc during the Cold War. The war in Ukraine is setting the borders for this new world. Supply chains and logistics are good indicators in times of both peace and war. And it is clear both sides are laser-focused on developing their own routes for sensitive and key supplies, looking to avoid the need to collaborate with or rely on the other side. This is especially true when it comes to advanced and deep technologies. Space represents all of the above. It is logistics, it is advanced technology and it is data and intelligence, as well as sovereignty and high economic stakes.

In space, there is no East or West; there is infinity, yet we are noticing the same separation. After a great epoch of global collaboration post-Cold War, many states have, for the last decade, been planning for a shift and moving toward controlling their own infrastructure in space. Worse, since the war in Ukraine began, we have noticed that the risks for confrontation in space have increased, just as they have on Earth. The risk is real, as press reports have indicated that Pentagon leaders last week discussed China’s and Russia’s space ambitions. Last year, China demonstrated a hypersonic vehicle and a fractional orbital bombardment system. According to reports, this technology was first demonstrated by the Soviet Union in 1969. Also last year, Russia conducted a direct-ascent anti-satellite test, which entailed the voluntary destruction of one of its own defunct satellites. This was in fact a military message wrapped in a test:

5. a) Define basic features of South Asia

Ans) The Bangkok Principle, established by the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC) in 1966, outlines guidelines for how refugees should be treated in the Asian region. It expressly embraces the non-refoulement or non-rejection at the boundaries principles. These guidelines are not legally enforceable, though, and they have not had the same influence as other regional conventions in Latin America and Africa.

Despite the fact that South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) has experienced the largest forced population movements in modern history, none of these nations are signatories to the 1951 Convention or its 1967 Protocol. At the regional level, there is no comprehensive legal document that establishes a framework for the protection of refugees. Additionally, South Asian nations have not ratified any international agreements regarding the protection of refugees. Refugee protection is discussed on a bilateral basis in the region between the nations that send and receive refugees. At the national and regional levels, however, there has been a rise in concern over refugee protection since the 1990s. A formally established legal framework for refugee protection could end inequal treatment of refugees as a result of South Asian countries' violations of human rights.

131 states had ratified the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol as of December 31, 1999. 138 States have ratified one or both of the aforementioned agreements. The key reason for today's refugee outflows is human violence against human owing to a violation of fundamental human rights. Persecution of people because of their race, religion, social group membership, or political viewpoint, repressive regimes, and military conflicts or civil wars are some examples of this. Man-made and natural causes can be used to broadly categorise the causes of refugee outflows.

b) Indigenous Movements

Ans) Chief Deskaheh, a Cayuga native from the "Six Nations" reserve in the Western Hemisphere (Canada), increased his calls for the Iroquois peoples to be recognised as a sovereign country and for full self-government. Legal disputes and physical conflict reached a boiling point about 1920.

The Iroquois wanted to be free from Canadian law. Deskaheh first went to England, but when it didn't work, she went to Washington to meet the Dutch chargé d'affaires, bringing up the peace and friendship treaties that had been signed in the 18th century between Europe and the Iroquois. The issue was again raised in 1923 by the League of Nations General Secretary. The Six Nations were seen to still be "British subjects residing in Canada" by the British and Canadian representatives at the League of Nations Council meeting, who ruled that they had no right to demand their own state.

With its active participation in the decolonization process, the United Nations' founding in 1945 provided a glimmer of optimism. Ethnic groups' growing demands for action on the new anti-racist principles of human rights could no longer be disregarded. In nations like Canada and New Zealand, who throughout the war had raised specialised contingents from among their indigenous peoples, this had a particular impact. These essentially paved the ground for the indigenous peoples' issue to be brought up separately in the UN around 1970.

In the years following World War II, one witnessed a global industrial and technical penetration in the remote regions, extending from the tropical rain forests to the Arctic. The need to assist the most vulnerable ethnic communities on humanitarian and welfare grounds initially boosted the development. This effort was started in the 1920s by the League of Nations' International Labour Organization, and in 1957, the ILO enacted Resolution, which provided protection to tribal and indigenous peoples all over the world.