With respect to Marxism approach to International Relations, explain Essay

With respect to Marxism approach to International Relations, explain how theoretical debates within a particular theory help us to define more precisely how best to use IR theory in practice - Essay Example This literature looks not only at the ways economic system has impact on the relations between the states, but it tried to analyze how the ideational and ideological factors help preserve and reinforce the legitimacy of the existing system through hegemony. In this paper, I would like to highlight the points of contention within Marxist approach in International Relations. First, I will outline the basic problems that are the center of the intra-paradigm debate in Marxism, from the Gramscian and Neo-Gramcian perspective. Second, I will bring the example of how the theoretical debates within Marxism contribute to differentiation in the analysis of contemporary international situation. Finally, based on the debates between Alex Callinicos and Kees van der Pijl this paper will conclude if there is an inherent contradiction between the capitalist states or, as Neo-Granscianism claims, capitalist states, driven by the social forces represented by bourgeoisie elites, will come to consensus on the common exploitation of the world-system. One of the basic concepts in Gramsci’s writings is hegemony. By hegemony, Gramsci meant the permeation throughout society of an entire system of values, attitudes, beliefs and morality (common sense) that has the effect of supporting the status quo in power relations. Individual actors are not aware of the bigger picture simply because they are not capable of overcoming the routines of maintaining their living. (Boggs, 1976: 121-122) Neo-Gramscianism applies this idea to the peripheral and semi-peripheral states in the capitalist world-system. Cox, criticizing Realist approach, argues that â€Å"dominance by a powerful state may be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for hegemony†. (Cox, 1981: 139) He suggests that power can be exerted through ideas and institutions not less efficiently than through material capabilities of state.

The closing of the Muslim mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The closing of the Muslim mind - Essay Example In Reilly's view, the success of this school over others in the ninth and tenth centuries lead to the decline of reason and therefore the closing of the Muslim mind. The consequences are drastic, but Reilly believes that, now that the problem has been diagnosed, it is possible to make fundamental changes in the Middle East by promoting different interpretations of Islam, embracing reason both in life and in theology, and essentially embarking on Aquinas' mission to unite reason and faith (197-207). Reilly refers frequently to the â€Å"dehellenization† of Sunni Islam in specific and Islam in general (11-40; 119-127). Initially, as Islam expanded, it was largely tribal, warlike and violent. This was due to the character of the region prior to Mohammed, of course: In many fundamental ways, Mohammed was a progressive reformer. Nonetheless, as a non-status quo power expanding outwards, Islam felt little need to absorb other cultures, until it started to find cultures and groups cl early superior in technological and military might. â€Å"Islam encountered Greek thought in its new Byzantine and Sassanid possessions. Exactly how these early Hellenic influences reached into Islam is a matter of some conjecture. What is clear is that huge areas of what had been the Byzantine Empire were largely Christian, and in them Greek philosophical notions had long been employed in Christian apologetics. There were also centers of Hellenistic learning in Alexandria (which moved to Antioch, Syria, around A.D. 718) and Gondeshakpur, northeast of Basra, Iraq† (23-27). As Muslims expanded, they encountered resistance, both theological and physical. As an outcome of the physical resistance, they got Greek books and knowledge; as an outcome of the theological resistance, Muslim scholars became versed in Christian ideology, Greek and Latin as languages, and became far more erudite (27-35). The consequence of this Hellenization was the emergence of the Mu'ztalite interpretati on of Sunni Islam (41-58). Greek thought in its classical form emphasized the role of reason over the passions, the rigorous use of logic, questioning authority, engaging in experimental analysis of the world, and using dialectical modes of reasoning and questioning to arrive at the truth from multiple perspectives. The synthesis of Greek and Muslim thought produced a period that Reilly waxes poetic over in Chapter Two, a period of learning during which Islam was the cradle of civilization alongside the Byzantines pitted against a horribly backward and ignorant Christian Europe. The Mu'ztalites viewed Man as free: The Koran (40:40) says, â€Å"Whosoever does an evil deed shall be recompensed only with the like of it, but whosoever does a righteous deed, be it male or female, believing shall enter Paradise, therein provided without reckoning†, alongside many other verses which establish that men are to think for themselves, which Mu'ztalites used to argue indicated that men we re supposed to be freely determine for themselves right and wrong, to create and inquire (35-40). But it was not to last. Political struggles determined the fate of Mu'ztalite interp