Terrorism And The Two Intrepretive Frameworks: Statist Vs. Cosmopolitan Responses

7/20/09 There is not one political framework response that is well suited for any one political situation. History has shown that appeasement and negotiation did not work with the likes of Hitler, but history shows us that negotiation – and in a sense “appeasement” - has worked with such political enemies as the Soviet Union (Foreign Policy). No one political situation should attempted to be resolved with a text book response and a political situation should never be addressed with only one interpretive framework response in mind. In the sense that in successful negotiations nations come together multilaterally so should a diplomat bring ideologies together from all sides of the political community to address the issue. In political systems with authoritarian governances which are often dominated by dogmatic and nonnegotiable leaders I feel that the only effective response would be a statist interpretive framework centered around mainly economic pressures but complemented by equal political pressures. In historical context the Nazi regime of Germany would not have, and in fact did not, respond in a acceptable and desired fashion to a cosmopolitan response framework. Neither would the cosmopolitan response framework have worked well in ending the aggression of North Korea upon South Korea. Certain regimes have polluted ideologies on which they are based and through which they function. They will only take negotiations as though they were appeasements and worsen the political situations as exemplified through the North Koreans's ability to uphold agreements just long enough to get what they want only then to abruptly reverse all diplomatic progress. Not all political systems operate on polluted ideologies and therefore the preferred method of cosmopolitan interpretive framework can successfully be applied. In such situations the foreign policy of the United States toward that nation should be reviewed. Indeed if the foreign policy of the United State with other nations across the globe were reviewed many of the political confrontations could be resolved. Such changes in foreign policies to be more beneficial to all parties should be quickly made but no efforts should be make to actively engage without request to solve issues such as “poverty,

inequality, and discontent” within the borders of another sovereign nation (Shimko 324). Actively engaging without request to solve issues within a border imposes the authority of the United States upon that nation and thus would effectively usurp the authority of that government upon its people. Actions which would preferably make the discontented party completely economically dependent upon stable sovereign states without terrorist or otherwise self-destructive polices would create a political situation where the state which one time sponsored terrorism would have not desire or need to sponsor such actives since they would no longer be in their interest (Shimko 53). Communist China is probably the greatest success story of such policies, with the fall of the Soviet Union and the availability of trade with the U.S. China – a one time political enemy – is now economically dependent upon democratic states of the west and has since become less authoritarian than before. Combating terrorism in states which harbor and endorse such action should be spear headed with statist interpretive framework but there should also be a constant availability of free commerce between the two parties if the terrorist supporting state changes policies against terrorism. In statist interpretive framework responses there restrictions should not be lifted when that political system agrees with the party enacting such restrictions and neither should the paralleling discourse be centered around such. A disagreement in political ideologies and practices always creates new knowledge in what the best manner of governance is. Instead the restrictions and discourse should be centered only around ensuring that the party endorsing terrorist ceases those activities. When the terrorist party of the discussions ceases such destructive activities a more cosmopolitan response should follow in order to establish a working and stable peace among the parties. Only in cases where no sovereign power exists should one sovereign state begin with a cosmopolitan response that actively addresses the root causes of terrorism within foreign borders, this is the job of each sovereign state and political pressure should be employed to force that internal political structure to carry out its political responsibilities.

NS

Works Cited "Foreign Policy: Is Negotiation "Appeasement?"." 30 May 2008. The Week. 20 Jul 2009 Shimko, Keith. International Relations: Perspectives and Controversies. 2nd. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print.

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