Research Information System
World Crisis, Revolution or Evolution in the International Community, Third GlobalInternational Studies Conference, Portugal, 1 - 04 August 2011, pp.44-60
During the first eight months of 2011, we have witnessed various events which made us think again, about the actor problem in international relations. People ran out to streets in the Middle East to change the regimes in the countries where they live in; an extremist right-wing person from Norway who is told to be influenced from an extremist organization in UK, put the ideas of this organization into action and killed more than 70 people. One of these people was of Turkish origin so Turkey carried out her mourning. Meanwhile, Turkey and Israel were carrying on talks to overcome the tension about the Turkish civilian losses in Mavi Marmara ferry which was stopped by a military action of Israel while carrying humanitarian aid to West Bank which has been under Israel’s blockade for a long time. This intensification of relations between different units of international relations started long ago but get more complex in the last decade that require international relations scholars to rethink on the actor problem.
After the Second World War, a process of cooperation and communication began between states, with the establishment of United Nations, which was followed by many others like NATO, Warsaw Pact, European Economic Cooperation, OPEC, World Bank and etc. After the end of the Cold War, in the beginning of 1990s, multinational companies regulated the financial structure of the global economy on the one hand, and on the other they attached the markets of states which remained out, into the global market. Thus, they became undeniable actors within the system by their increasing global economic action that transcends the state control. Besides that, they caused major environmental disasters that affected more than one country at the same time, like the petrol leak in Mexican gulf. Against these side effects of uncontrolled globalization like the new hierarchical order that new global economy brought and the insensitivity of states and corporations towards the environmental problems, civil society movements such as anti-globalization movements and green movements, stood out as barriers or controllers, with the protests against these side-effects.
The question of what the content of international relations is, is not an encouraging start to define the complex relation modes within it, which indeed constitute the answer to the question. The reason of this complexity rests in the subject of the question: the name of the subject area. The researcher will inescapably think of the relations between the nations in the beginning. But is there a relation between nations in real? More importantly, with which tools can they establish this relation?