Introduction
The different schools of thought in the field of political science denote that the world is a global stage on which the actors advance their activities. It is important to note that the world is not merely a stage, but a complex stage that is marked by complex actions from the states who are the major actors in the global stage, as well as other players.
This paper explores the critical developments that have taken place in the world over the past few years. Of greater essence in the paper is bringing out the factors that have shaped these developments and the use of theoretical foundations in the field of political science to paint a picture of the future developments and incidences in the global stage.
Overview of the recent historical incidences in the world
The developments at the global stage from the beginning of the 20th century to the present time depict critical developments in the political and economic realms.
The past five years have seen the rise in the scale of global trade, growth in the issue of democracy and human rights that features in the global political uprisings across the Arab region, the increased scale of competition in national politics based on the dimensions of opinions on the events taking place on the global stage, the expansion of individual country capacities in technology, and the widening debate about the issue of economic development relative to the subject of environmental sustainability.
These developments are still eminent in the contemporary globalized political environment and they continue to influence the course of events in the modern globalized society.
Critical analysis of the recent developments in the world
As observed in the introductory note, the developments in the world largely denote aspects of competition, as well as the aspects of cooperation in dealing with the emerging issues at the global stage. The recent developments in the world are a pointer to the fact that both the tendencies of realism and idealism are evident in the interaction within and among the players on the global stage. However, the most important thing to note is that the world is confronted with a lot of political and economic issues.
The past five years have seen a heightened scale of restlessness across the Arab Region. Beginning with the revolution in Libya, followed by the revolution in Egypt, Libya and the recent developments in Syria, it is evident that concerns about democracy and the reconsideration of the systems and forms of governance have taken root in global politics.
It is important to note that the Arab region has been marked with conflicts for a long time. However, the series of revolts in the Arab region and the resultant ousting of the longstanding political leaders and governments in the countries that witnessed the revolution is an important marker when it comes to the issues of democracy and the increase in the demand for political participation (Doyle, 2013).
A close observation of the revolutions that have been taking place in the Arab region reveals a similarity of a number of revolutionary features. The first feature revolves around the issue of autocracy and the elongated period of political leadership by a single individual.
The second thing about the political unrest in the Arab world is the limited space for political participation and the question of human rights and democracy. The third aspect of similarity, which largely features in the grievances of the rebels, is the deterioration of the standards of life due to the interconnectedness of the economic policies and political decisions (Twair & Twair, 2011).
These developments are likened to the need for the expansion of the democratic and participatory environment in the Arab region. However, it is important to note that the uprising in the Arab spring towards the end of the first decade of the 20th century has elicited a debate among the commentators in the field of political science.
There are those people who are of the view that these developments are externally influenced and do not represent the growth in the principles of democracy and participatory governance in the Arab region. This is justified by the intense support of the revolution from the Western world.
They point to the continued struggle in most countries even after the change of political regimes. However, there are those people who view the uprising as an important mark or a pointer to the need for the countries in the Arab world to deploy the principles of democracy and participatory governance in their political landscape.
These proponents derive their argument from the fact that most of the countries in the Arab world still embrace authoritarian rules in governance, which deprives the citizens of their rights to participate in matters that directly affect them. However, the whole matter points to the heightened question about the desirable models of governance and the justifications of these models (Romdhani, 2013).
In close relation to the political uprising in the Arab Spring is the issue of intense party politics in the United States and Europe. The recent past has seen an accumulation of competition in the political landscape of the United States and the European Union.
Tracing it from the beginning of the 21st century, it can be argued that the political that the intensity of the political landscape marked by intensive party politics is a reflector of the challenges that are facing nations and the diversity of approaches to deal with these challenges.
An example that can be given here is the highest scale of competition that has been witnessed in the past two general elections in the United States. In these elections, the election of political leaders was largely based on the policy structures and ideologies of the parties; the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
The campaigns largely revolved around the opinions and plans of the parties to deal with the emergent challenges like terrorism, the economic problems, as well as the structuring of foreign relations between the United States and other countries in the world (Haynes, Hough, Malik & Pettiford, 2012).
According to Haynes et al. (2012), the scale of politics in the European Union in the past five years has continued to dwell on issues of policy and support based on the support of parties based on the proposed strategies of dealing with the contemporary challenges in the world.
This happens in the larger political body in Europe: the European Union parliament, as well as within individual countries where the lobbying for political support is based on the assessment of pros and cons of the proposed mechanisms of dealing with the problems, especially on individual countries.
Therefore, it is worthwhile to argue that the modern global political economy is confronted with serious challenges, whose solutions largely lie in the political decisions that are made by individual countries. It is critical to point out that nations often adopt protectionism mechanism, with the political sides that offer the best options of protectionism receiving massive support and favor from the citizens.
The turmoil in the global economy, marked by the crisis in the Eurozone and the recession that began in the United States is also another development that cannot be ignored. The worst inflationary pressures that were witnessed from 2008 to 2010 and the financial crisis in Europe are critical pointers to the failure of economic policies.
It also depicts the impacts of economic connectedness that is being embraced by economic globalization. One critical thing that comes out of this is that economic globalization can be disastrous if countries do not sieve their economic policies, even as they choose to embrace economic regionalism. It is also evident that politics play a greater role when it comes to the issue of economic progress of states within the international context.
The Eurozone crisis is a problem that began in the individual countries, yet it has had immense economic impacts on the performance of the economies of other countries in the region and the world. The cons of political and economic globalization are being reflected in the contemporary economic problems (Agnoletto, 2013).
Future pointers to the contemporary developments in the world
Most people are of the opinion that the future state of politics in the world will be immensely affected by the contemporary issues that are being confronted by states.
The political support and continuity of dominance of the United States in global politics and its relations with other nations will be largely shaped by the nature of the steps that it takes when confronting the political developments in other regions of the world. An example is the resounding issue of Syrian where there has been an intense debate about the role of the United States in protecting the innocent citizens of Syria.
Though the United States has called for direct intervention to protect the interests of the innocent citizens, the issue has been marked by divisive politics and the caution against such action by the so called, “enemies of the Westernization and extended capitalism”. The ability of the United States to sustain its influence and dominance in the global political stage in the near future will depend on its ability to lobby for support through the change of its approaches in international politics.
The most important is the suppression of the issue of direct intervention and the fostering of diplomacy in dealing with the issues that emerge in international politics. Enmity between the United States and other countries is bound to arise if the United States continues with the support of sides, instead of taking a pacified approach when responding to critical political developments in other regions of the world (Sprusansky, 2013).
The other area in which the United States is bound to lose competence in is the area of economic dominance due to the recurrent economic problems facing the country.
Based on the pace at which the other countries of the world are coming up economically, the United States is bound to lose its position in terms of being the leading country in terms of the size of the economy and the volume of trade in the global economy. The position is bound to be taken by countries like China and other Asian tigers, whose economic policies seem to receive favor in most regions of the world (van der Putten & Shulong, 2012).
References
Agnoletto, S. (2013). Periodic crises in capitalism: Pathological or restorative? Science & Society, 77(4), 459-485. doi:10.1521/siso.2013.
Doyle, N. (2013). The New Arab revolutions that shook the world. Islam & Christian-Muslim Relations, 24(4), 538-540.
Haynes, J., Hough, P., Malik, S., & Pettiford, L. (2012). World politics: International relations and globalisation in the 21st century. London, UK: Routledge.
Romdhani, O. (2013). The next revolution. World Affairs, 176(4), 89-96.
Sprusansky, D. (2013). Its image tarnished and relevance in Arab World diminished, U.S. must look to Iran. Washington Report On Middle East Affairs, 32(8), 26-27.
Twair, P., & Twair, S. (2011). Arab revolutions debunk myth that only the west can handle democracy. Washington Report On Middle East Affairs, 30(4), 52-53.
van der Putten, F., & Shulong, C. (2012). China, Europe and international security: Interests, roles, and prospects. New York, NY: Routledge.