I believe that while negotiation and building friendly ties with other countries can resolve some conflicts, there are still many conflicts today that governments are powerless to deal with.
"Governments are powerless to deal with the conflicts of today." Discuss.
In today’s world, conflict is becoming inevitable especially with the rise of China and re-
emergence of Russia as superpowers eager to dominate the world stage. USA, the previous
sole hegemon, feels the threat of the other two nations tipping the balance of power. The
conflict of interest between these three countries has increased tensions worldwide, as
smaller countries dependent on the dominance of USA are similarly weakened as USA’s
power wanes, like helpless puppets pulled by the strings of the larger nations. Meanwhile, in
the developing world, civil wars and cross-border wars continue to rage and devastate, as
has been the case for decades. Dealing with internal strife and external conflicts seems
unattainable for the governments of these countries. Indeed, governments are often
powerless of deal with the conflicts of today.
Detractors argue that governments have the ability to deal with their conflict of interest with
other countries through negotiation and discussions. Governments are often aware of the
threat they pose to neighbouring countries and can take steps to ensure that they do not
compromise the interests of their neighbours in the pursuit of their own interests. This is
done through building friendly ties with neighbouring countries and the dominant
superpowers, as well as through discourse and discussion regarding issues that may
potentially affect their neighbours. Disagreements are negotiated to ensure that everyone is
happy and conflicts of interest are dealt with through discussion so that they do not fester
and become armed conflicts. An example of a country that does this effectively is Singapore.
A Chinese nation in a sea of Muslims, with real GDP far exceeding that of neighbouring
countries, the Singapore government is well aware of the tensions, competition and envy in
the region. To resolve these conflicts of interest, Singapore government build friendly ties
with its neighbours - Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines; as well as with the superpowers -
USA and China. Through trade deals with these countries, Singapore ensures that her
neighbours benefit from her economic growth, such that the prosperity of the other nations
are linked to and are partially dependent on the success of SIngapore. This resolves
conflicts of interests and any tensions that might arrive from misperception. At the same
time, by exporting and importing arms to and from USA, and acting as USA’s surveillance in
Asia, Singapore makes herself significant and important to USA to resolve conflicts of
interest through mutual interdependence. Singapore also gives in to USA, such as in the
Michael Fay incident, where Singapore reduced the penalty in response to ISA’s request, to
protect her national interests and ensure a harmonious relationship with USA. It is thus
evident that through building diplomatic relations and friendly ties with other countries,
governments have the power to deal with and resolve conflicts of interest in today’s world.
However, while some conflicts can indeed be resolved, there are also many situations in
which conflicts are beyond the government’s ability to stop or mitigate. This is because such
conflicts are often entrenched in history such that there is no way that the disagreements
can be resolved, because the interests of the two countries are opposite from that of each
other. In such cases, governments cannot yield to the other without severely undermining its
own interests and thus, discussion is out of the question because there is no compromise
they can reach. Additionally, even if governments were willing to yield, the local population
may not agree with the decision and this can lead to political instability and even toppling of
the government. Hence, it is impossible for countries involved to resolve the issue
diplomatically. Such is the case of the cross-border conflict between Israel and Palestine,
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