Session 10: Interdependence or dependence?

     Helen V. Milner (born 1958) is a political researcher from the United States who has written widely on issues identified with worldwide political economy like universal exchange, the associations between residential legislative issues and foreign policies, globalization and regionalism, and the relationship between majority rules system (democracy) and trade policy.

      

     Milner’s purpose of writing is to positively contribute to the field of International Relations. Her article is divided in three sections and it reopened older debates about the nature of international politics. First, the writer inspected various concepts of 'anarchy' employed in the international relations literature. Second, she investigated the sharp dichotomy between domestic and international politics that is linked with this assumption. As others have, Milner asked the validity and utility of such a dichotomy. Finally, this article suggests that a more productive way to understand the international system is one that combines anarchy and interdependence.

     So as to completely explain the nature of international system, the writer had to reject Realist presumption on specific issues and somewhat tilting her suggestion towards Liberalism. However, the writer does not hold case to be an open dismissal of realism but instead, the need to consolidate both realism which stresses structure with Liberalism which stresses process. I believe that interdependence sees international system as a unit of interlocking interconnected entities which uses bargaining rather than force to push home their interest. Furthermore, interdependence combine with the fact that economically weak nations cannot bargain equally with nations whose economy are stronger, the sovereignty of poor nations such as in Pakistan are increasingly questions due largely to their reliance on grants form US.