Importance of ideology in international relations

Stuti Bajpeyee

500022397

Ideology: Meaning• Ideology is defined as set of ideas which

reflects the beliefs, interest, the social needs and aspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture.

• Ideology constitutes the goals, expectations, and actions of a person.

Role of Ideology

• Provides justification to the acts• Directs the behaviour of nation • Sometimes an ambiguous term• Nation always cover and shape their

ideologies on the basis of their national interest

• Important for formulating foreign policy

• Its necessary to maintain interstate relations in todays world which needs the government to act in a particular manner which is provided by ideology.

• It plays a very important role in human behavior and influences international relations .

During cold war

• The fundamental cause was the difference of ideologies between the West and the East, USA and the USSR in particular

• Capitalists• a capitalist economy is based upon private

profit and free competition. • Encourages private individual to own business• It emphasized on class based society

• Communist• A communist economy is controlled by

government • wealth and resources owned by state or the

government• State controls the economic activities• classes society

Twentieth century

• No standard ideology existed and was followed

• Its all about ideological conflicts• Liberal democratic- no single ideology, no

sanction• Communist- basis in Marxist ideology• Totalitarian- ideas were imposed with sanction

Where is ideology today

• Fundamentally transformed society• Ideology has lost its relevance• Movement politics is replaced by issue politics• Replaced totalistic and molecular ideology• Whereas, Ideology forms basis of healthy

democratic life • Gives direction to act upon and shall be

preserved

Conclusion

• Although now a days ideology has lost its relevance due to undoubted changes in the society but it has got a significant role in formation of foreign policies and establish international relations and hence necessary steps shall be taken to retain and safeguard the concept of the ideology .

Bibliography

Web sources:• https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_col

d_war_studies/v001/1.1gould-davies.html• http://legacy.wilsoncenter.org/coldwarfiles/in

dex-21865.html• http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20097

622?uid=3738256&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102774965713

Articles referred:• The debate over ideology• Globalization ideologies