Introduction
There are so many perspectives that we could use to see the whole world within the term of global politics. Global politics in a general term is politics on a global/international level mostly referring to relations between nation-states (countries) or issues relating to all or most of them, such as environmental regulations to deal with global warming which requires international cooperation or other significant issues that require the attention of all world powers. Global politics studies the global/international relations between countries, including conflicts, powers, and many other things that related to politics itself.
WHAT IS POWER AND HOW IS IT USED IN GLOBAL POLITICS?
Power plays an important role everywhere, including in the world of politics, especially in an organisation or a state. Power in politics is a two-way relationship depending on how people interact based on the resources or values they hold or are in control of. It also has consequences that could yield either positive or negative results. There are three main powers, which are: soft power, hard power, and smart power. One of the most dominant thinkers on power was Max Weber (1864-1920), who viewed power as a concept. Weber suggested that power is the result of social stratification. He also indicated that power is a feature of social life. This is linked to the background, status, position, and relational exchanges.
We could see North Korea, which is now currently stressing the commentators who are trying to identify who is the one who is exercising power in North Korea. The leader of the Workers Party of Korea is currently Kim Jong-un, who is also the Chairman of State Affairs Commision and also the figurehead that the official North Korean media or any other official media around the world would focus on. However, given the fact that he is the third generation of his family to hold this position, which he assumed on the death of his father, Kim Jong-il in 2012, there has been speculation on whether it is the ‘supreme leader’ who alone exercises power or whether he needs the support of the military and key trusted relatives.
According to CFR, in June 2018, “Kim replaced three top military generals: the chief of the military’s general staff, Ri Myong-su; the director of the military’s political bureau, Kim Jong-gak; and the defence chief, Pak Yong-sik. Analysts say the move reflects Kim Jong-un’s push to put in place leaders who are directly loyal to him while removing regents and confidants of his father, such as Ri, tighten the party’s hold on the military, and root out corruption.” From that statement, we could assume that he has his power, regardless of the fact that he still needs military support to help him hold up his administration. It shows us that he is the one who exercises power in North Korea. He might depend on the military early on his reign, but as he gains more experience and personal networks and also by taking on more official posts, he may seek other avenues of support and find his own power from there.
However, if we look at the conclusion that Kim Jong-un exercises his own power as an influential leader in The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, we could see how dominant is power in the world of politics. It has an intangible concept which has tangible effects on all citizens. It shows us that power is essential in the world, including in politics, where people would gain power from organisations or states and shows other their own power that they have to shows other their authority of states or organisations. But, at the other hand, the role that Kim Jong-un has is still debatable, whether he’s really the one who exercise power in his country or is it just an impression from the society around the world.
DO WE LIVE IN A NATURALLY COOPERATIVE OR CONFLICTING WORLD?
A world without conflict will sound impossible. We live in a world full of conflicts, in which it holds an essential role in society because, without disputes or differences in point of views, there is no engine that drives our world into everlasting peace. One of the conflicts that are currently happening in the world of politics is between The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in which their predecessors had begun since almost 70 years ago. The relationship between the two countries remains static. Both states keep their relationships strained, as they never signed up any peace treaty since the end of the Korean war in 1953. Technically, both countries are still at cold war and engaged in a military armistice. As all participants have not adequately declared the war, we cannot identify this relationship between all countries as a real war, but rather as a conflict in which both parties engage in offences through propaganda. For over half a century, the relationship of these two countries has not improved as North Korea has refused to open up to the modern world even after the fall of a powerful ally, the Soviet Union, and the end of the Cold War.
Although the rejection to end this conflict, we could see that there has been a change in modern times with the help of premier Kim Jong-un and president Moon Jae-in. The recent summit between both Koreas has resulted in the efforts of permanent peace after decades of conflict and rivalry and an official end of the military armistice. As a result, for the first time, Trump becomes the first U.S. meet a North Korean leader, where they met in a summit in Singapore in June 2018.
Despite the cold war that has been going on among both countries, since the summit between North Korean premier Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, both countries are in talks to declare a permanent peace and an official end of the military conflict between the two countries. The summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, the president of the United States of America, resulted to several positive results where they signed a joint statement, agreeing to security guarantees for North Korea, a more peaceful relations, reaffirmation of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and they going to follow-up other negotiations between high-level officials. After the third summit on September 2018 between North and South Korea, it announced that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un is invited to visit Seoul, South Korea by the end of 2018. It leads back to the statement of how conflict leads us to peace because as we can see, these participants of the Korean conflict has driven their efforts through diplomacy in order to achieve reconciliation between each other. This is a testimony of how in the end, hostility will result in peace regardless of the measures taken to reach that conclusion. Despite everything, we could see that we live in a conflicting world that could lead us to have a naturally cooperative world.
Conclusion
From this case study, we can conclude that the world of politics is full of a diverse way of thinkings and ideologies in which not everybody can agree with each other. We should believe that behind every conflict and hostility there is a hidden path towards everlasting peace, that could lead us to a cooperative world. Based on how I see the world, there is no wrong or right in our way to think and see the world. Everything is based on our own perspective. However, those with greater power, will have more authority in decision making and influencing their surroundings, states, or even big organisations in this world. In global politics, having power and not having power will gives us a really