INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Introduction The discipline that studies interactions among states and the workings of the international system as a whole is what we call international relations. It can be conceived either as a multidisciplinary field, or the international aspects of politics, economics, history, law, and sociology. It can also be considered as a meta-discipline, focusing on the systemic structures and patterns of interaction of the human species taken as a whole. The discipline acquired its own identity after the First World War. Its principal branches additional to theory include international political economy, international organization, foreign policy-making, strategic (or security) studies, and, more arguably, peace research. If area studies is added to these, the label international studies becomes more appropriate. When spelled wholly in lower case, the term refers to the totality of interactions within the international system. The emphasis is often on relations between states, though other collective actors such as multinational corporations, transnational interest groups, and international organizations also play an important role (Buzan, 2004). History The history of international relations is often traced back to the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, where the modern state system was developed. Prior to this, the European medieval organization of political authority was based on a vaguely hierarchical religious order. Westphalia instituted the legal concept of sovereignty, which essentially meant that rulers, or the legitimate sovereigns, had no internal equals within a defined territory and no external superiors as the ultimate authority within the territory's sovereign borders. Classical Greek and Roman authority at times resembled the Westphalian system, but both lacked the notion of sovereignty. Global Issues             Confronting world problems is a very broad topic. It entails ardent passion and interest in delving into this topic. Environment, population, conflict, poverty, consumption, health, climate change are many of the few problems facing the world today. Everyday we are bombarded by seemingly random headlines that rarely probe the multiple causes and interconnections behind world problems. Yet every problem is born out of an intricate interplay of political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors.             Global warming and climate change is increasing the global temperatures. Natural events and human activities are contributing to the increase in global temperatures. This is caused primarily by increases in the greenhouse which is the rise in temperature on Earth as certain gases in the atmosphere trap energy gases such as carbon dioxide. There a lot of views on the causes why the  temperature increases and intense research still continues.             In addition, global issues relevant to environmental health span many topics, including international travel, instantaneous communications, multinational companies, the flow of goods and resources, the changing face of disease, global warming, and ozone depletion. Each has some form of health repercussion. The World Resources Institute reports that there is a link between biodiversity and climate change, as rapid global warming can affect an ecosystems chance to adapt naturally. This highlights the importance of attempts to do things about it and each one of us is responsible for what is happening now. Moreover, the weather phenomenon, El Niño, having wreaked much havoc around the world, coupled with deforestation and other unregulated activities by many countries, are leading to huge disaster zones. Poverty Based on definitions established by the World Bank, nearly 3 billion people—half of the world's population—are considered poor. But poverty isn't simply a numbers game. It's about scores of men, women and children enduring unimaginable obstacles that keep them from fulfilling their most basic human rights and achieving their individual potentials. When the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, signatories proclaimed that all people have the right to education, work, health and well-being (Tryst, 1998).  But today, millions around the world are too crippled by poverty to fulfill these basic rights. Millions continue to go hungry. Scores of children never step inside a classroom. Families watch their loved ones die from largely preventable causes because they do not have access to adequate medical care. In essence, poverty is a denial of human rights. Not having the fundamental need of a person is very unacceptable and the people who know better and have the means must not have second thoughts in alleviating the pain of hunger. A Global Partnership to Fight Poverty According to the United Nations and its affiliated development experts, an end to extreme poverty can be achieved. Effectively tackling of global poverty demands a multi-pronged approach and there is no single cure-all. Issues of poverty are many and complex: Initiatives must address interwoven but distinct issues such as children's rights, women's rights, epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, access to clean water and sanitation, and preservation of the world's natural resources—just to name a few. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), agreed to by the international community in 2000, represent an unprecedented opportunity for the world to usher in a new era of collaboration in fighting poverty. The goals set forth concrete targets for significantly reducing extreme poverty and related ills by 2015. We are now one-third of the way to the deadline, and with just a decade to go, there is much work to be done (Sachs, 2005). Governments working together with civil society, multilateral institutions and private sector entities is not just a nice idea, it is indeed what is needed to make poverty history.     Conclusion  Every nation has its specific problem—what might be a big problem to, let's say, Amsterdam may not be that of a big problem to Rwanda. At the heart of it all, it just all boils down to how every person deals and solve the issue. Everyone is capable of so much more than he or she thinks—its all in the attitude and worldview. Having problems that is universal would unite a nation and build a much tolerable world for many. .We must  explore and conceptualize associated world problems, and try to understand the different worldviews and assumptions that make these problems so intractable. By taking a global perspective, we will focus on global issues that transcend and transgress political borders.