Sea Dispute between China and Vietnam

           A tension between Vietnam and China over dispute was threatening the peace in the South China Sea. Vietnam’s foreign ministry accused China of tension in the South China Sea on May 31, 2011. Vietnam claimed that Chinese ship had cut a submerged cable towed by the Vietnamese vessel. China denied its charge and blamed southern neighbor for causing the incident. The South China Sea, which passes all commercial sea traffic worldwide and destined for Japan, Korea and China, is great strategic importance to the China but it is also vital to the Vietnam (Nick Ottens). There are two analytical tools that will explain this event for more view of international relationship in detail: International Relationship Theory (Marxism) and Level of Analysis (System Level).

Marxism clearly but inaccurately predicted the death of capitalism as a result of imperialism, major war, socialist revolution, and rise of communism (Nye). Marxism, it attempted to reduce politics to economics and it erred in conceiving of the sate as a simple tool of a particular class (Nye). The Vietnamese economy hugely depended on the South China Sea oil production, which accounts for 30% of its GDP. Vietnamese economy would collapse if they lose its oil assets in that region. In view of China, they always insisted that its economic zone extended far into the South China Sea and claims all islands as its territory. A tension with China will be a good way for Vietnam to direct national grievance away from its domestic mismanagement and vindicate its legitimacy of rule with patriotism and even war (Woo). To Vietnam, the South China Sea is worthy for economic developing.

The system level, it examined the operational dynamics of the social and structural dimensions of society or group. The analysis includes, but was not limited to, the dynamics of power, voice, inclusion or exclusion, and consequent benefit or profit, harm or loss (CREA). The escalating tension had rise anti- Chinese protestors across Vietnam, with hundreds taking to the streets in protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. “Vietnam’s live fire drills were something of an anticlimax ... no anti-ship missiles were test fired. And they were conducted so close to land there was no possibility of any Chinese ships being involved," (Thayer). Maritime disputes were a sensitive issue for the Vietnamese government, which tried to make a balance between appeasing a population that was deeply bear hatred of China.

In conclusion, I think the Marxist is the best analytical tool to provide a better explanation of this event. Most Asian economies import the oil needs, mainly from the Middle East. They wish to have a source closer to their home. The South China Sea is the most enormous influence factor for an economic developing to both China and Vietnam. Also, the South China Sea has substantial fish resources too which can support national fisheries cooperation. Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday agreed to strengthen economic and trade cooperation while minimizing the impact of disputes in the South China Sea (Xuequan).

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-07-20/politics/30031154_1_territorial-disput asean            south-china-sea (WOO)

http://www.crea-inc.org/systemicanalysis.htm (CREA)

http://english.gov.cn/2011-08/31/content_1937679.htm (Xuequan)

Enlargement of European Union

              May 1, 2004 was the largest expansion of the European Union. 10 new members, eight of them formerly under communist rule, joined the European Union (EU): Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia plus Cyprus and Malta. This was the largest expansion in the history of the EU and brings profound changes to Europe. The EU population grew by 28 percent, with acres increasing by nearly 40 percent. Those countries were wishing to join the EU follow Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA). SAA is typically offer the incentive of free trade in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade or human rights reform.

Second Image: State level Explanations                                                                                                                                                                                                    From the view of state level, this event would more focus on political regime other than economic system or level of development. Many of the new members were poor with young institutions and they saw the promise of Europe’s wide stability and eventual enrichment. In a political view, all 10 countries were joining European community have been recognized by the European Commission and member countries as Democratic. The membership process encouraged countries to became more democratic and respect the rule of law. The European Union (EU) emphasized their shared principles of democracy and freedom by allowing new countries.

Third Image: System level Explanation                                                                                                                                                                                                        From the view of system level, 2004 European enlargement was more like liberal which is distribution of preferences. The European Commission President Romano Prodi said, "Today's enlargement is the fifth and the largest in the history of the union, and I am convinced that it will not be the last. Other European countries and nations will decide to join our undertaking until the whole continent is unified in peace and democracy," From this quote, of course, European Union preferred to more liberals other than realists or constructivists. The conservative party of most of Europe is like U.S. democratic party, and their democratic party is really liberal. Many liberals in European Union have become a higher GDP, a higher standard of living, and their economy.

                In conclusion, I think the State Level is the best level of analysis to provide a better explanation of this event. By joining new members, economic modeling (one of the phenomena in state level) at the member state level played a key role in providing an evaluation of the effects of the alternative policies. Also many models were developed to analyze the state level conditions; fostering the rise of parties in the European Union.