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Old Thursday, March 01, 2018
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I only remember some of what I wrote in both papers.

Paper - I

Q6. Explained the concept of economic liberalism and the neo-liberalism of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Core interests of economic liberalism are laissez faire free markets, free transnational trade, deregulation, privatisation. Gave examples like British Airways. Also explained the "competitive advantage" concept of David Ricardo. Neo-imperialism/economic dependency is the reliance of the Least Developed Countries on the capital and markets of the developed nations, whom are controlled via IMF, WB IGOs. Oft times policies are dictated which are not in the best interests of the LDCs. Other points of reliance are the lag in cutting edge technology due to which LDCs have no choice but to export raw materials which are then value added by the developed states and exported back to the LDCs in the form of finished products.

Q4. Classic traditional form of international security had only two components, internal and external threats. Internal threats were non-state actors who committed subversion etc. whereas external threats were other hostile states. The contemporary perception of international security is multifaceted and entails many aspects which could destabilise the international order. Food security, water security, economic security (fulfillment of needs), personal security (rule of law etc.), border security etc. were elaborated and how the lack of security in these variables could lead to instability.

Q5. Strategic culture is the perception of the civil-military elite of a polity regarding the security position of a state, owing to historical and cultural experiences. Mentioned that according to Hasan Askari, due to Pakistan's hostility with India during its nascent stage, as well as domestic rioting, Pakistan's strategic culture has been largely dominated by an obsession with security. The determinants of the strategic culture are arms race with India and the need to import arms from foreign states, relationship with China, maintaining regional balance of power from skewing further in India's favor by maintaining nuclear programme. Wrote other points which I forgot.

Q7 Explained how globalization is leading to internationalisation and liberalism. Due to increased movement of people across international borders, there is people-people contact which leads to cultural diffusion. Due to interdependence, the politics is affected as harsh stances can't be adopted. I think I gave example of the US-China relationship. I agreed that globalization is changing national cultures and politics.

Paper - II

Q8 First I explained what a state is according to the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States 1933 and how Afghanistan is only fulfilling the "capacity to enter international relations" requirement properly. I fully supported the mainstreaming of the Taliban in order to attain a peaceful resolution of the futile 17 year old Afghan conflict. I explained that the current South Asia strategy of Donald Trump relies on a troops surge from the current level of 8000 troops, but this strategy had already been tried by the Obama administration to no avail. I explained that Pakistan can play its role through multilateral fora in mediating between the Taliban and the Afghan government. This is necessary as according to a BBC report, the Taliban control 70% of Afghan territory. Afghan forces face heavy casualties and desertions. Political engagement with the Taliban is also in the interests of China, the CAR, and Russia as well so there will be broad international support for the measure. Finished by stating that the current US policy of troop surge is just trying the same thing and expecting different results, which is insanity.

I regret attempting this question first because I don't think I could include much IR theory in this answer.

Q4. Discussed what foreign policy is, a bit about how it is devised. Then I discussed the US threats to Pakistan post 9/11 about bombing it "back to the stone age" and "˙ou're either with us or against us". Then I described Pakistan's position of fully supporting the war on terror by providing logistical support as well as military bases to the US, and training to middle eastern allies but not taking part in any combat operations on foreign soil. The reason for this policy is to avoid any unpredictable consequences in the future.

Q5. Explained that the capitalist USA has the values of free trade, free markets, and the ideology of human rights, freedom of expression etc. Described the USA's confused foreign policy of maintaining an interdependent relationship with authoritarian centrally controlled China, a strong relationship with monarchy of Saudi Arabia (which helps to maintain hegemony of US $ through OPEC), and poor relationships with socialist states such as Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea. Stated that the US foreign policy is not dependent on its ideology, rather on its national interests.

Q6. Explained the usual measures like economic interdependence, people-people contact, bilateral arms control treaties but I also included one suggestion to "understand constructivism". If diplomats become aware of this theory that foreign policy is often affected by the manner in which the historical and cultural factors influence the perception of states and hence their international positions, the institutions can be reformed and peace could be achieved more easily.
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