Bankinter analysis - 1629 Words

BANKINTER INTRODUCTION TARGET Intro: The case begins with Ana Peralta,(Director of the Internet Network at Bankinter) analyzing the success of Bankinter’s foray into e-banking through a progressive portalization strategy executed through E-collaborator. This approach was a great success for the Bank nearly doubling the number of new clients with lower costs involved. Riding on this positivity, their stock doubled within a month! There was no doubt that the success of the internet business was vital to the stocks as well as the growth and strategies of the financial services provider. The small national independent banking organization was soon able to position itself as a futuristic innovative multichannel low cost provider†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, it’s competitors began to infiltrate these sites vigorously, by buying over portals for lump sum amounts of money. While Bankinter did attain numerous customers through the Alliance approach, the costs of customer acquisition were too high to be justified. Hence, they terminated this process and shifted towards a program they called â€Å"e-collaborators†. This time, Bankinter placed banners on websites that linked users to ebankinter.com directly. They displayed banners on any highly trafficked website that would agree to display it, regardless of that websites content. While this too was a success, it had a few drawbacks. People started opening accounts, but did not complete the entire process. They found a lack of customer interest level. The process of acquisition wasn’t up to mark and customers did not find any incentives to complete the process. Also, the program did not target the segments of market that would be most valuable to the company. Bankinter’s internet acquisition strategy, as it can be seen through reading the case study, has evolved over a period of time. The strategies that they implemented, of course, had their issues, but they both also had their strengths. While this idea did not play out as well as Bankinter had hoped in practice, in theory, it was a strong idea. To have a web page within another well-known, prestigious webShow MoreRelatedThe Financial Service Industry Comprises Of Securities1421 Words   |  6 Pagesoccupational outlook in this field, and there is a shortage of the right talent to fill these talents. One of the hot job categories is in the field of financial planning and analysis. Financial Planning and Analysis is less focused on the routine transaction processing and more focused on forward-looking strategy and analysis for the business. The roles of financial planners have dramatically changed. Factors such as a breakthrough in technology and changes in retiremen t planning have caused changesRead MoreNissan Strategic Management Report3777 Words   |  16 Pagesshown in the figure below. 2.1 GENERAL ENVIROMENT 2.1.1 SWOT ANALYSIS According to Grant, M.(2002), the allocation of the external and the internal factors of a company is commonly used for analyzing business strategies. The SWOT analysis (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats) intends to point out the most important external and internal factors that are essential for the organization to accomplish their objectives. This analysis groups important information into to major categories, the external

Free Will vs. Determinism Do You Create Your Own Destiny,...

Throughout time, philosophers have been striving to answer the theoretical question of â€Å"Do you make your own choices or have circumstances beyond your control already decided your destiny?† For thousand of years, this question has haunted the minds of sophisticated society, because it questions the very root of man’s life. The two great debates created to solve this question are Free Will and Determinism. To answer this argument I will attempt to present the arguments of both sides, by defining their premises and major thinkers. Then I will endeavor to provide my opinion of the argument, which stands in favor of Libertarianism. I believe that according to the Scriptures, every man has the free will to make his own choices. In this paper, I will further explain why I agree with this argument and furthermore why I disagree with the thinkers of determinism. Imagine if you are having an internal battle about whether or not you will smoke a cigarette tomorrow. To solve this conflict, all you have to do is choose what you would rather do. However, assume that your decision has actually already been determined for you. It has been decided for you due to events that occurred in the past. Therefore, you have no control over whether or not you will smoke tomorrow. Many people throughout history have claimed this view as evidence to the fact that we have no free will. Clarence Darrow and Ted Honderich were a few of the key thinkers behind determinism. However, on the other hand there

United States Including Potential Climate -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The United States Including Potential Climate? Answer: Introduction Climate change is one of the main topics of the modern day. It is termed as the statistical distribution of the different weather patterns when that particular change takes place or lasts for a large period of time. Climate change can be referred to as the change in the average weather conditions of a particular place. Climate change is a natural phenomenon and occurs as a result of different factors like biotic pressures, solar radiation variation, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and most importantly by the different activities of the human being (Bhattarai Beilin and Ford 2015). However the last few years have changed the total scenario and human activities have turned into the main source of damage to the environment. The different types of Human activities have caused a substantial damage to the climate. The first variations have been seen in the physical systems of the planet by the melting of the poles. Melting of the poles is a serious and direct threat to the globe as the low lying coastal areas are in fear of losing most of their lands under water due to such a devastating effect. Apart from such changes the rise in the illegal mining, illegal constructions, deforestation have provided the much needed negative thrust that is leading into frequent earthquakes and flooding in different areas of the world. UN has predicted a bleak and dangerous future for the world if the current rate of change occurs in the same way. The following report prepared by the researcher has dealt with the change in the climate and its impact on Nepal (Chalise and Naranpanawa 2016). The researcher has conducted a detailed and compact survey to get an idea of the present issue that the country faces and to provide some necessary recommendations for the country to improve upon their climate. Climate Change and Sustainability Experts believe the presence of a dual relationship between sustainable development and the climate change phenomenon. Climate change has an influence on the key natural and human living conditions and therefore forms the basis of economic and social development of the country. The policies and regulations formulated by the government can be more effective in nature to make the national and regional development roads more sustainable in nature. The change in the climate of the country forces the people to think some other alternatives as because after a certain period of time the area will be unsuitable to stay. However a proper policy formulated by the government can be of great help to the country (Devkota Cockfield and Maraseni 2014). The change in climate must be controlled by the implementation of the different types of efforts to reduce the effects of pollution. Some of the top issues of climate changes are; Greenhouse gases- There are harmful gases in the atmosphere that acts in a similar way like the glass in the greenhouse acts. These types of gases prevent the heat of the sun from escaping the atmosphere of the earth. There are many such gases that occur naturally in the earths atmosphere but most of the gases present are as a result of the activities of human beings. These gases include the likes of Carbon di oxide, methane, Nitrous Oxide and many other gases. Carbon di oxide is the most common form of greenhouse gas present in the atmosphere of the globe (Gauchan et al. 2016). Global Warming- The global warming is one of the most common causes of climate change. Global warming refers to the slow rise in the temperature of the globe. Global warming can be harmful is mainly caused by human activities. The leading scientists on climate have explained that different activities that are performed by humans are usually the main sources of such emissions. Other Causes for rise in the emissions- Some of the other issues that are faced by the organization are; The burning of the fossil fuels especially the use of oil, gas and coal have a direct impact on the environment Deforestation is another main issue in the that leads to the absence of the natural absorber of CO2 from the organization The increase in the livestock farming has turned out to be the producer of excessive methane gas into the earths atmosphere The fertilizers that are used by the farmers in their fields produce nitrous oxide emissions. The amount of fluorinated gas has increased in the earths atmosphere in the last few decades. The use of the old technologies has led to the use of the increase in the different types of climate change in the countries Effect of Climate Change in Nepal The problems that the globe faces today due to a sudden draught, forest fires will be assembled together to spread the effect of climate change in the country. The researcher has taken the example of Nepal to carry on his study on climate Change. Nepal is a landlocked country surrounded by mountain on all the sides, the changes in the monsoon patterns depicts the inequality pattern existing in the country (Nagoda 2015). The Nepalese population has been coping autonomously to the current stresses and so it is the duty of the government to design and implement effective strategies to counter climate change and its negative effects in the mentioned country. The change in the climate has been characterized by different other problems and side effects that are very difficult to solve. Though Nepal has a very little contribution towards the effect of greenhouse gases the position of the country between the two rapidly growing economies of India and China have made them prone to the negativ e effects of climate change. The main problems lies with the rapidly retreating glaciers, a steady rise in the average temperatures of the country, some events like drought, floods etc have made the country one of the main sufferers of climate change. The government of Nepal must formulate a proper and effective strategy which will try to address all the different issues of climate change. Even a few years ago the effects of climate change in the mentioned country was not visible, but some illegal activities in the Himalayas, construction of dams, multipurpose projects and large scale deforestation were reasons enough for the change to occur. The mentioned country is largely a mountainous country and different experts have suggested in their research that such mountain regions are prone to an increase in the temperature. The following study has raised a warning bell for the different sectors of elements that contribute to the economy of the country. Apart from such problems, the biodiversity of the country has been also affected by the changes in climate. The flora and fauna life of the country has lost its earlier charm. The recent Earthquake in Nepal has been a clear example of the vast change (Nepal and Shrestha 2015). The deva stating earthquake has totally damaged the normal life of the country. The effects of global warming have taken a toll on the country and its natural life. Main Reasons behind Climate Change and its effects in Nepal The environmental degradation by climate change has posed a negative impact on the employment and working conditions of Nepal. As mentioned earlier global warming has been the main cause of the melting of the snow caps and the glaciers leading to floods and droughts. Each and every changes of the climate has been devastating for the country as because being a landlocked country it is very difficult for them to implement any necessary changes to avoid such degradation. The major impact of the climate that is believed to be the most important among all the other impacts is the rise in the mean annual temperature of the country. The most important types of effects are; Water The scarcity of water for a period of four to five months outside the monsoon seasons is one of the main negative factors of the country. Nepal faces too much rainfall in monsoon some time while low rainfall in other time. Change in rainfall pattern is one effect. Drying of springs, groundwater depletion, reduction in river flows, floods etc. The decline in the levels of water in the natural recharge of aquifers and the over exploitation of groundwater is another main cause of water shortage. Within Narayani River Basin: the level of groundwater dropped from 50 to 70 feet below ground level at few locations. The occurrence of Catastrophic Floods of Trans- boundary Nature have also become very common in the country Glaciers The rate at which the glaciers in the country are retreating has been estimated at 20 meter per year. The Main Rongbuk Glacier is the best example in such respect as it has lost almost 33o feet of vertical ice which can be said to be as 4 feet annually. The melting of snow and glacier might increase at a higher rate at the absence of a proper check on decreasing the global warming phenomenon. Change in ecosystem Global warming has taken its toll on Forest, rangeland, Wetland and Agro eco system. Lots of Himalayan and sub Himalayan species of flora and fauna are staring at extinction. It is high time for the world to bring a check on the global carbon emissions and stop global warming. Human Health The rise in prevalence of vector and water borne diseases has affected the quality of living. Mosquitoes are seen for last few years (about 47 years in average). Agriculture There has been a rise in the average temperature by more than 3 degree centigrade, predicted increase in the demand for water by 11% after keeping all the other parameters of water demand constant. New crops like mangoes, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables grow well, which was impossible few years ago due to cold in mountain. Some fruits bear less fruits with poor quality taste due to warm climate (Nepal 2016). Livestock also suffer speedy breathing due to heat. Boke flower started flowering a little earlier, but used to flower during September/October (tika). Flowers (e.g. gladiolus) that were not grown before grow very well. A tree species ? Korlinga, used to blossom together with rhododendron (around the mid May (Jestha), but this year it flowered 15 days earlier (End of April (Baisakh) month). Fish species like Asla will be affected more than others because it grows well in cold water. Natural Disasters There has been a constant occurrence of 21 GLOF events which accounted to an economic loss of nearly Rs. 1208 million per year. Biodiversity and Habitat Loss A large number of biodiversity and habitat loss has been noted which includes a minimum of 59 mammal species, 279 bird species, 35 of herpeto fauna species and 34 different fish species of which four of the species of mammals and seven different species of birds are seen to be extinct in nature. The deforestation levels of the country have also risen considerably. Socio-economic conditions Exploitation of mountain areas by diverse influences: agricultural systems, increasing reliance on mono-cropping, commercial logging and tourism enterprises (Palazzoli et al. 2015). Changes in snow patterns: affect tourism industry, cause enormous economic losses. Women of the rural areas work hard to only fetch water as water is very scarce in some hilly regions. The life of the women becomes tough just because the livestock needs to be moved to higher lands for greener pastures (Rasmussen et al. 2015). Effective Measures to Counter the Problem Effective monitoring and the evaluation of the different changes in the community resilience that arises from the development and climate change resilience will help the mentioned country to be smart and future oriented in protecting its people. The outburst of the Seti River in 2012 causing huge flash floods was the first such incident that showed the vulnerability of the country to warming climate. The government of Nepal was however reluctant to any changes and some large scale human activities, most of them illegal in nature proved to be the main damaging force for the country. The earthquake of 2016 was another major catastrophe that was bound to happen as a result of such activities. The sudden earthquake forced a major transformation to the strategies and the policies of the Government to tackle climate change and mitigate the risks of such large scale disasters. Some of the effective measures are; Decrease the use of personal cars- The last decade has saw an increase in the marketing of foreign cars in the country and thus leading to a rise in the number of new cars. The more the rise in the cars, the more is the carbon emissions from them. The rise in the carbon emissions have been a problem for the climate of the country (Sapkota et al. 2014). The decrease in the use of the personal cars will help the reduction in the emission of the harmful carbon in the atmosphere. The increase in the use of the public transport or pool services will help the country to cut down the emissions by a considerable amount. Putting an end to the large scale illegal activities in the country- As said earlier the country has been facing a recent change in the climatic patterns because of the illegal mining activities and the other illegal activities that are carried out in the country. Illegal mining activities are reducing the strength of the soil and are making them prone to earthquakes. Apart from such activities large scale clearing of the forests have also made the country vulnerable to climate change patterns. Use of the traditional methods to carry out agriculture- The use of traditional methods in the farming is often encouraged to reduce the otherwise harmful effects that may be initiated from use of modern agricultural methods. The use of traditional methods will ensure the reduction in the carbon emissions that might be emitted from modern day tractors and other machines (Sapkota et al. 2014). Nepal being a landlocked country can practice traditional methods to ensure safe and proper agricultural methods in production. The stoppage of illegal constructions in Nepal- The stoppage of illegal construction in Nepal must be stopped at the earliest as because illegal constructions of houses and other large scale projects like dams and multipurpose projects must be constructed keeping in mind a variety of different things like the soil quality, the flora and fauna of the region, the seasonal rainfall of the region and the climatic variation that such projects might offer to the area (Palazzoli et al. 2015). Conclusion The report has been able to highlight the different issues that Nepal faces and also the issues that they might face in the upcoming years as a result of the different climatic changes in the country. The researcher has also sorted out the effective measures for countering the problems accordingly. It is important for the country to check on the serious issues relating to the climate as because a number of disasters have already taken the toll on human life as well as the natural vegetation of the country. Therefore the country can ill afford to make such mistakes in the coming future to ensure its safety from natural hazards. References Bhattarai, B., Beilin, R. and Ford, R., 2015. Gender, agrobiodiversity, and climate change: A study of adaptation practices in the Nepal Himalayas.World Development,70, pp.122-132. Chalise, S. and Naranpanawa, A., 2016. Climate change adaptation in agriculture: A computable general equilibrium analysis of land-use change in Nepal.Land Use Policy,59, pp.241-250. Devkota, R.P., Cockfield, G. and Maraseni, T.N., 2014. Perceived community-based flood adaptation strategies under climate change in Nepal.International Journal of Global Warming,6(1), pp.113-124. Gauchan, D., Joshi, B.K., Sthapit, S., Ghimire, K., Gautam, S., Poudel, K., Sapkota, S., Neupane, S., Sthapit, B. and Vernooy, R., 2016. Post-disaster revival of the local seed system and climate change adaptation: A case study of earthquake affected mountain regions of Nepal. Nagoda, S., 2015. New discourses but same old development approaches? Climate change adaptation policies, chronic food insecurity and development interventions in northwestern Nepal.Global Environmental Change,35, pp.570-579. Nepal, S. and Shrestha, A.B., 2015. Impact of climate change on the hydrological regime of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins: a review of the literature.International journal of water resources development,31(2), pp.201-218. Nepal, S., 2016. Impacts of climate change on the hydrological regime of the Koshi river basin in the Himalayan region.Journal of Hydro-environment Research,10, pp.76-89. Palazzoli, I., Maskey, S., Uhlenbrook, S., Nana, E. and Bocchiola, D., 2015. Impact of prospective climate change on water resources and crop yields in the Indrawati basin, Nepal.Agricultural Systems,133, pp.143-157. Rasmussen, R., Ikeda, K., Liu, C., Gochis, D., Chen, F., Barlage, M.J., Dai, A., Dudhia, J., Clark, M.P., Gutmann, E.D. and Li, Y., 2015, December. High resolution climate modeling of the water cycle over the contiguous United States including potential climate change scenarios. InAGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. Sapkota, A., Lu, Z., Yang, H. and Wang, J., 2014. Role of renewable energy technologies in rural communities' adaptation to climate change in Nepal.Renewable Energy,68, pp.793-800.

World Power Balance

This paper explores the concept of power balance in international relations. States and individual leaders seek power for two reasons. Power is capacity to influence others and capacity to defend oneself against aggression. The fear of aggression from the other and desire to dominate the other is what drives states towards either armament or alliances. Traditionally, armament was the sure way of acquiring relevancy and influence across borders (Weiss, 21).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on World Power Balance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the world of today, power balance relies more on collective security than any individual nation’s might. The United Nations plays an important role as a power balancer. Despite established collective security mechanisms, the realization of collective security is highly depended on the commitment of the major powerful nations or blocs e.g. the US, Emerging Eur opean Union and China. Power is a dynamic concept that can only be understood in context. In international relationships, power is defined as the goal towards which all states and leaders tend (Krasner, 8). This position towards which all states and leaders tend is characterized by capacity to influence others. Influence over others can be exercised in a coercive way, via persuasion, through cooperation or by direct competition e.g. in trade for given scarce resources (Weiss, 58). A state with more power has capacity to influence issues around the world more than other states. Any world leader is considered powerful when his or her influence on international matters is of more considerable magnitude than others. Power comes with having a privileged position warranted by either higher access to resources or higher knowledge in given issues (Krasner, 124). State power is determined by state’s economic status and military endowment. Through liaising or formation of alliances, so me powerful entities have been formed that wield a lot of influence or power international. An example of such an entity is the NATO which wields much military power and thus has a lot of influence in world power balance. The main reason why governments or states seek to be influential or powerful in the international scene is that power equals security (Krasner, 177). The most powerful of all nations is one whose economy is stable and diverse enough. It is the resources at one’s disposal that determine the resources that can be at his or her disposal in the near future.Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Such a country also has enough military security guaranteed by its level of military sophistication and prowess (Krasner, 178). It is not enough to have resources; the resources have to be modifiable into capacity with swift expedience. In a state of war, t he state that manages to deploy and respond with highest expedience often gains an upper hand. It is not just in physical war but even psychological or ideological war; expediency and propaganda often determine level of influence of a nation in world politics (Krasner, 182). The most powerful country on earth has to have capacity to wade off any danger against its sovereignty plus its strategic interests across the globe. The US has enjoyed the status of super power for quite sometime now because of its capacity to defend itself and its strategic interests around the globe. When it comes to capacity, distinction is made between soft capacity and hard capacity. Soft capacity is knowledge, culture and ideology driven. Hard capacity refers to infrastructure based source of influence. Soft power is achieved when a nation is able to sway others by persuasion to follow its ideology, values or cultural dictates (Krasner, 33). This is often achieved through propaganda and other forms of inf ormation dissemination aimed specifically at some form of brainwashing. Hard capacity or power is coercion based and is highly depended on form of military weaponry and economic muscle of a state. Countries are classified as either hyper powers, superpowers, great powers, regional powers or middle powers (Thakur, 120). After World War II, the Unites States of America, the Soviet Union and Britain emerged as the super powers (Thakur, 126). Balance of power refers to the distribution of power among states; it refers to how much power each international actor or state wields (Brown, 107). Power between states is balanced either through armament or formation of alliances. To avoid aggressive action from other nations, states develop weaponry that would be used for retaliation or defense. Most powerful nations can not afford to attack each other because they all have nuclear war heads. The formation of alliances can be traced back to the days of King Louis XIV of France. France, which wa s a powerful state tried severally to wield hegemonic powers over the rest of Europe (Leggiere, 9). Europe had many small states and their only way of surviving against France was by forming alliances. Alliances help nations gain capacity to protect sovereignty through pooling resources together.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on World Power Balance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, the powerful emperor who had enormous influence in Europe was occasioned by the formation of the sixth coalition. The sixth coalition consisted of â€Å"Russia, Prussia joined with Austria, Sweden, Russia, Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal† (Leggiere, 25). Apart from armament and alliances, sometimes one nation acted as a stabilizer or balancer of power. For a long time in Europe, Great Britain was the sole balancer of power (Krasner, 45). It had economic muscle and military capacity. It did not form any permanent alliances but rather worked with different sides as per prevailing circumstances. The royal navy was the most powerful navy in the whole of Europe (Brown 108). Napoleon would have run over the whole of Europe had it not been for the antagonistic presence of England. Even after the fall of Napoleon, England consistently approached European matters with the vantage position of power balance holder (Brown, 109). It only sided with sides with the aim of maintaining European stability and power balance. The emergence of global balance of power systems was triggered by the World War I. prior to World War I, Europe was stabilized by involvement of Britain, America had its own power structure and so did the Chinese and the Indians (Thakur, 128). The alignments occasioned by World War I alignments led to shift in power structures or power balance spheres. The world became the stage with actors, the different alignments, trying to gain global influence or presence. Before World War II, European actors had some global influence or informed the global power struggle. However, the effects of World War II led to the struggle for supremacy pitting only the US against the Soviet Union (Thakur 127). This bipolar struggle led to the formation of NATO while the other countries became allied to the Soviet Union (Brown, 121). This led to formation of two blocs around which most nations of the world coalesced. Britain could no longer remain flexible in its foreign policy because it neither had resources nor the necessary military muscle to be a balancing presence. It is after World War II that fear of mutual annihilation led to restraint on both sides of the power balance. War was not an option because it was likely to lead to use of nuclear weaponry that could only spell disaster for the whole of humanity (Thakur, 159). What followed was a vicious cold war driven by propaganda and arms race.Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Ideological propaganda pitting capitalism against communism dominated the struggle for global supremacy. The Right portrayed communism as an evil that reneged on every personal freedom while the Left alleged that capitalism was based on diabolic selfishness. The fall of the Soviet Union, which was occasioned by untenable precepts of communism e.g. communal ownership or state ownership of all property, left the United States of America as the only super power. However, the wearing effects of the world wars and the cold war, had led to acknowledgement that nations had to come together or cooperate for peace to prevail on earth. Human realists or realism theorists understand power as a goal (Brown, 44). States seek to develop because they desire a privileged position in the world power balance. A privileged position is given by the amount of coercive or persuasive influence a country has over others. Realism looks at the world from a conflict point of view. As a theory it states that t he world consists of states that are dangerous because they have offensive weapons (Brown, 45). A state of anarchy can be discerned where every nation or state lives in fear of the other and tries to arm itself against possible aggression from neighboring states. The move towards alliances and working together as states is necessitated by need to survival. Liaising is the only rational option for the states because without it maintaining sovereignty becomes untenable. Human realism was expounded by Morgenthau and holds that realism per se has its roots in the nature of the human beings (Brown, 114). Each person, according to Morgethau is a power maximiser or aims at lording over others through accumulation of property or by way of ideology (Brown, 115). Although there have been theorists like Mandelbaum who argue that state concerns or engagements with each other are often altruistic, Mearsheimer, in his ‘offensive realism theory’ disputes such assertions (World Policy Journal). According to Mearsheimer, â€Å"States are instead power-maximizing units that must survive in a threatening world and that are always looking out for number one† (World Policy Journal). Each state basically aims at maximizing its power at the expense of other nations or states. From the realists point of view, liaising or cooperation between states is necessary to avert conflict that would arise from mans desire to maximize power. Collective security refers to the efforts by states to guarantee security by liaising with others. Collective security is achieved through alliances that concentrate and consolidate economic or military might (Weiss, 6). Any aggression against a state in the alliance is treated as aggression against the entire alliance. There are regional alliances such as NATO which works to ward off outside aggression but also mitigates conflicts between members of the alliance. Other groups like the UN aim at fostering security for all nations through member states taking unilateral action against any aggressor state (Weiss, 7). The League of Nations was formed after World War I as a way of enforcing collective security and encouraging the upholding of human rights within member states (Krasner, 181). Unfortunately, the organization easily disintegrated because the major powers of the time did not join it. The US snubbed it while Germany withdrew citing claiming that the league infringed on German sovereignty (Weiss, 21). After world war 11, efforts to revive the League of Nations resulted in the formation of the United Nations. The United Nations was designed basing on the lessons learnt from the failures of the League of Nations (Weiss, 22). It was hoped that the United Nations would succeed because it had full backing of the USA. To gain support and commitment from the five major powers in the world, which included France, China, Britain, Soviet Union and the USA, they were given veto powers by the UN Charter (Encyclopedia of the New American Nation). The countries with Veto powers were also given permanent membership on the Security Council. The work of the Security Council was to deliberate and make decision aimed at maintaining global security or international peace. All the members of the United Nations pledged to â€Å"refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,† (Encyclopedia of the New American Nation). The United Nations success’ first threat came in the form of antagonism between the Soviet Union and the US. During the cold war, the collective security mandate of the UN failed because the state members were divided along two ideologies or power blocs. The cold war showed clearly that collective security is only possible when the major powers are committed to peace. At the moment, many of the challenges the UN security experiences are operational (Weiss, 13). The case of the League of Nations illustrates the many challenges to collective security. Collective security works only when all states, especially the major world powers, are committed to it (Thakur, 46). This commitment by all states creates a level of trust in the alliance or group that is necessary for collective security to be realized (Weiss, 8). A recent development where the US and its allies defied a UN security resolution and waged war in Iraq threatens the power balance maintained by collective security (Thakur, 48). The only reason why world peace did not degenerate as a result of such action is that other powers were indifferent; they did not have a stake or supported the war. The beginnings of the League of Nations were troublesome because the US, the major super power, did not endorse it (Thakur, 6). The second challenge that often threatens collective security is veto powers given to some nations or states. The League of Nations did not succeed because it gave every state veto power thus any nation could block crucial decisions. Collective security thrives on fear of sanctions or unilateral action from other states. Economic sanctions are often not possible because states are not thoroughly interdependent. Actually, some countries are more economically independent than interdependent while others are more depended than independent (Weiss, 11). Despite challenges or threats to collective responsibility, outlined in the foregoing paragraph, the UN’s relevancy has increased over time. The UN is involved in serious arbitration between countries and in peace keeping missions in countries ravaged by civil strife (Thakur, 40). This means that collective security has grown dimensionally as to include resolving or tackling of crisis within member countries. Some cases warranty facilitating diplomatic discussion while others warranty using military engagement. The cases of states waging war against others have greatly reduced to a scanty few since World War II. State power has many differences from collective security or collective defense. The power of a state is defined by the sum of its resources i.e. economic muscle, military power and ideological strength. Collective security or defense is given by such resources as well; however there is pooling of resources (Krasner, 152). State power is defined by how much influence each individual state can wield and protect its stability. Each country has to defend its sovereignty despite being allied to an alliance that offers collective security. Any country that joins a collective security treaty or pact still has the opportunity of bolstering its power (Weiss, 123). This can be done through research aimed at improving military infrastructure, economic empowerment or development measures and other pursuits. However, each treaty stipulates given measures that members have to adhere to. Most collective security pacts require countries to contribute troops to a general pool (Weiss, 125). The troops are maintained by resources contributed by members as per agreed ratios. In our world of today, most states seek to bolster and exercise their power through trade deals. Developing countries as expressed during the Doha round of talks want fair trade (Krasner, 77). The developed world through such measures as subsidies and bilateral trade pacts aim at gaining competitive advantages economically (Brown, 116). Those that have managed to develop their economies are able to influence the developing world and discussions on global matters more substantially than the economically weak. Although search for military armament around the globe has been lowered due to relative world peace assured by collective security, many countries still have very high military budgets. Leading the table is china whose military spending has raised eyebrows in the recent past (Krasner, 181). Developing countries have not been left behind in seeking to bolster their military prowess. A recent case of a ship carr ying heavy military equipments being hijacked by Somali pirates on the Indian Ocean is a good indicator that African countries consider developing their military power very seriously. Collective security, we can conclude, does not mean countries totally abdicating the search for power. This paper explored the issue of power balance in international relationships. Individual’s fear of each other and desire to be better than others is at the heart of power struggles between states. The state pursues power on the international scene because power means influence, capacity and security. There are two traditional ways of attaining power or security. A state can either beef its resources and military prowess or liaise with others to achieve the same. Given most countries can not afford the required levels of resources to fully protect their sovereignty; formation of alliances is the only rational choice for them. Over time, the idea of collective security has been developed leading to formation of institutions like the United Nations. As discussed in this paper, collective security works but it is highly depended on the commitment of the major or great powers around the globe. Works Cited Brown, Chris. Understanding International Relations. 2nd Ed. Westminster: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. Encyclopedia of the New American Nation: Collective Security – The United Nations and the cold war. Retrieved from https://www.americanforeignrelations.com/A-D/Collective-Security-The-united-nations-and-the-cold-war.html#ixzz37F7fuSP1 Krasner D. Stephen. Power, the State, and Sovereignty: Essays on International Relations. New York: Taylor Francis, 2009. Leggiere V. Michael. The Fall of Napoleon: The Allied Invasion of France, 1813- 1814. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Thakur C. Ramesh. The United Nations, Peace And Security: From Collective Security To The Responsibility To Protect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Weiss G. Thomas. Collectiv e Security in a Changing World. New York: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1993. This research paper on World Power Balance was written and submitted by user Galilea L. to help you with your own studies. 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