What is International Relation........???

International Relations: 

                                  

In modern times the world has greatly shrunk as a result of scientific and technological development. As a consequence events in one part of the world have an immediate impact on the rest of the world. Therefore the states maintain regular relations with other states and the study of international relations has assumed great importance. Though some sort of international relations have been in vogue since earliest times and some of the states like Egypt, China, Greece and India have evolved code for the conduct of these relations, these rules were essentially based on morality and were not scrupulously observed by the states. Further these relations generally covered states of the same region and therefore can more appropriately be described as regional relations. It was only in the 17the century that the states established relations with other states beyond the region. This in a way marked the beginning of the international relations. The improvements in means of transport and communication and the industrial revolution further brought the states closer and greatly contributed to the development of international relations. It may be noticed that at that time the international relations, were concerned only with the study of diplomatic history, law and philosophy. The study was mainly based on facts find on facts finding and no deductions of any universal principles were made which could be helpful in understanding of the present or future relations among states. As a result, no well-conceived theory could be evolved which could help in understanding the significance of the current events.

Meaning of International Relations:

The term’ International’ was used for the first time by Jeremy Bentham in the later part of the 18^th century with regard to the laws of nations. Consequently, the term international relations was used to define the official relations between the sovereign states. However some scholars even included the economic, social and cultural relations amongst the states also within the purview of the subject. Thus there are broadly two views regarding the meaning of international relations. Those who take narrow view assert that international relation include only “the official relations conducted by the authorized leaders of the state”. To them the relations between nations, other than the official relations such as trade, financial intercourse, missionary activities, travel of students, cultural relations etc. don’t fall in the domain of international relations. Other view of is “the actual relations that take place across national boundaries or as the body of knowledge which we have of those relations at any given time.

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AMERICA USA - WATERGATE SCANDAL

USA - WATERGATE SCANDAL (1972-1974)

Watergate is the name of a building complex in Washington DC which became involved in a scandal with the Nixon administration when in June 1972 five persons were arrested from the premises of Democratic Party’s headquarters on charges of burglary. It was alleged that these persons had not only illegally entered the premises but also conspired to tape the phone and to steal the documents of Democratic National Committee in order to take advantage in 1972 US elections. The prosecution started investigations but President Nixon denied all charges of involvement in the affair. However the situation took a dramatic turn on January 11, 1973 when of the accused Mr. Howard Hant admitted that he was guilty of the charges labelled against him. Consequently the US Senate on February 7, 1973 set up a selection committee under the chairmanship of Sen. S.J. Ervin to investigate into the Watergate scandal. As the case progressed President Nixon promised to cooperate with the committee. The crises depended further on April 30, 1973 when Nixon’s top aides viz. H.R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, John.W.Dean and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resigned from their posts. On June 25 Nixon’s former Counsel told the Senate hearings that Nixon, his staff and campaign aides and the Justice Department had conspired to cover up the Watergate facts. With each passing day the sphere of the investigations continued to widen further with startling disclosures. In July 1973 the selection committee recorded evidences of important White House officials. In the meantime President Nixon continued to harp on his innocence. A White House aide revealed that most of Nixon’s office conversations and phone cells had been recorded. The court and the Congress sought the tapes for criminal proceedings against former White House aides but President Nixon refused to release the tapes. As a result in August 1973 Chief Judge ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes for investigations. President Nixon refused to comply with these instructions. In October 1973 Nixon removed Watergate special Prosecutor Archibald Cox when he threatened to secure a judicial ruling that Nixon was violating court order by refusing to hand over tapes to the judge. As the results of the investigations gradually unfolded, Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal became clearer. Survey of the public opinion showed that majority of the Americans believed that Nixon was guilty and were in favour of his impeachment. In July 1974 the House Judiciary Committee charged Nixon with following three articles of impeachment.

1                     Participation in a criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice.

2                     Abusing the power.

3                     Unconstitutional defiance of the committee.

The House of Representatives accepted committee’s report by a 42-3 vote. However on Aug 9, 1974 President Nixon resigned in order to avoid impeachment. Thus he became the first president in the history of US to have resigned from his office.

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