What Is International Political Economy? A Brief Overview of global political economy

introduction to international political economy

International political economy, or IPE as it’s sometimes known, can mean different things to different people. However, no matter how you approach IPE, one thing’s certain: political science and economics make an explosive combination! For more information on what this field entails, read the following brief overview of the international political economy below.

keywords: global political economy, international politics, and economics, the political economy of international relations

Origins of International Political Economy

The field of international political economy (IPE)  as it is known today came into existence in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The international relations theory of realism, which had been developed during the 1920s and 1930s, was challenged by the economic theory of Keynesianism in the post-war era. As this period of unprecedented prosperity for many countries continued, there was a growing sense that something other than economics alone could explain what made some states more powerful or richer than others. In the 1970s and 1980s, scholars began to explore connections between trade policies and military power with their implications for national security; this would be the beginning of contemporary IPE as a separate subfield within IR. Today, IPE typically examines how global capitalism influences international politics in areas such as trade policy, energy policy, development policy, and humanitarian aid provision

Key Theorists and Schools of Thought

International political economy  (IPE) is a branch of the social sciences and international relations that deals with the global processes of economic globalization. IPE scholars often study topics such as financial crises, multinational corporations, development, trade, and migration.

Theorists and schools of thought in the international political economy include liberal internationalism, mercantilism, neoliberalism, Marxist political economy, and dependency theory. Liberal internationalism emphasizes democracy promotion through free trade and direct foreign investment. Mercantilist economics advocates protectionist policies like tariffs to keep their domestic industry competitive. Neoliberal thinkers favor privatization, deregulation, and freer trade while Marxists contend that capitalism creates more problems than it solves while dependency theorists posit Third World nations are beholden to First World lenders like banks or governments because they need loans to support their economies but can’t afford them so they must borrow at unfavorable rates from these lenders.

Marxists believe exploitation is one of the root causes of inequality between rich and poor countries so eventually, this leads to conflict or revolution, even though there are no hard connections proving cause-and-effect between poverty and violence.

Contemporary Issues Related to the Discipline

Central Concerns of international political economy

Worldwide political economy is the investigation of the manners by which monetary, social and political powers interface with one another on a worldwide scale. Subjects that are analyzed in worldwide political economy courses range from financial aspects to humanism, government to regulation, and culture to history. There are four principal worries that structure the focal piece of the worldwide political economy: globalization, neoliberalism, disparity, and advancement. Globalization is the cycle by which numerous public economies become interconnected through cross-line exchange and capital streams. Neoliberalism alludes to a financial convention described by individual opportunity with regards to direction, (for example, privatizing enterprises) as well as less state contribution in broad daylight administrations like training or medical care. The last two subjects of worry to worldwide political economy understudies are imbalance and improvement. The rising degrees of imbalance that exist around the world should be visible in the sharp expansion in pay and abundance holes between individuals living in created countries and those living in emerging countries.

Contemporary Debates in International Political Economy

International political economy has its origins in the work of Karl Marx and Adam Smith. In fact, as a field of study, it was first introduced in 1817 at the height of European imperialism. Theories of international political economy have been developed by thinkers such as Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx. In the 20th century scholars such as Joseph Schumpeter and Thomas Friedman made their mark on the discipline.

Today we can define international political economy broadly to include many different theories about how states interact with one another economically.

 

The future of International Political Economy

Worldwide political economy is a field of study that dissects the monetary connections among nations and states. This incorporates, yet isn't restricted to, the equilibrium of exchange, trade rates, financial approach, and worldwide capital streams. There are four fundamental ways of thinking with regard to the worldwide political economy: authenticity, neoliberalism, communism, and constructivism. The initial three spotlights on power dispersion in the worldwide framework while constructivism features thoughts regarding personality and culture. As a general rule, pragmatists contend that financial matters decide legislative issues while neoliberals contend that legislative issues decide financial matters. Communists contend that both affect each other.

KEYWORD: international political economy meaning, international political economy Georgetown, Robert Gilpin global political economy, the field of international political economy, principles of international political economy