The impact of international economics on domestic societies continue to expand as world industrial and financial structures become increasingly intertwined. Trade wins and loses jobs. We are dependent on foreign sources for vital resources. The ties between national and international affairs are so close that many social scientists now use the term intermestic to symbolize the merger of international and domestic concerns. International politics can affect and determine the quality of the global environment.
Global cooperation is necessary to stem and reverse the degradation of the biosphere.
International politics now has the potential of extinguishing most or all of the human race. In a nuclear war or act of nuclear terrorism, military casualties would be a mere footnote to the overall death toll. In a democratic society, individuals are important agents of political change through voting, protesting, joining issue-oriented groups, or having opinions recorded in a political poll. Few Individual actions may not change world politics, but the sum of many smaller actions can and does make a difference. Politics is not a spectator sport.