"Anarchy is thick" [Yoo, Week 5, Dialogue]

I would like to take Lauren's view on anarchism and constructivism one point further. I would like to question anarchy as not being uniform, as well. Although I agree that norms exist in our world system, the world system is not uniform. We say that states recognize each other's sovereignty, which is true. But there definitely exists a hierarchy of states in the international system. China's relationship with Mongolia, for instance. Mongolia is overwhelmingly powerless next to China's new found growth and prosperity. These power-shifts can change as well; during the 1060's, North Korea was viewed as the more powerful Korea, and the survival of the South was questioned. Read this:"A few years back I asked a South Korean Minister of Finance if he took North Korean behavior into account when formulating South Korean economic policy. "No," he replied, "those guys in the North are crazy. We don't pay any attention to them." Yet even with this overwhelming economic superiority, the South still has to take into account the North when concerning security issues. Yes, anarchy is thick, but the norms between countries differ significantly according to different situations.