The State and Globalisation

What is a Nation State?

The Nation State is defined as a sovereign region that is linked politically and often shares a number of historical and cultural heritage.

What are the characteristics of a Nation State?

• A permanent population

• A defined territory

• A single government (can be unified or federal)

• Capacity to enter relations with other states

What is state sovereignty in the context of global politics?

Sovereignty refers to the unlimited power that is given to a state ton issue legal authority in the region that the state is defined

What are the Westphalian principles?

The principle that one sovereign state does not have the authority to impose in the affairs of another sovereign state

How do realist view the Nation State?

• The Nation State is the most important actor in international law

• States may have differing sizes, populations and strengths but they all share things in common

  • These are Westphalian views of the modern Nation State

What is globalisation?

The process through which the world becomes more interconnected

What are the different types of globalisation?

• Economic

• Political

• Cultural

What is economic globalisation?

• The process by which different economies around the world become more interconnected

  • At the end of WW2 there was an introduction of new global organisations known as the Bretton Woods institutions:

  • The World Bank

  • The International Monetary Fund

  • World Trade Organisation

What is political globalisation?

The process by which the political processes of Nation States becomes greater integrated

• Refers to how nation states share political power through different institutions

What is cultural globalisation?

The idea that cultures and social ideas become more integrated on the basis of the nation state

• Includes the desire for material and consumer products from other states:

  • Music

  • Movies

  • Food

  • Clothes

What are hyper-globalisers?

• Globalisation now stands to challenge the nation state ➙ this will be achieved through free trade, instantaneous global communication and capital investment

• There is a growing need to solve collective dilemmas through cooperation

• Increasingly borderless world is being created

• More interconnected global society

• The nation state has been ‘hollowed’ out

What are globalisation sceptics?

• The impact of globalisation has been exaggerated

  • Globalisation is not new and there have already been periods in time which world trade has been expanded

• Modern globalisation has failed to challenge state egoism

• States still act in their own interest (Trumps withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership ICJ + ICC lack coercive authority)

• Covid-19 renewed focus on self-sufficiency

What are Transformationalists?

• Do not dispute the idea theta globalisation has had a profound impact on state sovereignty

  • How ever they do disagree with hyper-globalisers in the sense that they don’t believe the state has become redundant instead states are adapting to the new system

  • States interact with each other in order to better their nations interests e.g. a state may join the EU because it is beneficial to do so

How has globalisation impacted the nation state?

• Widening and deepening interconnectedness and interdependence

  • nation states can not escape being closely connected economically, politically and culturally through trading IGOs

• Collective dilemmas

  • Terrorism, War, Famine, Pandemics, Climate change\

• The internet

• Greater opportunity for states to cooperate with each other and non-state actors

What are the arguments that globalisation has had negative impacts?

• Allows the global north to continue to exploit the global south

• Although global wealth has increased there has been an increase of inequality within and between states

• Global trade is making climate change worse

• Social media can be negative ➙ echo chambers, terrorists can interact with people globally

• Rapid spread of pandemics

What does interconnected mean?

The process by which states and their fortunes become inextricably linked

In what ways has globalisation challenged the sovereignty of the nation state?

• The International Court of Justice- sits permanently at The Hague - helps settle disputes between nation states

• The European Court of Human Rights- sits in Strasbourg and rules cases regarding the ECHR

• UN war crime tribunals have been set up on a ad hoc basis

• The International Criminal Court - established in 2002 to try individuals accused of war crimes

  • All of these go against the principles of Westphalia

How do liberals view globalisation?

• Optimistic about globalisation ➙ this is due to their focus on international cooperation

• Promotes global responses to collective dilemmas

• Dell theory ➙ war becomes mutually harmful and this is not in the interest of the nation state

What is the Dell Theory of Conflict Resolution?

Increased interconnectedness decreases the likelihood of war

How do realists view globalisation?

• They are globalisation sceptics ➙ the state should remain the main influence In international relations

• sceptical about the way in which liberal cooperation works in an anarchic world system

• Westphalia principles provide global stability

How effectively does globalisation address poverty?

Effectively:

• Reduction of tariffs promoted global wealth

• Economically developing countries can take advantage of new export opportunities

• Goods become cheaper

Ineffectively:

• Race to the bottom ➙ created by TNCs opening factories in the cheapest and least regulated countries

• Economically developing world is swamped by cheap mass produced goods ➙ this maintains the neocolonial dependency

• Globalisation does not fairly distribute wealth

How effectively does globalisation address conflict?

Effectively:

• Interconnectedness means conflict becomes mutually harmful to states

• Humanitarian interventions

Ineffectively:

• Nation states continue to put their own interests first

  • Tragedies such as the Rwandan genocide have occurred due to this

• Westphalian principles of non intervention

How effectively does globalisation address human rights?

Effectively:

• ECHR, ECtHR, UDHR, ICC, ICJ

• Greater human rights interventions such as, Kosovo

Ineffectively:

• Nation states remain the key arbiters of human rights

  • International law remains soft law

• Nation states often ignore international law if it conflicts with their interests

  • UDHR is moral not binding, ICJ requires consent and cooperation of nation states to operate, vetos in the UNSC, China consistently ignores western criticisms for forcing its Uighur Muslim population into resettlement camps

How effectively does globalisation address the environment?

Effectively:

• Paris climate change agreement is a clear example of states coming together to tackle a collective dilemma

Ineffectively:

• Many states failed to comply with Paris climate change agreement

• Trump left