the state and globalisation

the nation state

nations - based on shared culture which relates to features like a shared ancestry, history and language - possible to have nation that is not part of a state, kurdistan - usually nations are also states

sovereignty - absolute power over citizens and borders; defining feature of the state - become known as westphalian state system - ToW marked the beginnings of the modern day concept of state sovereignty

state - clearly defined territory that has absolute authority over its citizens and its borders

process of globalisation

complex web of interconnectedness - globalisation the world has become increasingly interconnected across state borders - greater movement of goods, people, information etc - fits with liberal idea of cobweb model

factors driving globalisation: many factors that have come together to lead to the process of globalisations such as globalised markets, technology, the rise of non state actors including NGOs and regional and global intergovernmental organisations

described as process which has political, socio cultural and economic elements

economic globalisation

trading across borders increased - economic institutions like WB have become increasingly powerful and there has been a move in some regions to pooling sovereignty in order to create more powerful trading bloc

bretton woods agreement

saw establishment of the WB and IMF and some of early ideas that led to the WTO

mostly established to create clearer monetary policy in order to benefit international trade

bretton woods system now been abandoned - organisations still referred to as bretton woods based on the washington consensus ideas of global economic policy

political globalisation

world government - idea that there would be an overarching global sovereign power - states would not have absolute authority

global governance - organisations that have supra and intergovernmental elements - states ultimately retain their own sovereignty - UN

intertwined with economic globalisation - in order to regulate increased international trade and deal with common problems seen a rise in IGOs and SGOs

cultural globalisation

monoculture/homogeneity - idea that there is one dominant culture that has become globally popular and widely recognised - americanisation or westernisations - desirable spread of liberal values or form of cultural imperialism?

cosmopolitanism - idea that there is melting pot of cultures - instead of one dominant culture lots of cultures merging

spread of culture across the globe - greater cultural appreciation or monoculture?

liberal democracy - fukuyama with globalisation seen spread of liberal values and liberal democracy that is now dominant form of political system in the world - marks end of political evolution - links to GG

impact on the state system

challenged the traditional westphalian state system now questionable to what extent nation state is most significant global actor

rise of non state actors has been challenge to sovereignty - states absolute control over borders has weakened

increasingly non state actors have become as significant as nation state

many TNCs operate outside state taxation laws and some command revenue higher than GDP of many smaller states

HI seen as threat to sovereignty

widening and deepening

widening seen as expansion of regional blocks to include more states

deepening seen as greater level of integration in regional block

movement of regionalism - works with globalisation (building block) and sometimes worked against (stumbling block)

building blocks and stumbling blocks

regionalism enable greater global coordination - EU can act as single spokesperson for all members - states can also act as stronger combined power with pooled sovereignty

stumbling block - regional powers may become increasingly more inward looking and contained rather than being open to global trade and global governance

state control

sovereignty globalisation seen as threat to sovereignty - liberals argue this is good for global system as encourages multilateralism, accountability and legitimacy - realists argue states are still most significant actors

IGO - intergovernmentalism does not impact state sovereignty since it is based on mutual agreements between govs who retain absolute authority

SGO - supragovernmentalism does to some extent erode sovereignty since it involves higher authority that can impose binding agreements

international law

ICJ - one of key organs of the UN and works as arbitration body to resolve state disputes - both states need to sign up to process and can decide if they wish to accept resolution

ICC - not part of the UN sole focus over cases of HR abuses and war crimes - came into force in 2002 under the rome statute and has 123 members - designed to step in where national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute criminals

hyperglobalisers, sceptics, transformationalists

hyperglobalists globalisation happening at revolutionary rate and making the nation state obsolote

sceptics globalisation not a new process and has not dramatically effect the role of the nation state

click to edit

liberals vs realists

liberals - optimistic about the role globalisation can play opening connectivity and co-operation and creating global platforms from global issues

realists - sceptical about extent to which nation state's power can or should be eroded

impact of globalisation

advantages

disadvantages

meant greater co-ordination of states over humanitarian issues

enabled states to share technology, intelligence, trade more easily

enabled global response to global issues - common problems

created security issues across borders - terrorism

erosion of sovereignty has taken control away from the state - TNCs can evade economic controls of the state

seen as cultural homogenisation/ imperialism/ westernisation/ americanisation

state sovereignty

argument that rather than state power simply being eroded, effective use of IGOs and SGOs has allowed 'pooling' of sovereignty to strengthen nation states and their global position - EU is full member of the G20 and permanent observer in the UN

seen the increasing role of non state actors - TNCs have become increasingly powerful economic influences and are able to operate outside of state control to some degree

eroded by increasing presence of IGOs - singing up to organisations and various treaties/agreements and laws that they encompass inevitably the state does hand over some control

terror groups have been able to use social media to operate large scale movements that have been increasingly challenging for governments - NGOs have become increasing part of civil society - performing roles that states have not been able to fulfil

synoptic issues

poverty

human rights

conflict

HR - one of the notable debates around conflict has been on issue of HI - increasingly regional disputes have also been seen as global issues - middle east has seen western intervention

terrorism - war on terror marked shift in terms of new form of global terrorism - use of technology and media has enabled terrorist movements to operate outside state borders

mary kaldor - argued that there are more 'new wars' states less likely to go to war with each other BUT more likely to see internal disputes - civil wars

become increasingly clear that sustainable development needs to consider how less economically developed states can develop economically in green ways

global financial crisis 2003 had disproportionate effect on the global south - need to address global inequality

global debts crisis highlighted western responsibility in the north/south divide

globalisation - emergence of global civil society and cosmopolitan identity - more awareness of the issue of global poverty and more mechanisms to tackle it

fukuyama - 'end of history' finished political evolution resulting in most countries being liberal democracies - liberals argue there is greater palate for promoting liberal ideas of universal HR

R2P has meant there is legislation enabling state sovereignty to be challenged over human rights abuses - more consensus that state sovereignty also comes with political responsibility

increased media and technology has increase awareness of HR abuses around the globe and prompted involvement of civil society and non state actors in tackling HR issues

limits and impact - AO1

economic

political

cultural

washington consensus and free trade - limiting economic choices for nations post cold war and the spread of economic liberalism

WB IMF WTO reducing tariffs and embracing global trade

reducing carbon emissions - led by gates, zuckerberg, bezos in the breakthrough energy coalition

HR watch, save the children and friends of the earth - encouraging global dialogue

coca-colinisation - mc world (homogenisation) bland cultural experience

americanisation and the american cultural experience

WB/IMF SAPS encourage free market reforms

impact of TNC's on economic policy - investment key to prosperity

collapse of lehman brothers demonstrates extent of economic globalisation

china - devalued currency to boost experts

trump administration pulled out of trans pacific paternership - did not serve USA economic interests

2018 - trump placed 25% tariff on steel and 10% on aluminium imports - EU, china and canada responded - abandoning free trade

2018 - macron forced to make concessions to the yellow jackets as result of anti globalisation protests - increase in minimum wage paid for by national tax on TNCs

R2P sovereignty conditional on human rights standards

bezos named 5th most influential person in the world in 2018 - blue origin and aim to preserve eath

greta thunberg - UN 2019 global support in of combatting climate change

green peace and HR watch role in advancing global dialogue

gates, clinton and carter foundation work to resolve collective dilemmas - carter foundation responsible for almost global eradication of the guinea worm disease

nation states can ignore ICJ and ECHR - ICC condemned by trump as having unelected and unaccountable global bureaucracy

international treaties such as paris climate change agreement require cooperation of nation states - 2017 trump withdrew

pakistan and india have broken nuclear non proliferation treaty by developing nuclear capability

importance of national soveregnty - russia and ukraine, UK, spain and gibraltar, china and taiwan

disney, apple microsoft helps to establish monoculture - challenges states control of citizen experience

hollywood - buying into american culture, values and ideas

westernisation undermines cultural diversity - replaced with uniform global culture

success of bollywood demonstrates how nation state can adapt global culture to own national traditions

russia and putin contrasted views of the orthodox church with decadent western liberalism

2019 - 73 states still classify homosexuality as criminal offence - national cultural values prevail

common problems AO1

economic and poverty

india world's fastest growing economy in 2018-19 (7.3%) - young population and english proficient workforce making it dominant in global service industry

vietnam low labour cost attracting investment from TNCS such as samsung - economy grew by 7% in 2018

east africa benefiting from low labour cost - increase in factories being opened

2018 nissan announced it was going to start building cars in kenya

dependency theory north and south divide

collapse of rana plaza factory 2013 in bangladesh was caused by inadequate building safeguards due to cost cutting

foxconn factory longhua employs 450,000 people - makes apple products and has been criticised for harsh working conditions - 2010 spate of suicides at factory

2017 exports from developing countries increased from 12% to 43% of world trade

value of world trade in 2005 was $8 trillion in 2013 it was $18.8 trillion

most successful neocolonial power in the world is china - biggest investor in africa and south america - poor record of protecting worker's rights

global protection of HR

1993 - UN high commissioner for HR was established to encourage global respect for HR

2005 UN GA endorsed R2P - sovereignty and HR

HI - kosovo, east timor, sierra leone, libya, mali

tribunals have developed international standards of HR

ICC can initiate prosecutions of war crimes

advances in tech ensure that HR abuses better documented - 2017/18 USA launched missile attacks on syrian gov over alleged use of chemical weapons

russia, china and USA don't recognise ICC

crimes in syrian civil war not been prosecuted - saudi arabia not held accountable for HR abuses during yemen intervention

human rights watch exposes HR abuses but has no enforcement power

conflict

economic conflict of interests between developed and developing world - china and usa - extensive tariffs on chinese exports to the US

environment

shell criticised for environmental degradation of niger delta - impact of fracking

europe increasingly facing large migrant flows from north africa as land has been exhausted

COP conferences - paris 2015 keep temp increase below 1.5 degrees

2015 gates set up breakthrough energy ventures to develop carbon neutral energy development

2018 china built half the world's electric cars

thunberg and extinction rebellion - social media platform