GECCON Module 5

• State


  A political unit that has authority over its own affairs, with borders recognized by other countries, and the right to determine what happens within those borders
• Attributes of World Politics

  • Independent and Sovereign States
  • Diplomatic interaction of states
  • International interactions facilitated by International Organizations like UN
  • International Organization function on their own beyond facilitating meetings between states
• Nation


  A large-scale solidarity, constituted by the feeling of sacrifices that one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future
• Attributes of the State

  • Population
  • Territory
  • Government
  • Sovereignty
• Not all states are nations and not all nations are states, some states have multiple nations, and some nations have multiple states
• Nationalism


  The nation as an imagined community that is limited and seeks to govern itself, which solidified the Westphalian order in the 19th century
• The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 ended the Thirty Years' War and provided stability for the nations of Europe until it faced its major challenge by Napoleon Bonaparte
• Principles of Global Politics since Westphalia

  • Liberal Internationalism - the idea of common international principles, cooperation and respect among nation-states, and promotion of global democracy
  • Socialist Internationalism - "Workers of the world unite", "The proletariat has no nation", Marxist anti-nationalism
• Factors behind the emergence of global governance

  • The declining power of nation-states
  • Vast flows of digital information, people, and criminal elements across borders
  • Mass migration of people and their entry, often illegally into various nation-states.
  • Horrendous events within nation-states that they are unable to control
  • Global problems that single nation-states cannot tackle on their own
• Government


  The group of people who have the ultimate authority to act on behalf of the state, with each state having the right to self-determination and other countries not intervening unless there are extraordinary reasons
• The global economy demands that states conform to the rules of free-market capitalism, with the development of organizations that cooperate across countries such as the WTO and regional agreements like NAFTA, EU, and ASEAN
• Neoliberal economics started in the 1980's, focusing on free trade and dismantling trade barriers, and making sure governments did not impose restrictive regulations on businesses
• Government


  The system of rules, and the leadership, established and codified in a particular state, whether or not through elections. Especially in a democratic society, the government provides the leadership of the state.
• Policy


  Developed and implemented in the interest of the people of a state by a specific government.
• Civil society


  Includes the private economy, educational institutions, churches, hospitals, fraternal organizations and other non-profit organizations. Can act as a counterweight or supplement to government.
• Global economy


  Demands that states conform to the rules of free-market capitalism. Government austerity comes from development of organizations that cooperate across countries such as WTO, NAFTA, EU, and ASEAN.
• Neoliberal economics


  Started in the 1980s, focused on free trade and dismantling trade barriers. Ensured governments did not impose restrictive regulations on corporate presence or the free flow of capital and jobs.
• Free trade was seen as the ideal or the normative belief that the best economy is one where there is free trade everywhere. Laws and standards that would interfere with the flow of capital in a particular country, including environmental regulations, were deemed to discourage economic growth.
• Neoliberal economics


  Requires a state to cooperate in the global market through the free flow of capital, the privatization of services and fiscal austerity or constraint. The government's role is diminished as it relates to the market.
• Neoliberal economics is seen as a threat, in general, because a state market cannot protect its own economic interest as a sovereign state.
• Specific examples to expand global economic influence

  • Use of IMF and the World Bank in forcing government reforms in poorer countries
  • Businesses from developed countries putting their factories and building people to build factories and produce goods in developing countries worldwide, then selling the products in developing countries which results in rising inequality
• Social movements


  Movements of people that are spontaneous or that emerge through enormous grassroots organizations. Transnational movements that occur across countries and borders, over which states have less control.
• Examples of global social movements

  • The death of George Floyd and the fight of Hong Kong for further democratic rights
  • Environmental movement related to public policy, with an increased role in international organizations like the UN, global media, international criminal court, and non-governmental NGOs
• Globalization


  The increase or decline in the degree of globalism.
• Globalism


  The network of connections that transcends distances of different countries in the world.
• Informationalism


  The technological paradigm associated with computer science and modern telecommunication that replaces industrialism.