Globalisation

The emergence of the world theoretically being closer together

Three types of globalisation

 Economic
 Political
 Cultural

Economic Globalization

It is the increasing economic integration and interdependence of economies by trade

Cultural Globalization

Cultural globalisation refers to the rapid movement of ideas, attitudes, meanings, values and cultural products across national
borders

Political Globalization

Political globalization the process through which policymaking responsibilities have been passed from national governments to
international organizations

Hyperglobalism

The idea that globalization has intensified significantly since the 1980s

Points of hyperglobalists

Digital Revolution- Technology has changed how the world functions e.g. communication, trade

Integrated financial system- Worldwide trading through central banks, multilateral treaties, and intergovernmental organizations

Global Commodities- The spread of different commodities across the world, changing trade and culture

Single Global Economy- The idea that the world has emerged into one economy through institutions

Borderless World- Countries having open borders, examples being EU states

Criticism

Some counties still have strong values and ideologies

Argued that state sovereignty has altered rather than become irrelevant- for examples pooled sovereignty for European Union
with treaties, or when the United Kingdom joined together- tax, laws aligned but still have a government

State security has been emphasised through global terrorism and migration

Hirst and Thompson 1999- The majority of economic activity is within national borders

Globalisation is argued to be used to advance a market oriented programme e

Transformationalist

Accepts that change has occurred, but the established features haven’t been swept away

Countries are more interconnected across national borders through migration and international trade

Realism
Believe that global politics is about power and self interest

Donnelly 2000- 2 Assumptions:

People are selfish and competitive- therefore egoism is a human characteristic

Since the 1648 Westphalia State System- There is no supreme authority (therefore international anarchy)
Two Types of Realism- Classical Realism and Neorealism

Classical realism explains power politics in terms of egoism and neorealism explains it in terms of anarchy

State Egoism and Conflict

Machiavelli – Human Nature

- Humans are ‘arrogant, violent and savage’

- Disagreement is inevitable in politics and therefore leaders rule through manipulating and being cruel

Hobbes – Human Nature

- Humans are driven by fear, hope and desire

- No person or group can establish dominance so there will always be a conflict in society - ‘state of nature’
- Life will be ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’
- The only way to solve this is through unchallengeable, sovereign power e.g. the state

Realists believe politics is conducted in a ‘state of nature’- always dangerous unless there is stability
States are “state-centric” because they are the most important global factor
Human egoism leads to state egoism which means global politics leads to rivalry
Relative gains -> States pursue security though military or gaining advantage of other states strategically

Realists emphasise that national interest -> foreign policy goals or policy preferences
To realist’s self-interest means states should be guided by the lives of their citizens- therefore reject universal moral principles
that apply to all states – war isn’t in the interest unless it benefits state e.g. US Realists opposed Vietnam war and Iraq war
because of cost-benefit analysis

Statecraft- The maintenance of conducting public affairs

Anarchy

Because classical realism didn’t focus on the behaviour of states and the system theory- neorealism was created

Waltz theory of International Politics (1979)

Three levels of analysis- Individuals, states and international systems

International Anarchy results in inevitable war due to:

- States are independent, work of ‘self-help’ (a state’s reliance on its own resources) rather than external help
- Relationships between states can never be certain due to the ‘security dilemma’ (A build of military leads to other states
believing they are aggressive)
- States are concerned by relative gains- States positions compared to one another- capabilities between them

Polarity, Stability + Balance of Power

All realists believe that conflict is contained by the balance of power

- Classical realists believe this is because of statecraft
- Neorealists see it as a consequence of structural dynamics in the international system e.g. bipolarity

Polarity in international relations is any way in which power is distributed within the international system

Neorealists believe bipolar systems are stable and less likely to lead to war whilst multipolar systems are less stable and more
likely to create war

Realists Disagree about the structural instability

- Offensive realism – States are ‘power maximisers’- they want as much power as possible
- Defensive realism- States are ‘security maximisers’- gain power to avoid an attack or war

Evaluation of Realism
 - During WW2 and the Cold war, realism was the main global perspective, however after the cold war, it was criticised for
not explaining non-state actors, globalization and human rights

Liberalism

Liberalism is the main ideological force in the Industrialized Western Politics

After the cold war, globalisation and democratization furthered liberalism

States may pursue self-interest, but a natural equilibrium will assert itself – competing interests favour one another, peace is
never unresolvable to countries will agree and cooperate.

Internationalism- The theory of politics based on cooperation between states and nations

Interdependence Liberalism

Interdependence is linked to commercial liberalism (a form of liberalism where the economic and international benefits of free
trade leads to mutual benefits and peace)

A theme in commercial liberalism is that countries can specialise what they are good at producing, e.g. hot countries growing
crops. They can therefore have a ‘comparative’ advantage in this

Free trade means that states cannot afford to go into war because the material cost will be too high

Nye (1977)- Complex Interdependence

The extent of how governments are affected by issues elsewhere in the world e.g. globalisation, climate change, poverty
reduction, human rights

This view suggests realism has a narrow approach in ‘high’ politics (Self-preservation of states from things such as defence and
foreign policy)

Instead, liberalists believe there is greater global attention given to ‘low’ politics (Not involving states national interests e.g.
welfare and environmental protection)

Relation between states results in closer cooperation e.g. the EU

Strong liberals- Due to the change in the international system that has changed things such as anarchy, self-help and security
dilemma, there is a higher tendency towards peace and cooperation

Weak liberals- Accept neorealist assumptions on international anarchy

Republican Liberals

Believe that although states are self seeking actors, the external behaviour of a state is influenced my constitutional make-up.

Authoritarian states are seen as militaristic

If support of the people cannot be ensured through participation, war, which is patriotic, may be the answer

They believe in democratic peace thesis (the idea that there is a link between peace and democracy and democratic states don’t
go to war with one another)

Fukuyama’s ‘end of history’ promoted the accepted of liberal-democratic principles

The fact there has never been a war between two democratic nation-states is evidence for liberals aswell as the zones of peace
in Europe

Republican liberalism is criticised through the growth of liberal interventionism and the idea that democracy should be
promoted through militarily regime change

Liberal Institutionalism

Liberals believe that an external mechanism is needed to constrain sovereign states e.g. international organisations such as UN
Hobbes and Locke- Only a sovereign power can safeguard citizens from chaos within the “state of nature”

Woodroe Wilson – League of Nations

The League of Nations was founded in 1920 after World War I

After being thought of by Woodroe Wilson (American president). After a vote, the American public refused to join

With no more than 65 members at one time and the fact that it was controlled by the UK and France

For example, when the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria (North-East China) in 1931, the League took a whole year to make a
decision. When it came, Japan ignored it.

The UN is more successful with 197 members

These bodies establish a governed international system based on collective security and respect for international law

Modern neoliberals have explained growing cooperation and integration

Institutions try to make an agreement between states due to common interests as states are concerned with absolute gains

States will cooperate if they will be better off- development of WTO, IMF, EU set rules

Assessing Liberalism

Revived in 1970s due to globalisation

Fall of communism in 1980s established IO’s (international organisations) encouraged neoliberal institutionalism

Beyond 1990s, political Islam and religion reviving has weakened liberalism

The sub-traditions can be contradictory

- Support for free trade and single global economy (independence liberalism)
- Allows global markets and TNC’s to dictate national government undermining domestic democracy (republican
liberalism)

For example

Globalization divides into- people that want a free market and people that want protection through regulations

International organizations seen as a way in that provide cooperation or a supranational government

Does democracy guarantee peace?

Yes

- The spread of democracy has lead to zones of peace where military conflict is impossible
- War is started by governments/dictators; therefore, any democracy will use war as a last resort
- The ideology of consensus is clear in foreign policy
- The cooperation comes from the states sharing moral principles
No

- Examples of war between democratic and authoritarian states, not necessary for self-defence e.g. Afghanistan and Iraq
- Realists argue that was is inevitable – the public drive democratic governments e.g. war on terror ISIS
- Economic interdependence is effective for keeping peace but may cost to go at war

Economic Globalisation

Causes of Economic Globalization

Bretton Woods System- End of WW1 to 1970s
System of fixed exchange rates and regulation – adoption of Keynesian Policies
Fall of Communism
The collapse of the communism in Eastern Europe and the opening up of the Chinese economy
Structural Factors E.g. Organisation of production
Free choices made by economic actors e.g. states, firms and individuals
Marxist View
Capitalism is a universal economic system, globalisation is the consequence of capitalism- there is a desire for capital and profit
How globalised is Economics Globally?

International Trade
Since 1945, international trade has grown double the rate of international production
E.g. Exports grew from 475 million pounds in 1960 to 12 billion pounds in 2016
Trades takes place in the same industries rather than between industries (intra-firm trade) has led to the rise of TNC’s
80% of world trades take place between developed states rather than between different regions

Transborder Production
TNC’s account for most of the worlds production and half the trade due to the global sourcing from anywhere in the world
TNC’s have the ability to locate and relocate production in favour of efficiency and profitability
TNC’s maintain strong links with their country of origin

Global Division of Labour

15% of the worlds labour is considered globally mobile
High technology trade is done through the developed world but for pooper states trade agricultural goods or raw materials for
exports

Global Financial System

Brought into existence through:
- Deregulation of financial markets in the 1970s and 80s allowed money and capital to flow between national economies
easily
- New ICT for financial markets enabled transborder actions
E.g. In 2017 3.5 trillion was traded each day in global currency markets
Despite communism collapsing there are still non-capitalistic economies in the world
An invisible economy exists, one that relies on unpaid labour e.g. housework, childcare, farming

Does economic globalisation promote prosperity and opportunity for all?

For Against
Magic of the Market Deepening poverty and inequality
Ensures that all countries benefit from wider prosperity and Neo-colonisation forces poor countries to open up their
expanded opportunities borders to rich countries resulting a game of winners and
losers
Everyone’s a winner Hollowing out of politics and democracy
Countries can specialize in one area and employ economies of Diminishes national sovereignty and so restricts public
scale so will reduce poverty accountability e.g. TNC power
Economic freedom promotes other freedoms Corruptions of consumerist materialism
Market based economies bring social and political benefits May make people richer but not enrich the quality of their
linked to democratization lives e.g. brand culture

Political Globalisation

States and Sovereignty

The Montevideo Convention says a state has four features

- Defined territory
- Permanent population
- Effective government
- Capacity to enter relations with other states
Hobbes thought the need for sovereignty came from self-seeking and power-interested nature of human beings, without
sovereignty humans would exist is a state of nature

Sovereignty is the principle of unlimited power, the absence of a higher authority in either domestic or external affairs. Its
possible to define this as internally or externally.
 -Internal sovereignty refers to where power is within a state. Compulsory decisions that are made on all citizens within
the states borders
- External sovereignty defines the state relationship with other states. Therefore, there is no higher authority
External Sovereignty can be controversial because:

- Morally, it implies that states can treat their people as they please- this causes tension between external sovereignty and
doctrine of human rights and any global standard of justice.

- Because of the disparity of power between states, the meaningfulness of sovereignty means powerful states can invade
the weaker states.

- Whether globalisation brings and end to sovereignty

The state and globalisation

There are three different positions on the significance of a globalized world:

- “Post-sovereign state”- The idea that a rise of globalisation has led to a decline of the state (hyperglobalists)
- Realists deny globalization has changed the sovereignty of states and that it is created by the states out of self interest
- Globalization has brought changes in the role and significance of the state but have transformed, rather than changed
the state.

States have become more permeable due to international migration, cultural globalisation which affects state sovereignty over
their border

A feature of economic globalisation is supraterritoriality-

Social life exceeds territory through the growth of transborder and trans global communications and interactions e.g. global
financial markets, capital flows + TNCs

Globalization shows a trend towards regionalism reflected in the growing importance of trading blocs such as the EU and NAFTA