Essay

TITTLE: “Is globalization a threat

to globalization?”
One of the most heated arguments about globalization is that it is leading to the demise
of sovereignty and autonomy of state. Since the term ‘state’ is crucial for both political
science and international relations, it is important to understand state in the context of
globalization.

The terms ‘the borderless world economy’, ‘global polities’ and ‘global civil society’ all
describe a world in which sovereignty of the state and the capacities of any government
are being eroded. In spite of these terms, there is a different school of thought that
claims that the state lives on and that some elements of globalization, in fact, strengthen
the role of government.

The impact of globalization varies with regard to the strength of the state. All states are
affected in the entire process of globalization but a threat to the sovereignty and
autonomy of the state gets more affected in respect of weak states than strong ones.

By strong states we mean those countries that have the capacity to influence the norms
of the international economy and or even the power to control their own integration into
the world economy. Some industrialized countries like the United States have played a
great role in shaping globalization.

The decisions taken by these countries to deregulate and liberalize economies

instigated the flow of currency, goods and services, and multinational activity across
borders, which are associated with globalization. The decisions taken by the United
States and European countries in the 1960s and the 1970s laid the foundation for
globalization of money and capital flows.

It is, however, not true that no restrictions are imposed on strong states by globalization.
A key example is the way international capital markets can exact a swift and dev-
astating punishment on any government undertaking by an inappropriate monetary or
exchange rate policy.