Anthony Giddens

lib re ven ues ar c based . The soc ia li st c oun tri es fo rm

I e i t:hi nth apit ali st w or ld ec on om y as a
w h o l e , i r u p s t r y wealth upon which their x
something of an enclave _ immatives. These hstatcs ar be ut s i ca on rc oe f y
being more directly subject to
both Western
capitalist, but the influence of capitalistic markpeutrssuuronf tgreowditshtriby
and labour power is substan t i ally muted. The
and East European societies inevitably pushes economic intereststot s he r f e o i refront o t o f
But is u
the p ol i c i e s wh i c h sta te s p ur su e in th e i n te rn a ti on a l a re n a . y p lain
all, save those under the sway of historicaplurmdaytebr:aeleisorrInthieateotnhseidemraatticorniasl

involvements of nation-states are not governed • partic ular state within the global political
re a l or pe r c ei ve d . T he in f lu e n ce of a n t
order is strongly conditioned by the level of weeatIhtheirpowerfromtheirthisandmilitarystrength).However,states

deriveiv

capab ili tie s, as Han s J. Morge nth au emp hasise The y do not ope rate as ec on omic
ma ch i n e s, b ut a s 'a c tor s je al ou s of th e i r te r r i tor i al r i g hts, c on c e rn e d wi th th e
fosteri ng of national cu ltu re s, an d ha vin g str ategic geopo litica l inv ol vemen ts with other
states or alliances of states.
The nation-state system has long participated in that reflexivity characteristic of
moder nity a s a wh ole . The ver y ex isten ce of sov er eign ty sh ou ld be und er stood a s
some th i ng th a t i s re f l ex i v e l y mon i tore d , f or re a son s al r e ad y i nd i c a te d . S ov er e i gn ty i s
li n k ed to th e r e pl a c e men t of 'f r on tie r s' b y 'b or d e r s' in th e ea r l y d ev e l op men t of th e
na ti on - sta te sy ste m: a u ton omy in si d e the te r r i tor y c l a i med b y th e sta te i s san cti on ed
by th e re cog nition of border s by othe r sta tes. As n ote d, thi s i s one the ma jor f ac tor s
di sti n g ui sh i n g th e n a ti on - sta te sy ste m fr om sy ste ms of sta te s i n the p r e- mod e r n er a ,
whe re f e w re f l ex i v e l y ord e r ed r el a ti on s of th i s k i nd e xi ste d a nd wh e re th e n oti on of
'i n te r n a ti ona l re l a ti on s' mad e n o se n se .
One aspect of the dialectical nature of globalisation is the 'push and pull' between
ten d en c i e s towa rd s c en tr a l i sa ti on i nh e r e n t i n the re f l ex i v i ty of th e sy ste m of sta te s on
th e o n e h a n d a n d th e so v e r e i g n t y o f p a r t i c u l a r s ta te s on t h e ot h e r . T h u s , c on c e r te d
ac ti on b etwe e n c oun tr i e s M some re sp e c ts d i min i sh e s th e in d i v id u a l sovereignty of the
nations involved, yet by combining their power in other ways, it i n c re a se s th ei r in f lu e n ce
wi thi n th e sta te sy ste m. T he sa me i s tr u e of th e ea r l y c ong r e sse s wh i c h , i n
c on ju nc ti on wi th wa r , de fi n e d a n d r e de f i ne d sta te s' b or de r s —an d of tr u l y gl ob a l
ag e nc i e s su c h a s th e Un i ted Na ti on s. T he g l oba l in f lu e n c e of th e UN (sti ll dec isiv ely
limited by the fact tha t it is not terr itor ial and does not ha ve significant access to the
means of violence) is not purchased solely by means of a d i min u ti on of th e sov e r e ig n ty
of n a ti on - sta te s — th i n g s a r e mor e c omp l i c a te d th a n th i s. A n ob v i ou s e x a mp l e i s th a t
of th e ' n e w n a ti on s' — a u to n o mo u s n a ti on - s ta te s se t up in er stwh i l e c ol on i se d a r ea s.
A r med str u gg l e ag a in st th e c ol on i si ng c ou n tr ie s w a s v e r y g e n e r a l l y a ma jo r f a c t or i n
p e r s u a d i n g th e c ol on i s e r s t o r e t r e a t. B u t discussion in the UN played a key role M
setting up ex-colonial areas as states with internationally recognised borders. However
weak some of the new nations may be e c on omi c a ll y an d mi l i tar i l y , th e i r e me rg e n ce as
na ti on - sta te s (or , in ma n y ca se s, 'sta te - n a ti on s') mar k s a n e t ga i n in te r ms of
sov e r e ig n ty , a s c ompa r e d to th e i r previous circumstances.