Structures of Globalization: The Global Interstate System

The third structure of globalization will be covered in this chapter. State-based

system. The relationship, procedures, and interactions between the states are referred to
as the "interstate system."

State is viewed as “the institution that creates warfare and sets economic policies
for a country.” It is also defined as a political unit that has authority over its own affairs –
meaning, its borders are recognized by other countries. Based on the Treaty of
Westphalia of 1648, which established the notion of “nation-state” and “state sovereignty”,
it is assumed that whoever is in-charge of those borders has the right to determine exactly
what is going to happen in their country.

Today, the globalization of politics created an atmosphere where the ideas of the
nation-state, state sovereignty, government control, and state policies are challenged
from all sides. With globalization, some scholars suggest that other entities that cross
national boundaries are becoming more powerful than the state. These entities include
multinational corporations and global civil society organizations (e.g. Red Cross).

In this chapter, we will look at regional alliances and worldwide organizations of

states. This manifests the efforts of countries and governments in the word to cooperate
and collaborate together.

Global Governance in Twenty-first Century

While it is common knowledge that countries must govern their own people, the
need to oversee each state – how each interact with other states and international
organizations – is also important because of globalization. The essence of global
governance is not clear. For some users, it means unified action against specific threats
or merely a framework of rules and norms. Others also see global governance as nothing
more than a contemporary way to refer to international institutions. For the purposes of
discussion, let us define global governance as “a purposeful order that emerges from
institutions, processes, norms, formal agreements, and informal mechanisms that
regulate action for a common good” (Benedict, 2001).

There are factors behind the emergence of global governance:

1. Declining power of nation-states

2. Vast flows of all sorts of things that run into and often right through the borders of
nation-states. Examples:
• Flow of digital information through the Internet – it is difficult for a nation-state to
stop such flow and in any case, it is likely that such action would be politically
unpopular and bring much reaction to the nation-state involved in such an effort.
For instance, China’s periodic efforts to interfere with the Internet have brought
great condemnation both internally and externally.
 • Mass migration of people and their entry, often illegally – if states are unable to
control this flow, then there is a need for some sort of global governance to help
deal with the problem.
• Flow of criminal elements and their products (e.g. drugs, laundered money, etc.) –
a strong factor in the call for global governance. There is a need for some degree
of order, some sort of effective authority, and at least some potential for the
improvement of human life.

3. Horrendous events within nation-states that the states themselves either formant and
carry out, or unable to control.
• Example: In Sudan, hundreds of thousands have been killed, millions of people
displace, and the lives of many disrupted in a conflict that date back to early 2003.
The gov’t of Sudan and its military have been implicated in the conflict between
ethnic and tribal groups and the Sudanese government has been resistant to
outside interference in its internal affairs.

4. Global problems a single nation-state cannot hope to tackle on their own.

• Example: global financial crises – some nations like those in Southeast Asia have
often been, and are being, victimized by such crises. Unable to help themselves,
such nations are in need of assistance from some type of global governance.

Effects of Globalization to Governments

Government is one of the key aspects of state sovereignty. A government is a

group of people who have the ultimate authority to act on the behalf of a state. Each state
has its own right to self-determination and that other country should not intervene in the
affairs of that state unless there are extraordinary reasons to do so. Other countries must
recognize sovereignty or the right to govern one’s own territorial borders. Each state is
autonomous unto itself and responsible within its own system of government to those who
are governed. The decisions, the conflict, and the resolution of that conflict are done
through the institutions of government established and

A civil society within a state can also act as a counterweight or as supplement to

government. Civil society includes:

✓ private economy (i.e. innovators, entrepreneurs, activists),

✓ unions and other collective-bargaining groups
✓ cooperatives and collectives
✓ educational institutions,
✓ churches and other faith-based organizations,
✓ hospitals,
✓ fraternities and sororities,
✓ nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other nonprofits
✓ online groups and social media communities, and
✓ grassroots organizations.
More about the civil society is discussed below.

Four (4) challenges to the government and ultimately to state economy

1. Traditional Challenges – the three (3) challenges governments have experienced since then
are:
o External intervention in the autonomy of the state:
• Invasion by other countries – Ex: When Saddam Hussein was the ruler of Iraq in 1990, he
invaded Kuwait and took over its oil fields. As a result, he was dislodged by an
international coalition led by the United States.
• Intervening in the affairs of people – Ex: After the Soviet era, Ukraine became a sovereign
state but some people in Crimea (a place in Ukraine) wants to become part of Russia.
Russia intervenes with the people in Crimea then, Crimea declared its independence from
Ukraine and reaffiliated with Russia. Ukraine argues to have autonomy to determine the
case for Crimea. As a result, there is current conflict between Ukraine, not recognizing
Crimea’s sovereignty, and Russia, not recognizing Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea.
o Internal political challenges – Examples:
• In Egypt, a new constitution was created and a government was elected. That government
was more fundamentalist and rejected the notion of plural society that included religious
diversity. The military staged a coup that deposed the government in order to restore
stability.
• In Syria, the original rebellion against Assad came from the country’s own internal
dissenters who wanted to replace the government even though they were also Syrian
nationals.
o Regional organizations challenging state autonomy – Example: the United Nations intervened
in Sudan because of the several years of civil war. Another, European union interfered Greece
due to the Greek debt crisis.

2. Challenges from National/Identity Movements

• A nation has cultural identity that people attached to, while a state is a definite entity due
to its specific boundaries. But different people with different identities can live in different
states.
• Examples: the Kurds reside in several different countries including Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
The Catalans live primarily in Spain but we can also find some of them in France.at
• Global movements, such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, are other examples of national or identity
movements. In this case, they are structured around the fundamentalist version of Islam.

3. Global Economics
• Global economy demands the states to conform to the rules of free-market capitalism.
Government austerity comes from developments of organizations that cooperate across
countries such as WTO and regional agreements (e.g. NAFTA, EU, ASEAN).
 • Neoliberal economics or neoliberal capitalism that started in the 1980s focuses on free
trade and dismantling trade barriers. No restrictive regulations on corporations and free
flow of capital and jobs are imposed. Neoliberal economics requires a state to cooperate
in the global market through the free flow of capital, privatization of services, and fiscal
austerity or constraint.
• In turn, the government’s role is diminished as it relates to the market. Neoliberal
economics is seen as a threat, in general, because a state cannot protect its own economic
interest as a sovereign state.
• Examples:
✓ Use of IMF and World Bank in forcing government reform in poorer country.
✓ The regional economic development efforts focused on expanding free trade and market
liberalization. Businesses from developed countries put their factories and pay people to build
factories and produce goods in developing countries worldwide.
• Economic crises can force government to subscribe to the terms and conditions of the
global financial market and of other nations that can help them regain economic stability.

4. Global Social Movements

• Social movements – movements of people that are spontaneous or that emerge through
enormous grassroots organization. These social movements are transnational
governments which means they occur across countries and across borders. Thus, states
have less control over them.
• Examples of Social Movements:
• Human rights movements create a public sentiment, value and agenda. The idea is that
there are certain rights that states cannot neglect or generally, what we call human rights.
If a country decides that they are going to have a particular policy and if that policy
violates the international standard of human rights, there is a challenge to the ability of
states to fully implement it.
• Environmental movement is related to public policy – sample case is Blockadiaor the
state where social movements emerging in local areas fight back as a response to the
controlling efforts by the apparatus of gov’t to protect the interest of neoliberal
capitalists.
• Consensus on women’s rights – arguably the biggest conflict between the West and
fundamentalist Islam is over the role of women in society.
• Rights of personal autonomy – includes issues on homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and
gender equality.
• Increased role in international organizations (e.g. UN, UN International Criminal Court in
Hague), role of non-governmental organizations (e.g. Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty
International), and role of global media.

The Relevance of the State amid Globalization

State is a distinctive political community with its own set of rules and practices and that
is more or less separate from other communities. There are four (4) elements of a state:
1. people (permanent population),
2. territory (has clear boundaries),
3. government (regulates relations among its own people and with other states) and
4. sovereignty

o Difference bet. nation and state:

• Nation refers to a people rather than any kind of formal territorialboundaries and
institutions. It is a collective identity grounded on a notion of shared history and culture.
Ex: Philippines as a nation refer to our collective notion of democracy, our history and our
collective identity.
• Philippines as a state refer to the Philippine government, territory and itsinternal and
external sovereignty.
• Nation is a cultural concept while state is a political concept.
o Nation-state – a territorially bounded sovereign institution that governs individuals sharing a
collective history, identity, and culture.
o Some see that nation-states continue to be major players on the global stage –
that is, they retain at least some power in the face of globalization and that they vary greatly on
how they handle the globalization processes.
• Nation-states also have greater roles in addressing problems brought about by
globalization:
o terrorism,
o outsourcing and downsizing pressures,
o economic crisis by economic globalization,
o threats to national identity due to immigration, and
o spread of global diseases such as AIDs and COVID-19.

Institutions that Govern International Relations

A. Peace Treaties and Military Alliances: The UN and NATO
• Global politics entails relationships of countries and different governments and non-
governmental organizations.
• United Nations (UN) is one of the leasing political organizations in the world where nation-
states meet and deliberate. But it remains an independent actor in global politics. It was
established after WWII.
• UN functions in 4 areas: military issues, economic issues, environmental issues, and
human protection
• UN was designed to be a place where countries could come to discuss issues without
resorting to violence and war. Maintaining peace and building friendships is the no. one
goal of the UN, and providing a forum where countries could gather to discuss global
issues.
B. Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
• NGOs are not tied to any country, this allows them to operate freely throughout the
world. They provide emergency relief such as food, water, and medical supplies for those
whose homes or towns have been destroyed
by disaster or war.
- Examples:
- Red Cross (Red Crescent in Muslim countries) – they remain neutral and would help the
wounded from both sides of war. It is important that they remain neutral so gov’ts let
them come into their countries to help.
- Doctors Without Borders – provides free emergency healthcare in disaster areas.
- Oxfam – fights famine and disease
- Amnesty International – speaks out for human rights and political prisoners
- Save the Children – helps kids get health care and education.

C. Global Economic Associations: WTO and NAFTA

- WTO: made up of 162 countries around the world and was created with the goal of increasing
free trade.
• Countries under WTO can buy and sell goods from one another without placing taxes on
imports or tariffs. Tariffs are used to protect businesses and companies inside their
country.
• Criticism: they are more about helping large companies and corporations than about
helping people.
- NAFTA: an economic treaty between US, Canada and Mexico in which they trade freely without
taxing each other.
• Criticism: American autoworkers protest this because factories of automobiles moved to
Mexico where labor is cheaper.

Globalization and Globalism

Globalization is the “increase or decline in the degree of globalism”. While globalism

refers to the “network of connections that transcends distances of different countries in the
world.” The links among countries and people are better associated with globalism while the
speed in which they become linked with one another is globalization. These terms can also be
differentiated in terms of its “thickness.” Such that globalism is thin and as it becomes thicker,
globalization happens. This means that being able to connect countries in the world through a
more dynamic and faster way is globalization.

Global Citizenship

Citizenship is associated with rights and obligations – e.g. the right to vote and the
obligation to pay taxes. Both rights and obligations link the individual to the state. It has to do
with our attitudes. We need to be willing to engage and to spend time and effort to the
community of which we feel part of.
Global citizenship could be defined as “a moral and ethical disposition that canguide the
understanding of individuals or groups of local and global contexts, and remind them of their
relative responsibilities within various communities” (Van Peski as cited in Baraldi, 2012). Global
citizens are the glue that binds local communities together in an increasingly globalized world.
They might be the new type of people that can travel within these various boundaries and
somehow still make sense of the world.

Global citizenship today may be characterized by the growth of global civil society
movements. People join civil society groups as a way to create an impact to society and to help
solve the problems. Civil society is the part of society that was not the state but the
mercantile/capitalist class which worked for its private interests. It banded together to protect
itself from the power of the state. Examples of well-known civil society organizations are Red
Cross, Greenpeace, and World-Wide Fund for Nature.

Moreover, it is observed that civil society groups are coming together because of a deeper
awareness of the world’s problems on a national, regional or global scale. They do this to respond
to problems, whether they are directly affected by them or not. Furthermore, civil society
organizations are important for democracy because through them, human beings could stand
before the power of entities (like the state or the corporate bodies that control the market) that
tend by nature to be oppressive.
state, whether or not through elections.5.3
 Name: _________________________________________________Course/Yr/Sec: ___________________ Date: __________________

GE3 - The Contemporary World

Activity Sheet #2F

I. Answer the following questions in a brief manner (4-6 sentences only). Please be guided for the following rubric for essay.

1. Identify and explain the challenges of global governance in the twenty first century.

2. Create your own definition of global citizenship.

3. What impact do you think that globalization is having on governments?

Criteria 10 8 5 3
Focus and details There is one clear, There is one clear, There is one topic. The topic and
(10) well-focused well-focused Main ideas main ideas are
topic. Main ideas topic. Main ideas are somewhat not clear.
are are clear.
clear and are well clear but are not
supported by well
detailed and supported by
accurate detailed
information. information.
Name: _________________________________________________Course/Yr/Sec: ___________________ Date: __________________

GE3 - The Contemporary World

Activity Sheet #3F

I. Identify those institutions that govern international relations.

Institutions that Govern International Relations

Institution Functions
A.

B.

C.