d.Ult; 1c;~uu1 l.c;. JUl,,.,ll a ::')U alc;~y WUUlU ic;p1 c;;::,c;;ul a ~ua11-1 UI.,.,\' IClllVll 11 UJJJ llJI.,., .'.')Ul,,,..1.,.,1.,.,..')..

,J Ul

precedent set by the East Asian Tigers and then followed by China, India, and other
poor countries in their quest for economic development.
A WoRLD oF NATIONS IN THE
To support this aspiration of achieving economic developmenl through a com-
bination of externa! trade, aid, and investment, the African states simultaneously ERA OF GLOBALIZATION
adopted the strategy of the individual countries of Western Europe as they achieved
economic reconstruccion after World War II. Thc Organization of African Unily
(OAU) had been created in 1963 to promote the economic and eventual political
unity of the continent (see page 418). Recognizing both the indisputable benefits of
such integration and the failure of the OAU to make any significant progress toward
achieving it, the heads of state of the OAU issued a call in 1999 for the replace-
ment of their moribund organization with a new entity to be called the African
Union (AU). With much fanfare the AU was formally launched in 2002, with South
Africa's Mbeki serving as its first president. Comprising executive, legislative, and
judicial bodies loosely modeled on the European Union, the new organization also
At the end of the Cold War, scholars cagcrly searched for a nev- lahél ro designatc
assumed a security function, deploying peacekeeping missions to a number of coun-
the emerging international order that began to take shape in !he last decade of thc
tries on the continent, notably in the Darfur region of Sudan (see page 434). Like the
twentieth century. But we had become so accustomed lo !he charged atmosphcre or
EU the AU adopted a flag and an anthem as symbols of the gradual replacement of
aJobal conftict and crisis in which the two superpowcrs competed with onc another
national identity with citizenship in a continentwide supranational entity. But Iike
~cross the 2lobc that we could not imagine what to call thc ne\\ era that \\as upon
the EU, it is certain to experience many difficult challenges and a long period of us. The be~ we could manage was the unimaginative tille ''Post-Cold War Order ..
adjustment before it succeeds in fulfilling the goal articulated in the AU summit of Unable to define the ememin2 international system by identifying its ov- n salien1
2007 of creating a single continentwide market and a central political authority to features, we were reduced~ to~ contrasting it with the tumultuous period that had
govern a United States of Africa.
preceded it.
But in the closing years of the twentieth century, people hegan to notice a Cunda-
mental charactcristic about the new world order that had littlc to do wilh the Cold
War. It reflected a set of important trends that had heen swccping thc planet for
decades but somehow escaped the notice of ali but thc rnost insightful students or
the world scene. The term "2lobalization" rapidly achieved alml>st uni\ersal accep-
tance as the !abe! for the n~w era that began al thc opcning of the lasl dccade of
the twentieth century and continued wcll into thc century in \\hich wc no\\' live .
The definin2 characteristic of this new era was the growing powcr and importance
of a divers; set of nongovernmental international organizations lhal transcended
national boundaries and escaped the supervision of the political cntities thal had
dominated the history of international relations for thc past four hundred ) L'.ars. the
soverei on national statcs.
Som~ observers even went so far as to claim lhat the nation-statc was rapid I)
recedino in sürnificance. while these various nonstate actors acquircd powers ami
assumed resp;nsibilitics long monopolized by governmcnts. Aeeording to this anal-
ysis, the people of thc twenty-first century would incrcasingl) concei\c of lhcir
identity notas citizens of a particular nation but cither as mcmhas of th1s or Lhat
transnational entity oras citizens of the world community. Eithcr wa:y. thc organ1z-
ing principie that has pervaded this book-the sovereign state acting lo promotc
and protect its own vital interests as its governing elite defines them at a_ part1cu-_
lar time-may seem to sorne an increasingly irrelevant concept for the h 1slor:, ol

449
450 A World ofNations
international relations in the era of globalization. Sorne have even suggested that
the term '"international relations" itself has become anachronistic, since interactions
betwcen national political units no longer represent the most important part of the
story of how the world operates.
The Unfettered Flow of Information, Goods, and Money
Three profound developments in the last decade of the twentieth century and the
first decade of the twenty-first were primarily responsible for this trend that we call
globalization. The first was the revolution in inforrnation technology: Spectacular
innovations in fiberoptics and microchip technologies gave rise to a vast interactive
cornmunications network lhat made it at least theoretically possible for every person
on earth to have virtually instantaneous access to every olher person and for every-
one to read messages anywhere they are posted. The media through which such
information ftowed were the television set (with its efficienl infrastructure, the cable
and the satellite) and the computer (with its spectacular interactive tool; the Internet,
made available to the public in 1990). Perhaps the most revolutionary innovation in
communication has occurred in one of the oldest sectors of the communications
industry: The proliferation of cellular telephones in the first decade of the twenty-
first century revolutionized the way that the world's people could communicate with
eme another. Cell phones with cheap prepaid calling cards have found an eager mar-
ket in poor countries where landlines are primitive or nonexistent. The incorpora-
tion of still and video cameras in cell phone technology enabled an individual to
record an event and then transmit it to Internet sites for the entire world to see.
These new technologies undermined the ability of authoritarian governments to
manage the flow of inforrnation to their people and therefore posed a formidable
threat to the stability of those regimes. They also enhanced the ability of transna-
tional organizations of ali kinds to maintain contact with their members across the
globe and publicize their grievances and concerns to the entire world.
Governments took countermeasures to try to stern the ílow of information that
they regarded as a threat to their position. This attempt to stifte technological inno-
vations in information technology had begun in the early stages of the Cold War.
The Soviet Un ion jammed the broadcasts to Eastern bloc countries from Radio Free
Europe, Voice of America. the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other Western
information agencies. During the massacres in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in
1989. Chinese police screened ali incoming faxes from abroad to prevent reports
of the carnage from reaching the Chinese people. With thc advent of the Internet,
the Chinese government blocked e-mail messages and shut down websites that it
considered subversive. The governments of democratic countries have also utilized
communications technology to protect what they view as their vital interests. The
United States government regularly monitors telephone calls, faxes, and e-mail
messages from abroad in the interest of national security.
A second devdopment went hand in hand with the revolurion in information tech-
nology to accelerate the trend toward globalization: This was the liberalization of
Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globalization 4-51
Europe, Russia, and, eventually, China. The Internet togethcr with cable and satel-
lite television accorded advcrtisers access to consumers on a previously un imagina-
ble scale, creating a genuinely global market for the first time that operated beyond
the reach of governments. Multinational corporations increasingly dominated the
supply side of this world rnarket. producing and marketing their products without
regard to these firms' country of origin or its particular interests. Companies that
faced high labor costs or burdensomc environmental rcgulations in the developed
world shifted their factories to countries in the developing world whose destitute
citizens were willing to work for much lower wages or whose governmcnts had
little interest in enforcing costly environmental standards to combat industrial pol-
lution. In the financia! field, currency traders, mutual and pension funds, insurance
companies. and individual investors shifted their investments with the click of a
mouse from one nation to another in search of higher returns. This unprecedented
mobility of capital generated acute financia] instability in the countries from which
this "hot money" fled, causing wide fluctuations in interest rates (which hurt local
businesses and home buyers), currency values (which affected the cost of imports),
and employment opportunities (which hurt everybody). In this way, the impersonal
operation of the global market directly underrnined individual governments' ability
to manage tbeir economic affairs.
Toward a Global Culture or Americanization?
The declining significance of distance as a result of tcchnological innovation has
brought together people who had previously been isolated from one another. This
transnational cultural integration has led sorne observers to predict the end of the
distinctiveness of individual cultures and the advent of a ''global culture." As more
and more citizens of a particular society are exposeu to the beliefs and practices of
other societies, the argument goes, they are more 1ikely to aban don their traditional
ways and emulate those of thc rest of humanity. But what sorne have called an
emerging "global culture," others have called "thc Amcricanization of the world."
To describe the remarkable spread of American popular culture through film. televi-
sion, and electronic communications throughout the world. political scientists have
devised the concept of "soft power": According to this analysis, the worldºs only
remaining superpower strove to expand its influence in the world not only through
the traditional instruments of military force ("hard power''), but also through thc
use of advertising and publicity to persuade the populations of other countries to
embrace its values and instirutions as their own. Examples of this phenomenon
include the global proli fcration of American fashion (sneakers for the leet, blue
jeans for thc lcgs, s""eatshirts emblazoned with the names of U.S. universities for
the chest, thc baseball cap worn backward for thc head); consumptíon and lei-
sure activities (Coca Cola, McDonald's, Pizza Hut. Starbucks): and entertainment
(Hollywood fl.lms. tclcvision programs, Blockbuster Video, Disney theme parks.
hip hop, rap. and othcr musical trends). Even Lhe French, traditionally protective
of their cultural hcritage and resistant to American popular trends. jumped on Lhe
450 A World ofNations
international relations in the era of globalization. Sorne have even suggested that
the term '"international relations" itself has become anachronistic, since interactions
betwcen national political units no longer represent the most important part of the
story of how the world operates.
The Unfettered Flow of Information, Goods, and Money
Three profound developments in the last decade of the twentieth century and the
first decade of the twenty-first were primarily responsible for this trend that we call
globalization. The first was the revolution in inforrnation technology: Spectacular
innovations in fiberoptics and microchip technologies gave rise to a vast interactive
cornmunications network lhat made it at least theoretically possible for every person
on earth to have virtually instantaneous access to every olher person and for every-
one to read messages anywhere they are posted. The media through which such
information ftowed were the television set (with its efficienl infrastructure, the cable
and the satellite) and the computer (with its spectacular interactive tool; the Internet,
made available to the public in 1990). Perhaps the most revolutionary innovation in
communication has occurred in one of the oldest sectors of the communications
industry: The proliferation of cellular telephones in the first decade of the twenty-
first century revolutionized the way that the world's people could communicate with
eme another. Cell phones with cheap prepaid calling cards have found an eager mar-
ket in poor countries where landlines are primitive or nonexistent. The incorpora-
tion of still and video cameras in cell phone technology enabled an individual to
record an event and then transmit it to Internet sites for the entire world to see.
These new technologies undermined the ability of authoritarian governments to
manage the flow of inforrnation to their people and therefore posed a formidable
threat to the stability of those regimes. They also enhanced the ability of transna-
tional organizations of ali kinds to maintain contact with their members across the
globe and publicize their grievances and concerns to the entire world.
Governments took countermeasures to try to stern the ílow of information that
they regarded as a threat to their position. This attempt to stifte technological inno-
vations in information technology had begun in the early stages of the Cold War.
The Soviet Un ion jammed the broadcasts to Eastern bloc countries from Radio Free
Europe, Voice of America. the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other Western
information agencies. During the massacres in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in
1989. Chinese police screened ali incoming faxes from abroad to prevent reports
of the carnage from reaching the Chinese people. With thc advent of the Internet,
the Chinese government blocked e-mail messages and shut down websites that it
considered subversive. The governments of democratic countries have also utilized
communications technology to protect what they view as their vital interests. The
United States government regularly monitors telephone calls, faxes, and e-mail
messages from abroad in the interest of national security.
A second devdopment went hand in hand with the revolurion in information tech-
nology to accelerate the trend toward globalization: This was the liberalization of
Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globalization 4-51
Europe, Russia, and, eventually, China. The Internet togethcr with cable and satel-
lite television accorded advcrtisers access to consumers on a previously un imagina-
ble scale, creating a genuinely global market for the first time that operated beyond
the reach of governments. Multinational corporations increasingly dominated the
supply side of this world rnarket. producing and marketing their products without
regard to these firms' country of origin or its particular interests. Companies that
faced high labor costs or burdensomc environmental rcgulations in the developed
world shifted their factories to countries in the developing world whose destitute
citizens were willing to work for much lower wages or whose governmcnts had
little interest in enforcing costly environmental standards to combat industrial pol-
lution. In the financia! field, currency traders, mutual and pension funds, insurance
companies. and individual investors shifted their investments with the click of a
mouse from one nation to another in search of higher returns. This unprecedented
mobility of capital generated acute financia] instability in the countries from which
this "hot money" fled, causing wide fluctuations in interest rates (which hurt local
businesses and home buyers), currency values (which affected the cost of imports),
and employment opportunities (which hurt everybody). In this way, the impersonal
operation of the global market directly underrnined individual governments' ability
to manage tbeir economic affairs.
Toward a Global Culture or Americanization?
The declining significance of distance as a result of tcchnological innovation has
brought together people who had previously been isolated from one another. This
transnational cultural integration has led sorne observers to predict the end of the
distinctiveness of individual cultures and the advent of a ''global culture." As more
and more citizens of a particular society are exposeu to the beliefs and practices of
other societies, the argument goes, they are more 1ikely to aban don their traditional
ways and emulate those of thc rest of humanity. But what sorne have called an
emerging "global culture," others have called "thc Amcricanization of the world."
To describe the remarkable spread of American popular culture through film. televi-
sion, and electronic communications throughout the world. political scientists have
devised the concept of "soft power": According to this analysis, the worldºs only
remaining superpower strove to expand its influence in the world not only through
the traditional instruments of military force ("hard power''), but also through thc
use of advertising and publicity to persuade the populations of other countries to
embrace its values and instirutions as their own. Examples of this phenomenon
include the global proli fcration of American fashion (sneakers for the leet, blue
jeans for thc lcgs, s""eatshirts emblazoned with the names of U.S. universities for
the chest, thc baseball cap worn backward for thc head); consumptíon and lei-
sure activities (Coca Cola, McDonald's, Pizza Hut. Starbucks): and entertainment
(Hollywood fl.lms. tclcvision programs, Blockbuster Video, Disney theme parks.
hip hop, rap. and othcr musical trends). Even Lhe French, traditionally protective
of their cultural hcritage and resistant to American popular trends. jumped on Lhe
 A World of Nations
4-52
costumes to customers celebrating Halloween as though it were an indigenous fes-
tival. Students of popular culture have been quick to point out that the societies
appropriating such American cultural symbols do not slavishly adopt them but
rather transform them beyond recognition in the course of adapting them to local
circumstances. But the fact remains that the institutions and customs of a single
great power have exerted a powerful attraction on the populations (particularly the
youth) of the rest of the world.
The emergence of English as the lingua franca of business, science, diplomacy,
and entertainment also posed a formidable challenge to the cultural identity of many
societies. Even countries that sought to preserve the purity of their national tongue
found it difficult to prevent English words from creeping into their citizens' daily
expressions, giving rise to such terms as '·Franglais" in France and "Spanglish" in
Spain and Latin America. The universality of its language obviously afforded busi-
nesspeople, military personnel, scholars, and tourists from the United States a distinct
advantage in their interactions with the people across the globe. The lack of interest
in foreign languages exhibited by Americans was partly explained by the geographi-
cal isolation of the United States. But it also reflected the widespread realization
that an increasing number of people throughout the world learn English as a second
language or at least develop the capacity for rudimentary communication in it.
Health, Enviromental Protection, Human Rights,
and Peace: The lnfluence of lnternational
N ongovernmental Organizations
Sorne of the most vocal protests against this new threat to national sovereignty
were ironically mounted by international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs)
that also operated across national frontiers and employed such high-tech symbols of
globalization as the Internet and cell phones to publicize their grievances. INGOs
concerned about the threat to labor rights and environmental standards posed by
the relocation by multinational corporations to low-wage regions of the develop-
ing world orchestrated large-scale protests (such as those in Seattle in 1999 and
Genoa in 2001) during meetings of such preeminent agents of globalization as the
International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization.
An increasing number of INGOs emerged in the decades after World War lI to
promote humanitarian causes that were far down the list of priorities for national gov-
ernments, which concentrated on pursuing their own particular interests. Growmg
concern about the curse of world hunger spawned a succession of private organiza-
tions dedicated to the provision of food to regions of the world cursed with malnutri-
tion and starvation. The first of these was the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief
(OXFAM), originally established in Great Britain in 1942 to assist people impov-
erished by the destruction and dislocation wrought by World War II and later dedi-
cated to combating the scourge of hunger across the globc. It was followed by the
Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE), formed in 1945 to solicit
. .
and distribute donations of food. clothing, medicines, and other necessities to the
Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globali;;.ation 4-53
against Hunger, Africare, Food for the Hungry InternationaL and dozens of similar
humanitanan organizaiíons emerged in the 1970s to Jl'in the noble campaign.
The alleYiation of hunger was designed to adure ·s the most basic or human
needs. But as the many instances of political oppression recounted in this book
attest, human beings also suffered política! repression at the hands of their own
govcrnrneot. The des1rc to afford these peoplc a mea. un! of hwnanitarian support
gavc rise to anothcr cntegory of INGO ded1catcd to the newl:- tledared rrinciplé t)f
human rights. The horrible treatmenr oi ci> ilia ns dunng World War Il pmmpte<l the
Unitcd Nation General Assembly co approve m 19.t chi.: Univer-IBI Dedaration 1,r
Human Righ~. The declara11on codiñed for Lhe fir 't time a. et t r funclamt:n13l righl
enjoycd b. ali membe~ of the human racc. including the nght m life. libcrty. secu-
rity. frecdom or ~pccch. freedom of rehgion, cqualny bcfore thc }3\\., lhe prcsump-
li m of innoccm:c unúl provcn guilty m a fair tria!, ancl pn11cction ugamst arbirmry
arr L. dctcntion. Clr exile. ft was 1.mmed1atdy evident that thi ' wcepm,:, <leclaraul'D
dashed with anothc.r rundamcntal precepl of the world organizauon. lhe onc thar
shielded member states from externa! interference in their interna! affairs. How
could the United Nations honor its commitment to protect the rights of i ndividuals
without impinging on the sovereignty of the states in which they were citizens? This
conundrum prevented the international organization from enforcing the extensive
guarantees of human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.
To compen ate for the Unitecl Nations' inability to defend the human ri!!:hts ofind1-
viduals against their own g Yernment, severa! INGOs emerged on the ~orld sccne
to take up the cause. The first and most active of those was Amnesty International.
Founded in 1961 by a Communist sympathizer in Great Britain to promote a general
amnesry for mcmher'\ of the International Brigades who had been imprisone<l by
the anonalist turces of General Franci ·co Franco during the Spanish Civil War.
the organization soon branched out to mobilize world public opinion in defense of
ali people who had been incarcerated because of their political or religious beliefs.
Amnesty International eventually organized a worldwide network of sections that
dispatched observers to trials of political dissidents, assisted prisoners· families,
exposed instances of torture and prisoner abuse, and lobbied governments to honor
the provisions of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights. It was instrumental in
promoting the creation of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(l 993), the lnternational Criminal Court (2002), and other institutions committed to
the protection of people from the repressive policies of governments.
During the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). a group of French physicians who
volunteered to work with the French Red Cross in hospitals located in thc besieged
province of Biafra were appalled at the brutal treatment of civilians by both govern-
ment forces and the Biafran separatists. They also condemned what they viewed as
the passivity of the Red Cross-and therefore its complicity-in the horrible events
they witnessed. In 1971 they founded Médecins sans Frontil:res (Doctors Without
Borders), an inlernational nongovernmental organization of physicians committed
to assisting ali victims of war, civil war, and famine. regardless of nationality. Like
Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders not only provided assistancc to
 A World of Nations
4-52
costumes to customers celebrating Halloween as though it were an indigenous fes-
tival. Students of popular culture have been quick to point out that the societies
appropriating such American cultural symbols do not slavishly adopt them but
rather transform them beyond recognition in the course of adapting them to local
circumstances. But the fact remains that the institutions and customs of a single
great power have exerted a powerful attraction on the populations (particularly the
youth) of the rest of the world.
The emergence of English as the lingua franca of business, science, diplomacy,
and entertainment also posed a formidable challenge to the cultural identity of many
societies. Even countries that sought to preserve the purity of their national tongue
found it difficult to prevent English words from creeping into their citizens' daily
expressions, giving rise to such terms as '·Franglais" in France and "Spanglish" in
Spain and Latin America. The universality of its language obviously afforded busi-
nesspeople, military personnel, scholars, and tourists from the United States a distinct
advantage in their interactions with the people across the globe. The lack of interest
in foreign languages exhibited by Americans was partly explained by the geographi-
cal isolation of the United States. But it also reflected the widespread realization
that an increasing number of people throughout the world learn English as a second
language or at least develop the capacity for rudimentary communication in it.
Health, Enviromental Protection, Human Rights,
and Peace: The lnfluence of lnternational
N ongovernmental Organizations
Sorne of the most vocal protests against this new threat to national sovereignty
were ironically mounted by international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs)
that also operated across national frontiers and employed such high-tech symbols of
globalization as the Internet and cell phones to publicize their grievances. INGOs
concerned about the threat to labor rights and environmental standards posed by
the relocation by multinational corporations to low-wage regions of the develop-
ing world orchestrated large-scale protests (such as those in Seattle in 1999 and
Genoa in 2001) during meetings of such preeminent agents of globalization as the
International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization.
An increasing number of INGOs emerged in the decades after World War lI to
promote humanitarian causes that were far down the list of priorities for national gov-
ernments, which concentrated on pursuing their own particular interests. Growmg
concern about the curse of world hunger spawned a succession of private organiza-
tions dedicated to the provision of food to regions of the world cursed with malnutri-
tion and starvation. The first of these was the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief
(OXFAM), originally established in Great Britain in 1942 to assist people impov-
erished by the destruction and dislocation wrought by World War II and later dedi-
cated to combating the scourge of hunger across the globc. It was followed by the
Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE), formed in 1945 to solicit
. .
and distribute donations of food. clothing, medicines, and other necessities to the
Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globali;;.ation 4-53
against Hunger, Africare, Food for the Hungry InternationaL and dozens of similar
humanitanan organizaiíons emerged in the 1970s to Jl'in the noble campaign.
The alleYiation of hunger was designed to adure ·s the most basic or human
needs. But as the many instances of political oppression recounted in this book
attest, human beings also suffered política! repression at the hands of their own
govcrnrneot. The des1rc to afford these peoplc a mea. un! of hwnanitarian support
gavc rise to anothcr cntegory of INGO ded1catcd to the newl:- tledared rrinciplé t)f
human rights. The horrible treatmenr oi ci> ilia ns dunng World War Il pmmpte<l the
Unitcd Nation General Assembly co approve m 19.t chi.: Univer-IBI Dedaration 1,r
Human Righ~. The declara11on codiñed for Lhe fir 't time a. et t r funclamt:n13l righl
enjoycd b. ali membe~ of the human racc. including the nght m life. libcrty. secu-
rity. frecdom or ~pccch. freedom of rehgion, cqualny bcfore thc }3\\., lhe prcsump-
li m of innoccm:c unúl provcn guilty m a fair tria!, ancl pn11cction ugamst arbirmry
arr L. dctcntion. Clr exile. ft was 1.mmed1atdy evident that thi ' wcepm,:, <leclaraul'D
dashed with anothc.r rundamcntal precepl of the world organizauon. lhe onc thar
shielded member states from externa! interference in their interna! affairs. How
could the United Nations honor its commitment to protect the rights of i ndividuals
without impinging on the sovereignty of the states in which they were citizens? This
conundrum prevented the international organization from enforcing the extensive
guarantees of human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.
To compen ate for the Unitecl Nations' inability to defend the human ri!!:hts ofind1-
viduals against their own g Yernment, severa! INGOs emerged on the ~orld sccne
to take up the cause. The first and most active of those was Amnesty International.
Founded in 1961 by a Communist sympathizer in Great Britain to promote a general
amnesry for mcmher'\ of the International Brigades who had been imprisone<l by
the anonalist turces of General Franci ·co Franco during the Spanish Civil War.
the organization soon branched out to mobilize world public opinion in defense of
ali people who had been incarcerated because of their political or religious beliefs.
Amnesty International eventually organized a worldwide network of sections that
dispatched observers to trials of political dissidents, assisted prisoners· families,
exposed instances of torture and prisoner abuse, and lobbied governments to honor
the provisions of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights. It was instrumental in
promoting the creation of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(l 993), the lnternational Criminal Court (2002), and other institutions committed to
the protection of people from the repressive policies of governments.
During the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). a group of French physicians who
volunteered to work with the French Red Cross in hospitals located in thc besieged
province of Biafra were appalled at the brutal treatment of civilians by both govern-
ment forces and the Biafran separatists. They also condemned what they viewed as
the passivity of the Red Cross-and therefore its complicity-in the horrible events
they witnessed. In 1971 they founded Médecins sans Frontil:res (Doctors Without
Borders), an inlernational nongovernmental organization of physicians committed
to assisting ali victims of war, civil war, and famine. regardless of nationality. Like
Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders not only provided assistancc to
4-54 A World of Nations
At"ter the inclusion of a clause guaranteeing human rights in the Helsinki
Declaration of 1975 (see page 120), a new nongovernmental organization known
as Helsinki Watch was formed three years later to monitor the Communist bloc's
compliance with its provisions. After receiving complaints from dissidents behind
the Iron Curtain, it puhlicly criticized the Soviet government for violations of the
Helsinki Declaration as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Soon
the organization was forming "watch committees'' to investigate human rights
abuses in other parts of the world. In 1988 these were amalgamated to form the
umhrella organization Human Rights Watch. The organization issued annual reports
grading the nations of the world according to their respect for freedom of press,
speech, assembly, religion, and other basic human rights. Human Rights Watch later
expanded its list of abuses to be monitored to include child labor. child soldiers.
torture, extrajudicial killings, and trafficking in wornen.
Another category of INGOs appeared on the world scene to address threats to
the natural environment posed by unregulated economic development. Originally
inspired by Rache) Carson's bestseller Silent Spríng (1962), which bemoaned the
environmental consequences of the increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesti-
cides to expand agricultura] productivity, these groups set out to combat the increas-
ing threat to the Earth's Iand, waterways, and atmosphere caused by human activity.
Greenpeacc, the Sierra Club. Friends of the Earth, and other environmentalist
INGOs pressured national governments into passing antipollution Iegislation and
lobbied the United Nations to take the lead in setting intcrnational standards for
environmental protection. This agitation finally bore fruit in 1972. The UN spon-
sored the first International Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.
which produced alarming reports by scientists tracing the deterioration of the global
environment. At a follow-up UN conference in 1992 in Río de Janeiro, popularly
known as the ·'Earth Summit," environmentalist INGOs focused the world's atten-
tion on the devastation of the rain forests and the pollution of the world's waterways
and demanded that national governments take remedia! action.
The most controversia] topic addressed at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 was
..global warming," the discovery by scientists that the average temperature of the
Earth's atmosphere and oceans has been rising at an unusually fast rate since the
end of World War IL Environmentalist INGOs at the Rio conference warned that
this increase in global temperatures was likely to result in a number of environ-
mental disasters, including the melting of glaciers and the resulting rise in sea
levels, extreme weathcr conditions, and the extinction of endangered animal spe-
cies. They cited scienrific evidence demonstrating that the principal cause of this
climate change was emissions from fossil fuels used in industry, agriculture, and
transportation, which added to the natural concentration of carbon dioxide, nitrous
oxide, methane. and other "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere. In response to
these concerns, an international conference hcld in the Japanese city of Kyoto in
1997 approved a protocol toan agreement on climate change that had been previ-
ously drafted by the United Nations General Assembly and approved by the Rio
Earth Surnmit. In what carne to be known as the Kyoto Protocol, thirty-seven ofthe
Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globalization 1- -
-,-:¡:¡
After most of the industrialized nations ratitied the Kyoto Protocol. the Bush
administration in Washington rejected it on the grounds that its stringent environ-
mental restrictions would hamper American econornic growth, and because the
exemption of developing countries from the emissions limits would unfairly beneht
emerging economic rivals such as China and India. Without the participation of the
world's largest producer of manmade greenhouse gases and of rapidly industrial-
izing (and therefore polluting) countries such as China and India, the first interna-
tional agreement to protect the global environment was hardly a major breakthrough
in environmental protection. But when it finally took effect in 2005 after its ratifica-
tion by the Russian Federation, the Kyoto Protocol became an impressive symbol of
the new power of environmentalist INGOs to promote thcir objective of saving the
Earth from the consequences of human activity. At the end of 2007 delegates from
more than 180 nations attended a UN Framework Conference for Climate Change
on the Indonesian island of Bali to launch discussions on how to replace the Kyoto
Protocol when it expires in 2012.
In addition to the alleviation of hunger, the promotion of human rights, and the
protection of the environment, a number of international nongovernmental orga-
nizations emerged in the years after 1945 to agitare for the prevention of war.
Horrified by the lethal and destructive results of World War IL a group of ideal-
ists in Western countries formed the United World Federalists in 1947 to push for
what they regarded as the only effective guarantee that another such tragedy would
never happen again: thc creation of a world government. In thc face of the new
threat of nuclear annihilation, another group of INGOs meeting in Hiroshima in
1955 demanded the total abolition of nuclear weapons. Two years later the Pugwash
Conference on Science and World Affairs, which was attended by scientists from
both the West and the Communist world. reiterated the demand for total nuclear dis-
armament and formed an international movement to lobby the governmcnts of the
nuclear powers to destroy their existing stockpiles and refrain from producing new
ones. Soon a number of organizations, such as the National Comm ittce for a Sane
Nuclear Policy (SANE) and Women Strike for Peace, emerged in the United States
to join this worldwide campaign for nuclear disarmament and world peace.
As its title implies, the international nongovernmenta\ organization Greenpcace
cmbraced both the environmentalist and the antiwar agenda. Founded in Vancouver.
Canada, in 1970 by Canadian and expatriate Americans, it dispatched a fishing boat
to one of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska in an abortive attempt to pre\ent a U.S.
underground nuclear test there. Two years later one of the organization's vessels
sailed to the Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia to disrupt a planned atmospheric
nuclear test. In 1985, four Greenpeace ships returned to Mururoa in another protest
against French nuclear testing. On direct orders from the French presiden!, French
intelligence agents secretly bombed and sank one of ships docked in Auckland, New
Zealand, the Rainbow Warrior. killing a Dutch photographer on board. The result-
ing firestorm of protest publicized the cause of nuclear disarmament and solidified
the reputation of Greenpeace as a daring proponent of peace and defender of the
environment. The organization later cxpanded its activities to mount widely puhli-
4-54 A World of Nations
At"ter the inclusion of a clause guaranteeing human rights in the Helsinki
Declaration of 1975 (see page 120), a new nongovernmental organization known
as Helsinki Watch was formed three years later to monitor the Communist bloc's
compliance with its provisions. After receiving complaints from dissidents behind
the Iron Curtain, it puhlicly criticized the Soviet government for violations of the
Helsinki Declaration as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Soon
the organization was forming "watch committees'' to investigate human rights
abuses in other parts of the world. In 1988 these were amalgamated to form the
umhrella organization Human Rights Watch. The organization issued annual reports
grading the nations of the world according to their respect for freedom of press,
speech, assembly, religion, and other basic human rights. Human Rights Watch later
expanded its list of abuses to be monitored to include child labor. child soldiers.
torture, extrajudicial killings, and trafficking in wornen.
Another category of INGOs appeared on the world scene to address threats to
the natural environment posed by unregulated economic development. Originally
inspired by Rache) Carson's bestseller Silent Spríng (1962), which bemoaned the
environmental consequences of the increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesti-
cides to expand agricultura] productivity, these groups set out to combat the increas-
ing threat to the Earth's Iand, waterways, and atmosphere caused by human activity.
Greenpeacc, the Sierra Club. Friends of the Earth, and other environmentalist
INGOs pressured national governments into passing antipollution Iegislation and
lobbied the United Nations to take the lead in setting intcrnational standards for
environmental protection. This agitation finally bore fruit in 1972. The UN spon-
sored the first International Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.
which produced alarming reports by scientists tracing the deterioration of the global
environment. At a follow-up UN conference in 1992 in Río de Janeiro, popularly
known as the ·'Earth Summit," environmentalist INGOs focused the world's atten-
tion on the devastation of the rain forests and the pollution of the world's waterways
and demanded that national governments take remedia! action.
The most controversia] topic addressed at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 was
..global warming," the discovery by scientists that the average temperature of the
Earth's atmosphere and oceans has been rising at an unusually fast rate since the
end of World War IL Environmentalist INGOs at the Rio conference warned that
this increase in global temperatures was likely to result in a number of environ-
mental disasters, including the melting of glaciers and the resulting rise in sea
levels, extreme weathcr conditions, and the extinction of endangered animal spe-
cies. They cited scienrific evidence demonstrating that the principal cause of this
climate change was emissions from fossil fuels used in industry, agriculture, and
transportation, which added to the natural concentration of carbon dioxide, nitrous
oxide, methane. and other "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere. In response to
these concerns, an international conference hcld in the Japanese city of Kyoto in
1997 approved a protocol toan agreement on climate change that had been previ-
ously drafted by the United Nations General Assembly and approved by the Rio
Earth Surnmit. In what carne to be known as the Kyoto Protocol, thirty-seven ofthe
Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globalization 1- -
-,-:¡:¡
After most of the industrialized nations ratitied the Kyoto Protocol. the Bush
administration in Washington rejected it on the grounds that its stringent environ-
mental restrictions would hamper American econornic growth, and because the
exemption of developing countries from the emissions limits would unfairly beneht
emerging economic rivals such as China and India. Without the participation of the
world's largest producer of manmade greenhouse gases and of rapidly industrial-
izing (and therefore polluting) countries such as China and India, the first interna-
tional agreement to protect the global environment was hardly a major breakthrough
in environmental protection. But when it finally took effect in 2005 after its ratifica-
tion by the Russian Federation, the Kyoto Protocol became an impressive symbol of
the new power of environmentalist INGOs to promote thcir objective of saving the
Earth from the consequences of human activity. At the end of 2007 delegates from
more than 180 nations attended a UN Framework Conference for Climate Change
on the Indonesian island of Bali to launch discussions on how to replace the Kyoto
Protocol when it expires in 2012.
In addition to the alleviation of hunger, the promotion of human rights, and the
protection of the environment, a number of international nongovernmental orga-
nizations emerged in the years after 1945 to agitare for the prevention of war.
Horrified by the lethal and destructive results of World War IL a group of ideal-
ists in Western countries formed the United World Federalists in 1947 to push for
what they regarded as the only effective guarantee that another such tragedy would
never happen again: thc creation of a world government. In thc face of the new
threat of nuclear annihilation, another group of INGOs meeting in Hiroshima in
1955 demanded the total abolition of nuclear weapons. Two years later the Pugwash
Conference on Science and World Affairs, which was attended by scientists from
both the West and the Communist world. reiterated the demand for total nuclear dis-
armament and formed an international movement to lobby the governmcnts of the
nuclear powers to destroy their existing stockpiles and refrain from producing new
ones. Soon a number of organizations, such as the National Comm ittce for a Sane
Nuclear Policy (SANE) and Women Strike for Peace, emerged in the United States
to join this worldwide campaign for nuclear disarmament and world peace.
As its title implies, the international nongovernmenta\ organization Greenpcace
cmbraced both the environmentalist and the antiwar agenda. Founded in Vancouver.
Canada, in 1970 by Canadian and expatriate Americans, it dispatched a fishing boat
to one of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska in an abortive attempt to pre\ent a U.S.
underground nuclear test there. Two years later one of the organization's vessels
sailed to the Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia to disrupt a planned atmospheric
nuclear test. In 1985, four Greenpeace ships returned to Mururoa in another protest
against French nuclear testing. On direct orders from the French presiden!, French
intelligence agents secretly bombed and sank one of ships docked in Auckland, New
Zealand, the Rainbow Warrior. killing a Dutch photographer on board. The result-
ing firestorm of protest publicized the cause of nuclear disarmament and solidified
the reputation of Greenpeace as a daring proponent of peace and defender of the
environment. The organization later cxpanded its activities to mount widely puhli-
 A World ofNations
The humanitarian activities of international nongovernmental organizations
since World War II have left a mixed record of successes and failures. On the posi-
tive side, the campaigns waged by INGOs against hunger and on behalf of the envi-
ronment and human rights have had a significant impact on public policy in many
countries of the world. This is not to suggest that starvation and malnutrition have
been eradicated, the ecological threat has vanished, and violations of human rights
have come to an end. But governments that had long been accustomed to acting
without reference to world opinion have been obliged to contend with the public
pressure brought to bear on them by groups such as those mentioned in this chap-
ter. The revolution in communications technology discussed eariier has empowered
such organizations to identífy and publicize problems to be addressed. The willing-
ness of an increasing number of governments to work through intergovernmental
organizations such as the United Nations and its various agencies to address them
is testimony to the persistence and effectiveness of private citizens banding together
to protect the Earth and the people who inhabit it. On the negative side, the INGOs
that have promoted the cause of world peace and disarmament have fallen far short
of their objectives. The proliferation of nuclear weapons and the many conventional
armed confticts during the period covered in this book dashed the hopes of those
prívate organizations that worked for a world based on international cooperation
and conciliation.
Terroris:m as a Response to Globalization
The integration of capital, technology, information, and culture across national bor-
ders that has acquired the Jabel "globalization" did not transpire without provok-
ing a powerful and increasingly violent backlash from those who felt threatened
by these new trends. The most spectacular consequence of the backlash against
globalization was a succession of acts of terrorism mounted by transnational move-
ments in the developing world that were dedicated to a fundamentalist brand of
Islam. On February 26, 1993, an Islamic terrorist group headed by Ramzi Yousef
masterminded a car bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City that
killed six people and injured more than one thousand. The attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. by operatives of Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda organization based in Afghanistan provoked a worldwide anti-
terrorist campaign by the Bush administration against al-Qaeda and the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan that hosted it (see page 343). In videotaped remarks Bin
Laden defended his organization's attacks against American assets as a justifiable
response to Washington's support for Israel against the Palestinians and the blas-
phemous presence of American military forces in Saudí Arabia near the Muslim
holy sites of Mecca and Medina. But the Islamic fundamentalists' violent campaign
against the United States also represented a much broader protest against the mod-
ernizing trends associated with globalization. The secular, libertarían, freewheeling
style of Western societies that was portrayed by the world's mass media clashed
dircctly with the strict codes of dress, speech, behavior, and gender relations that
Epilogue: A World ofNations in the Era of Globali;;.ation 457
Wcst that wcrc spreading throughoul the world as part of the proccss of globaliza-
tion. The go\crnments of thc.: l,;lam1c world were incapable of lcading such a cam-
paign, since most of them were controlled by political elites that were miliLarily and
economically dependent on the West. It therefore t'ell to transnational organizations
such as al-Qaeda to mount the counteroffensive against the corrupting intlucnces
of Western ways. Since they lacked the con\·cntional milllUI} fc irces and cquip-
ment of a sovcreign state, it was argucd, they had to rely on tc1To n~m to attain their
objectives.
The tran. nati~innl appcal of a militant political Islam, with 1.3 billion poten-
tial belicvers sprct:id ácm dozens of countries from Morocco to Indonesia. was
strengthened by the desperate economic conditions in most of those socicties. The
predominantly Muslim countries of North Africa, the Middlc East, and South Asia
had not benefited from the export-driven economic development that had improved
the living standards of many other developing countries in East Asia and Latin
America in the last two decades of the twentieth century. This failure to participatc
in the worldwide trend of economic growth produced a group of alienated, under-
employed young men for whom a fundamentalist brand of religious faith provided
consolation and for sorne of whom the promise of martyrdom in the struggle against
the infidels in the West meant salvation in the next life. In this way militant Islam
became the most formidable obstacle to the process of globalization that many
observcrs had identified as the ineluctable wave of the future afler the Cold War
carne toan end. Time will tell whether the twcnty-first ccntury will be dominated
by what one political scicntist has called "the clash of civilizations" and another
has called "McWorld vs. Jihad'': a global conftict pitting an American-led group
of democratic, secular, capitalist consumer societies committed to modernization
against a fundamentalist Islamic world of hierarchical. theocratic societies dedi-
cated to prcserving their traditional way of life against the threat of modernity.
The Persistence of National ldentity
and the Power of the Nation-State
There has been much discussion in the course of the last decadc about the emergence
of a "global community" amida ·'world without bordcrs" in which sovereign states
and their control of military forces and economic resources will no longer he impor-
tant. According to this school of thought, regional economic and political unions;
transnational corporations, banks, social, political, and religious movemcnts: drug
cartels: organized crime m:tworks: terrorist groups; and nongo\ernmental organiza-
Lions are rcplacing nation-stalc:s as the significant actors on the world stage. All of
the major issues that confront thc world of the twenty-first century. such as arms
control, the degra<lation of the cnvironment, terrorism. narcotics trafficking. war
crimes. the spread of infect ious diseascs such as AIDS, human rights, and so on.
have global consequences and therefore require global solutions.
But an enduring challenge to this new vision of globalism and international coop-
eration has emerged in thc forcign policy of the world's only remaining superplmer.
 A World ofNations
The humanitarian activities of international nongovernmental organizations
since World War II have left a mixed record of successes and failures. On the posi-
tive side, the campaigns waged by INGOs against hunger and on behalf of the envi-
ronment and human rights have had a significant impact on public policy in many
countries of the world. This is not to suggest that starvation and malnutrition have
been eradicated, the ecological threat has vanished, and violations of human rights
have come to an end. But governments that had long been accustomed to acting
without reference to world opinion have been obliged to contend with the public
pressure brought to bear on them by groups such as those mentioned in this chap-
ter. The revolution in communications technology discussed eariier has empowered
such organizations to identífy and publicize problems to be addressed. The willing-
ness of an increasing number of governments to work through intergovernmental
organizations such as the United Nations and its various agencies to address them
is testimony to the persistence and effectiveness of private citizens banding together
to protect the Earth and the people who inhabit it. On the negative side, the INGOs
that have promoted the cause of world peace and disarmament have fallen far short
of their objectives. The proliferation of nuclear weapons and the many conventional
armed confticts during the period covered in this book dashed the hopes of those
prívate organizations that worked for a world based on international cooperation
and conciliation.
Terroris:m as a Response to Globalization
The integration of capital, technology, information, and culture across national bor-
ders that has acquired the Jabel "globalization" did not transpire without provok-
ing a powerful and increasingly violent backlash from those who felt threatened
by these new trends. The most spectacular consequence of the backlash against
globalization was a succession of acts of terrorism mounted by transnational move-
ments in the developing world that were dedicated to a fundamentalist brand of
Islam. On February 26, 1993, an Islamic terrorist group headed by Ramzi Yousef
masterminded a car bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City that
killed six people and injured more than one thousand. The attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. by operatives of Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda organization based in Afghanistan provoked a worldwide anti-
terrorist campaign by the Bush administration against al-Qaeda and the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan that hosted it (see page 343). In videotaped remarks Bin
Laden defended his organization's attacks against American assets as a justifiable
response to Washington's support for Israel against the Palestinians and the blas-
phemous presence of American military forces in Saudí Arabia near the Muslim
holy sites of Mecca and Medina. But the Islamic fundamentalists' violent campaign
against the United States also represented a much broader protest against the mod-
ernizing trends associated with globalization. The secular, libertarían, freewheeling
style of Western societies that was portrayed by the world's mass media clashed
dircctly with the strict codes of dress, speech, behavior, and gender relations that
Epilogue: A World ofNations in the Era of Globali;;.ation 457
Wcst that wcrc spreading throughoul the world as part of the proccss of globaliza-
tion. The go\crnments of thc.: l,;lam1c world were incapable of lcading such a cam-
paign, since most of them were controlled by political elites that were miliLarily and
economically dependent on the West. It therefore t'ell to transnational organizations
such as al-Qaeda to mount the counteroffensive against the corrupting intlucnces
of Western ways. Since they lacked the con\·cntional milllUI} fc irces and cquip-
ment of a sovcreign state, it was argucd, they had to rely on tc1To n~m to attain their
objectives.
The tran. nati~innl appcal of a militant political Islam, with 1.3 billion poten-
tial belicvers sprct:id ácm dozens of countries from Morocco to Indonesia. was
strengthened by the desperate economic conditions in most of those socicties. The
predominantly Muslim countries of North Africa, the Middlc East, and South Asia
had not benefited from the export-driven economic development that had improved
the living standards of many other developing countries in East Asia and Latin
America in the last two decades of the twentieth century. This failure to participatc
in the worldwide trend of economic growth produced a group of alienated, under-
employed young men for whom a fundamentalist brand of religious faith provided
consolation and for sorne of whom the promise of martyrdom in the struggle against
the infidels in the West meant salvation in the next life. In this way militant Islam
became the most formidable obstacle to the process of globalization that many
observcrs had identified as the ineluctable wave of the future afler the Cold War
carne toan end. Time will tell whether the twcnty-first ccntury will be dominated
by what one political scicntist has called "the clash of civilizations" and another
has called "McWorld vs. Jihad'': a global conftict pitting an American-led group
of democratic, secular, capitalist consumer societies committed to modernization
against a fundamentalist Islamic world of hierarchical. theocratic societies dedi-
cated to prcserving their traditional way of life against the threat of modernity.
The Persistence of National ldentity
and the Power of the Nation-State
There has been much discussion in the course of the last decadc about the emergence
of a "global community" amida ·'world without bordcrs" in which sovereign states
and their control of military forces and economic resources will no longer he impor-
tant. According to this school of thought, regional economic and political unions;
transnational corporations, banks, social, political, and religious movemcnts: drug
cartels: organized crime m:tworks: terrorist groups; and nongo\ernmental organiza-
Lions are rcplacing nation-stalc:s as the significant actors on the world stage. All of
the major issues that confront thc world of the twenty-first century. such as arms
control, the degra<lation of the cnvironment, terrorism. narcotics trafficking. war
crimes. the spread of infect ious diseascs such as AIDS, human rights, and so on.
have global consequences and therefore require global solutions.
But an enduring challenge to this new vision of globalism and international coop-
eration has emerged in thc forcign policy of the world's only remaining superplmer.
 A World ofNations Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globa/i;:_ation 4-59

resisted restrictions on its freedom of action codified in international agreements.

The American public' re,·crt:m:e for the U.S. constitu11on and legal y ·tcm hud long
in. pi red an attiLUdc 0f American exceptionalism, wh1ch rejected thc au th()rity of
imemationaJ Nganizar.ion thal lack accountability ur trustwonhy tn Lrumenl. ol
enforcement. The attacks on the United States on September ! l. 2001. reinforced this
preoccupation with the interests of thc nation and the security of its citizens. The war
on international terrorism would be waged not by the United Nations or sorne other
intemational entiL~ but rather h) the United Stares, acting on H. own. Durin: the fir r
decade of the rwenty-fir t ..:emw:, the United. tates l:Onti nucd to pursue an indcpen-
dcnt. unilateral course in worl<l affairs in de.fen e of it. \-ilal natmna! inwn::. l ". raU1er
than becoming tbe fi t hr.:gemoni world power in history to subordinate its foreign
policy to the requ1rement ' (l f a g) bal Ct1mmunity as defined by inlernational organi-
zauons and codified b) interna1ional l::iw.
At the end of World War II, when the period covered by this hook hegins, the
ne\ ly establi hed United Nations organizarion consisted of tlíty-one 'overeign
states. It now has become 192. This quadrupling of the membership of the United
Nations since its creation was. as we have scen, largely a resull of the decline of the
European colonial empires and the disintegration of the Soviet Un ion. This prolif-
eration of sovereign political entities in the world since 1945 and its con~t!quences
for the international order form the underlying theme of this book. It ffill) seem
intolerably old-fashioned to the theorists of globalization to focus on nation-states
pursuing v.hat their ruling elites deem to be their vital interests as the dominant
force in world affairs. It may also seem passé to dwell on the persistence of national
identity and national selt~consciousness in an era of emerging supranational orga-
nizations and institutions. But íf the developments across the globc since the cnd of
World War II that are chronicled in this volume yield a lesson worth pondering. it is
surely that (to paraphrase Mark Twai n) the reports of the dem isc of the nation-statc
are premature.

Osoma bin Laden (1957--): The son of a wealt1!J Saudi building contractor ond his tenth wife,
Osoma bin Laden founded the organization al-Qaeda in the ear!J 19 9 Os to i.cage jihad (ho!J war)
against "infidel .. countries that had stationed their military forces in ,\foslim ~ands. After the Gulf
War of 1991. the retention of American troops in Saudi Arabia neor Islam s two ho1.'est siles .ºÍ
Mecca and Medina prompted him to mount terrorist operations againsl American emboss1es in Afnca
in 1998 andan .4merican naval vessel in remen in 2000. From his base in Afghonistan, ruled
1!;• the fundamentalist Islamic movement the Ta/iban, bin Laden mastcrminded the attocks against
the V•/orld Trade Center in New lork Ci!J ond the Pentagon on September 1 J. 2001. (Associated
Prcss)

deemed to be at stake. This vision led the United States to withhold its support for a
wide range of international agreements that were accepted by most other nations of
the world but considered incompatible with U.S. security or economic objectives: the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Land Mines Convention, the Biological Weapons
Convention, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile
 A World ofNations Epilogue: A World of Nations in the Era of Globa/i;:_ation 4-59

resisted restrictions on its freedom of action codified in international agreements.

The American public' re,·crt:m:e for the U.S. constitu11on and legal y ·tcm hud long
in. pi red an attiLUdc 0f American exceptionalism, wh1ch rejected thc au th()rity of
imemationaJ Nganizar.ion thal lack accountability ur trustwonhy tn Lrumenl. ol
enforcement. The attacks on the United States on September ! l. 2001. reinforced this
preoccupation with the interests of thc nation and the security of its citizens. The war
on international terrorism would be waged not by the United Nations or sorne other
intemational entiL~ but rather h) the United Stares, acting on H. own. Durin: the fir r
decade of the rwenty-fir t ..:emw:, the United. tates l:Onti nucd to pursue an indcpen-
dcnt. unilateral course in worl<l affairs in de.fen e of it. \-ilal natmna! inwn::. l ". raU1er
than becoming tbe fi t hr.:gemoni world power in history to subordinate its foreign
policy to the requ1rement ' (l f a g) bal Ct1mmunity as defined by inlernational organi-
zauons and codified b) interna1ional l::iw.
At the end of World War II, when the period covered by this hook hegins, the
ne\ ly establi hed United Nations organizarion consisted of tlíty-one 'overeign
states. It now has become 192. This quadrupling of the membership of the United
Nations since its creation was. as we have scen, largely a resull of the decline of the
European colonial empires and the disintegration of the Soviet Un ion. This prolif-
eration of sovereign political entities in the world since 1945 and its con~t!quences
for the international order form the underlying theme of this book. It ffill) seem
intolerably old-fashioned to the theorists of globalization to focus on nation-states
pursuing v.hat their ruling elites deem to be their vital interests as the dominant
force in world affairs. It may also seem passé to dwell on the persistence of national
identity and national selt~consciousness in an era of emerging supranational orga-
nizations and institutions. But íf the developments across the globc since the cnd of
World War II that are chronicled in this volume yield a lesson worth pondering. it is
surely that (to paraphrase Mark Twai n) the reports of the dem isc of the nation-statc
are premature.

Osoma bin Laden (1957--): The son of a wealt1!J Saudi building contractor ond his tenth wife,
Osoma bin Laden founded the organization al-Qaeda in the ear!J 19 9 Os to i.cage jihad (ho!J war)
against "infidel .. countries that had stationed their military forces in ,\foslim ~ands. After the Gulf
War of 1991. the retention of American troops in Saudi Arabia neor Islam s two ho1.'est siles .ºÍ
Mecca and Medina prompted him to mount terrorist operations againsl American emboss1es in Afnca
in 1998 andan .4merican naval vessel in remen in 2000. From his base in Afghonistan, ruled
1!;• the fundamentalist Islamic movement the Ta/iban, bin Laden mastcrminded the attocks against
the V•/orld Trade Center in New lork Ci!J ond the Pentagon on September 1 J. 2001. (Associated
Prcss)

deemed to be at stake. This vision led the United States to withhold its support for a
wide range of international agreements that were accepted by most other nations of
the world but considered incompatible with U.S. security or economic objectives: the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Land Mines Convention, the Biological Weapons
Convention, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile