THE GLOBAL INTERSTATE

SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
With globalization, some scholars suggest a decrease in the power of
the state and that the actors
are actually becoming more powerful. These actors include
multinational corporations and global civil society
organizations, like Red Cross, that cross national boundaries
Global Governance in the Twenty-First Century

There is a specific series of specific factors behind the emerge of

global governance.

The first on the list must be the declining power of nation-states. If

states themselves
“highly contingent and in flux” (Cerny, 2007, p. 854), it would open
the possibility of
the emerge of some form of global governance to fill the void.
A second factor is the vast flows of all sort of things that run into and
often right through the borders of nation states. This could involve
the flow of digital information of all sorts through the Internet.

For example, China’s periodic efforts to interfere with the internet

have brought great condemnation both internally and externally.
Then, there is mass migration of people and their entry, often
illegally, into various nation states.
The flow of the critical elements, as well as their products
(drugs, laundered money, etc.) is a strong
factor in the call for global governance. These are but few things
that can be delivered by some form of global governance
Horrendous events within nation-states that the states themselves
either foment and carry out,
or are unable to control.

For example is in Darfur, Sudan, perhaps hundreds of thousands have

been killed, millions of people
displaced and the lives of many disrupted in a conflict that date back
to early 2003.
Effects of Globalization to
Governments
There have been several challenges to the government and ultimately,
to state autonomy.

Traditional challenges
External intervention can generally be described as invasion by other
countries.

For example is Suddam Hussein, a ruler of Iraq in 1990, he decided

he was going to take over the oil fields of Kuwait. He invaded Kuwait
and took over. As a result, he was dislodged by an international
coalition led by the US.
Internal political challenges can also happen.

For example, 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 Syrian nationals.

The Taliban’s effort to control the government of Afghanistan.

Challenges from National/Identity
Movements

It is important to know that a nation has a cultural identity

that people attached to, while a state is a definite entity
due to its specific boundaries. However, different people with different
entities can live in different states. For example, the Kurds reside in
several different countries including Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
Global movements, such as the Al-Qaeda and ISIS, are another
example of national or identity movements. In this
Case, they are structured around the fundamentalist version of Islam
Global Economics

Global economics 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 such as NAFTA, European Union and ASEAN.
Global Social Movements
Social movements are movements of people that are spontaneous
or that emerge through enormous grassroots organization. These
movements are transnational which means they occur across
countries and borders
The Relevance of the State amid Globalization

The state is a distinctive political community with its own set of

rules and practices and that
is more or less separate from other communities.

4 elements of a state : people, territory, government and

sovereignty
1.People or permanent population- it does not refer to a nomadic
people that move from one place to another in an indefinite time.
They are present only in one location.
2.Territory- has clear boundaries. It is controlled by the government.
3.Government- It regulates relations among its people and with other
states.
What is the difference between nation and state?
 It is important to know the difference of state and nation.
Nation refers to a people rather than any kind of formal
territorial boundaries or institutions. The state simply means
a political concept
Institutions That Govern International Relations
These include the United Nations, the International Court of Justice,
NAFTA, and NATO.
Peace Treaties and Military Alliances: The UN and
NATO
The UN or United Nations is one of the leading political
organizations in the world where nation-states meet and
deliberate. However, it remains an independent actor in global
politics.

Generally, it functions in four areas: military issues,

economic issues, environmental issues, and human protection.
It is made up of 200 countries, 193 member states to be exact with
The Republic of Sudan as its latest member. UN’s headquarters is
located in New York City. The General Assembly is the gathering
of all these countries held in auditorium where speeches are given.
Representatives from different member states can vote on issues.
There are five permanent members of the UN Security Council----
the US, Britain, Russia, and France.
UNICEF( United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) – Its primary
goal is to help the children around the world. They collect funds to
distribute emergency relief from famine and poverty and diseases.
UNEP( United Nations Environment Programme )– all environmental
issues such as pollution and hazardous wastes are addressed to UNEP.
ICJ (International Court of Justice) –usually referred as World Court. It
is located in Netherlands where countries settle their disputes as well as
a place where war criminals and rulers who have done terrible things to
their people.
NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization) – It is a defensive
treaty or a military alliance between US, Canada, and 25 European
countries. These countries basically agreed to combine their
militaries and announce to the world that if a country messes with
one of its members, the other countries will come to their defense.
The United States with, by far, the most advanced military in the
world makes up the bulk of NATO forces and operations.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)

NGO’s are not tied to any country which allows them to operate
freely around the world. They provide emergency relief such as food,
water, and medical supplies for those homes or towns that have been
destroyed by disaster or war. An example of this is the Red Cross that
began from helping the wounded during wars.
Global Economic Associations:
The WTO and NAFTA

WTO (World Trade Organizations)- With 162 members countries, its

main goal is to increase free trade. Therefore, countries can buy and sell
goods from one another without placing taxes on imports or tariffs.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)– This is an economic

treaty between United States, Canada and Mexico in which these three
countries will trade freely without taxing each other.
Globalization and Globalism

If globalization is about links, connections, or interrelatedness of

things , people and countries, the globalism is different. Globalism
refers to the network of connections that transcends distances of
different countries in the world. In other words, the links among
countries and people are better associated with globalism while the
speed which they become linked with one another is globalization.
We can also differentiate these two in terms of “thickness”. Globalism
is thin, as it becomes thicker, globalization happens.
Although globalism and globalization are often understood in terms of
economy, Nye(2002) gave “four distinct dimensions of globalism:
Economic, Military, Environmental, and Social.”

Military Globalism- an example is the enormous speed of potential

conflict and threat of nuclear war.
Environmental Globalism- Global warming continues to accelerate.
Social and Cultural Globalism- involves movements of ideas,
information, images, and of people who carry ideas and information
with them.
Informationalism
This refers to the growth of information as the binding force among
people, things, and places around the globe. It is associated with
computer science and modern telecommunication. These are
technology, the media and the Internet.
Global Citizenship
Citizenship is associated with rights and obligations, for instance, the
right to vote and the obligation to pay taxes.
Cecilia Johanna van Peski(as cited in Baraldi, 2012) defined global
citizenship as ”a moral and ethical disposition that can guide the
understanding of individuals or groups of local and global contexts,
and remind them of their relative responsibilities with various
communities”.