The Globalization

of World politics

Introduction

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 From international politics
to world politics
international relations vs.
international politics
international politics world politics
global politics
nation states vs. nation states +
NGOs + more
political issues vs. political, economic
and more
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 Theories of world politics
Why did Al Qaeda attack the US?
Why did George W. Bush attack on
Saddam Husseins Iraq?
Theories application = sunglasses
with different colored lenses.
A theory is some kind of simplifying
device that allows you to decide
which facts matter and which do not.
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 Realism and world politics
Idealism vs. Realism
Dominant realism and its main rivals
Liberalism, Marxism and
Constructivism
Main actors states
Framework inter-state relations
Human nature selfish
International nature anarchy
Sovereignty, power, national interests
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Continues

Mechanism balance of power

(diplomacy)
World politics is a self-help system
Neo-realism: Kenneth Waltz, 1979.
the importance of the structure of
the international political system.
The Cold War (bipolarity)
multipolarity
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Liberalism and world politics
Idealism tradition
Many variants of liberalism (pluralism,
transnationalism, integration)
Human being are perfectible
Democracy is necessary
Transnational actors in issue-areas of
world politics
State as a set of bureaucracies each with
its own interests (vs. national interests)

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Continues

Possibilitiesfor cooperation among states
The picture of world politics a complex
system of bargaining
National interests are much more than
military terms (economic, technological..)
Order in world politics laws, norms,
international regimes & rules. (vs. BOP)
Interdependence (vs. sovereignty)

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 Marxist theories and world
politics
Also known as structuralism or world-
system theory
World capitalist economy
Classes are the most important
actors of world politics
States, MNCs, IOs represent the
dominant class interest in the world
economic system
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Continues

World politics as the setting in which
class conflicts are played out
Order in world politics has been in
economic rather than in military terms
Division of the world: core, semi-
periphery, periphery
The most important feature of world
politics is the degree of economic
autonomy

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 Constructivism
Optimistic account
Human agency has a much greater
potential role in world politics (we
make and re-make the social world)
Anarchy (self-help international
system) is what states make of it.
World politics as something that we
can change (vs. neo-realism)
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The fours and globalization
For Realists:
1. globalization does not transcend
the international political system of
states . (Territory, sovereignty,
balance of power) 2. it does not
render obsolete the struggle for
political power between states.

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Continues

For Liberals:
1. states are no longer such central
actors as they once were. (numerous
actors of differing importance according
to the issues-area concerned)
2. increased interconnectedness
between societies, and as result the
world looks more like a cobweb of
relations.
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Continues

For Marxist:
1. globalization is nothing particularly
new, and is only the latest stage in
the development of international
capitalism
2. it further deepens the existing
divide between the core, the semi-
periphery, and the periphery.

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Continues

For Constructivist:
1. constructivists think that we can
mould globalization in a variety of
ways.
2. it offer very real changes to create
cross-national social movements aided
by modern technological forms of
communication such as the Internet.

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 Globalization and its
precursors
Globalization: the process of
increasing interconnectedness
between societies such the events in
one part of the world more and more
have effects on peoples and societies
far away.
Extensively, intensively, deeply,
speeding up; the world seems to be
shrinking
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Continues

There have been several precursors
to globalization:
1. theory of modernization (Modelski
1972; Morse 1976)
2. industrialization economic
growth (Walt Rostow 1960)
3. economic interdependence
(Cooper 1968; Nye 1971)
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 Continues

4. global village (McLuhan 1964)
5. world society (state system non-
state actors) (Burton 1972)
6. world order models project (WOMP)
(Mendlovitz 1975; Falk 1975)
7. international society (Hedley Bull
1977)
8. end of history (Fukuyama 1992)
9. liberal peace theory (Bruce Russett
1993; Michael Doyle 1983)
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 Globalization: myth or
reality?
Arguments in favor of globalization :
1. The pace of economic transformation
is so great;
2. Communication have revolutionized
the
way we deal with the rest of world.
3. There is now a global culture.
4. The world is becoming more
homogeneous.
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 Continues

The opposites:
1. Globalization is a myth. (Hirst & Thompson)
(1). the present internationalized economy is
not
unique in history.
(2). genuinely transnational companies are
relatively rare.
(3). there is no shift of finance and capital
from
the developed to underdeveloped
worlds. 21
Continues

(4). the world-economy is not global.
(three blocs Europe, north America,
and Japan)
(5). three blocs could regulate global
economic markets and forces.
2. Globalization is very uneven in its
effects. (Western theories, WWW)
3. Globalization may well be simply the
latest
stage of Western imperialism

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Continues

4. Globalization are technologies that
automatically benefit the richest
economies in the world.
5. Not all globalized forces are necessarily
good ones. (WWW anarchy)
6. Global governance to whom are the
transnational social movements responsible
and democratically accountable?
7. Paradox at the heart of globalization thesis
(Western value vs. Asian Tigers values)

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 Stand for or against
globalization?
Is globalization a new phenomenon
in world politics?
Which theory discussed above best
explains globalization?
Is globalization a positive or a
negative development?
Is globalization merely the latest
stage of capitalist development?
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Continues

Does globalization make the state
obsolete?
Does globalization make the world more
or less democratic?
Is globalization merely Western
imperialism in a new guise?
Does globalization make war less likely?

Lesson of 9/11
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