THE CONTEMPORARY

WORLD
Dear Student,
Panagdait sa Tanang Kabuhatan!
The success of this module lies in
your hands. This was prepared for you
to learn diligently, intelligently, and
independently. This will be a great
opportunity for you to equip yourself not
only with academic content but as well
as some invaluable skills which you will
be very proud of as a responsible
learner.
 STUDY SCHEDULE AND HOUSE RULES

Course Title: The Contemporary World

Course Description: This course introduces students to the contemporary world by
examining the multifaceted phenomenon of globalization. Using the various disciplines of
the social sciences, it examines the economic, social, political, technological, and other
transformations that have created an increasing awareness of the interconnectedness of
peoples and places around the globe. To this end, the course provides an overview of the
various debates in global governance, development, and sustainability. Beyond exposing
the student to the world outside the Philippines, it seeks to inculcate a sense of global
citizenship and global ethical responsibility.

STUDY SCHEDULE

MODULE 1: The Structure of Globalization

At the end of the module you will be able to:

1. Analyse the various contemporary drivers of globalization; and
2. Describe the emergence of global economic and political systems.

WEEK TOPIC Date Time

Lesson 1 – What is Globalization?
Week 1 Lesson 2 – The Globalization of World
Economics
Lesson 3 – A History of Global Politics:
Week 2 Creating an International
Order
Lesson 4 – The United Nations and
Week 3 Contemporary Global
Governance

Week 4 Lesson 5 – A World of Regions

PRELIM EXAMINATION

MODULE 2: A World of Ideas: Cultures of Globalization

At the end of the module you will be able to:

1. Explain the role of global processes in everyday life.

Lesson 6 – The Globalization of

Week 5
Religion

Week 6 Lesson 7 - Media and Globalization

Week 7&8 Lesson 8 – The Global City

MIDTERM EXAMINATION
MODULE 3: Movement and Sustainability

At the end of this module you will be able to:

1. To explain the interconnections among population, migration, and environmental

sustainability

Week 9 Lesson 9 – Global Demography

Week 10 Lesson 10 – Global Migration

Week 11 Lesson 11 – Environmental Crisis and

&12 Sustainable Development

SEMI-FINAL EXAMINATION

MODULE 4: Writing A Research Paper

At the end of the module you will be able to:

1. Distinguish the nature and processes of research
2. Write a research paper showing scholarship and clear writing
3. Value knowledge and skills necessary for processing an academic research

Lesson 12 – The Nature of Research

Week 13
The Research Paper

Week 14 Lesson 13 – The Research Paper

& 15 Writing Process

Week 16 FINAL EXAMINATION

 The following guides and house rules will help you to be on track and complete the module
with a smile on your face.
1. Read and understand every part of the module. If there are some contents or tasks which
you find difficult to understand, try to re-read and focus. You may also ask help from your
family at home, if it doesn’t work, you may send a private message on my Facebook
account (Tolentino Levanta) or you may text me on this cellphone number 09453544813.
2. Each module begins with an overview and a list of the topics you are expected to learn.
3. Before reading the module and working on the activities, answer the pretest first. Find out
how well you did by checking your answers against the correct answers in the answer key.
4. At the end of each lesson try to reflect and assess if you were able to achieve the learning
objectives. Remember that you can always read again if necessary.
5. Learn to manage your time properly. Study how you can manage to work on this module in
consideration of your other modules.
6. Each module has worksheets where you can do all your activities. At the end of the month,
remove the worksheets and submit them to your teacher.
7. Have patience and do not procrastinate.
8. Practice the virtue of honesty in doing all your tasks.
9. Lastly, the activities in the module must be done by you and not by others. Your family and
friends may support and guide you but you must not let them do the work. DO YOUR
BEST AND GOD WILL DO THE REST.

Mr. Tolentino P. Levanta

Instructor
 Module 1
The Structure of
Globalization

MODULE CONTENTS
 I. Introduction
II. Pretest
III. Lesson 1: What is Globalization?
Guide Questions
Learning Activity

IV. Lesson 2: The Globalization of World Economics

Guide Questions
Learning Activity

V. Lesson 3: A History of Global Politics: Creating an

International Order
Guide Questions
Learning Activity

VI. Lesson 4: The United Nations and Contemporary

Global Governance
Guidance Questions
Learning Activity

VII. Lesson 5: A World of Regions

Guidance Questions
Learning Activity

VIII. Lesson 6: Research Paper Writing

IX. References

Module 1 The Structure of Globalization: An

Overview
This module will introduce you to the various drivers of the globalization process,
with specific focus on economic and politics. Although it emphasizes that you
experience globalization on an “everyday” level, you must also realize that there
are big institutions that create large-scale changes. This module will first trace
the emergence of these institutions historically. It will then move on to explain
how they affect the countries and people today.

Lesson 1: What is Globalization?

Lesson 2: The Globalization of World Economics
Lesson 3: A History of Global Politics: Creating an International Order
Lesson 4: The United Nations and Contemporary Global Governance
Lesson 5: A World of Regions
 Diagnostics
To find out how much you already know about the concepts in this module, Answer the
pretest below.

Name: ________________________________________________________ Course & Year: ____________

Instructions: Write AGREE if you think the statement is correct; otherwise, write DISGREE.

________1. Globalization is the world and I.

________2. The world that we live in now is a product of globalization in the past.
________3. The United Nations is a global government.
________4. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is product of globalization
________5. Globalization is a system of ideas, beliefs, norms, values, and ideals that are
accepted as truth by some groups of people.
________6. Economic globalization includes borderless exchange of goods and services.
________7. McDonalds is a transnational corporation.
________8. Global economy is influenced by global politics.
________9. Unilever is a multinational corporation.
________10. Economic globalization can refer to the increasing integration of economics around
the world.
________11.The Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation is an international financial
institution.
________12. SM Investment Corporation is a global corporation.
________13. The Asian Development Bank is headquartered in Singapore.
________14. Chowking is a Filipino-based restaurant chain that expanded in Indonesia and the
US in 2088.
________15. The Human Rights watch is an international advocacy organization.
________16. Internationalism and internationalization are two similar ideas.
________17. The Asia Pacific Economic Forum is an intergovernmental organization (IGO).
________18. The United Nations Children’s Fund is an IGO that addresses worldwide health.
________19. The internet is responsible for paving the way for the development of new
communication networks.
________20. An example of government with global governance is the Philippine government.
________21. The United Nations (UN) is a global government.
________22. The International Criminal Court based in the The Hague is a UN organization.
________23. UN’s five permanent Security Council members have a veto power.
________24. UN is bound to help any member-state in need.
________25. East Timor is the youngest state in Asia.

Module 1
Lesson 1 What is Globalization?
Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson you will be able to:

 Agree on a working definition of globalization for the course;
 Differentiate the competing conceptions of globalization; and
 Narrate a personal experience of globalization.

Introduction

This lesson introduces the learners to the concepts of globalization as a process,

condition, and ideology. It also explores scientists’, economists’ and culture and communication
experts’ definition of globalization.

A Story: Gio, Latif, and Laksa

When Gio was a second-year international affairs student in a university in Cebu City, he
obtained funding to join the school team participating in an international Model UN
competition in Sydney, Australia. At the height of the competition, Gio made plenty of new
friends and became particularly close to Latif from the Malaysian team. The two first started
talking when Latif asked Gio where he was from. Upon discovering that Gio was from the
Philippines, latif lit up and declared that he was a big fan of Filipino actors JERICO Rosales
and Kristine Hermosa. Gio was pleasantly surprised to learn that Latif has seen every
episode of the ABS CBN telenovela Pangayo Sa ‘Yo (“The Promise”). The show had aired
on Malaysian TV a few years ago back, and its two stars had developed a modest following.

Ashamed that he did not know as much about Malaysia as Latif knew the Philippines, Gio
asked Latif what his country was like. Latif, he discovered, was from a Muslim university in
Kuala Lumpur. Gio asked him what he liked best about living in “KL.” And Latif immediately
mentioned the food. Latif explained that in Kula Lumpur, one can find Chinese, Indian, and
Malay cuisines. He told Gio that this assortment of food ways was the result of how the
British reorganized Malaysian society during the colonial times. The British did little to
change the way of life of the Malays who were the original residents, but brought in Chinese
laborers to work in the rubber plantations and tin mines, and Indians to help manage the
bureaucracy and serve as the initial professional core of a potential middle class. One of the
ways that these ethnic groups were identified was through their food ways.
 According to Latif, Malaysia eventually became famous for these cuisines which can be
found in the various “hawker centers” across the nation’s cities and towns. These food
stands are located in outdoor food parks where locals and taste the best of Malaysia, from
nasi lemak to laksa.

Gio interrupted Latif and asked, “What is laksa?” He felt more ashamed at his lack of
knowledge. “Ah…let me show you what it is prepared!” replied Latif.

The next day, Latif took Gio to a Malaysian restaurant a few blocks away from the university.
Gio was surprised to discover that Malaysian Food was readily available in Sydney. Having
noticed this, Latif explained to his Filipino friend that, over the years, as more and more
Malaysian students moved to Sydney to study, Malaysian restaurants followed suit. Soon
after, they were catering not only to these students, but to Australia-born “Sydneysiders” as
well, whose culinary tastes were becoming more and more diverse.

Gio finally had his first taste of laksa---rice noodle soup in a spicy coconut curry sauce. He
found the flavors intense since, like most Filipinos, he was not used to spicy food. However,
in deference to his friend, he persisted and eventually found himself enjoying the hot dish.

After the meal, Gio and Latif went to a nearby café and ordered “flat whites”---an espresso
drink similar to latte, which is usually served in cafes in Australia and New Zealand. Both
knew what flat whites were since there were Australian-inspired cafes both in Kula Lumpur
and Cebu.

The new friends promised to stay in touch after the competition, and added each other on
Facebook and Instagram. Over the next two years, they exchanged e-mails and posts,
congratulated each other’s photos. Latif sent his mother’s recipe to Gio and the latter began
cooking Malaysian food in his home.

A few years after graduation, Gio moved to Singapore, joining many other overseas Filipino
workers (OFW) in the city-state. The culture was new to him, but one thing was familiar: the
food served in Singapore was no different from the Malaysian food he had discovered
through Latif. He would later learn from Singaporean colleagues that the island country was
once part of the British colony of Malay and the postwar independent Federation of
Malaysia. Singapore, however, separated from the federation in August 1965 and became a
nation-state. Today, they may be two distinct countries in this part of the world, but
Singapore and Malaysia still share the same cuisine.

After he settled down in his apartment, Gio sought out and found a favorite laksa stall in
Newton Hawker Center. He would spend his weekends there with friends eating laksa and
other dishes.

One Saturday, while Gio was checking his Facebook feed along the very busy Orchard
Road---Singapore’s main commercial road---he noticed that latif had just posted something
5 minutes earlier. It was a picture from Orchard Road. Surprised but also excited, Gio sent
Latif a private message. Latif replied immediately saying that he too had moved to Singapore
and was, at that moment, standing in front a department store just a few blocks away from
where Gio was. The two friends met up, and after a long hug and quick questions as to what
each was up to, they ducked into a café and renewed their international friendship…by
ordering a pair of flat whites.

Global Experiences

Gio and Latif’s story is fictional but very plausible since it is, in fact, based on the real-life
experience of one of the authors. It was through such friendships that one was able to appreciate
the meaning and impact of globalization.

We begin our definition of globalization with this narrative to illustrate how concrete the
phenomenon is. The story shows how globalization operates at multiple, intersecting levels. The
spread of Filipino TV into Malaysia suggests how fast this popular culture has proliferated and
crisscrossed all over Asia.

The Model UN activity that Gio and Latif participated in is an international competition about
international politics Latif (a Malaysian involved in the model UN) in Sydney, a global city that
derives its wealth and influence from the global capital that flows through it. Sydney is also a
metropolis of families of international immigrants or foreigners working in the industries that also
sell their products abroad. After the two had gone back to their home countries, Gio and Latif kept
in touch through Facebook, a global social networking site that provides instantaneous
communication across countries and continents. They preserved their friendship online and then
rekindled this face-to-face in Singapore, another hub for global commerce, with 40 percent of the
population being classified as “foreign talents.”

What other hints of globalization did you find in the story?

Some Description

Our discussion should begin with this intuitive sense that something is happening, and it is not
affecting everyone in the same way. Gio’s story is a very privileged way of experiencing global
flows, but for other people, the shrinking of the world may not be as exciting and edifying.
For example, it is very common for young women in developing countries to be recruited
in the internet as “mail-order brides” for foreign men living in other countries. After being
promised a good life once married to a kind husband in a rich city, they end up becoming sexual
and domestic servants in foreign lands. Some were even sold off by their “husbands” to gangs
which run prostitute rings in these cities. Like Gio, they too have experienced the shrinking of the
world, albeit negatively.

Governments that decide to welcome the foreign investments on the belief that they provide
jobs and capital for the country offer public lands as factory or industrial sites. In the process, poor
people living in these lands, also called “urban poor communities,” are being evicted by the
government. The irony is that these people forcibly removed from their “slums” are also the labor
force sought by foreign companies. They had to be kicked out of their homes, and then told that
they could take an hour or two of bus travel from their relocated communities back to the “old
home” for minimum-wage work.

Because different people encounter globalization in a variety of ways, it is deemed useful to ask
simple questions like: “Is globalization good or bad? Is it beneficial or detrimental?” the
discussion begins with two premises. First, globalization is a complex phenomenon that
occurs at multiple levels. Second, it is an uneven process that affects people differently.

Globalization: A Working Definition

Most accounts view globalization as primarily an economic process. When a newspaper reports
that nationalists are resisting “globalization,” it usually refers to the integration of the national
markets to a wider global market signified by the increased free trade. When activists refer
to the “anti-globalization” movement of the 1990s, they mean resisting the trade deals among
countries facilitated and promoted by global organizations like the World Trade Organization.

Globalization scholars do not necessarily disagree with people who criticize unfair international
trade deals or global economic organizations. In fact, many are sympathetic to the critique of
economic globalization. Academics differ from journalists and political activists, however,
because they see globalization in much broader terms. They view the process through various
lenses that consider multiple theories and perspectives. Academics call tis an interdisciplinary
approach, and it is this approach used by the general education (GE) courses that you will be
taking alongside this one.

The best scholarly description of globalization is provided by Manfred Steger who described the
process as “the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across
world-time and across world-space.” Expansion refers to “both the creation of new social
networks and the multiplication of existing connections that cut across traditional political,
economic, cultural, and geographic boundaries.” These various connections occur at different
levels. Social media, for example, establish new global connections between people., while
international groups of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are networks that connect a
more specific group—social workers and activists---from different corners of the globe. In the
story, Gio was able to join Model UN competition because his university was part of an
international network.

Intensification refers to the expansion, stretching, and acceleration of these networks. Not only
are global connections multiplying, but they are also becoming more closely-knit and expanding
their reach. For example, there has always been a strong financial market connecting London,
and New York. With the advent of electronic trading, however, the volume of that trade increase
exponentially, since traders can now trade more at higher speeds. The connection is thus
accelerating. Apart from this acceleration, however, as the world becomes more financially
integrated, the intensified trading network between London and New York may expand and
stretch to cover more and more cities. After China committed itself to the global economy in the
1980s, for example, Shanghai steadily returned to its old role as a major trading post.

It is not only in financial matters that you can find these connections. In 2012, when the monsoon
rains flooded much of Bangkok, the Honda plant making some of the critical car parts temporarily
ceased production. This had a strong negative effect on Honda-USA which relied heavily on the
parts being imported from Thailand. Not only was it unable to reach the sales targets it laid out,
but the ability of the service centre nationwide to assist Honda owners also suffered. As a result,
the Japanese car company’s global profits also fell.

The final attribute of this definition relates to the way people perceive time and space. Steger
notes that “Globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level but they
also involve the subjective plane of human consciousness.” In other words, people begin to feel
that the world become a smaller place and distance has collapsed from thousands of miles to just
a mouse-click away. One can now e-mail a friend in another country and get a reply
instantaneously, and as a result, begins to perceive their distance as less consequential. Cable
TV and the internet has also exposed one to news from across the globe, so now, he/she has this
greater sense of what is happening in other places.

Steger posits that his definition of globalization must be differentiated with an ideology he calls
globalism. If globalization represents the many processes that follow for the expansion and
intensification of global connections, globalism is a widespread belief among powerful people
that the global integration of economic markets is beneficial for everyone, since it spreads
freedom and democracy across the world. It is a common belief forwarded in media and policy
circles. N the next lesson, you will realize why it is problematic.

For now, what is crucial to note is that when activists and journalists criticize “globalization,” they
are, more often than not, criticizing some manifestations of globalism. Often, these criticisms are
warranted. Nevertheless, it is crucial to insist that “globalization” as a process refers to a larger
phenomenon that cannot simply be reduced to the ways in which global markets have been
integrated.

Conclusion: Globalization from the Ground Up

All this talk of large, intersecting processes may be confusing. Indeed, it may be hard to assess
globalization or comment on it because it is so diffuse and almost fleeting. Some scholars have,
therefore, found it simpler to avoid talking about globalization as a wh0le. Instead, they want to
discuss “multiple globalizations,” instead of just one process.

For anthropologist Arjun Appadurai, different kinds of globalization occur on multiple and
intersecting dimensions of integration that he calls “scapes.” An “ethnoscape,” for example, refers
to the global movement of people, while a “mediascape” is about the flow of culture. A
“technoscape” refers to the circulation of mechanical goods and software; a “financescape”
denote the global circulation of money; and an “ideoscape” is the realm where political ideas
move around. Although they intersect, these various scapes have differing logics. They are thus
distinct windows into the broader phenomenon of globalization.

Appadurai’s argument is simple: there are multiple globalizations. Hence, even if one does not
agree that globalization can be divided into the five “scapes,” it is hard to deny Appadurai’s central
thrust of viewing globalization through various lenses.

Depending on what is being globalized, a different dynamic (or dynamics) may emerge. So while
it is important to ask “What is globalization?” it is likewise important to ask “What is/are being
globalized?” Depending on what is being globalized, the vista and conclusions change.

The structure of the lessons that follow will reflect this multidimensional understanding of
globalization. Each of the lessons will focus on a particular kind of globalization. Every one of
them will be about different network and connections that are expanding and intensifying in the
contemporary world.

Treat each lesson not as an end in itself but as window to the braoder phenomenon of
globalization.

GUIDE QUESTIONS
Answer the questions concisely. (10 points each)

1. How have you experienced globalization?

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2. Why is it crucial to emphasize that globalization is uneven?
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3. What is the difference between globalization and globalism?
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 Module 1
The Globalization of World Economics
Lesson 2

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson you will be able to:

 Define economic globalization;

 Identify the actors that facilitate economic globalization;
 Narrate a short history of global market integration in the twentieth century; and
 Articulate your stance on global economic integration.

Introduction

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) regards “economic globalization” as a historical

process representing the result of human innovation and technological progress. It is
characterized by the increasing integration of economies around the world through the
movement of goods, services, and capital across borders. These changes are the products
of people, organizations, institutions, and technologies. As with all other processes of
globalization, there is a qualitative and subjective element to this definition. How does one define
“increasing integration?” when is it considered that trade has increased? Is there a particular
threshold?

Even while the IMF and ordinary people grapple with the difficulty of arriving at precise definitions
of globalization, they usually agree that a drastic economic change is occurring throughout the
world. According to the IMF, the value of trade (goods and services) as a percentage of world
GDP increased from 42.1 percent in 1980 to 62,1 percent in 2007. Increased trade also means
that investments are moving all over the world at faster speeds. According to the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the amount of foreign direct investments
flowing across the world was US$ 57 billion in 1982. By 2015, that number was $1.76 trillion.
These figures represent a dramatic increase in global trade in the span of just a few decades. It
has happened not even after one human lifespan!

Apart from the sheer magnitude of commerce, we should also note the increased speed and
frequency of trading. These days, supercomputers can execute millions of stock purchases and
sales between different cities in a matter of seconds through a process called high-frequency
trading. Even the items being sold and traded are changing drastically. Ten years ago, buying
books or music indicates acquiring physical items. Today, however, a “book” can be digitally
downloaded to be read with an e-reader, and a music “album” refers to the 5 songs on mps format
you can purchase and download from iTunes.

This lesson aims to trace how economic globalization came about. It will also assess this
globalization system, and examine who benefits from it and who is left out.
International Trading Systems

International trading systems are not new. The oldest known international trade route was the
Silk Road---a network of pathways in the ancient world that spanned from China to what is now
the Middle East and to Europe. It was called as such because one of the most profitable products
traded through this network was silk, which was highly prized especially in the area that is now the
Middle East as well as in the West (today’s Europe). Traders used the Silk Road regularly from
130 BCE when the Chinese Han dynasty opened trade to the West until 1453 when the Ottoman
Empire closed it.

However, while the Silk Road was international, it was not truly “global” because it had no ocean
routes that could reach the American continent. So when did full economic globalization begin?
According to historians Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giraldez, the age of globalization began when
“all important populated continents began to exchange products continuously---both with each
other directly and indirectly via other continents---and in values sufficient to generate crucial
impacts on all trading partners.” Flynn and Giraldez trace this back to 1571 with the establishment
of the galleon trade that connected Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco in Mexico. This was
the first time that the Americans were directly connected to Asian trading routes. For Filipinos, it is
crucial to note that economic globalization began on the country’s shores.

The galleon trade was part of the age of mercantilism. From the 16th century to the 18th century,
countries primarily in Europe, competed with one another to sell more goods as a means to boost
their country’s income (monetary reserves later on). To defend their products from competitor
who sold goods more cheaply, these regimes (mainly monarchies) imposed high tariffs, forbade
colonies to trade with other nations, restricted trade routes, and subsidized its exports.
Mercantilism was thus also a system of global trade with multiple restrictions.

A more open trade system emerged in 1867 when, following the lead of the United Kingdom,
the United States and other European nations adopted the gold standard at an international
monetary conference in Paris. Broadly, its goal was to create a common system that would allow
for more efficient trade and prevent the isolationalism of the mercantilist era. The countries thus
established a common basis for currency process and a fixed exchange rate system---all based
on the value of gold.

Despite facilitating simpler trade, the gold standard was still a very restrictive system, as it
compelled countries to back their currencies with fixed gold reserves. During World War I, when
countries depleted their gold reserves to fund their armies, many were forced to abandon the gold
standard. Since European countries had low gold reserves, they adopted low gold reserves, they
adopted floating currencies that were no longer redeemable in gold.
Returning to a pure standard became more difficult as the global economic crisis called the Great
Depression started during the 1920s and extended up to the 1930s, further empty government
coffers. This depression was the most and longest recession ever experienced by the Western
world. Some economists argued that it was largely caused by the gold standard, since it limited
the amount of circulating money and, therefore, reduced demand and consumption. If
governments could only spend money that was equivalent to gold, its capacity to print money and
increase the money supply was severely curtailed.

Economic historian Barry Eichengreen argues that the recovery of the United States really began,
when, having abandoned the gold standard, the US government was able to free up money to
spend on reviving the spend industrialized countries followed suit.

Though more indirect versions of the gold standard were used until as late as the 1970s, the world
never returned to the gold standard of the early 20th century. Today, the world economy
operates based on what are called fiat currencies---currencies that are not backed by
precious metals and whose value is determined by their cost relative to other currencies.
This system allows governments to freely and actively manage their economies by increasing
odecreasing the amount of money in circulation as they see fit.

The Bretton Woods System

After the two world wars, world leaders sought to create a global economic system that would
ensure a longer-lasting global peace. They believed that one of the ways to achieve this goal was
to set up a network of global financial institutions that would promote economic interdependence
and prosperity. The Bretton Woods system was inaugurated in 1944 during the United Nations
Monetary and Financial Conference to prevent the catastrophes of the early decades of the
century from reoccurring and affecting international ties.

The Bretton Woods system was largely influenced by the ideas of British economist John
Maynard Keynes who believed that economic crises occur not when a country does not have
enough money, but when money is not being spent and, thereby, not moving. When economies
slow down, according to Keynes, governments have to reinvigorate markets with infusions of
capital. This active role of governments in managing spending served as the anchor for
what would be called a system called of global Keynesianism.

Delegates at Bretton Woods agreed to create two financial institutions. The first was the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, or World Bank) to be responsible
for funding postwar reconstruction projects. It was a critical institution at a time when many of the
world’s cities had been destroyed by the war. The second institution was the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), which was to be the global lender of last resort to prevent individual
countries from spiraling into credit crises. If economic growth in a country slowed down because
there was not enough money to stimulate the economy, the IMF would step in. to this day, both
institutions remain key players in economic globalization.

Shortly after Bretton Woods, various countries also committed themselves to further global
economic integration through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947.
GATT’s main purpose was to reduce tariffs and other hindrances to free trade.

Neoliberalism and Its Discontents

The high point of global Keynesianism came in the mid1940s to the early 1970s. During this
period, governments poured money into their economies, allowing people to purchase more
goods and, in the process, increase demand for these products. As demand increased, so did the
prices of these goods. Western and some Asian economies like Japan accepted this rise in prices
because it was accompanied by general economic growth and reduced unemployment. The
theory went that, as prices increased, companies would earn more, and would have more money
to hire workers. Keynesian economists believed that all this was a necessary trade-off for
economic development.

In the early 1970s, however, the prices of oil rose sharply as a result of the Organization of Arab
petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OAPEC, the Arab member-countries of the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC) imposition of an embargo in response to the decision of
the Unites States and other countries to resupply the Israeli military with the needed arms during
the Yom Kippur War. Arab countries also used the embargo to stabilize their economies and
growth. The “oil embargo” affected the Western economies that were reliant on oil. To
make matters worse, the stock markets crashed in 1973-1974 after the United States
stopped linking the dollar to gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. The result
was a phenomenon that Keynesian economics could not have predicted---a phenomenon called
stagflation, in which a decline in economic growth and employment (stagnation) takes place
alongside a sharp increase in prices (inflation).

Around this time, a new form of economic thinking was beginning to challenge the Keynesian
orthodoxy. Economists such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman argued that the
governments’ practice of pouring money into their economies had caused inflation by
increasing demand for goods without necessarily increasing supply. More profoundly, they
argued that government intervention in economies distort the proper functioning market.

Economists like Friedman used the economic turmoil to challenge the consensus around
Keynes’s ideas. What emerged was a new form of economic thinking that critics labeled
neoliberalism. From the 1980s onward, neoliberalism became the codified strategy of the
United States Treasury Department, the World Bank, the IMF, and eventually the World
Trade Organization (WTO)---a new organization founded in 1995 to continue the tariff
reduction under the GATT. The policies they forwarded came to be called the Washington
Consensus.

The Washington Consensus dominated global economic policies from the 1980s until the early
2000s. its advocates pushed for minimal government spending to reduce government debt. They
also called for the privatization of government-controlled services like water, power,
communications, and transport, believing that the free market can produce the best
results. Finally, they pressured governments, particularly in the developing world, to
reduce tariffs and open up their economies, arguing that it is the quickest way to progress.
Advocates of the Washington Consensus conceded that, along the way, certain industries would
be affected and die, but they considered this “shock therapy” necessary for long-term economic
growth.

The appeal of neoliberalism was in its simplicity. Its advocates like US president Ronald Reagan
and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher justified their reduction in government spending by
comparing national economies to households. Thatcher, in particular, promoted an image of
herself as a mother, who reined in overspending to reduce the national debt.

The problem with the household analogy is that governments are not households. For one,
governments can print money, while households cannot. Moreover, the constant taxation
systems of governments provide them a steady flow of income that allows them to pay and
refinance debts steadily.

Despite the initial success of neoliberal politicians like Thatcher and Reagan, the defects of the
Washington Consensus became immediately palpable. A good early example is that of post-
communist Russia. After Communism had collapsed in the 1990s, the IMF called for the
immediate privatization of all government industries. The IMF assumed that such a move would
free these industries from corrupt bureaucrats and pass them on to the more dynamic and
independent private investors. What happened, however, was that only individuals and groups
who had accumulated wealth under the previous communist order had the money to purchase
these industries. This practice has entrenched an oligarchy that still dominates the Russian
economy to this very day.

The Global Financial Crisis and the Challenge to Neoliberalism

Russia’s case was just one example of how the “shock therapy” of neoliberalism did not lead to
the ideal outcomes predicted by economists who believed in perfectly free markets. The greatest
recent repudiation of this thinking was the recent global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Neoliberalism came under significant strain during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 when
the world experienced the greatest economic downtown since the Great Depression. The crisis
can be traced back to the 1980s when the United States systematically removed various banking
and investment restrictions.

The scaling back of regulations continued until the 2000s, paving the way for a brewing crisis. In
their attempt to promote the free market, government authorities failed to regulate bad
investments occurring in the US housing market. Taking advantage of “cheap housing loans.”
Americans began building houses that were beyond their financial capacities.

To mitigate the risk of these loans, banks that were lending house owners’ money pooled these
mortgage payments and sold them as “mortgage-backed securities” (MBSs). One MBS would be
a combination of multiple mortgages that they assumed would pay a steady rate.

Since there was so much surplus money circulating, the demand for MBSs increased as investors
clamored for more investment opportunities. In their haste to issue these loans, however, the
banks became less discriminating. They began extending loans to families and individuals with
dubious credit records---people who were unlikely to pay their loans back. These high-risk
mortgages became known as sub-prime mortgages.

Financial experts wrongly assumed that, even if many of the borrowers were individuals and
families who would struggle to pay, a majority would not default. Moreover, banks thought that
since there were so many mortgages in just one MBS, a few failures would not ruin the entirety of
the investment.

Banks also assumed that housing prices would continue to increase. Therefore, even if
homeowners defaulted on their loans, these banks could simply reacquire the homes and sell
them at a higher price, turning a profit.

Sometime in 2007, however, home prices stopped increasing as supply caught up with demand.
Moreover, it slowly became apparent that families could not pay off their loans. This realization
triggered the rapid reselling of MBSs, as banks and investors tried to get rid of their bad
investments. This dangerous cycle reached a tipping point in September 2008, when major
investment banks like Lehman Brothers collapsed, thereby deleting major investments.

The crisis spread beyond the United States since many investors were foreign governments,
corporations, and individuals. The loss of their money spread like wildfire back to their countries.

These series of interconnections allowed for a global multiplier effect that sent ripples across the
world. For example, Iceland’s banks heavily depended on foreign capital, so when the crisis hit
them, they failed to refinance their loans. As a result of this credit crunch, three of Iceland’s top
commercial banks defaulted. From 2007 to 2008. Iceland’s debt increased more than seven-fold.

Until now, countries like Spain and Greece are heavily indebted (almost like Third World
countries), and debt relief has come at a high price. Greece, in particular, has been forced by
Germany and the IMF to cut back on its social and public spending. Affecting services like
pensions, health care, and various forms of social security, these cuts have been felt most acutely
by the poor. Moreover, the reduction in government spending has slowed down growth and
ensured high levels of unemployment.
The United States recovered relatively quickly. Thanks to large Keynesian-style stimulus package
that president barrack Obama pushed for in his first months in office. The same cannot be said for
many other countries. In Europe, the continuing economic crisis has sparked a political upheaval.
Recently, far-right parties like Marine Le Pen’s Front National in France have risen to prominence
by unfairly blaming immigrants for their woes, claiming that they steal jobs and leech off welfare.
These movements blend popular resentment with utter hatred and racism. We will discuss their
rise further in the final lesson.

Economic Globalization Today

The global financial crisis will take decades to resolve. The solutions proposed by certain
nationalists and leftist groups of closing national economies to world trade, however, will no
longer work. The world has become too integrated. Whatever one’s opinion about the
Washington Consensus is, it is undeniable that some form of international trade remains essential
for countries to develop in the contemporary world.

Exports, not just the local selling of goods and services, make national economies grow at
present. In the past, those that benefited the most from free trade were the advanced nations that
were producing and selling industrial and agricultural goods. The United States, japan, and the
member-countries of the European Union were responsible for 65 percent of global exports, while
the developing countries only accounted for 29 percent. When more countries opened up their
economies to take advantage of increased free trade, the shares of the percentage began to
change. By 2011, developing countries like the Philippines, India, China, Argentina, and Brazil
accounted for 51 percent of global exports while the share of advanced nations---including the
United States---had gone down to 45 percent. The WTO-led reduction of trade barriers, known as
trade liberalization, has profoundly altered the dynamics of the global economy.

In the recent decades, partly as a result of these increased exports, economic globalization has
ushered in an unprecedented spike in global growth rates. According to the IMF, the global per
capita GDP rose over five-fold in the second half of the 20th century. It was this growth that
created the large Asian economies like Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

And yet, economic globalization remains an uneven process, with some countries, corporations,
and individuals benefiting a lot more than others. The series of trade talks under the WTO have
led to unprecedented reductions in tariffs and other trade barriers, but these processes have often
been unfair.

First, developed countries are often protectionists, as they repeatedly refuse to lift policies that
safeguard their primary products that could otherwise be overwhelmed by imports from the
developing world. The best example of this double standard is Japan’s determined refusal to
allow rice imports into the country to protect its farming sector. Japan’s justification is that rice is
“sacred.” Ultimately, it is its economic muscle as the third largest economy that allows it to resist
pressures to open its agricultural sector.

The United States likewise fiercely protects its sugar industry, forcing consumers and sugar-
dependent businesses to pay higher prices instead of getting cheaper sugar from plantations of
Central America.

Faced with these blatantly protectionist measures from powerful countries and blocs, poorer
countries can do very little to make economic globalization more just. Trade imbalances,
therefore, characterize economic relations between developed and developing countries.

The beneficiaries of global commerce have been mainly transnational corporations (TNCs) and
not governments. And like any other business, these TNCs are concerned more with profits than
with assisting the social programs of the governments hosting them. Host countries, in turn,
loosen tax laws, which prevents wages from rising, while sacrificing social and environmental
programs that protect the underprivileged members of their societies. The term “race to the
bottom” refers to countries’ lowering their labor standards, including the protection of workers’
interests, to lure in foreign investors seeking high profit margins at the lowest cost possible.
Governments weaken environmental laws to attract investors, creating fatal consequences on
their ecological balance and depleting them of their finite resources (like oil, coal, and minerals).

Transnational Companies

Localizing the Material

Many Philippine industries were devastated by unfair trade deals under the GATT and
eventually the WTO. One sector that was particularly affected was Philippine agriculture.
According to Walden bello and a team of researchers at Focus on the Global South, the US
used its power under the GATT system to prevent Philippine importers from purchasing
Philippine poultry and pork---even as it sold meat to the Philippines.

Although the Philippines expected to make up losses in sectors like meat with gains in areas
such as coconut products, no significant change was realized. In 1993, coconut exports
amounted to $1.9 billion, and after a slight increase to $2.3 billion in 1997, it returned to $1.9
billion in 2002.

Most strikingly, Bello and company noted that the Philippines became a net food importer under
the GATT. In 1993, the country had an agricultural trade surplus of $292 million. It had a deficit
of $764 million in 1997 and $794 million in 2002.

-Bello, Walden, Herbert Docena, Marissa de Guzman, and mary Lou Malig. The Anti-Development
State:The Political Economy of Permanent Crisis in the Philippines. London and New York: Zed Books,
2006, 140-142.

Conclusion

International economic integration is a central tenet of globalization. In fact, it is so crucial to the

process that many writers and commentators confuse this integration for the entirety of
globalization. As a reminder economics is just one window into the phenomenon of globalization;
it is not the entire thing.

Nevertheless, much of globalization is anchored on changes in the economy. Global culture, for
example, is facilitated by trade. Filipinos would not be as aware of American culture if not for the
trade that allows locals to watch American movies, listen to American music, and consume
American products. The globalization of politics is likewise largely contingent on trade relations.
These days, many events of foreign affairs are conducted to cement trading relations between
and among states.

Given the stakes involved in economic in economic globalization, it is perennially important to ask
how this system can be made more just. Although some elements of global free trade can be
scaled back, policies cannot do away with it as a whole. International policymakers, therefore
should strive to think of ways to make trading deals fairer. Governments must also continue to
devise ways of cushioning the most damaging effects of economic globalization, while ensuring
that its benefits accrue for everyone.

Guide Questions

Answer the questions concisely. (10 points each)

1. How do economic forces facilitate the deepening of globalization?

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2. How is the Philippines central to the history of economic globalization?
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3. Compare and contrast the assumptions of the original Bretton Woods system with
those of the Washington Consensus?
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Learning Activity:
Global Economic Institutions

With the help of the school administration, organize a school trip to and familiarization tour of an
international economic organization. (Asian Development Bank,) or an international company
(Honda, McDonald’s, etc.) Gather as much information as you can during the tour.
 If this activity cannot be arranged, go to the web and accomplish these tasks: (a) research the
origins and history of the institution you have chosen; (b) map the international connections it
has created; (c) identify the major country-leaders of this institution; and (d) locate the
Philippines in this map of interconnections.

Then answer this question: How does this institution influence global economic activity? How
does it affect economics in the Philippines? (30 points)
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Module 1
A History of Global politics: Creating an International Order
Lesson 3

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

 Identify key events in the development of international relations;

 Differentiate internationalization from globalization;
 Define the state and the nation;
 Distinguish between the competing conceptions of internationalism; and
 Discuss the historical evolution of international politics.

Introduction

The world is composed of many countries or states, all of them having different forms of
government. Some scholars of politics are interested in individual states and examine the internal
politics of these countries. For example, a scholar studying the politics of Japan may write about
the history of its bureaucracy. Other scholars are more interested in the interactions between
states rather than their internal politics. These scholars look at trade deals between states.
They also study political, military, and other diplomatic engagements between two or more
countries. These scholars are studying international relations. Moreover, when they explore
the deepening of interactions between states, they refer to the phenomenon of
internationalization.

Internationalization does not equal globalization, although it is a major part of globalization. As we

explained in Lesson1, globalization encompasses a multitude of connections and interactions
that cannot be reduced to the ties between governments. Nevertheless, it is important to study
international relations as a facet of globalization, because states/governments are key drivers of
global processes. In this lesson, we will examine internationalization as one window to view the
globalization of politics. Although this course is about the contemporary world, we cannot avoid
history. What international relations are today is largely defined by events that occurred as far
back as 400 years ago. Don’t worry; we will eventually discuss contemporary world politics. But to
do that, we need first to work backward. This lesson will begin with identifying the major attributes
of contemporary global politics and then proceed to ask: How did this system emerge? In doing
so, you will have a solid foundation to understand the major issues of global governance in the
next lesson.

The Attributes of Today’s Global System

World politics today has four key attributes. First, there are countries or states that are
independent and govern themselves. Second, these countries interact with each other through
diplomacy. Third, there are international organizations, like the United Nations (UN), that facilitate
these interactions. Fourth, beyond simply facilitating meetings between states, international
organizations also take on live of their own. The UN, for example, apart from being a meeting
ground for presidents and other heads of state, also has task specific agencies like the World
health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

What are the origins of this system? A good start is by unpacking what one means when he/she
says “country,” or what academics also call the nation-state. This concept is not as simple as it
seems. The nation-state is a relatively modern phenomenon in human history, and people did not
always organize themselves as countries. At different parts in the history of humanity, people in
various regions of the world have identified exclusively with units as small as their village or their
tribe, and at other times, they see themselves as members of larger political categories like
“Christendom” (the entire Christian world).

The nation-state is composed of two non-interchangeable terms. Not all states are nations and
not all nations are states. The nation of Scotland, for example, has its own flag and national
culture, but still belongs to a state called the United Kingdom. Closer to home, many
commentators believe that the Bangsamoro is a separate nation existing within the Philippines
but, through their elites, recognizes the authority of the Philippine state. Meanwhile, if there are
states with multiple nations, there are also single nations with multiple states. The nation of
Korean is divided into North and South Korea, whereas the “Chinese nation” may refer to both
People’s Republic of China (the mainland) and Taiwan.

What then is the difference between nation and state?

In layman’s term, state refers to a country and its government,i,e., the government of the
Philippines. A state has four attributes. First, it exercises authority over a specific population,
called its citizens. Second, it governs a specific territory. Third, a state has a structure of
government that crafts various rules that people (society) follow. Fourth and the most crucial, the
state has sovereignty over its territory. Sovereignty here refers to internal and external authority.
Internally, no individuals or groups can operate in a given national territory by ignoring the state.
This means that groups like churches, civil society organizations, corporations, and other entities
have to follow the laws of the state where they establish their parishes, offices, or headquarters.
Externally, sovereignty means that a state’s policies and procedures are independent of the
interventions of other states. Russia or China, for example, cannot pass laws for the Philippines
and vice versa.

On the other hand, the nation, according to benedict Anderson, is an “imagined community.” It is
limited because it does not go beyond a given “official boundary,” and because rights and
responsibilities are mainly the privilege and concern of the citizens of that nation. Being limited
means that the nation has its boundaries. This characteristic is in the stark contact to many
religions if one choose to. In fact. Catholics ant more people to join their community; they refer as
the call to discipleship”. But not everyone can simply go to the Philippine embassy and “convert”
into a Philippine citizen. Nations often limit themselves to people who have imbibed a particular
culture, speak a common language, and live in a specific territory.

Calling it “imagined” does not mean that the nation is made-up. Rather, the nation allows one to
feel a connection with a community of people even if he/she will never meet all of them in his/her
lifetime. When you cheer for a Filipino athlete in the Olympics, for example, it is not because you
personally know that athlete. Rather, you imagine your connection as both members of the same
Filipino community. In a given national territory like the Philippine archipelago, you rest in the
comfort that majority of people living in it are also Filipinos. Finally, most nations strive to become
states. Nation-builders can only feel a sense of fulfilment when that national ideal assumes an
organizational form whose authority and power are recognized and accepted by the “people.”
Moreover, if there are communities that are not states, they often seek some form of autonomy
within their “mother states.” This is why, for example, the nation of Quebec, though belonging to
the state of Canada, has different laws about language (they are French-speaking and require
French language competencies for their citizens). It is also for this reason that Scotland, though
part of the United Kingdom, has a strong independence movement led by the Scottish nationalist
Party.

Nation and state are closely related because it is nationalism that facilitates state formation. In the
modern and contemporary era, it has been the nationalist movements that have allowed for the
creation of nation-states. States become independent and sovereign because of nationalist
sentiment that clamours for this independence.
Sovereignty is, thus, one of the fundamental principles of modern state politics. Understanding
how this became the case entails going back as far as 400 years ago.

The Interstate System

The origins of the present-day concept of sovereignty can be traced back to the Treaty of
Westphalia, which was a set of agreements signed in 1648 to end the Thirty Years’ War between
the major continental powers of Europe. After a brutal religious war between Catholics and
Protestants, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic designed
a system that would avert wars in the future by recognizing that the treaty signers exercise
complete control over their domestic affairs and swear not to meddle in each other’s affairs.

The Westphalia system provided stability for the nations of Europe, until it faced its first major
challenge by Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte believed in spreading the principles of the French
revolution---liberty, equality, and fraternity---to the rest of Europe and thus challenged the power
of kings, nobility, and religion in Europe. The Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1803-1815 with
Napoleon and his armies marching all over much of Europe. In every country they conquered, he
French implemented the Napoleonic Code that forbade birth privileges, encouraged freedom of
religion, and promoted meritocracy in the government service. This system shocked the
monarchies and the hereditary elites (dukes, duchess, etc.) of Europe, and they mustered their
armies to push back against the French emperor.

Anglo and Prussian armies finally defeated napoleon in the battle of Waterloo in 1815, ending the
latter’s mission to spread his liberal code across Europe. To prevent another war and to keep their
systems of privilege, the royal powers created a new systems that, in effect, restored the
Westphalia system. The Concert of Europe was an alliance of “great powers”---the United
Kingdom, Austria, Russia, and Prussia---that sought to restore the world of monarchical,
hereditary, and religious privileges of the time before the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
Wars. More importantly, it was an alliance that sought to restore the sovereignty of states. Under
tis Metternich system (named after the Austrian diplomat, Klemens von Metternich, who was the
system’s main architect), the Concert’s power and authority lasted from 1815 to 1914, at the dawn
of World War I.

The Battle of Waterloo

Despite the challenge of napoleon to the Westphalia system and the eventual collapse of the
Concert of Europe after World War I, present-day international system still has traces of this
history. Until now, states are considered sovereign, and Napoleonic attempts to violently impose
systems of government in other countries are frowned upon. Moreover, like the Concert system,
“great powers” still hold significant influence over world politics. For example, the most powerful
grouping in the UN, the Security Council, has a core of five permanent members, all having veto
powers over the council’s decision-making process.

Internationalism

The Westphalia and Concert systems divided the world into separate, sovereign entities. Since
the existence of this interstate system, there have been attempts to transcend it. Some, like
Bonaparte, directly challenged the system by infringing on other states’ sovereignty, while others
sought to imagine other systems of governance that go beyond, but do not necessarily challenge,
sovereignty. Still, others imagine a system of heightened interaction between various sovereign
states, particularly the desire for greater cooperation and unity among states and peoples. This
desire is called internationalism.

Internationalism comes in different forms, but the principle may be divided into two broad
categories: liberal internationalism and socialist internationalism.

The first major thinker of liberal internationalism was the late 18th century German philosopher
Immanuel Kant. Kant likened states in a global system to people living in a given territory. If
people living together require a government to prevent lawlessness, shouldn’t that same principle
be applied to states? Without a form of world government, he argued, the international system
would be chaotic. Therefore, states, like citizens of countries, must give up some freedoms and
“establish a continuously growing state consisting of various nations which will ultimately include
the nations of the world.” In short, Kant imagined a form of global government.

Writing in the late 18th century as well, British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (who coined the word
“international” in 1780), advocated the creation of “international Law” that would govern the inter-
state relations. Bentham believed that objective global legislators should aim to propose
legislation that would create “the greatest happiness of all nations taken together.”

To many, these proposals for global government and international law seemed to represent
challenges to states. Would not a world government, in effect, become supreme? And would not
its laws overwhelm the sovereignty of individual states.

The first thinker to reconcile nationalism with liberal internationalism was the 19th century Italian
patriot Giuseppe Mazzini was both an advocate of the unification of the various Italian-speaking
mini-states and a major critic of the Metternich system. He believed in a Republican government
(without kings, queens, and hereditary succession) and proposed a system of free nations that
cooperated with each other to create an international system. For Mazzini, free, independent
states would be the basis of an equally free, cooperative international system. He argued that if
the various Italian mini-states could unify, one could scale up the system to create, for example, a
United States of Europe. Mazzini was a nationalist internationalist, who believes that free, unified
nation-states should be the basis of global cooperation.

Mazzini influenced the thinking of United States president (1913-1921) Woodrow Wilson, who
became one of the 2oth century’s most prominent internationalist. Like Mazzini, Wilson saw
nationalism as a prerequisite for internationalism. Because of his faith in nationalism, he
forwarded the principle of self-determination---the belief that the world’s nations had a right to a
free, and sovereign government. He hoped that these free nations would be able to build a free
system of international relations based on international law and cooperation. Wilson, in short,
became the most notable advocate for the creation of the League of Nations. At the end of World
War 1 in 1918, he pushed to transform the league into a venue for conciliation and arbitration to
prevent another ar. For his efforts, Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919.
The League came into being that same year. Ironically and unfortunately for Wilson, the United
States was not able to join the organization due to strong opposition from the Senate. The league
was also unable to hinder another war from breaking out. It was practically helpless to prevent the
onset and intensification of World War II. On one side of the war were the Axis Powers---Hitler’s
Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Hirohito’s Japan---who were ultra-nationalists that had an
instinctive disdain for internationalism and preferred to violently impose their dominance over
other nations. It was in the midst of this war between the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers
(composed of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Holland, and Belgium) that
internationalism would be eclipsed.

Despite its failure, the league gave birth to some of the more task-specific international
organizations that are still around until today, the most popular of which are the World health
Organization (WHO) and the International Labour organization (ILO). More importantly, it would
serve as the blueprint for its organizational dissolution, the League of Nations’ principles survived
World War II.

The League was the concretization of the concepts of liberal internationalism. From Kant, it
emphasized the need to form common international principles. From Mazzini, it enshrined the
principles of cooperation and respect among nation-states. From Wilson, it called for democracy
and self-determination. These ideas would re-assert themselves in the creation of the United
Nations.in 1946 (see next lesson).

One of Mazzini’s biggest critics was German socialist philosopher Karl Marx who was also an
internationalist, but who differed from the former because he did not believe in nationalism. He
believed that any true form of internationalism should deliberately reject nationalism, which rooted
people in domestic concerns instead of global ones. Instead, Marx placed a premium on
economic equality; he did not divide the world into countries, but into classes. The capitalist class
referred to the owners of factories, companies, and other “means of production.” In contrast, the
proletariat class included those who did not own the means of production, but instead, worked for
the capitalists.

Marx and his co-author, Friedrich Engels, believed that in a socialist revolution seeking to
overthrow the state and alter the economy, the proletariat “had no nation,.” Hence, their now-
famous battle cry, “Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.” They
opposed nationalism because they believed it prevented the unification of the world’s workers.
Instead of identifying with other workers, nationalism could make workers in individual countries
identify with the capitalists of their countries.

Marx died in 1883, but his followers soon sought to make his vision concrete by establishing their
international organization. The Socialist International (SI) was a union of European socialist and
labour parties established in Paris in 1889. Although short-lived, the SI’s achievements included
the declaration of May 1 as Labour Day and the creation of an International Women’s Day. Most
importantly, it initiated the successful campaign for an 8-hour workday.

The SI collapsed during World War I as the member parties refused or were unable to join the
internationalist efforts to fight for the war. Many of these sister parties even ended up fighting
each other. It was a confirmation of Marx’s warning: when workers and their organizations take
side of their countries instead of each other, their long-term interests are compromised.

As the SI collapsed, a more radical version emerged. In the so-called Russian Revolution of 1917,
Czar Nicholas II was overthrown and replaced by a revolutionary government led by the
Bolshevik party and is leader Vladimir Lenin. This new state was called the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, or USSR. Unlike the majority of the member parties of the SI, the Bolsheviks
did not believe in obtaining power for the working class through elections. Rather, they exhorted
the revolutionary “vanguard” parties to lead the revolution across the world, using methods of
terror if necessary. Today, parties like this are referred to as Communists parties.
To encourage these socialist revolutions across the world, Lenin established the Communist
International (Comintern) in 1919. The Comintern served as the central body for directing
Communist parties all over the world. This International was not only more radical than he
Socialist International, it was also less democratic because it followed closely the top-down
governance of Bolsheviks.

Many of the world’s states feared the Comintern, believing that it was working in secret to stir up
revolutions in their countries (which was true). A problem arose during World War II when the
Soviet Union joined the Allied Powers in 1941. The United States and the United Kingdom would,
of course, not trust the Soviet Union in their fight against Hitler’s Germany. These countries
wondered if the Soviet Union was trying to promote revolutions in their backyards. To appease his
allies, Lenin’s successor, Joseph Stalin, dissolved the Comintern in 1943.

After the war, however, Stalin re-established the Comintern as the Communist Information
Bureau (Cominform). The Soviet Union took over the countries in Eastern Europe when the
United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain divided the war-torn Europe into their
respective spheres of influence. The Cominform, like the Comintern before it, helped direct the
various communist parties that had taken power in Eastern Europe.

With the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, whatever existing thoughts about
communist internationalism also practically disappeared. The SI managed to re-establish itself in
1951, but its influence remained primarily confined to Europe, and has never been considered a
major player in international relations to this very day.

For the post war period, however, liberal internationalism would once again be ascendant. And
the best evidence of this is the rise of the United Nations as the centre of global governance.

Conclusion

This lesson examined the roots of the international system. In tracing these roots, a short history
of internationalism was provided. Moreover, internationalism is but one window into the broader
phenomenon of globalization. Nevertheless, it is a very crucial aspect of globalization.
Nevertheless, it is a very crucial aspect of globalization since global interactions are heightened
by the increased interdependence of states. This increased interdependence manifests itself not
just through state-to-state relations. Increasingly, international relations are also facilitated by
international organizations that promote global norms and policies. The most prominent example
of this organization, of course, is the United Nations.

Guide Questions

Answer the questions concisely. (10 points each)

1. What remnants of the Westphalian system can still be felt at this day? In what sense
has the world gone beyond the Westphalian system?
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2. What are the difference between liberal and socialist internationalism?
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3. Do you think internationalization erodes the sovereignty of states?

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Learning Activity:
Imaginary Interview
Further research/read on Giuseppe Mazzini, Woodrow Wilson, Karl Marx, or Vladimir Lenin
Conduct an imaginary interview with one of them. In this interview, have your slected figure
answer the following questions: (10 points each)

1. What do you think of nationalism?

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2. What is necessary for the development of an international order?
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3. What do you think of the League of Nations?

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4. What is the role of revolution in internationalism?
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Module 1
Lesson 4 The United Nations and Contemporary Global Governance

Learning outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

 Define global governance;

 Identify the roles and functions of the United nations; and
 Determine the challenges of global governance in the twenty-first century.

Introduction

Although many internationalists like Bentham and Kant imagined the possibility of a global
government, nothing of the sort exists today. There is no one organization that various states are
accountable to. Moreover, no organization can militarily compel a state to obey predetermined
global rules. There is, however, some regularity in the general behaviour of states. For example,
they more or less follow global navigation routes and, more often than not, respect each other’s
territorial boundaries. Moreover, when they do not—like when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014---it
becomes a cause for global concern and debate. The fact that states in an international order
continue to adhere to certain global norms means that there is a semblance of world order despite
the lack of a single world government. Global governance refers to the various intersecting
processes that create this order.
There are many sources of global governance. States sign treaties and form organizations, in the
process legislating public international law (international rules that govern interactions between
states as opposed to, say, private companies). International non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), though not having formal state power, can lobby individual states to behave in a certain
way (for example, an international animal protection NGO can pressure governments to pass
animal cruelty laws). Powerful transnational corporations can likewise have tremendous effects
on global labour laws, environmental legislations, trade policy, etc. even ideas such as the need
for “global democracy” or the clamour for “good governance” can influence the ways international
actors behave.

One lesson will not be able to cover the various ways global governance occurs. As such, this
lesson will only examine how global governance is articulated by intergovernmental
organizations. It will focus primarily on the United Nations (UN) as the most prominent
intergovernmental organization today.

What is an International organization?

When scholars refer to groups like the UN or institutions like the IMF and the World Bank (see
Lesson 2), they usually call them international organizations (IOs). Although international NGOs
are sometimes considered as IOs, the term is commonly used to refer to international
intergovernmental organizations or groups that are primarily made up of member-states.

One major fallacy about international organizations is that they are merely amalgamations of
various state interests. In the 1960s and 1970s, many scholars believed that IOs were just venues
where the contradicting, but sometimes intersecting, agendas of countries were discussed---no
more than talk shops. What has become more evident in recent years, however, is that IOs can
take on lives of their own. For example, as seen in Lesson 2, the IMF was able to promote a
particular form of economic orthodoxy that stemmed mainly from the belief of its professional
economists. IOs can thus become influential as independent organizations. International relations
scholars Michael N. Barnett and Martha Finnermore listed the following powers of IOs.

First, IOs have the power of classification. Because IOs can invent and apply categories, they
create powerful global standards. For example, it is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) that defines what a refugee is (see Lesson 10 for more). And since states are required
to accept refugees entering their borders, this power to establish identity has concrete effects.

Second, IOs have the power to fix meanings. This is a broader function related to the first. Various
terms like “security” or “development” need to be well-defined. States, organizations, and
individuals view IO as legitimate sources of information. As such, the meanings they create have
effects on various policies. For example, recently, the United Nations has started to define
security as not just safety from military violence, but also safety from environmental harm.

Finally, IOs have the power to diffuse norms. Norms are accepted codes of conduct that may not
be strict law, but nevertheless produce regularity in behaviour. IOs do not only classify and fix
meanings; they also spread their ideas across the world, thereby establishing global standards.
Their members are, as Barnett and Finnemore emphasized, the “missionaries” of our time. Their
power to diffuse norms stems from the fact that IOs are staffed with independent bureaucracies,
who are considered experts in various fields. For example, World Bank economists come form of
authority. They can, therefore, create norms regarding the implementation and conceptualization
of development projects.
Because of these immense powers, IOs can be sources of great good and great harm.
They can promote relevant norms like environmental protection and human rights. But,
like other entrenched bureaucracies, they can become sealed-off communities that fall to
challenge their beliefs. For example, the Nobel Prize-winning economists made
recommendations to developing countries.

Having examined the powers, limitations, and weaknesses of IOs, the spotlight will now fall on the
most prominent Io in the contemporary world, the United Nations (UN). After the collapse of the
League of Nations at the end of World War II, countries that worried about another global war
began to push for the formation of a more lasting international league. The result was the creation
of the UN. Although the organization is far from perfect, it should be emphasized that it has so far
achieved its primary goal of averting another global war. For this reason alone, the UN should be
considered a success.

The UN is divided into five active organs. The General Assembly (GA) is UN’s “main deliberative
policymaking and representative organ.” According to the UN charter: “Decisions on important
questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members, and budgetary
matters, require a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly. Decisions on other questions are
done by simple majority. Annually, the General Assembly elects a GA President to serve a one-
year term of office.” All member states (currently 193) have seats in the GA. The Philippines
played a prominent role in the GA’s early years when Filipino diplomat Carlos P. Romulo was
elected GA president from 1949-1950.
Although the GA is the most representative organization in the UN, many commentators consider
the Security Council (SC) to be the most powerful. According to the UN, this body consists of 15
member states. The GA elects ten of these 15 to two-year terms. The other five---sometimes
referred to as the Permanent 5 (P5)---are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the
United States. These states have been permanent members since the founding of the UN, and
cannot be replaced through election. The SC takes the lead in determining the existence of a
threat to the peace or an act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle the act of
aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle the act by peaceful means and
recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some case, it can resort to
imposing sanctions or even authorizing the use of force to maintain or restore international peace
and security. Because of these powers, states that seek to intervene militarily in another state
need to obtain the approval of the Sc. With the SC’s approval, a military intervention may be
deemed legal. This is an immense power.

Much attention has been placed on the SC’s P5 due to their permanent seats and because each
country holds veto power over the council’s decisions. It only takes one veto vote from a P5
member to stop an Sc action dead in its tracks. In this sense, the SC is heir to the tradition of
“great power” diplomacy that began with the Metternich/Concert of Europe system (see the
previous lesson). It is especially telling that the P5 consists of the major Allied Powers that won
World War II. The Security Council will be further discussed in the next section.

The third UN organ is the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is “the principal body
for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue, and recommendations on social and
environmental issues, as well as the implementation of internationally agreed development
goals.” It has 54 members elected for three-year terms. Currently, it is UN’s central platform for
discussions on sustainable development.

The fourth is the International Court of Justice whose task “is to settle, in accordance with
international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions referred to
it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.” The major cases of the court
consist of disputes between states that voluntarily submit themselves to the court for arbitration.
The court, as such, cannot try individuals (international criminal cases are heard by the
International Criminal Court, which is independent of the UN), and its decisions are only binding
when states have explicitly agreed to place themselves before the court’s authority. The SC may
enforce the rulings of the ICJ, but this remains subject to the P%’s veto power.

Localizing the Material

Did you know that Filipinos played a significant role in the creation of human rights arbitration
rules in the United Nations? In the late 1960s, the diplomat Salvador P. Lopez was chairman of
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Lopez and other Filipinos helped design the
system whereby any citizen of any state may petition the UN to look into human rights violations
in a country. That system exists until today. Human rights, therefore, are not foreign
impositions. They are part of our national heritage.

Claudio, Lisandro E. “Liberal Laments: The heroism of SP Lopez.” Esquire Pilippines,

November 30, 2016. http://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/libera-laments-the-heroism-of-sp-
lopez-a1655-20161130-lfrm, last accessed: 25, February, 2017.

Finally, the secretariat consists of the “Secretary-General and tens of thousands of international
UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by the General
Assembly and the organization’s other principal organs.” As such, it is the bureaucracy of the UN,
serving as a kind of international civil service. Members of the secretariat serve in their capacity
as UN employees and not as state representatives.

Challenges of the United Nations

Given the scope of the scope UN’s activities, it naturally faces numerous challenges. Chief
among these are limits placed upon its various organs and programs by the need to respect state
sovereignty. The UN is not a world government, and it functions primarily because of voluntary
cooperation from states. If states refuse to cooperate, the influence of the UN can be severely
circumscribed. For example, the UN Council on Human Rights can send special rapporteurs to
countries where alleged human rights violations are occurring. If a country does not invite the
rapporteur or places conditions on his/her activities, however, this information-gathering
mechanism usually fails to achieve its goals.

However, perhaps the biggest challenge of the United Nations is related to issues on security. As
mentioned, the UN Security Council is tasked with authorizing international cats of military
intervention. Because of the P5's veto power, it is tough for the council to release a formal
resolution, much more implement it. This became an issue, for example, in the late 1990 when the
United States sought to intervene in the Kosovo war. Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was
committing acts of ethnic cleansing against ethnic Muslim Albanians were victims of massacres,
mass deportations, and internal displacement. Amid this systematic terror, members of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, see Lesson 5), led by the United States, sought SC
authorization to intervene in the Kosovo war on humanitarian grounds. China and Russia,
however, threatened to veto any action, rendering the UN incapable of addressing the crisis. In
response, NATO decided to intervene on its own. Though the NATO invention was largely a
success, it, nevertheless, left the UN ineffectual.

Today, a similar dynamic is evident in Syria, which is undergoing a civil war. Russia has
threatened to veto any SC resolution against Syria; thus, the UN has done very little to stop state-
sanctioned violence against opponents of the government. Since Syrian president Basher al
Assad is an ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the latter has shied away from any policy that
could weaken the legitimacy of the former. As a result, the UN is again ineffectual as amid a
conflict that has led to over 220,000 people dead and 11 million displaced.

Despite these problems, it remains important for the SC to place a high bar on military
intervention. The UN Security Council has been wrong on issues of intervention, but it has also
made right decisions. When the United States sought to invade Iraq in 2001, it claimed that Iraq’s
Saddam Hussien had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that threatened the world. However,
UN members Russia, China, and France were unconvinced and vetoed the UN resolution for
intervention, forcing the United States to lead s small “coalition of the willing” with its Allies. It has
since been discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and the invasion of Iraq
has caused problems for the country and the region that last until today.

Conclusion

Global governance is such a complex issue that one can actually teach an entire course in itself.
This lesson has focused on the IOs and the United Nations in particular. International
organizations are highlighted because they are the most visible symbols of global governance.
The UN, in particular, is the closest to a world government. What is important to remember is that
international institutions like the UN are always in a precarious position.

On the one hand, they are groups of sovereign stats. On the other, they are organizations with
their own rationalities and agendas. It is this tension that will continue to inform the evolution of
these organizations.

However, note that there are many institutions, groups, and ideas that hold international and
global politics together. In your own time, you may want to explore these topics on your own.

Guide Questions

Answer the questions concisely (10 points each)

1. Why is global governance multi-faceted?

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2. How do international organizations take on “lives of their own?”
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3. What are the challenges faced by the United Nations in maintaining global security?
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Learning Activity

The United Nations peacekeepers:

Re-enacting their Roles, Responsibilities and Challenges

Research in Google what the United Nations peacekeepers are, the countries that send these
peacekeepers, their responsibilities, and the places where they have been involved in the last
50 years. After familiarizing yourself with the UN’s peacekeeping function, you will now be
ready to deal with a crisis. Read the scenario below.

Countries A and B have been at war against each other for 50 years over a big area of land that
is located in their borders. The land consists of rainforests, suitable farmlands, and rih mineral
resources. It is also suspected to have oil reserves underground.

The community that lives in this area is composed of people who have never been clear about
their national loyalties, for the simple reason that they do not recognize these borders. They
have been living in the area long before countries A and B had national territories. They,
therefore, would like to be left alone, to “go back and forth” between the two borders.

Countries A and B, however, want to exploit the resources of this borderland. They started
supporting leaders in this community, secretly at first, but later on with open economic
assistance. This association created tension within the community that soon worsened into
open factional rivalries between its leaders.

The factional rivalry started over how assistance was to be shared, and then moved to
competition over elected positions. The rivalry took a turn for the worse when Countries A and
B began supplying their allies with arms and military training, especially after they both realized
the security problems this borderland can cause.

It did not tale long before conflict between the two factions came out in the open. This “mini-
war” spread and seriously affected the community, dividing families and pitting friends and
relatives against each other.

And then suddenly, the two countries were sending their armies into the border supposedly to
help keep the peace, but in reality, to fight alongside their local allies. The war was intense.
Thousands perished and were injured. But what was clear was that no side was winning.

Eventually, exhausted by the war (Countries A and B began to realize how much resources
they wasted in this war), the protagonists agreed to a temporary truce. They also asked the
help of the United Nations in terms of bringing in a peacekeeping force to stand between the
two sides, and negotiate how to turn the truce into a lasting peace.
 Your class is that peacekeeping force. List down the things you need to do to prepare for this
mission. Once you have established your presence, think of measure you have to take to keep
the peace, knowing that you will not be there permanently. Good luck.

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Module 1
Lesson 5 A World of Regions

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

 Differentiate between regionalization and globalization;

 Explain how regions are formed and kept together;
 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of regionalism; and
 Identify the factors leading to a greater integration of the Asian region.
Introduction
Types of international organizations
Intergovernmental
Non-governmental
ASEAN

Governments, associations, societies, and groups form regional organizations and/or networks
as a way of coping with the challenges of globalization. Globalization has made people aware of
the world in general, but it has also made Filipinos more cognizant of specific areas such as
Southeast Asia. How, for instance, did the Philippines come to identify itself with the Southeast
Asian region? Why is it part of a regional grouping known as the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN)?

While regionalism is often seen as a political and economic phenomenon, the term actually
encompasses a broader area. It can be examined in relation to identities, ethics, religion,
ecological sustainability, and health. Regionalism is also a process, and must be treated as an
“emergent, socially constituted phenomenon.” It means that regions are not natural or given;
rather, they are constructed and defined by policymakers, economic actors, and even social
movements.

This lesson will look at regions as political entities and examine what brings them together as they
interlock with globalization. The other facets of regionalism will then be explored, especially those
that pertain to identities, ethics, religion, ecological sustainability, and health. The lesson will
conclude by asking where all these regionalization are bringing us a member of a nation and as
citizens of the world.

Countries, Regions, and Globalization

Edward D. Mansfield and Helen V. Milner state that economic and political definitions of regions
vary, but there are certain basic features that everyone can agree on. First, regions are “group of
countries located in the same geographically specified area” or are “an amalgamation of two
regions (or) a combination of more than two regions” organized to regulate and “oversee flows
and policy choices.” Second, the words regionalization and regionalism should not be
interchanged, as the former refers to the “regional concentration of economic flows” while the
latter is “a political process characterized by economic policy cooperation and coordination
among countries.”

Countries respond economically and politically to globalization in various ways. Some are large
enough and have a lot of resources to dictate how they participate in processes of global
integration. China, for example, offers its cheap and huge workforce to attract foreign businesses
and expand trade with countries it once considered its enemies but now sees as markets for its
goods (e.g., the United States and Japan). Other countries make up for their small size by taking
advantage of their strategic location. Singapore and Switzerland compensate for their lack of
resources by turning themselves into financial and banking hubs. Singapore developed its
harbour facilities and made them a first-class transit port for ships carrying different commodities
from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and mainland Southeast Asia to countries in the Asia-
pacific. In most cases, however, countries form a regional alliance for---as the saying goes---there
is strength in numbers.

Countries form regional associations for several reasons.one is for military defence. The most
widely known defence grouping is the North Atlantic treaty organization (NATO) formed during
the Cold War when several Western European countries plus the United States agreed to protect
Europe against the threat of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded by creating its
regional alliance, the Warsaw Pact, consisting of the eastern European countries under Soviet
domination. The Soviet Union imploded in December 1991, but NATO remains in place.

Countries also form regional organizations to pool their resources, get better returns for their
exports, as well as expand their leverage against trading partners. The Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was established in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, and Venezuela to regulate the production and sale of oil. This regional alliance flexed its
muscles in the 1970s when its member countries took over domestic production and dictated
crude oil prices in the world market. In a world highly dependent on oil, this integration became a
source of immense power. OPEC’s success convinced nine other oil-producing countries to join
it.

Moreover, there are countries that form regional blocs to protect their independence from the
pressures of superpower politics. The presidents of Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and
Yugoslavia created the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1961 to pursue world peace and
international cooperation, human rights, national sovereignty, racial and national equality, non-
intervention, and peaceful conflict resolution. It called itself non-aligned because the association
refused to side with either the First World capitalist democracies in Western Europe and North
America or the communist states in Easter Europe. At its peak, the NAM has 120 member
countries. The movement, however, was never formalized and continues to exist up to the
present, although it lacks the same fervour that it had in the past.

Finally, economic crisis compels countries to come together. The Thai economy collapsed in
1996 after foreign currency speculators and troubled international banks demanded that the Thai
government pay back its loans. A rapid withdrawal of foreign investments bankrupted the
economy. This crisis began to spread to other Asian countries as their currencies were also
devalued and foreign investments left in a hurry. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) tried to
reverse the crisis, but it was only after the ASEAN countries along with China, Japan, and South
Korea agreed to establish an emergency fund to anticipate a crisis that the Asian economies
stabilized.

The crisis made ASEAN more “unified and coordinated.” The Association has come a long way
since it was formed as a coalition of countries which were pro-American and supportive of the
United States intervention in Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, ASEAN continued to act as a
military alliance to isolate Vietnam after it invaded Cambodia, but there were also the beginnings
of economic cooperation.

Non-State Regionalism

It is not only states that agree to work together in the name of a single cause (or causes).
Communities also engage in regional organizing. This “new regionalism’ varies in form; they can
be “tiny associations that include no more than a few actors and focus on a single issue, or huge
continental unions that address a multitude of common problems from territorial defence to food
security.” Organizations representing this “new regionalism” likewise rely on the power of
individuals, non-governmental organization (NGOs), and associations to link up with one another
in pursuit of a particular goal (or goals). Finally, “new regionalism” is identified with reformists who
share the same “values, norms, institutions, and system that exist outside of the traditional,
established mainstream institutions and systems.”

Their strategies and tactics likewise vary. Some organizations partner with governments to initiate
social change. Those who work with governments (“legitimizers”) participate in “institutional
mechanisms that afford some civil society groups voice and influence (in) technocratic policy-
making processes.” For example, the ASEAN issued its Human Rights declaration in 2009, but
the regional body left it to member countries to apply the declaration’s principles as they see fit.
Aware that democratic rights are limited in many ASEAN countries, “new regionalism”
organizations used this official declaration to pressure these governments to pass laws and
regulations that protect and promote human rights.

In South America, left-wing governments support the Hemispheric Social Alliance’s opposition to
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while members of the Mesa de Articulacion
de Asociaciones Nacionales y redes de ONG’s de America Latina y El Caribe (Roundtable of
National Associations and Networks and NGOs in Latin America and the Caribbean) participate in
“forums, summits, and dialogues with presidents and ministers.” Likewise, a group called the
Citizen Diplomacy Forum tries to influence the policies and programs of the organization of an
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights was in part the result of non-government
organizations and civil society groups pushing to “prevent discrimination, uphold political
freedom, and promote democracy and human rights throughout the region.”

Other regional organizations dedicate themselves to specialized causes. Activists across Central
and South America established the Rainforest Foundation to protect indigenous peoples and the
rainforests in Brazil, Guyana, panama, and Peru. Young Christians across Asia, Africa, the Middle
East, the Americans, and the Caribbean formed Regional Interfaith Youth Networks to promote
“conflict prevention, resolution, peace education, and sustainable development.” The Migrant
Forum in Asia is another regional network of NGOs and trade unions “committed to protect(ing)
and promoting the rights and welfare of migrant workers.”

These organizations’ primary power lies in their moral standing and their ability to combine
lobbying with pressure politics. Unfortunately, most of them are poorly financed, which places
them at a disadvantage when dealing with their official counterparts who have large state funds.
Their impact in global politics is, therefore, limited.

New regionalism differs significantly from traditional state-to-state regionalism when it comes to
identifying problems. For example, states treat poverty or environmental degradation as technical
or economic issues that can be resolved by refining existing programs of state agencies, making
minor changes in economic policies, and creating new offices that address these issues.
However, new regionalism advocates such as the NGO Global Forum see these issues as
reflections of flawed economic development and environmental models. By “flawed,” they mean
economic development plans that are market-based, profit-driven, and hardly concerned with
social welfare, especially among the poor.

Another challenge for new regionalists is the discord that may emerge among them. For example,
disagreements surface over issues like gender and religion, with pro-choice NGOs breaking from
religious civil society groups that side with the Church, Muslim imams, or governments opposed
to reproductive rights and other pro-women policies. Moreover, while civil society groups are able
to dialogue with governments, the latter may not be welcoming to this new trend and set up one
obstacle after another. Migrant Forum Asia and its ally, the Coordination after another. Migrant
Forum Asia and its ally, the Coordination of Action research on AIDS (CARAM), lobbied ASEAN
governments to defend migrant labour rights. Their program of actions, however, slowed down
once countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand refused to recognize the rights of the
families of migrants.

Contemporary Challenges to Regionalism

Today, regionalism faces multiple challenges, the most serious of which is the resurgence of
militant nationalism and populism. The refusal to dismantle NATO after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, for example, has become the basis of the anti-NATO rhetoric of Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Now, even the relationship of the United States---the alliance]s core member---with NATO has
become problematic after Donald Trump demonized the organization as simply leeching off
American military power without giving anything in return.

Perhaps the most crisis-ridden regional organization of today is the European Union.The
continuing financial crisis of the region is forcing countries like Greece to consider leaving the
Union to gain more flexibility in their economic policy. Anti-immigrant sentiment and a populist
campaign against Europe have already led to the United Kingdom voting to leave the European
Union in a move the media has termed the “Brexit.”

ASEAN members continue to disagree over the extend to which member countries should
sacrifice their sovereignty for the sake of regional stability. The Association’s link with East Asia
has also been problematic. Recently, ASEAN countries also disagreed over how to relate to
China, with the Philippines unable to get the other countries to support its condemnation of
China’s occupation of the West Philippine Sea. Cambodia and Laos led the opposition favouring
diplomacy over confrontation, but the real reason was the dramatic increase of Chinese
investments and economic aid to these countries. Moreover, when some formerly authoritarian
countries democratized, this “participatory regionalism” clashed with ASEAN’s policy of non-
interference, as civil society groups in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand demanded that
the other countries democratized adopt a more open attitude towards foreign criticism.

A final challenge pertains to differing visions of what regionalism should be for. Western
governments may see regional organizations not simply as economic formations but also as
instruments of political democratization. Non-Western and developing societies, however, may
have a different view regarding globalization, development, and democracy. Singapore, China,
and Russia see democracy as an obstacle to the implementation and deepening of economic
globalization because constant public inquiry about economic projects and lengthy debate slow
down implementation or lead to unclear outcomes Democracy’s tedious procedures must,
therefore, give way to efficiency.

Conclusion

Official regional associations now cover vast swaths of the world. The population of the countries
that joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Council (APEC) alone comprised 37 percent of the world’s
population in 2007. These countries are also part of “smaller” organizations that include the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation organization, the North
American Free Trade Agreement, the Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, and the Union of
South American nations. Even “isolationist” North Korea is part of the Regional Forum, which
discusses security issues in the region.

In the same way the countries will find it difficult to reject all forms of global economic integration, it
will also be hard for them to turn their backs on their regions. Even if the UK leaves the EU, it must
continue to trade with its immediate neighbours and will, therefore, be forced to implement many
EU rules. None of this is to say that regional organizational will remain unaltered. The history of
regionalism shows that regional associations emerge as new global concerns arise. The future of
regionalism will be contingent on the immense changes in global politics that will emerge in the 21
st century.

Guide Questions

Answer the questions concisely. (10 points each)

1. How is regionalism different from and yet a part of globalization?

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2. What is the difference between state-to-state regionalism and non-state regionalism?
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3. What triggers various regionalist projects?

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Learning Activity
From Kingdoms to Empires, to Colonies, and to Republics

Organize yourselves based on these following broad regional divisions:

North America South America

China Japan
Korea South Asia
Middle East Southeast Asia

At the beginning of the 16th century, before the Europeans ruled the world, these regions had their
own empires and kingdoms. When the Spanish established the first global empire, some of these
kingdoms and empires disappeared or were weakened. This process was continued under the
British colonial rule, and other power began to carve their own spheres of interests. Europeans
dominated and made colonies out of these areas.

After World War I, there began a noticeable shift, this time with colonies challenging the colonial
rule and demanding that they be allowed to become nations and determine their own future. This
pursuit was what US President Woodrow Wilson called “the principle of self-determination” (see
the discussion on this in the Lesson 3) reached a high point when World War II destroyed the
empires, and the colonies achieved their independence.

Choose a regional division and trace how it has changed from the time before European powers
like Britain and Spain ruled the world, then during the era of colonialism, until its independence.

List what kinds of changes happened to these areas (once principates, then provinces, then
republics) and the people who inhabit there. Finally, see how the nations and republics that were
born from the ashes of colonialism after World War II looked back on the past era to explain their
own histories.

In the next meeting, compare your region’s changes with those of the other groups. Pinpoint the
similarities and differences.
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REFERENCES

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Aldama, P. K. R. (2018). The Contemporary World. Quezon City: Rex Book Store.

Connell, Raewyn. (2007). “Dependency, Autonomy and Culture. In Southern Theory: The
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Gonong, G. O., et al. (2013). Write Well: A Guide to Writing in the Discipline. Caloocan City:
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