Explain The Major Challenges Faced By The United States

Globalization and National Security: Major Challenges Faced by the United States
A Historical Perspective on Globalization and Social Conflict
The process of globalization that is currently taking place is one that brings with it a wide variety of national security concerns, both domestically and internationally. What is happening around the world today with regards to economics and globalizations is very similar to what happened during the industrial revolution and the development of early capitalism in the nineteenth century. The rise of capitalism as a mode of production and the bourgeoisie as a ruling class had subsequently created a new class conflict between the bourgeoisie and the class of industrial laborers (“the proletariat”). Marx was correct that this conflict (“the labor question”) was a principal conflict during his own time and continued to be one of the primary conflicts in Western societies well into the twentieth century (Marx & Engels, 1848). Eventually, the working classes have been assimilated into the middle classes, and the working classes have achieved a standard of living in the Western world that was unthinkable for working class people during past times. This higher standard of living was achieved through a combination of economic and technological development, and political and

social reform (Boyer, 1998).
However, in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, very similar events to those that Marx was observing during his time have transpired.

The invention of the microchip ushered in the information age and the cyber revolution in the same way that the invention of the steam engine ushered in the industrial revolution and the invention of the plow ushered in the agricultural revolution. Just as the growth of the industrial revolution was accompanied by the expansion of colonialism, so has the information age been accompanied by the growth of the global economy. This has impacted class relations in several profound

ways.
Widening Socioeconomic Divisions on an International Level
The situation regarding class divisions in the Global South reflects this process. Many of the so-called “Third World” nations are presently in a stage of development similar to that of Western capitalism during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Hence, the ongoing concern about, for example, the exploitation of labor in sweatshops and human trafficking in Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American societies. The growth of phenomena like the Somali pirates represents an effort by desperate people to cope with dire poverty in their countries. Meanwhile, as industrial manufacturing is being outsourced to the less developed countries, a process of diminishing the position of labor is taking place in the Western countries where the conventional working middle class is shrinking, and more workers are sinking into lower wage service industry jobs. Large scale migration is also taking place, and capitalism in Western countries is increasingly reliant on low wage immigrant labor. This in turn has fueled the growth of attitudes that scapegoat immigrants for economic problems.
Widening Class Divisions in the United States
It can be observed that a new ruling class is gradually emerging as a newly rich class of business elites rooted in high technology and mass media related industries are becoming increasingly powerful. For example, the business elites of Silicon Valley and other comparable sectors of the business class are rapidly becoming an important force in domestic American politics. An expanded and rising upper middle class of professionals, academics, journalists, and technical experts is now generating the ideological foundations of the new information age economy. This newer intellectual class tends to be more urban, cosmopolitan, secular and multicultural than the middle classes of previous times. However, as this new ruling class rooted in the information age revolution and the accompanying upper middle class are rising, class divisions in the wider society are expanding (Kotkin, 2014). The polarization in the distribution of wealth in U.S. society is now wider than it has been at any point since the 1920s. This is potentially dangerous as it may lead to instability and the growth of extremist, or even violent, political movements as was the case in past time when such an economic polarization took place.
Globalization and the Threat to U.S. Supremacy: China and Russia
The Threat Posed by China
China posed a potential threat to U.S. national security given that it is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s dominant economic powers. This is due in large part to the expansive economic growth that China has experienced over the past thirty-five years, the status of China as the world’s most heavily populated nation, and China’s potential military capabilities, including its status as a nuclear armed power. China is also a key component of the world economy for a variety of reasons including the fact that China holds a substantial volume of the national debt of the United States. China is likewise a key nation in the emerging BRICS axis. The United States is heavily dependent on China for imported consumer goods, and American business corporations are likewise heavily dependent on Chinese labor that is used in the productive facilities of American outsourced manufacturing. China is clearly an essential component nation within the context of the global economy (Feenstra & Wei, 2010).
Because China is a rising economy power, it is also a potentially significant military power. In recent years, China has assumed a more assertive posture with regards to foreign policy. The primary orientation of China’s foreign policy is defensive in nature, and China’s key national security concern is to protect its airspace and its sea lanes in the Pacific and the South China Sea from incursion by potentially hostile external forces, particularly the United States. However, China has also sought to assume a more hegemonic position with regards to South Asia as well. Illustrations of this include China’s reclaiming of Hong Kong, and China’s continuing to maintain control over Tibet despite widespread international criticism. It is likely that China desires a wider sphere of influence in Asia, including Central Asia as well as South Asia and Southeast Asia (Bardhan, 2010).
Indeed, China is in the process of becoming more active on an international level. Presently, China is one of the leading investor nations on the African continent, and immigration from China into Africa is taking place at an exponential rate. China is positioned to eventually become a genuine world economic power. China’s participation in the BRICS axis is particularly important because BRICS likewise has the potential to undermine and eventually replace Western economic hegemony, particularly if the BRICS are able to produce an alternative world reserve currency to the dollar (Feenstra & Wei, 2010).
China could also potentially upset the trend towards globalization if it were to develop a strong economic nationalism that eschewed integration into the global economy to an ever greater degree. This is certainly possible given China’s rapid economic growth and massive population. If China were to adopt a strong economic nationalism, it is no doubt true that many other nations would likely follow suit. Such a state of affairs might well result in the receding of the former advance towards the complete integration of global markets. The pursuit of a renewed economic nationalism by China could likewise result in the intensification of international rivalries and possible military conflict. However, it is unlikely that China will pursue such a course in the foreseeable. China’s present emphasis is on its own economic self-development, and for this reason China desires an international environment that is characterized by order, stability, and trade relationships (Bardhan, 2010).
The Threat Posed by Russia
American hegemony is likewise being challenged by a resurgent Russia. To fully understand the current orientation of Russian foreign policy and security issues, it is necessary to compare and contrast the foreign policy of traditional Russia with the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was committed to a universalistic and expansionist ideology, and regarded the exporting of this ideology to be one of the Soviet state’s primary duties. The Soviet Union maintained a network of satellite states in Eastern Europe that were essentially held captive by means of military force, and likewise maintained control over much of Central Asia by means of the various Soviet republics in the region that had been carved out of the former Russian empire from the tsarist era. Additionally, the Soviet Union maintained a network of affiliated Communist parties throughout much of the world, including the United States and various Western European nations. The Soviet Union also sought to provide funding and weapons various left-wing insurgent movements around the world in such places as Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the guise of anti-colonialist struggle. This approach to foreign policy was rooted in the ideas of V.I. Lenin, founder of the Soviet state (Ambrosio & Vandrovec, 2013).
However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a significant alteration of Russian foreign policy. The collapses of the Soviet Union was preceded by the overthrow of the Soviet puppet states in Eastern Europe, and the secession of the fifteen Soviet republics, essentially leaving only the Russian motherland. Consequently, Russia lost approximately fifty percent of the territory that was previously under its control. Additionally, the collapse of the Soviet Union was followed by a period of nearly a decade of severe social and economic disintegration in Russia. For example, during the period of Boris Yeltsin’s tenure, the average life expectancy in Russia dropped by about twenty years. However, the coming to power of Yeltsin’s protégé Vladimir Putin has helped to stabilize Russia, and Russia has likewise returned to a traditional Russian foreign policy of the kind that characterized Russian foreign policy during the pre-Soviet era (Kanet, 2010).
Russian foreign policy is primarily concerned with protecting its traditional sphere of influence in both Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Historically, Eastern Europe has been the primary invasion route from the West, as evidenced by Napoleon’s invasion in the early nineteenth century, the Allied invasion during World War One, and the invasion by Nazi Germany in World War Two. Likewise, Russia wishes to maintain a sphere of influence in Central Asia in order to maintain access to the petroleum resources, natural gas, and warm water seaports that are located there. This was in part an impetus for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Russia is concerned that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been extended into Eastern Europe to the point that it essentially borders Russia, and Russia is also concerned about the proliferation of Western military bases in Central Asia. It is the position of Russia that the United States and NATO are attempting to encircle Russia. Hence, Russia is becoming more aggressive about maintaining and expanding its sphere of influence as evidenced by the annexation of Crimea (Tsygankov, 2013). It is likely that as the twenty-first century progress the United States will continue to be faced with various challenges from both a resurgent Russia that is seeking to reclaim its position as a world superpower, and a rising China that is seeking to claim its place on the world state.
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