Question 5
Transnational actors have increasingly gained power in international politics. They have become strength that cross the traditional boundaries which set up by nation states and gradually shifted the focus in international politics from old school thoughts of state actors to a much more discursive range of concerns about considerable number of potential actors. This kind of transnational actor is including transnational corporations (TNCs), individuals, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and international governmental organizations. The emergence of transnational actors is not new and played a role for centuries, but came into power recently after Second World War. The reason can be attributed to the diminishing concern of traditional military security conflicts and threats among states, instead of growing new types of threat. Besides, the complexity of domestic interests also makes different actors seeking for their own power in international negotiation.
In brief, the shared trait of all the transnational actors is that interactions among different actors are much free. It is no longer relied on the traditional way between governments which state government becomes the headquarters dealing with all international affairs. Instead, actors from society of one country can directly interact and communicate with both government and society of another country. And sometimes it is not necessarily to go through the procedure of its own government.
Transnational Corporations
Specifically to see, for the TNCs, it is an expansion of domestic company to an international level by having subsidiaries in other countries in the desire of exploring cheap labor force, natural resources, or new market and so on. The ...
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Conclusion
I think all of these transnational actors should have more influence than before. Because they are unlikely to the governments sometimes cannot deal with problem if it is not fit for their interests. And in the globalization era, single government will not have enough resources and power to solve some problems that have external factors. Therefore, it is necessarily to have these transnational actors. However, there is also negative effect such as in the coffee crisis that giant coffee roaster companies in terms of TNCs using their advantage to take arbitrage from developing countries via lower cost of purchasing coffee beans. It results in the poverty of coffee farmers and threatening their basic living standard. Hence, in my opinion, it is undoubtedly that transnational actors also need certain levels of limitation and regulation.
Overall, many people believe that economic globalization does a great job of enhancing our economy and our quality of life. Source: This is an excerpt from the book “Transnational Corporations: Knitting the World Together”. This book was published in 2004 and the author is Keith Suter, a futurist. He believes that transnational corporations are now the main global economic force as they erode the national market. He deems that due to transnational companies, the world is now involved in one global market.
International organizations such as NATO and the UN are essential not only for global peace, but also as a place where middle powers can exert their influence. It is understandable that since the inception of such organizations that many crises have been averted, resolved, or dealt with in some way thro...
Wendt, Alexander. Social theory of international politics. 9. printing. ed. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006. Print.
Willetts, P. (2011), ‘Transnational actors and International Organisations in Global Politics’ in Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. (eds) The Globalization of World Politics. An Introduction to International Relations. 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Dicken believes that most TNCs are capitalist enterprises driven by profit. He argues that they are the primary movers and shapers of the global economy with the power to easily control or coordinate production networks across the world. In chapter four Dicken challenges a view that with time TNCs are going to abandon their country of origin, and take over the smaller weaker firms.
However, the structure and process of international relations, since the end of World War II, has been fundamentally impacted through an immense growth of a variety of factors at multiple levels, which leads to the liberalist theoretical perspective of global complex interdependency. The complex interdependency is constructed from the liberalist theoretical perspective emphasizing interdependence between states and substate actors as the key characteristics of the international system (Ray and Kaarbo 7), which means that cooperation can be made more te...
The international system is an anarchical system which means that, unlike the states, there is no over ruling, governing body that enforces laws and regulations that all states must abide by. The International System in today’s society has become highly influential from a number of significant factors. Some of these factors that will be discussed are Power held by the state, major Wars that have been fought out in recent history and international organisations such as the U.N, NATO and the W.T.O. Each of these factors, have a great influence over the international system and as a result, the states abilities to “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development”.
This essay will describe the characteristics of the modern nation-state, explain how the United States fits the criteria of and functions as a modern nation-state, discuss the European Union as a transnational entity, analyze how nation-states and transnational entities engage on foreign policy to achieve their interests, and the consequences of this interaction for international politics.
THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT: The critical concern Political environment has a very important impact on every business operation no matter what its size, its area of operation. Whether the company is domestic, national, international, large or small political factors of the country it is located in will have an impact on it. And the most crucial & unavoidable realities of international business are that both host and home governments are integral partners. Reflected in its policies and attitudes toward business are a governments idea of how best to promote the national interest, considering its own resources and political philosophy. A government control's and restricts a company's activities by encouraging and offering support or by discouraging and banning or restricting its activities depending on the government. Here steps in international law. International law recognizes the right of nations to grant or withhold permission to do business within its political boundaries and control its citizens when it comes to conducting business. Thus, political environment of countries is a critical concern for the international marketer and he should examine the salient features of political features of global markets they plan to enter. THE SOVEREIGNITY OF NATIONS From the international laws point of view a sovereign state is independent and free from external control; enjoys full legal equality; governs its own territory; selects its own political, social, economic systems; and has the power to enter into agreements with other nations. It is extension of national laws beyond a country's borders that much of the conflict in international business arises. Nations can and do abridge s...
For example, states remain the key negotiators and entities in major global governance entities. Additionally, states retain compulsory power over their subjects or constituents, a form of control that new players in global governments have generally not obtained. Globalization has led to several substantial changes in global governance and the entities participating in governance activities. First, over the past 70 years, an increasing number of nations have signed onto international agreements. For example, when the Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created in 1947, it had no institutional structure; by 2009, though, more than 150 nations – accounting for 97% of world trade – were members of GATT’s successor, the World Trade Organization (Fidler, 2009).
The United Nations can give aid to groups or people inside of another country, and thus shows their power in overriding the state as the major actor. Another international body that can claim to be a major actor is the European Union. Many trade agreements are negotiated with the EU and not just the independent countries that make it up. The EU holds an enormous amount of economic power and sets economic regulations for all countries that make it up. Lastly, one can look to military alliances as a major actor. The most first and maybe most important alliance that comes to mind is NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This is an alliance that is headed mainly by the United States of America and has great influence in the world. It has great influence in eastern Europe in regards to Russia and its advancements. Lastly, one can look to OPEC, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. This is an interesting example, due to the fact, that they control a resource, oil, which is extremely important to most Western states. OPEC holds sway in international relations, due to the fact that all nations want reasonable oil prices. Many arguments can be made
Mira Wilkins defines a multinational enterprise (MNE) as a “firm that extends itself over borders to do business outside its headquarters country.” By 1870, a period denoted as industrial capitalism, MNCs started to evolve and the nature...
There is an undeniable fact that there has been a rise in globalization. It has become a hot topic amongst the field of international politics. With the rise of globalization, the sovereignty of the state is now being undermined. It has become an undisputed fact that the world has evolved to a new level of globalization, the transferring goods, information, ideas and services around the globe has changed at an unimaginable rate. With all that is going on, one would question how globalization has changed the system that is typically a collection of sovereign states. Do states still have the main source of power? What gives a state the right to rule a geographically defined region? It is believed by many that due to the introduction of international systems and increasing rate of globalization, the sovereignty of the state has been slowly eroded over time. My paper has two parts: First, it aims to take a close look at how globalization has changed the way the economy worked, specifically how it opened doors for multinational corporations to rise in power. Second, to answer the question, is it possible for it to exist today? And even so, should it?
The study of international relations takes a wide range of theoretical approaches. Some emerge from within the discipline itself others have been imported, in whole or in part, from disciplines such as economics or sociology. Indeed, few social scientific theories have not been applied to the study of relations amongst nations. Many theories of international relations are internally and externally contested, and few scholars believe only in one or another. In spite of this diversity, several major schools of thought are discernable, differentiated principally by the variables they emphasize on military power, material interests, or ideological beliefs. International Relations thinking have evolved in stages that are marked by specific debates between groups of scholars. The first major debate is between utopian liberalism and realism, the second debate is on method, between traditional approaches and behavioralism. The third debate is between neorealism/neoliberalism and neo-Marxism, and an emerging fourth debate is between established traditions and post-positivist alternatives (Jackson, 2007).
IOs and states play a critical role in maintaining world peace and security. The United Nations (UN), in particular, is the centerpiece of global governance with respect to the maintenance of world peace. The UN provides general guidelines for all the states on how to solve potential conflicts and maintain international o...