Has Globalization Reinforced or Undermined the Legitimacy of the Nation-State?

Globalisation refers to the process of interaction and integration among the people, companies as well as governments of countries around the world, particularly in terms of trade, investment and technology. The process of globalisation, has profound impacts on the environment, culture, political systems, economic developments, prosperity and human physical well-being in the societies around the world.

Globalisation- Globalisation is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in

International law in the nineteenth century provided that only by way of conquest, validated by treaty or subjugation, or by a treaty of cession could an independent State’s complete sovereignty be terminated, thereby merging the former State into that of a successor State.

Globalisation as described by John Bayliss is the widening, deepening and speeding up of global interconnectness. Distinctions are usualy made between economic, cultural and political forms of globalization.Over recent years Liberals have tended to agree with the statement whereas the Realists disagree with the statement.

The end of the Cold War brought about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, paving the way for an unprecedented new paradigm – one characterised by the end of hostilities between the two dominant ideologies: Soviet communism and American liberal capitalism. This dominant new paradigm encouraged the homogenisation of ideas, in the form of exchanging ethos and values along former cultural, ideological and geographical divides. As such, this integration of world societies has earned the title ‘globalisation’, forcing the global community to appear so united as to warrant the metaphor of a global village. (Note: This paragraph pains me to read – I will eventually re-write it.)

Sovereignty is a basic principle that impacts relations between countries and establishes mutual respect of the authority each state has over its territory. The concept of sovereignty and its operation within the international system originated with the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648 through a process known as the Peace of Westphalia. Over 194 states were represented by 174 plenipotentiaries during these meetings and the entire process took almost four years. This treaty is largely credited with establishing the modern state system

On a European level, and to a degree on an international level it is argued that national states have experience a decrease of sovereignty. This is due to some political powers giving been

To achieve world order, certain legal and non-­ legal measures need to exist in accordance with societal values and expectations. Legal and non-­ legal measures including the United Nations, international instruments, courts and tribunals, the media and non-­ government organisations. Although these measures have these intentions, these issues surrounding world order such as state sovereignty may prevent world order from being accomplished completely and effectively. The need for world order has been sourced from conflict occurring in the international community. The effectiveness of legal and non-­ legal measures in dealing with this conflict can vary depending on the nation’s compliance with international law and other nation states. In

State sovereignty is a major barrier when dealing with the issue of world order. State sovereignty is enshrined in the UN Charter. It refers to the authority a nation-state can hold that allows the government to govern themselves without the interference of other countries. Though a legal mechanism in its own right, state sovereignty can limit the effectiveness of international legal measures, which are applied in an effort to achieve world order, due to nation-states having the power of discretion when choosing to sign international legal documents such as treaties and declarations. This means that nation-states operating under state sovereignty can not be forced by any international organisation or other country to sign international legal

IGOs are voluntary associations of sovereign states established to pursue many objectives for which states want to cooperate through sort of formal structure and to which states are unable to realize by themselves (Miller, 1994). There are hundreds of IGOs in today's world which are significant in their respective fields. They are created by treaties and negotiations which mainly reflect preferences of stronger states. Especially stronger states create IGOs because they need them to protect their interests. By and large, decisions made by IGOs are the product of negotiations among the governmental representatives assigned to them. In general, it is not idealism, but the need of states which tend them to cooperate with other states in the context of IGOs. Therefore, they are part of the Westphalia state system in which IGOs are instruments of nation-states (Miller, 1994: 67). Regarding to the function and the purpose of IGOs, the influence of state as an actor in international relation still remains strong but in a different way, IGOs replace the original ideas of individual states but to identify states which have the same normative behavior and same ambitions to form a cooperate with each other so as to achieve the same goal. Even said so, powerful states are less constrained by the principle of IGOs than those who are relatively weak (Ataman, 2000: 152-167). This suggests that state is the key element in

The theory of globalization today is a field of intensive debate as the efforts towards defining globalization most often highlight its individual aspects. According to Held and McGrew (1999), “globalisation is an idea whose time has come, yet it lacks precise definition”. Despite the ambiguity of the term “globalisation,” the use of the term, according to Held and McGrew, reflects increased interconnectedness in political, economic and cultural matters across the world creating a shared social space. Given this inter-connectedness, globalisation may be defined as: “a process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and

‘Globalization: What’s new? What’s not? (And so what)’, portrays the speed in which globalism has increased through many different factors; economically, military, environmentally and socially. This is an idealist analytic approach, not set in stone. This leads on to

As a result globalisation has also undone some important cultural and psychological underpinnings of sovereignty. However, it is imperative to note that the effect of globalisation on different nation states will not be the same, because states differ domestically, historically, politically and socio-culturally. Therefore, states will make different policy choices in response to the same global phenomena (Held 1989, 237).

Globalisation can be defined as the movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration by countries and their populations globally. It is a constant process and it has resulted in the intertwining and generalisation of the needs and wants of people

Sovereignty is a norm of the International system upon which the ‘society of states’ rests. Territorial sovereignty refers specifically to the power of the state ‘the territorial limits within which state authority may be exercised on an exclusive basis.’ This essay will explore the concept and development of sovereignty within the system of states. Firstly, it will identify the state system before the ‘Peace of Westphalia’ in 1648, then it will compare the ever changing forms of sovereignty since, and the reasons for change, which have established the modern form of sovereignty which exists today.