Globalization: A Basic Text, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 5GLOBAL POLITICAL STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES

• On Political Processes and Flows
• The Nation-State
  • Threats to the nation-state
• In Defense of the Nation-State
• “Imagined Community”
• Changes in Global Nation-State Relations
• Other Global Political Developments and Structures
  • League of Nations
  • United Nations
  • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
  • Group of Eight
• Regional Political Organizations
  • Organization of American States (OAS)
  • Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
  • African Union (AU)
• Global Governance
• Civil Society
  • International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs)
  • INGOs and globalization
• Chapter Summary

The focal concern in this chapter is the political structures¹ involved in globalization. However, these structures, like all structures, are often better seen as processes (and flows) or as encompassing sets of processes. For example, a nation-state or a bureaucracy is often thought of as a structure, but in the main it is the sum of the processes (communication, decision-making, etc.) that take place within it. To put this another way, structures can be seen as “congealed flows.” In that sense, the bulk of this chapter also deals with political processes (and flows). A primary focus of this chapter is to show how the nation-state, and its associated flows and structures, have been transformed within the era of globalization. As global and regional political organizations have emerged, and political processes spill across national borders, the ...