- •Focus on world politics
- •«Focus on World Politics»
- •2. What is global politics?
- •Increased interdependence and interconnectedness
- •5. Globalisation and its implications
- •2. Economic nationalism
- •3. Economic internationalism
- •2. The international and internal
- •2. The changing nature of world power
- •3. Post-cold war global order.
- •4. A multipolar global order. The rise of multipolarity
- •2. From ‘old’ wars to ‘new’ wars
- •3. Justifying war
- •2. Arms control and anti-proliferation strategies
- •2. Rise of new terrorism
- •3. Countering terrorism
- •1. The nature of human rights
- •3. Implications of human rights for global politics
- •4. Protecting human rights
- •5. Rise of humanitarian intervention
- •6. Humanitarian intervention and the ‘new world order’
- •1. Rise of international organization
- •3. The growth of igOs
- •4. Reasons for growth
- •1. The origins and evolution of the european union
- •2. The government of europe: a prototype
- •3. The future of the eu
- •In addition to its nearly universal membership, the United Nations is also a multipurpose organization. As Article 1 of the United Nations Charter states, its objectives are to:
- •1. From the league to the un
- •2. How does the un work
- •3. Future of the un: challenges and reform
- •2. The world bank
- •3. The world trade organization
- •1. Regionalism and its main forms
- •2. Regionalism and globalisation
- •3. Regional integration outside europe
- •2. The diplomatic setting
- •3. Modern diplomacy
2. Economic nationalism
The core of economic nationalism is the belief that the state should use its economic strength to further national interests. By extension, economic nationalists also advocate using a state’s power to build its economic strength. Epitomizing this view, the first U.S. secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, argued that "The interference and aid of [the U.S.] government are indispensable" to protect American industry and to build U.S. economic strength.
Economic nationalists are realists who believe that conflict characterizes international economic relations and that the international economy is a zero-sum game in which one side can gain only if another loses. As Hamilton asked rhetorically in The Federalist Papers (1787), "Have there not been as many wars founded upon commercial motives since that has become the prevailing system of nations, as were before occasioned by the cupidity of territory or dominion ?" From the economic nationalist perspective, political goals should govern economic policy because the aim is to maximize state power in order to secure state interests.
To accomplish their ends, economic nationalists rely on a number of political-economic strategies.
These include:
Imperialism and neoimperialism are one set of economic nationalist practices. Imperialism is the direct control of another land and its people for national economic gain. It was this motive that propelled Europeans outward to conquer and build the great colonial empires that dominated so much of the world until recent decades. Direct colonial control has largely died out, but many observers charge that neoimperialism (indirect control) continues to be a prime characteristic of the relationship that exists, or that EDCs try to achieve, between themselves and LDGs.
Economic incentives and disincentives provide a second set of economic nationalist practices. Countries that offer economic carrots, such as foreign aid and favorable trade policies, or that use economic sticks, such as sanctions, to promote the state’s national interests are practicing economic nationalism. For example, a State Department official justified what he depicted as putting "pressure on the Cuban government through the embargo and [other economic measures]" on the grounds that "economic sanctions can be a valuable tool for... protecting our national interests."
Protectionism and domestic economic support are a third set of tools that economic nationalists believe should be used to promote national power. "I use not porter [ale] or cheese in my family, but such as is made in America," George Washington once avowed. From this perspective, economic nationalists are suspicious of economic interdependence on the grounds that it undermines state sovereignty and weakens the national economic strength. Economic nationalists would prefer that their respective countries use trade barriers, economic subsidies, and other policies to protect national industries, especially those with military value.