3. Governments And Citizens In A Globally Interconnected World.docx

Governments and Citizens in a Globally Interconnected World INTRODUCTION: “Fragmegration” (James Rosenau): States now face new kinds of pressures, with advances toward supranational integration on the one hand and local fragmentation (division) on the other. The United Nations (UN) had 5 founding members after the end of World War II in 1945. By the end of 2012, the United Nations had 193 member-states. Many of these states emerged as a result of decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Palestine gained recognition in November 2012 as a ‘non-member observer state’ of the UN (a status also held by the Vatican). The Republic of China (Taiwan), completely lost its UN membership and its permanent seat on the Security Council in 1971, when PROC (which took over mainland China in 1949) replaced Taiwan as China's representative in the United Nations. Taiwan has been trying without success for years to be granted ‘non-member observer‘standing within the UN. Today nations are viewed as socially constructed political communities that hold together citizens across many kinds of cross-cutting identities: ethnicity, language, religion, and so forth. The terms ‘nation’ and ‘state’ are often used interchangeably in everyday political speech and media commentary. The following are the five major topics that illustrate ongoing changes in the roles of states and the relationships between states and citizens on: a. Economic Interdependence; b. Economic and Political Integration; c. International Law and Universal Norms; d. Transnational Advocacy Networks; and e. New Communication Platforms A. The State in a World of Economic Interdependence: Globalization is imposing a forced choice upon states: either conform to free-market principles or run the risk of being left behind. “Golden Straitjacket” (Thomas Friedman):

States are now forced into policies that suit the preferences of investment houses and corporate executives (The “Electronic Herd”) who move money and resources into countries favored as adaptable to the demands of international business; and withdraw investment from countries that are deemed uncompetitive. This herd is beginning to replace governments as the primary source of capital for both companies and countries to grow. Economies of countries become more dependent on the Electronic Herd for growth capital. National leaders such as Ronald Reagan (USA) and Margaret Thatcher (UK) pursued the laissez-faire economics of Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. After the fall of Soviet communism, laissez-faire economics created the conditions for deregulation, privatization and free trade to spread around the world. Countries that took advantage of global markets to specialize and speed their growth: Under import substitution, Mexico failed to create a viable car industry, but now it took by storm the global market for auto parts. Farmers in Argentina and New Zealand made fortunes selling winter fruits and vegetables to Northern Hemisphere consumers. Companies in Thailand and Turkey, previously constrained by the difficulty of borrowing at home, now had access to cheap and plentiful foreign finance. Neoliberals insist that if poor countries follow their advice about free and open markets, they will soon be members of the first world club. The reality: To make sure that the rich countries maintain control of the third world's wealth and raw materials and have access to their cheap labor. South Korea and Japan rejected American ideas about specializing only in what they do best and trading for the rest. They concentrated on developing world class capabilities by protecting and subsidizing new and infant industries like steel, consumer electronics, and semiconductors. The most successful Korean companies are steel maker POSCO (founded with government investment) and Samsung (giant family dominated conglomerates with extensive special relationships with the government). The Critiques of Globalization (Arguments): 1. States to take the power to determine economic, social and environmental objectives for national development and the capacity to ensure that transnational corporations meet these;

2. To set the stage for ‘new forms of participatory democracy whereby citizens become effectively involved in international policymaking on trade, investment and finance; 3. Support voluntary codes of conduct and higher standards for the treatment of workers and the local communities in which global conglomerates do business. B. Economic and Political Integration: (The Case of the European Union) After WWII, the EU evolved from the European Coal and Steel Community. Today, EU has 28 member-states (Croatia as the 28th member-state in July 2013). It practices a single currency and monetary system (among 17 member-states) and a supranational European Parliament with growing legislative powers alongside the Council of Ministers, the EU legislative institution comprised of official representatives from national governments. Signing of the Maastricht Treaty (1992). A common citizenship that accords citizens of the member-states the rights to live, work, vote and even run for office in European parliamentary elections outside one's native member-state.  In 2012, with plans for “fiscal union” (monetary union) among the 17 member-states of the Eurozone, this means the budgets of the Eurozone countries will be subject to approval by the European Commission.  In 2013, the European Parliament also passed legislation to implement closer integration and supervision of the banking sector. The European Court of Justice (ECJ). It functioned since 1952 as the top dispute resolution body for the EU and its predecessors, has set forth provisions such as ‘direct effect’ and ‘supremacy’.  Supremacy. Means that EU laws take primacy over national laws when the two sets of laws come into conflict.  Direct Effect. Means that member-states are obligated to follow EU laws. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It is a part of The Council of Europe which upholds the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), now signed by all 28 of its member-states.  Any individual, group of individuals, or civil society organization can file ECHR cases against a member-state, and states can also initiate cases against each other.  The court has issued decisions in areas such as freedom of expression, freedom of religion, protection from discrimination, and the right to a fair trial. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It is a part of The Council of Europe which upholds the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), now signed by all 28 of its member-states.

 Any individual, group of individuals, or civil society organization can file ECHR cases against a member-state, and states can also initiate cases against each other.  The court has issued decisions in areas such as freedom of expression, freedom of religion, protection from discrimination, and the right to a fair trial.  UN has never surpassed the states system and instead operates mainly as a forum for states to air their differences and try to resolve them.  The UN Security Council awards veto power to each of the five countries that won the Second World War, as well as the General Assembly's relative lack of power and its state-based configuration.  The Cold War stalemate between the United States and the Soviet Union made it difficult for the Security Council to reach collective decisions.  The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 without the sanction of the Security Council sent a message that states invading other countries unilaterally and in contravention of the UN Charter would face no meaningful consequences of their actions beyond criticism and resentment.  The UN has also been unable to prevent many atrocities and genocides around the world during its history.  UN formed ad hoc tribunals that eventually convicted numerous individuals from Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia of war crimes.  Permanent establishment in 2002 of the International Criminal Court (ICC), with its role in prosecuting individuals accused of genocide and other crimes against humanity.  However, China, India, and the United States are not among the 122 countries that as of January 2014 had ratified the court's founding treaty, The Rome Statute.  The Security Council agreed to follow the doctrine of “Responsibility To Protect” (R2P) when it authorized in early 2011 a ‘no-fly zone’, an arms embargo, and ultimately the use of force in Libya's civil war to protect civilians from impending government attacks and gave revolutionary forces a better chance at displacing the regime of Moammar Gaddafi.  The R2P doctrine signals a growing willingness on the part of states to intervene in the affairs of regimes which are unable to protect their own people.  The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with Britain, France and the United States taking the lead, intervened in Libya. The Libyan revolution ousted Gaddafi with the NATO air strikes. o In Syria, Bashar Hafez al-Assad remained in power at the start of 2014 even though his government and military forces had committed far worse atrocities against thousands of fighters and protesters, including a chemical weapons attack in August 2013 that killed an estimated 1,400 civilians.

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After U.S. President Barack Obama threatened to launch limited military strikes against Syria, the Syrian government promised in an agreement worked out by the UN for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations Security Council to destroy its stockpiles of chemical weapons.

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Despite the statist orientation of R2P, it does signal an important shift: the protection of human beings which takes higher priority than the protection of any particular government from external intervention. o Some global surveillance operations are conducted by the United States National Security Agency (US NSA) and its government and business partners around the world, from interceptions of e-mail messages to the tracking of mobile phones which signify government intrusions into private affairs. o Passport control officers in many countries now commonly take mandatory photographs and collect fingerprints of everyone passing through checkpoints. Many countries have also recently been adding “biometric authentication” components into the issuing of passports and visas. States now compete not only for economic advantage but also for moral credibility, and this is particularly evident in the ways that many civil society organizations and think tanks now rank states and release annual indexes. 1. Transparency International’s “Corruption Perceptions Index” 2. Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World Index” of political rights and civil liberties 3. The “Democracy Index” published by The Economist Intelligence Unit 4. The “Press Freedom Index” compiled by Reporters Without Borders 5. The “Failed States Index” from Foreign Policy Magazine and The Fund for Peace 6. The “Better Life Index” launched in 2011 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) -All have an impact on a country's competitiveness and “soft power.” D. States as Targets: The Rise of Transnational Activism Transnational activism has deep roots that go back to 19th century campaigns against slavery; against foot-binding practices in China; and for women's voting rights. “Boomerang Pattern of Influence” It is when domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) join forces with compatible advocacy groups overseas that can pressure the national governments in question.

 The Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee called attention to the rising trend of Internet activism by awarding the Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator.  The global advocacy campaign to ban landmines as a weapon of war specifically targeted states and urged them to sign the Ottawa Treaty that now has 160 countries on board.  However, similar to the International Criminal Court, China, Russia, and the United States have not signed. The Sustained Global Citizens Campaign: Also called as the Global Justice Movement which called for alternatives to neoliberal economic globalization. Many scholars and activists trace the contemporary origins of this movement to the transnational campaign launched in 1994 in Chiapas, Mexico, by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation as a reaction to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Alter-Globalization Movement (1999) This was a reaction to the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. The movement was framed as an “anti-globalization” movement rather than for an alternative model of globalization more attentive to human rights, participatory democracy, local control, sustainability and cultural diversity. This led people to think of themselves as ‘global citizens’ and to link this idea substantially with concepts of awareness, responsibility, participation and cross-cultural empathy. The World Social Forum Served as a reaction to the World Economic Forum with a culture of avoiding hierarchy and centralized control, rather, promotes socially and environmentally responsive alternatives over the dominance of the world's largest corporations and national governments.  The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt in early 2011 showed how engaged citizens could topple dictatorships.  Protests in Myanmar (Burma) by cyber-activists eventually pushed the government there to open up partially.  In China, citizens are more connected and vocal than before, even if the government is still working to manipulate public opinion and crush dissent.  Facebook, Twitter and their localized counterparts around the world now figure heavily in much of the new scholarship in transnational advocacy movements. E. Communication Networks, New Media and the State

Technological advances have also made it easier for authoritarian states from Russia to Saudi Arabia to Myanmar to silence bloggers using software programs that filter Internet content and “denial-of-service”, making the targeted computers or web servers temporarily unavailable.  Censorship is expensive and could only be carried out by one party, the government.  Even the world's most isolated and repressive state, North Korea, maintains websites trumpeting their national leaders and churning out colorful news releases.  Ambassadors from many countries now take “public diplomacy” literally and maintain Facebook groups, Twitter feeds, and dual blog postings written in both the language of the country they represent and the language of the country where they are serving.  And across all levels of government, interactive “e- government” sites have spread worldwide in tandem with constitutional democracies; citizens can communicate back and forth with government officials online not only to gain information about government policies and initiatives but to articulate their concerns. No longer is the American vanguard of CNN a hegemonic presence: BBC World (United Kingdom), Al Jazeera English (Qatar), Al Arabiya (Saudi Arabia), France 24, Russia Today, CCTV (China), NHK World (Japan) are among the most visible players in this growing industry; Wikipedia and WikiLeaks obviously fall into a similar category of information sharing by global citizens for global citizens. o o

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Television news played a pivotal role during the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Likewise, Al Jazeera played a similar role in the Arab Spring Revolutions, broadcasting videos filmed by protesters with their mobile phones and forwarded via e-mail to their studios. Al Jazeera tends to go easy on the Emir of Qatar, while Russia Today features a delicate but Putinesque view of the world. In this new world of state-run broadcasting, the lines between journalism and propaganda are often blurred and concealed; and also defended, if not legitimized, by the government.

REFERENCE: Schattle, Hans (2014). Governments and citizens in a globally interconnected world of states. In M. B. Steger, P. Battersby, & J. M. Siracusa (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of globalization (pp. 105-122). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.