session 20: "Networks"

In‘Transnational Relations and World Politics,’ the authors start off their work by talking about the fixation of political scientists with nation states. They say that the policies which emerge out of the state and the interaction of these policies with other governments are the main focus of students and scholars of international politics. The students of IR try to understand the pattern of behavior which forms because of these interactions and the practitioners try to control this behavior. For Nye and Keohane, the unique feature of international politics is the scuffle of power between nations. They go on to say that while a lot of scholars buy in to this ‘state-centric’ approach to IR, however, for them this presents a narrow view of reality.

They say that in order to understand the interaction which takes place between states and actors of state, such as the diplomats and soldiers, a closer analysis should be done of other factors which shape their interaction. These include the geography, the nature of domestic politics in various states and science and technology. They say that even though these components are deemed important by the state centric approach as well, however, for scholarly convenience they are considered to be outside the system. However, the authors write that states are not the always the only ones operating in the international system. They say that there are other actors in the international arena as well but little attention has been given to them.

For these authors, global interaction is composed of 4 components: communication (exchange of ideas, knowledge and beliefs), transportation (merchandise), finance (transfer of money), and travel (movement of individuals). Contact which is started and sustained by the government of nations is considered to be a part of the interstate activities. Whereas those interactions which include non-governmental actors, in addition to states, are called transnational activities.

The non-governmental actors identified by them include multinational business enterprises, revolutionary movements, and trade unions, amongst others. I think this aspect of their reading ties in very well with the small clip we saw in class on Tuesday. The clip in class was about how nation states no longer exist; as in the power they once exerted is no longer with them. The actors at the forefront were international corporations which operated on only one principle: money. Although today’s reading does not go as far as to completely deny the importance of the nation state, I think it adds to the literature available by talking about the other actors which play a significant role in terms of shaping interactions between states.