International Politics is dominated by a state-centric
discourse. The role of transnational actors is mostly ignored in determining
relations between states. In “Transnational Relations and World Politics: An
Introduction” by Joseph S. Nye, Jr. and Robert O. Keohane, the importance of transnational actors and their relationships
with the state in determining the effect they have on world politics is
discussed. Although states are crucial actors in the International System,
discounting the importance of non-state actors is undermining the impact they
have on world politics, hence, they deserve to be studied. Institutions like
the IMF have immense impact on the state policies.
The authors focus on two aspects of transnational relationships-
transnational interactions and organizations, both which impact the inter-state
politics. One of the ways in which transnational relations impact inter-state
politics is via global mass communication. Different groups or communities
without having met are able to observe and practice behavior which seems
appropriate via global mass communication. For instance, the spread of Islamic radicalism.
Two facets of transnational interactions impact impact stood out for me: attitude change
and promotion of international pluralism. With the former, organizations as
well individual face-to-face interaction is a precursor to an attitude change.
For instance, the shared platform for singing competitions between India and
Pakistan can count towards a transnational interaction which may promote attitude
change and have a possible effect on state politics. With the latter, the
advent of globalization has allowed for the transmission of different ideas and
national interests to be accommodated in the transnational organization.
Various national elites are able to foster their interests in the international
arena via these organizations who are able to internationalize domestic
politics.
Overall, transnational interactions in the contemporary world
have an immense impact on an individual basis which can later translate into
consequences for state policies.
Global mass communication is truly revolutionary, isn't it? It's about time IR acknowledges the affect of these transnational relations because they are increasing becoming more impactful. The world has now essentially become a global village with such increased levels of interconnectivity.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading this I kept on thinking of how easy is it to transmit a message across the globe and how quickly a movement or any news for that matter engages individuals in a discourse. It has become so easy to actually impact attitudes across the globe. The debate on whether state has lost its meaning in the contemporary world is an interesting one indeed because despite globalization and the sprouting of non-state actors, state is indeed a crucial actor. But equal acknowledgement needs to be provided to these actors indeed.
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