‘Transnational Relations and World Politics’

In ‘Transnational Relations and World Politics’, Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye introduce the concept of non state actors and thereby challenge the notion of state sovereignty in decision making. The piece provides an interesting framework that is highly applicable to modern scenarios given how the global economy has become increasingly integrated especially since the advent of neo liberalism.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of transnational politics is the distribution and dynamics of power between state and non-state actors. There are some transnational actors that operate in the form of large, powerful organizations such as the International Monetary Fund whereas others operate in a more anarchic fashion, a category that includes terrorist groups such as the Taliban. Both strive to have a greater voice in the affairs of a state, though the means and end goal may differ since the IMF may go about this mission more indirectly through providing loans and creating dependency for the states in question while the terrorist groups may take an outright stance of combat and violence to achieve their target.

An increasing trend in the 21^st Century has been the dramatic increase in self professed Islamist networks that have for the most part employed violent tactics in order to destabilize states. In fact these networks have formed linkages that have allowed them to cross borders and become a menace for multiple states, with the example of the Taliban first in Afghanistan and now in Pakistan springing to mind. In such circumstances the sovereignty of states in decisions regarding national security may become a blurred line not only due to transnational networks but also other states as can be seen by the United States repeated breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty through drone strikes as part of the ‘War on Terror.’